The former Micek space soon to be Reverb, photo stolen from Omahype.com who stole it from Google Maps.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Omaha World-Herald‘s Kevin Coffey got the scoop yesterday on the new club being constructed by Jim Johnson and Marc Leibowitz in Benson. You can read the article here.

Called Reverb, the new club will have a 100-capacity performance space, and is located in the old Micek bay north of Jake’s.

I had been told it would be a bar first and performance venue second. The fact that they’re planning music “three or more nights a week,” was quite a surprise as it sounded like they would only have music — at most — twice a week. Hey, the more the merrier, I always say.

Will this new club impact O’Leaver’s and/or The Barley Street Tavern? Maybe. Probably not. O’Leaver’s caters to such a… unique audience and books such a specific style of garage/punk that I can’t see that changing, especially with the Cursive boys at the helm. O’Leaver’s, after all, is an American institution.

The Barley Street Tavern books mostly Americana / folk acts and local singer/songwriters. There are plenty of those to go round.

Where Reverb could have the biggest impact is on those national indie shows that have been booked at places like Sweatshop and Farnam House. Titus Andronicus, Parquet Courts and Speedy Ortiz are three examples of recent shows that would have worked well at a place like Reverb… that is if 1% could have booked them. I was told by those bands’ publicists that they purposely chose to book their tours in small spaces like houses and art galleries rather than bars. If attracting an all-ages audience was what lured them to Farnam/Sweatshop, then Reverb would probably be out of the picture, as the club is a “21-and-over” bar, according to Kevin’s article.

And what about Slowdown Jr.? Conventional wisdom would tell you that Reverb and The Jr. are similar size and target the same audience. The fact that 1% books both clubs would appear to be the tie-breaker — I can’t imagine Leibs booking a show at Jr. when he could have it at his own club and soak in all the booze money.

I must admit my bias here. I live just a 5-minute bike ride to Benson (which equates to a 10-minute drunken bike ride back home after shows). I’ll take that every time over the commitment needed to drive all the way downtown for Slowdown shows.

The most intriguing thing about Kevin’s article, though, is this line: “Popular bands also have the potential to play limited-access, intimate shows at Reverb, which could charge $100 a ticket to see a band that would normally play for 500 people.”

Think about it this way: Would you pay $100 to see, say, Rocket from the Crypt at a state-of-the-art 100-capacity club like Reverb? I would. In fact, I think it would sell out rather quickly, whereas a $25 RFTC show at The Waiting Room could struggle to break even. With more and more top-line indie acts going after smaller rooms and putting together “living room tours,” the time may be ripe for Reverb. Sounds like we’ll have to wait until this fall to find out.

By the way, with Reverb’s addition, that will bring the number of places serving booze in Benson to just under 100. Kidding. I think the number is closer to 12 or 13 (or 14?). How can that many bars strung together in such as small stretch of town survive?

* * *

Speaking of small, under-the-radar clubs, tonight Brooklyn guitar-and-drum garage rock duo Crushed Out plays at the legendary Brothers Lounge with local surf punkers Huge Fucking Waves. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

In this week’s column, on the occasion of 100 years of its existence, I reflect on how UNO student newspaper The Gateway has (literally) impacted my life. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Hey, I work for a living, and as such, won’t be updating this blog over lunch today. Instead, here’s a head’s up about tonight’s Pack A.D. show going on at Slowdown Jr. The guitar-and-drum duo are touted as “garage” when their recordings are cleaner and more controlled than your typical garage combo. Compare them to, say, Yeah Yeah Yeahs or a riff-heavy Breeders. Check out the video and judge for yourself. From Vancouver. On Nettwerk Records. The mighty Millions of Boys open the show. Definitely worth your $10. Starts at 9.

The usual Wednesday night singer/writer nights are happening tonight also. Artist of the Year Matt Whipkey has moved his solo showcase to The Harney Street Tavern, 1215 Harney Street downtown. Joining him is Songwriter of the Year John Klemmensen. Starts at 9 and no word on the door, though historically Whipkey Wednesdays have been free.

