By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

UPDATE, NEVERMIND: I just discovered looking at the Pageturners page that this show is SOLD OUT. I didn’t know they were offering tickets… Here’s the preview anyway…

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For purely selfish reasons, I thought about not writing this preview of tonight’s Cindy Lee / Freak Heat Waves show at Pageturners Lounge. 

Lee’s new album, Diamond Jubilee, has been playing on repeat in my car and on my earbuds for the past couple weeks, after Lazy-i reader Jim DeRouchey pointed out how I forgot to list tonight’s show in my “look ahead” column. Jim included a link to Pitchfork’s review of the album, where it received both a “best new music” designation and a staggering 9.1 rating. I can’t remember the last time (if ever) Pitchfork rated a new-ish underground artist’s album above a 9.0.

So, I immediately went to Spotify to check out the album, but… it wasn’t there. It isn’t on Bandcamp or Apple Music or any other major streaming service, either. Instead, you can download the Diamond Jubliee’s two hours-worth of music from the artist’s geocities website (the cost is a suggested $30 donation via Paypal). I rarely agree with Pitchfork these days, but this time the hype was real. The album is a spacey collection of echoey folk-rock tunes that sound like they were recorded by The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson between Pet Sounds takes. 

Cindy Lee, a.k.a. Patrick Fiegel, is the former singer/guitarist for the band Women. While the rest of Women went on to form the band Preoccupations, Fiegel created Cindy Lee, and here we are.  You can listen to the Diamond Jubilee in its entirety at YouTube, below. I like this business model – keep the album off streaming services and make it available via download from your own servers! Let’s get artists paid again.

Anyway, why the reluctance to let you know about tonight’s show? Because it’s being held at tiny Pageturners Lounge. The last time I went to Pageturners to see a performance I never got in the door because there was nowhere to sit or stand to listen the band. I fear the same thing could happen tonight. Yes, I could get to Pageturners an hour early and scope out a table, but I got shit to do, damnit!

Seriously, congrats to Pageturners for getting this amazing show. In the current state of Omaha’s music scene – when the city’s many high-end venues are busy booking vanilla pop acts, stand-up comics, yee-haw cow pokes and has-beens freedom rockers whose last hit was 30 years ago — seeing quality touring indie bands has become an every-man-for-himself endeavor.

Opening for Cindy Lee tonight is fellow Canadians Freak Heat Waves, the duo of Steven Lind and Thomas Di Ninno, whose new album, Mondo Tempo, includes a guest vocal by Cindy Lee. The show starts at 8 p.m. and is free, though a donation is suggested. Look for the awkward dude crammed in the corner, trying to stay out of people’s way, bobbing his head to the beat… UPDATE: THIS IS SOLD OUT.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.