Ladyfinger, circa a few years ago...

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Moving on…

Tonight amidst the tents and madness that is the College World Series, The Slowdown says goodbye to the cover bands and heralds the return to regular programming with the hottest ticket of the weekend: Ladyfinger and Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship. And the best part: the ticket is free. This late show starts at 10 p.m. Hopefully by then the fans will have begun to leave and there will be some parking within a mile of Slowdown…

Also tonight, Bear Stories plays at The Barley Street Tavern with world-famous act TBA. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Up the street at The Waiting Room Rock Paper Dynamite headlines a show with Snake Island, Dim Light and The Decaturs. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, across town at O’Leaver’s, In Love headlines a show with Everyday/Everynight, Field Club and Joe Champion. $5, 9:30 p.m.

And then Saturday…

Ames Iowa band The Envy Corps is used to playing some of Omaha’s larger stages but Saturday night will experience the intimate confines of The Barley Street Tavern when they play with Portland band Sam Adams. $5, 9 p.m.

The Brothers Lounge hosts another live show Saturday night with SoCal band Detox (ex-Locust Locust, Head Wound City, Holy Molar, All Leather, Some Girls, Swing Kids, Le Butcherettes, Cattle Decapitation, Struggle, The Festival of Dead Deer, & the Crimson Curse ) with The Fucking Party. $5, 10 p.m.

Over at The Waiting Room Saturday night it’s Doomtree collective artist Dessa with Aby Wolf and Her Claws & Purveyors of the Conscious Sound. Hip-hop y’all. $8 now/$10 DOS. 9 p.m.

Finally, back down amidst the CWS, Satchel Grande is playing at The Slowdown Saturday night with Funk Trek. It’s another free show at 10 p.m.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This week’s column talks about the marketing behind The Mynabirds’ new album, Generals. Is Laura Burhenn’s New Revolutionists concept the face of modern-day feminism or just a another way to sell records? You can read column in the new issue of The Reader, or online right here.

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Javier Ochoa

I learned this morning via Facebook of the untimely death of Javier Ochoa. A former member of The Get, Blah Buddha and Goodbye, Sunday, the 43-year-old drummer was known more recently for his work in Led Zeppelin tribute band The Song Remains the Same. I only had the privilege of talking with Javier a few times, when we discussed our mutual love of Led Zeppelin and classic rock. But more than anything, I’ll remember him for the way he hit this drums — he was, indeed, a force of nature…

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Tonight at the The Waiting Room it’s the CD release show for The Great American Desert’s (a.k.a. Max Holmquist) new album, Carson City (Yer Bird Records). Joining Holmquist are Millions of Boys, Betsy Wells and Family Picnic. $5, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Darren Keen as The Show Is the Rainbow holds court in Dundee, Aug. 27, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ve been writing about The Show Is the Rainbow (TSITR) and other Darren Keen projects for almost a decade. So when I received an email yesterday announcing the permanent moth-balling of TSITR, written by an obviously frustrated Keen, it was more than a bit of a downer.

In addition to being a creative force, a musical talent and a hard-working mofo, Keen is one of the most polarizing figures in the local music scene. People either enjoy his pulse-rising electronic music and over-the-top performances, or discard him as a Har Mar Superstar rip-off or a no-talent attention getter. There is no in-between.

I’m not going to recap Keen’s entire career — you can read about it yourself by doing a search on “Darren Keen” in the search box on the right of the screen (or just click here

). Suffice to say, Keen’s made a lot of music, released a lot of material and played a lot of shows all over the world. He’s been grinding it out for nearly a decade, but judging by the email, he’s had enough.

Keen said he’s always wanted to be famous, but on his own terms. “At the end of the big tour I did last year supporting my new record Tickled Pink, I knew it just wasn’t going to happen,” Keen wrote. “TSITR had become the kind of band that people ‘LOVED,’ but also were kind of done supporting. They had paid the cover the past few times I had come to town, and the novelty was just gone. The records sold less and less, each year, and crowds just dwindled. I had come full circle, from House Shows to Small Bars to Big Clubs to BIG support tours, to Clubs, Bars, and finally House Shows with lots of days off.”

Keen counted the change in his pockets after his last 45-day tour and discovered that he generated a grand total of $1,500. He said he’s at a point in TSITR where “people just stopped showing up, and stopped buying my records.” Tickled Pink digital sales generated less than $70 as a pay-what-you-want record, while the vinyl version sold about 120 copies, “not even close to enough to pay off the pressing costs.