Meanwhile, Scott Severin makes a trip from Lincoln tonight to take part in MarQ Manner’s Library Pub Acoustic night. Joining him is Tracy Skretta. 8 p.m. and free.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Faint’s Doom Abuse is out now…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s drop day for The Faint’s new album, Doom Abuse, out now on SQE. To celebrate, Homer’s is hosting an in-store meet-and-greet with The Faint this evening at 6 p.m. According to the press release “The band will hang out, Homer’s will spin the new CD, and there will be free soda, beer and pizza.” Free beer? Seriously. Of course the CD will be for sale as well as the limited deluxe special edition vinyl. Get it.

* * *

I knew it was too good to be true. Moments after posting a link to yesterday’s blog entry someone posted a comment saying that Fischer no longer is on the bill for the Punk Rock Reunion show May 17. I’ve sent an email to 1% to confirm this but haven’t heard back. Fischer is still listed on the event 1% page

, however… I’ll let you know one way or the other when I know…

* * *

ROAM In the Family

The latest installment of David Matysiak’s ROAM project went online yesterday. This time ROAMers “explore the theme of family by creating a new audio collage using archived materials or new recordings to engage the concept in all of its literal and figurative manifestations.” Contributors include Stef Drootin (Big Harp), Dereck Higgins (InDreama), Devin Brown, Julie Hines and more. Download it for free right here.

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The folks at the Maha Music Festival yesterday tweeted that they’ll be announcing this year’s concert line-up April 17. I foresee surprises in store. Maha Fest is slated for Aug. 16 at Stinson Park…

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

After a weekend dominated by local shows, we’ve got two nationals going on tonight.

Over at The Waiting Room Sacramento ambient band Tycho headlines. A.K.A. Scott Hansen and Co.’s new album, Awake, came out a couple weeks ago on Ghostly International. People have been geeking out about this show for months (and I’m not sure why, as I think Tycho is a bit of a snooze).

Opening for Tycho tonight is the debut of a new line-up for Oquoa. Joining members Max Holmquist (guitar, vocals) and Roger Lewis (drums) is Patrick Newberry on keys/synths and Jim Schroeder on guitar. That means J.J. Idt has shifted to bass full-time. Roger says the changes “are taking the sound of the band to a different place.”

This is an 8 p.m. show, so get there early. $17.

Also tonight Okkervil River returns to The Slowdown. This show feels “under the radar” as it’s received zero hype. The band has been on the road touring their new concept album The Silver Gymnasium (ATO, 2013), an album that’s been equally overlooked. I do love this band live, though I have to admit I haven’t listened to their latest record. Opening is Austin band Hundred Visions. $18, 9 p.m.

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Fischer, Emergency Chorus (1994, IBB Records)

Speaking of under the radar, there’s been a ton of chatter about One Percent’s latest show announcements, some real humdingers like Guided By Voices June 3, Peter Murphy June 21 and Black Flag June 14.

But missing from the conversation is one of the bigger shows of the early summer: The Omaha Punk Rock Reunion 2014 at The Waiting Room May 17.

The line-up include the return of Omaha legends Mousetrap, RAF, Cordial Spew and (according to the One Percent website) Fischer (Really?). They’re joined by modern-day punkers Bullet Proof Hearts, The Broke Loose & Drop A Grand, among others.

I knew Mousetrap would be headed back our way one of these days, but I never expected to see Fischer or RAF again. This could be a special night…

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

That was quite a week of shows. Hat’s off to One Percent Productions for putting them together. Needless to say, I’m exhausted, but that doesn’t mean I’m staying home this weekend.

Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s Pro-Magnum is hosting a release show with Borealis. You can check out P-M’s tracks from the link below and download it for a mere $5. Borealis’s tracks come on good ol’ fashioned cassettes. Both bands play dark, heavy, growl-y shit, so be prepared for Satan to show up at some point in the evening and do a shot of Rumplemintz. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight, Mark McGuire of Emeralds is playing at The Barley Street. McGuire’s new album, Along the Way, was released this year on Dead Oceans. Opening is Jenny Hval and James Maakestad. $7, 9 p.m.

Warpaint at The Waiting Room, April 2, 2014.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com 

Funny how people perceive concerts differently. I’ve had a couple folks tell me they didn’t like/were bored at last night’s Warpaint show at The Waiting Room. Conversely, for me, it was the best show I’ve seen this year.

It all comes down to personal preferences, I suppose. Some people don’t like female vocals; some hate anything that isn’t brutally heavy / angry / garage-oriented. I could see how those folks (specifically people who came out to see opener Digital Leather) might be bored. Even so, they can’t deny the other-worldly talent shown by the four women of Warpaint — the drumming, the bass work, the glowing guitar tones.

Their sound was equal parts ethereal mood music and beat-driven dance fodder, with sweet vocals by all four musicians — and when all four harmonized, well, bliss. For reference points for the uninitiated, one could throw out Beach House or TEEN or even Portishead, though I’d go a step further and mention similarities to M83 and ’90s acts like Ride and Mazzy Star and (some might say this is a stretch) Luscious Jackson (though there was no “rapping” going on last night).

Despite the thick beats, there was a darkness to their music, a throbbing shadow heard on songs like first single of the new album “Love is to Die” and “Undertow” off 2010 album The Fool. I loved it all, but I bring some bias here as I went in loving their new CD (And what do I know? Pitchfork

hated it). There’s no argument over the fact the band was having a playful good time on stage or that all four are adorable.

Digital Leather at The Waiting Room, 4/2/14.

Speaking of adorable, Digital Leather rolled out a number of new songs during their opening set. Like the best Digital Leather records, some songs were lethargic and trippy, others invited furious fist-pumping. Now a 5-piece featuring two synth players (one being The Faint’s Todd Fink), their set also was backloaded with DL chestnuts “Styrofoam” “Thrill is Gone” and “Studs in Love,” each of which is a guaranteed show stopper. When’s that new split album with The Hussy coming out, boys? And what happens when you lose Todd to The Faint later this year?

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This week’s column is the Q1 2014 record reviews roundup, with comments on new ones by Beck, Future Islands, The Faint, The War on Drugs and more. For my money, there’s already been more good albums released in the first three months of this year than in all of 2013. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here.

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Back at The Waiting Room tonight it’s the return of Har Mar Superstar. The band is out supporting their latest, Bye Bye 17 , released on Julian Casablancas’ Cult Records and recorded by Spoon’s Jim Eno. I haven’t heard it yet, but I’m sure it’s another HMS masterpiece. Opening is the evocative John Klemmensen and The Party. $12, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Talking Mountain returns to Slowdown Jr. with San Francisco (by way of Lawrence) band Mammoth Life and Gramps (Django of Love Drunk Studio fame). Starts at 9 and this one’s free.

And finally, Film Streams’ Hitchcock 9 Silents in Concert Repertory Series continues tonight. It features the silent films of Alfred Hitchcock brought to life sonically by live musicians. Tonight it’s the 1929 film The Manxman 

featuring live music by Ted Stevens Unknown Project featuring Stevens (Cursive, Lullaby for the Working Class), Lincoln Dickison (Chromafrost, The Monroes), Ian Aeillo (Eli Mardock, Eagle Seagull), and David Ozinga (UUVVWWZ). Tickets are $12 general; $10 students and $8 for Film Streams members. The curtain rises at 7 p.m. Find out more here

. Do it for the kids.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

St. Vincent at Sokol Auditorium, April 1, 2014.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Annie Clark looked like a kabuki toy standing center stage in her pretty outfit, a field of red rose petals covered the front across and down her skirt, her face painted / powdered white, cheeks blushed with rouge, her hair bleached and punk, a porcelain anime doll with big round eyes, a beautiful painting incomplete until the tech walked out and handed her a black electric guitar.

Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, her voice thin and raspy, stared straight forward while she sang. When she wasn’t plucking out an electronic melody on her ax, she moved and bent and contorted her arms like a pantomime robot, doing Shields and Yarnell (look it up) with her fellow guitarist / keyboardist / vocalist. If Clark learned anything from touring with David Byrne it’s how to “dance” like an alien life form trying to communicate through arm gestures and hand signals. I don’t remember such theatrics the last time she came through town, so I have no choice but to blame Byrne who made a career out of his geek spastic dance motions throughout his time as a Talking Head.

I like it when Byrne does it; it seemed to make sense with his music. I don’t mind it when Clark does it, either, though her actions felt disconnected to what she was singing, as if she were trying to force a mechanical element onto something meant to be purely organic. The same thing can be said about her music. While I like the sterile beats, the oddly archaic rhythm-cut instrumentation (contrasted by a sonic blanket of synths), too often her melodies were reduced to elevating vocal tones crawling up and down a pentatonic scale.