“I don’t blame people for being ‘over’ TSITR, over my bullshit rockstar attitude, over my shit talking on stage, over my disregard for the ‘touch barrier,’ over buying records that aren’t as good as the live shows, over paying to see live shows that were shocking years ago, and now just feel boring, I really don’t. I used to be able to grab a mic and say ‘I’m the best, coolest motherfucker in this room.’ I said stuff like that, because I meant it, but I just don’t feel that way anymore. I’ve lost my edge, and I don’t know how to get it back. I love you all, and I will still be making music. I never thought I’d break up TSITR, but I suppose, the hardest lesson for a musician to learn is, just because you CAN make a song, doesn’t mean you have to.”

You can read Keen’s entire letter posted at Hear Nebraska.

So the reality of the situation is this: Darren Keen isn’t going to stop making music altogether; he’s just going to stop performing as TSITR and releasing new TSITR material. He’ll continue performing as Bad Speler and Touch People. But as a one-man act, there’s nothing stopping Keen from pulling out TSITR again, right?

“I think I am going to do one more (final) TSITR show,” Keen replied. “I know nothing would stop me from bringing it back in the future, but it’s just not very likely. Touch People and Bad Speler are both finding a stride, and they also sort of have a yin-yang relationship IMO, that TSITR just doesn’t seem to fit into anymore for me…”

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Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Cincinnati glam-rock band Foxy Shazam with Stars in Stereo. $12, note early 8 p.m. start time.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Blue Bird at The Waiting Room, June 16, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Night Pirate, Omaha’s latest mix-and-match post-punk combo, debuted Saturday night at The Barley Street Tavern to a full room. So new is this band that they had lyrics taped to their microphones, having (apparently) just come up with the words. Turns out they didn’t need the cheat sheets as no one could understand what frontman vocalist/guitarist Jason Ludwick (of Bombardment Society fame) was yelling anyway, nor did they care. Theirs isn’t the kind of music that lends itself to intense cerebral examination. Rather, it’s all about angle and rhythm, riffage and beats and where the breaks lie. So yeah, this was as abrasive as anything that these guys have done before. Bassist Tim Feelger of Latitude Longitude pounded it out and even threw in a tasty vocal lead that was a tad closer to actual singing than Ludwick’s Gary Dean Davis-esque bark. Overall, the difference between this and the band members’ other projects were the songs, which more closely resemble something that could reasonably be mistaken for “rock” thanks to the riffage, as brutal as it was. As for drummer Steve Micek (of The Stay Awake), I will simply add that he’s probably the best drummer in Omaha. Will these guys ever play again? Who knows. Hope so.

Kite Pilot followed. Playing as a power trio, they continue to mix in proggy/arty material with the usual proto-punk scorchers, to ill effect. Artists must be artists, I suppose. That said, the band will always be known (and loved) for their five-song pop EP from earlier in the past decade, which they no longer play live (which is a pity). They still managed to roll out a few pop numbers that showcase frontwoman Erica Petersen-Hanton’s kickass guitar and bass chops. It’s called giving the people what they want, and we do want more.

Afterward, it was up the street to Blue Bird’s CD release show at The Waiting Room. Nice crowd of more than 100 were on hand to see this rather large ensemble whose primary focus is frontwoman Marta Fiedler. One guy turned to me and said “What do you think of the Jenny Lewis tribute band?” That description doesn’t necessarily fit, but I can understand why the comment was made, especially when Fiedler and the band strolled through some twangier numbers. Still, with her added C&W lilt, Fiedler has more in common with Loretta than Jenny. She has a good voice, along with two backup singers that know their way around a harmony. The highlight for me didn’t come ’til the end of the set, however, when Fiedler and the band played a couple songs that were less heartland and more rhythm-based, making me wonder what she would sound like if she stepped away from the Americana / C&W stuff and headed toward an indie sound. Just imagine the Jenny Lewis comparisons then…

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There have been rumors the last couple weeks that Morrissey was headed to Nebraska, this time to Lincoln. Today it was announced on his pseudo homesite True To You that he’ll be performing at the Rococo Theater Nov. 1. Having seen Moz play the Orpheum last time through, more than five years ago, I fully endorse this ticket purchase, especially with rumors of his impending retirement (though he’s doused those rumors as wishful thinking from music journalists (but not this one)).

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Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s the return of Maps & Atlases. The band came through last year in support of Perch Patchwork. Now they’re touring their latest release on Barsuk, Beware and Be Grateful. Opening is The Big Sleep and Suns. $12, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

What’s it mean that there are still tickets available to tonight’s Hold Steady show at The Waiting Room? I figured this one would have sold out weeks ago. But maybe we’re seeing a College World Series effect? Or maybe the Hold Steady’s audience is starting to slip… The band hasn’t released a formal full length since 2010’s Heaven Is Whenever