All the while, Annie Clark was hatchet lit from below or shadowed by blazing-white LED panels that burned the retinas of a packed house who stood mesmerized more than moved by her music.

Between song sections, Clark performed short, pre-written monologues recited dryly and rehearsed. She told stories of how she and us weren’t so different. In fact, we were the same, as evidenced by her shared memories of lighting fires with a magnifying glass, feeling ill after telling a lie, admitting that her (our) friends don’t know us as well as they think they do.

I’m sure turning her concert into prolonged musical theater sounded like a good idea during tour rehearsals. The whole are-we-not-human? shtick worked well for Devo because it was weird and different and their matching jumpsuits made you want to believe it. Costumes are everything. I’d like to tell you that it was more interesting than previous St. Vincent shows, but it wasn’t. It looked and felt forced and uncomfortable, purposely rigid and thoroughly counter to the loose-and-rough spontaneity of rock. Instead, it was more of an attempt at art rock, but without the limitlessness of a Laurie Anderson.

Worst of all, after about a half hour, it became boring.

I fear that the bigger Clark/Vincent gets, the more disconnected she’ll become with her audience. I liked her better when she spontaneously paced around stage with her guitar and blazed the fretboard with the confidence of Prince. We saw a glimpse of the old Annie during the encore. After a quick wardrobe change, Clark reappeared alone on top of a tower of boxes and performed a sweet version of “Strange Mercy” off the 2011 album of the same name. For the first time that evening, her guitar sounded like a guitar, and her voice sounded oh so human.

* * *

Side notes…

If you’re looking for a set list for (and a different perspective of) last night’s show, Kevin Coffey has both at the OWH website, here.

With this show and last Saturday’s Neutral Milk Hotel show, I can’t remember Sokol Auditorium sounding better, in fact sounding better then I ever thought it could. I’ve seen some boomy shows at the ol’ gymnasium/dance hall (Regina Spektor comes to mind). Today’s audio technology can make any room sound awesome. Sokol has always been an alternative for shows too big for Slowdown. Now it no longer seems like a compromise. Conor, The Faint and Manchester Orchestra are all booked at Sokol for upcoming shows. Get your tix while you can.

I’ve also figured out how to park at sold-out Sokol shows — just put it on 16th St. and walk down the hill. When the show’s over, it’s a straight shot back to downtown.

* * *

There’s another in this week-long string of amazing show going on tonight.

Warpaint plays at The Waiting Room. The band’s new self-titled album, released on Rough Trade, was produced by Flood (PJ Harvey, U2, New Order) and is one of my favorites this year (I like it a lot more than the new St. Vincent record). And get this: Digital Leather is opening. $17, 9 p.m. See you there.

Also tonight, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead plays at The Slowdown. They’ll be performing Source Tags and Codes. La Femme opens. $20, 8 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

St. Vincent at The Slowdown back in May 2012. She plays tonight at Sokol Auditorium.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight’s St. Vincent Show at Sokol Auditorium will be the fifth time I’ve seen Annie Clark and her band perform in Omaha. She’s gone from doing small, sparsely attended shows at The Waiting Room (in 2007) to sold-out Slowdown big room gigs (in 2012) to now the famous cow barn on 13th St.

I’ve always said she had the potential to be “the next PJ Harvey.” With this show — and her latest album — you could argue she’s exceeded PJ. I say that knowing that tonight’s show has yet to sell out; I have no idea if PJ could sell out Sokol Aud (though I’m skeptical).

I like the new self-titled record. Its brittle, sometimes sterile beats and compositions sound modern without losing (too many) elements that make the songs swing. Sure, at times it sounds like plastic robot music and can become somewhat static, but Clark pulls in earthy elements that help ground the songs, including horns and her own gossamer vocals.

What you wouldn’t know if you’ve only heard her records is that Clark is a guitar virtuoso, a real ax grinder that can shred with the best of them. That’s lost amidst all the electronics and effects on the album that make her guitar sound like a buzzing synth. Wait ’til you see her play guitar on stage.

Opening is Noveller a.k.a. Sarah Lipstate. Her instrumental music (mostly guitar) has been called “mind-wrecking noise.”

Like I said, this one is still not sold out, and is a steal at $20. Show starts at 8 p.m.

* * *

Speaking of shows, Harrah’s has announced the Stir Concert Cove line-up for this summer and it’s right in line with shlock slated for this year’s Memorial Park concert (Sugar Ray, Uncle Kracker, etc.).

In Harrah’s defense, the casino doesn’t program its concert series with indie music fans in mind, obviously. But with their facilities and the size of their budget, they could get some real hum-dinger acts instead of Pat Benetar (who played at Memorial Park for free last year), Stain’d, Collective Soul, Alice in friggin’ Chains, etc. Willie Nelson is the biggest name on the sheet *yawn*. The full line-up is here. Is this the kind of music gamblers like to listen to when they’re counting their chips? I guess so. The only show on the slate that holds a modicum of interest is Fitz and the Tantrums, but even that’s a stretch for >$20 ticket price.

Stir’s announcement would appear to leave the field wide open for Maha to book an impressive concert this summer. Expect an announcement in the near future…

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Neutral Milk Hotel as seen from the edge of the crowd at Sokol Auditorium March 29.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I have a theory why Neutral Milk Hotel is held with such reverence by so many. In 1999, Jeff Mangum did what Kurt Cobain did in ’94. Mangum turned off Neutral Milk Hotel, walking away from the band after it released its masterpiece, Aeroplane Over the Sea. Shortly after the album dropped in ’98, he did a few shows with the band, than simply…stopped. There was no grand announcement, Mangum just went away, leaving his audience wanting more. And he did it without dying.

What’s the old story about always wanting the girl you can never have? Absence makes the heart grow fonder; while denial makes love that much more intense. Mangum has been around all these years doing other things, but denied fans a performance. As a result, whether he intended to or not, he turned Neutral Milk Hotel into the kind of legend reserved for bands that ended after tragedy. He created a modern myth. Rare is the person who can walk away while standing on top of the mountain; and I don’t know anyone who did it like Mangum.

So, after more than a decade of silence, Mangum came back to life in 2010 with a surprise guest appearance at a benefit concert. That was followed by more surprise appearances. Then came a tour. And then another. Fans who long ago gave up hope of ever seeing a Neutral Milk Hotel show were finally getting their wish.

Omaha fans got their wish Saturday night at a long sold-out Sokol Auditorium show. I saw it with my own eyes: There on stage, singing “Two-Headed Boy” was Jeff Mangum. He looked like one of the Duck Dynasty guys. Actually, he looked more like Tom Hanks at the end of the marathon-running sequence of Forrest Gump — full, graying beard, hair sticking from beneath a Castro hat, baggy jeans, he looked like a recluse who had just rolled out of hiding.

Maybe that’s why they banned the cameras. Throughout Sokol flyers were taped to walls that read, “Out of respect for the artists, no photography allowed, including cell phones.

” Sokol’s T-shirted security team watched like hawks for anyone pointing a phone at the stage. When they saw one, they swooped down, briskly pushing into the crowd toward the person taking the picture. In one case, the bouncer firmly shook the flyer under the nose of the scared hipster.

I doubt the photo ban had anything to do with Mangum looking like a street guy. Instead it was about feeding the Neutral Milk Hotel myth. No photos or videos on the web means growing mystery.

So why the mystery? Who knows. Why stop performing for more than a decade? Especially when your voice and your musicianship is in prime form. Mangum sounded amazing Saturday night as he brought Aeroplane back to life on stage, backed by his original band and Elephant 6 compatriots playings horns, accordion, even a willowy, haunted saw.

From my vantage point way off stage left, the crowd reacted as if seeing a ghost come back to life. Fans I spoke to never expected to see this band play again, let alone play in Omaha. And here they were, playing their best songs spot-on with every nuance from the original recording. It was a dream come true, but not for me. I’ve only been a passing Neutral Milk Hotel fan, having come to the party long after it ended. There’s no denying that Aeroplane is a modern indie-rock masterpiece, its influence can be heard on every Arcade Fire, Decemberists and Bon Iver album, though no band has ever quite matched the album’s twisted lyrical genius.

Maybe that’s another reason Mangum disappeared. He knew he’d never be able to recreate the magic of Aeroplane. Just thinking about it may have driven him mad. Why even try?

Saturday night’s setlist is online right here. Despite everything he’d seen and heard that night, the guy next to me was disappointed they didn’t play his favorite song, “Communist Daughter.” Maybe next time, I said, if there is one. Something tells me there will be.