. Meanwhile, frontman Craig Finn released a solo album last year and came through town on a solo date at Slowdown Jr. For whatever reason, I’m more interested in seeing Hold Steady at TWR than Slowdown, maybe because the band will seem less disconnected to the audience (Slowdown’s big stage can seem a mile away some nights). I’ll likely be there… if there are any walk-up tickets left. Opening is gritty Siltbreeze band Mount Carmel, who sounds like a modern-day version of Montrose. Yeah, get there early. $18. 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night is the debut of a brand new Omaha band at The Barley Street (and you know how much I like debut performances). Called Night Pirate, the band is like a supergroup of O’Leaver’s veterans. The line-up: Tim Feelger (Latitude Longitude) on bass; Steve Micek (The Stay Awake) on drums, and frontman Jason Ludwick (Bombardment Society) guitar and vocals. Did I say supergroup? I meant super-duper group.  The band is opening for We Live in Sod Houses and headliner Kite Pilot, so you have

to get there early early early. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, just up the street at The Waiting Room Saturday night is the Blue Bird album release party. Bone up on your Blue Bird knowledge prior to the show by listening to a stream of the entire album at bluebirdlovesyou.com. Also on the bill: Skypiper, Lonely Estates and The Big Deep. Your $7 cover will also get you a copy download of the Blue Bird disc. Show starts at 9.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I almost didn’t post an update today, like I didn’t post an update on Tuesday, and the reason — there just ain’t that much going on. There are a few good shows on the horizon (The Hold Steady tomorrow; Blue Bird on Saturday), but as a whole, we’re in a down time that will only get downer as the College World Series launches today at “The Trade” (A more lame-ass nickname I could not devise. Thank you, OWH…).

Unless you’re into the college sports scene (and I’m not), it’s a pretty dull event. Even duller is the array of “entertainment” going on in and around the tents surrounding the ball park. Bad blues acts and cover bands. Lots of overpriced booze. Heat, humidity and the overpowering stench of cooking port-o-johns and B.O. What it means to me — avoid downtown for the next two weeks. Unfortunately, I work downtown, so it can’t be avoided.

Anyway…  if you got music news or a show tonight that you want to mention, post it in the comments. I’m not seeing anything on my radar for tonight, unless you’re into emo/punk-pop (Bayside at TWR)…

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By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Dave Dondero is making the rounds in Omaha today and tonight. He’s playing a free instore at the Saddle Creek Shop today at 2 p.m. with Kelly King & the Radio Sweethearts and Bobby Rubalcava. Then tonight, Dondero will be playing at The Sydney with Simon Joyner and Mechanical River. That show is $10 and starts at 9.  The shows are brought to you by Slow Burn Productions, a new (or at least new to me) production company that is bringing indie and punk shows to a number of venues in town, including The Sandbox, The Brothers, The Sydney and Sokol Underground. Judging by their Facebook page, they have a connection with Black Heart Booking..

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The Mynabirds at The Slowdown, June 8, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

So maybe you were right giving me shit about my warnings of Mynabirds’ CD release show selling out. It didn’t, though there were at least 400 people there for Friday night’s show. OK, maybe I was hyping. So what. If you were there, you probably had a good time.

Laura Burhenn came out with her signature dead fox head gear, stood on her box and belted out about an hour’s worth of new and old material. I thought I’d hear at least a little political diatribe to coincide with her album’s perceived political themes (more on that later), but instead Burhenn stayed focused on the music, and wishing Slowdown a happy 5th birthday.

And I have to admit, her new record is beginning to grow on me, which is good since I apparently am the only one in America who wasn’t bowled over by it on first listen. The upbeat numbers (like “Body of Work”) are  fun, but it’s the slower, tonal pieces, such as “Mightier Than the Sword,” that are the real show stoppers.

Whereas most of the her backing band are competent-though-faceless musicians, Burhenn is blessed with an amazing drummer. I have no idea who she is, but her big, dynamic, throaty sound stands out above everything (but Burhenn’s vocals, of course).

My only disappointment was with her set structure — it was as if Burhenn figured out the set list about five minutes before the show. Or maybe I’m just hypercritical about these things, but a good set list is like a great DJ set — it rises and falls, each song blending naturally into the other like perfect transitions in a seamless story taking you for a ride that culminates in a big finish. It’s about dynamics. Burhenn instead merely plays the songs, one after another with little interest in transition. Even the set ender and prerequisite leave-the-stage-followed-by-the-encore moment was more awkward than usual.

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Jake Bellows & Co. at The Slowdown, June 8, 2012.

I caught the last half of Jake Bellows and his unnamed band (I call them “Jake Bellows and the Dying Embers”… think about it). Where Jake solo is interesting, it also can be boring. With a band backing him, Jake’s songs are given new life, new dynamics, new muscle. I understand that this particular collaboration of musicians may never play together again, which is a pity. That shouldn’t stop Bellows from surrounding himself with players for future shows.

Under Water Dream Machine at The Sydney, as part of the OEAA Summer Showcase, June 9, 2012.

Saturday night was Day 2 of the Omaha Arts and Entertainment Awards Summer Showcase in Benson, and yes it was fun but scheduling issues also made for disappointments. The first act I saw was 20 minutes late to start. The second act was more than a half-hour late. That meant missing a band that I otherwise would have caught. But I guess those things are to be expected when you’re juggling five venues and around 30 bands.

Touch People at The Barley Street, OEA Summer Showcase, June 9, 2012.

Highlights of the evening were Under Water Dream Machine at The Sydney and, of course, Touch People at The Barley Street Tavern. UWDM was backed by two musicians, giving his songs the backing meat they need to work on stage. Bret Vovk has a perfect stage voice on songs that feel like upbeat Simon and Garfunkel pop folk. Keep an eye on him. Touch People a.k.a. Darren Keen’s frenetic electronic music is both throbbing and jittery, chaotic and groovy, with the added attraction of Keen’s unique brand of humor. It’s impossible to not be entertained.

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Robb Nansel, left, and Jason Kulbel stand in front of Slowdown waaay back in June 2007.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The weekend’s hottest ticket is The Mynabirds CD release show tonight at The Slowdown. Joining Laura Burhenn and Co. are Jake Bellows and Honeybee & Hers. And it’s also Slowdown’s fifth birthday. Has it really been five years since Jason and Robb opened the doors to this esteemed club? I guess it has been.

It’s fun to reread this article

and see how far the bar has come since opening day. But in all honesty, not much has changed. The club is still primarily a music-themed bar (Though its Science Cafe and Pub Quiz nights have become popular). It beat the rest of Omaha to the punch as a smoke-free facility (Can you even remember what it was like to smoke in a bar?). Dan Brennan and Val Nelson are still there (Well, Dan’s there when he isn’t on the road doing sound for Cursive or another big-name national act). There are still no TVs in the bar (Except, of course, for College World Series weeks and other major sporting events, such as Husker Saturdays). And it’s still all-ages (As long as you have a note from your parents). Slowdown is recognized as one of the best live music venues in the Midwest, hosting some of the best touring indie bands in the country. We’re lucky to have it here in Omaha.

Slowdown’s birthday celebration continues tomorrow night in Slowdown Jr. (i.e., the front room) with Howard, Lightning Bug and Family Picnic. Cover is $5 both nights, and both shows have the usual 9 p.m. start time. Drop down and help the Slowdown crew blow out the candles.

The Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards (OEAA) Summer Showcase (oddly named, as summer doesn’t start for a couple more weeks) also is happening tonight and tomorrow. Showcases are being held throughout Benson at The Sydney, The Waiting Room, The Barley Street Tavern and the DP Muller Photography Studio, 6066 Maple St. (one of Saddle Creek Records’ former HQ locations). Tomorrow night PS Collective also is participating. The full band schedule is here. A one-day pass gets you into all the clubs for $10; a two-day pass is $15. As in years past, attendees will be able to vote for their favorite band, and the band with the most votes gets to open the local stage at this year’s Maha Music Festival. Always a good time.

Celebrating nothing but the ability to continue to pour alcohol down people’s throats is O’Leaver’s, who tonight is hosting Snake Island with Across Tundras and Dim Light. Snake Island has been showing off their boss new band T-shirts on Facebook. I might have to swing down there to buy one. $5, 9:30 p.m. This show has been CANCELLED.

Saturday night, Millions of Boys is playing at Studio Gallery, 50th and Dodge, with Jewel Beast, a new band comprised of members from InDreama, Human Pudding, New Lungs, Kathleen Turner Overdrive, and Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship. Also on the bill is Ian Douglas Terry. 9 p.m., $5, 21+, BYOB, more info here.

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Still from The Mynabirds' new Love Drunk video for "Buffalo Flower."

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As the world goes crazy for The Mynabirds, Love Drunk and Hear Nebraska today posted a new video for the song “Buffalo Flower.” You can view the video, which was shot in a Dundee basement, right here.

There’s already rumbling that tomorrow night’s Mynabirds’ CD release show (which also is a 5-year anniversary show for The Slowdown) could sell out, especially at the “Nice Price” of just $5. Better get your tickets now

.

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The Mynabirds isn’t the only female-fronted local band with new music. Fronted by signer/songwriter Marta Fiedler, Blue Bird began streaming its entire debut via Spotify yesterday. You can listen from the band’s website, bluebirdlovesyou.com (but you have to have Spotify). Blue Bird’s album release show is June 16 at The Waiting Room.

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Tonight’s Icky Blossoms/Dead Wave show at The Sydney was originally supposed to be a pseudo “secret show,” that was only going to be promoted via word of mouth. But apparently someone spilled the beans, and word of the show began filtering through the internet on via Facebook yesterday evening. Sounds like Howard now also is on the bill. This one could get crowded. 9 p.m., $5.

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