* * *

One other aside about last Saturday night’s show: The photography ban (including with cell phones) changed the tone of the audience and maybe the performance. Instead of seeing a sea of lights held overhead throughout the set, Mangum and Co. were treated to a crowd that danced and writhed with ecstasy, a crowd of people who were paying attention to what was going on in front of them. There no longer was a need (or an ability) to shoot a photo, no need to post it to your Facebook or Instagram or Twitter account. The only thing left to do was to pay attention and enjoy the show. It was a like watching an audience circa 1999, back when we all did just fine without texting and Facebook and cell phones and the endless electronic distractions that get in the way with living our lives…

* * *

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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Josh Hoyer and the Shadowboxers celebrate their CD release at The Hive tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I don’t write much about blues music. I leave that to the expert — B.J. Huchtemann. B.J.’s been writing about local music as long as I have, maybe longer. She, too, was part of the Omaha bullpen of Lawrence music magazine The Note way back in the early ’90s, and has had a column in The Reader that pre-dates my own. Her forte, her focus always has been the blues and I challenge anyone to find another local music journalist who has written more about the topic than B.J. So with that, I acquiesce all intelligent introspection on the new Josh Hoyer and the Shadowboxers album to her. You can find her writings every week in The Reader and online at The Reader website (Her latest is right here).

That said, I do know something about the kind of horn-powered blues that Hoyer is known for. I know my way around a saxophone. I played tenor and alto in high school jazz bands, and I’ve listened to my share of his style of R&B over the years. I’m no expert, but I know what I like and don’t like, and I most certainly like Hoyer’s new project. I liked his old project, The Son of 76 and The Watchmen, too. But to me, this new outfit is more realized, more thought-out and swings more righteously.

On his website, Hoyer says he borrows from Stax, Motown, New Orleans and San Francisco. There’s something in his vocals that remind me of Dr. John as much as Robert Cray. But from an indie perspective, I’d slide Hoyer into the same category as funk/soul maven Sharon Jones + the Dap-Kings, though Jones’/Dap-Kings’ sound is more ’60 traditional/revivalist than Hoyer’s more modern take on the genre. I say this because Jones is an accepted commodity among indie-music followers (and for good reason); Hoyer deserves the same acceptance since his music is just as dirty, just as authentic in its own way.

It’s one of those records you can put on while you do your thing. It pushes you along, it gives you whatever you need to get by, if only for the afternoon, or the night, with as much attitude as you’ll need. Always gutsy, usually free-wheeling, and above all, never corny (and when it comes to modern blues, that’s key). Don’t over-think it, just enjoy it. You want more detail? Ask B.J. or even better, check out the album yourself.

So I say all this because Hoyer and the Shadowboxers are celebrating the release of their debut album tonight at The Hive, a new rock club and art gallery at 1207 Harney St. The club is known as a sort of 311 tribute bar (hence the name). I’ve yet to step foot inside, but have heard good things about their space and sound. $5, 10 p.m.

Also tonight, London acoustic balladeer Bear’s Den plays at The Waiting Room with Landon Hedges (Little Brazil). $12, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, See Through Dresses headlines a show down at Slowdown Jr. with Dan Mariska And The Boys Choir, and The Boy & His Wolves. $7, 9 p.m.

Over at The Sydney there’s a going away party for Tom and Lindsay Barrett which will feature a performance by Tom’s new project, Xendless, which consists of Barrett (DJ- keys loops), Chad Gregerson (drummer of Dead wave) keys loops and Erin Eckerman (vocals). Huge Fucking Waves also is on the bill. Starts at 9.

Meanwhile, at fabulous O’Leaver’s it’s Des Moines band The River Monks with Kaloko and Brad Hoshaw. $5, 9:30 p.m.

And finally tonight at Sweatshop gallery it’s the JT Bonafide T-Shirt Art show with performances by The Filter Kings and The Lupines. It’s free and starts at 8.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) it’s the long-awaited Neutral Milk Hotel show at Sokol Auditorium. This one has been sold out forever. Opening is ’90s indie legends Elf Power. A note for the lucky ones who got tickets: According to the One Percent website, no photography or video recording of any kind is allowed, and that includes cell phones! Start time is 8 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Matt Whipkey and his band play at The Hive. $5, 9 p.m.

Did I forget anything? Put it in the comments section. Have a grand weekend…

* * *

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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.