You know you’ve just seen a great band when you forgot to pay attention to them in a journalistic sort of way and just LISTENED to them. Such was the case last night for NOMO at O’Leaver’s. Seven people on “stage” (I know I reported that they’re a 10-piece — hey, that’s what Warn Defever told me) including a bari and tenor sax, two trumpets, two percussionists, a bass player and keyboards (I didn’t see/hear a guitar). I don’t know a thing about “afro-beat” music. I do know that I dug what I heard last night — intricate horn charts played over intricate rhythms that pulsed with a dirty global beat. Think Fear of Music through Speaking in Tongues-era Talking Heads, then add plenty of funky brass. The guy next to me mentioned Fela Kuti, who I will now have to research further. To say it was celebratory would be an understatement — O’Leaver’s glowed. Though the horn lines were well-charted, there was plenty of room for the saxophones to stray into freeform improvs. They ended their set playing a song while parading through the bar, ending up in a chanting circle right in front of where I sat by the door. There was a sense that we were seeing and hearing something special that we never seem to see and hear around these parts, and should more often.

Three NOMOs joined Warn Defever and Andy FM for His Name Is Alive (including the tenor sax player who set his horn down to play keyboards). How do you follow that sort of organic, exuberant explosion of a performance? You showcase Defever’s white-knuckle guitar work. His style that spanned everything from metal to acid rock to avant gard to drone. For obvious reasons the music didn’t have as much of an hypnotic effect on the 100 or so on hand as NOMO had. Still, a great set, a diversion from the usual indie-rock schtick and something that we rarely get to see in Omaha.

Tonight, again at O’Leaver’s, The Protoculture with Lincoln’s Her Flyaway Manner. I’ve been told by Protoculture drummer/vocalist Koly Walter that the band has worked up a version of “My New Laugh,” my favorite of their repertoire that they didn’t perform at their comeback show last March. Again, the chorus: “My new laugh / My new laugh/ My new laugh / My new laugh / MY NEW LAUGH WILL KILL YOUR SMILE.” Be there. 9:30, $5.

Also tonight, Mal Madrigal is playing at The Pizza Shoppe (which is now called PS Collective). $5, 9 p.m. Meanwhile, at The 49’r, it’s The Diplomats of Solid Sound, The Bent Scepters and Springhill Mine Disaster. No idea on price. They usually get things rolling at around 10 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Column 80: Special Delivery
A peek inside the ol’ mailbag.

Believe it or not, The Reader does get letters. They just don’t print them. I have no idea why. I’m sure they have their reasons that involve “ad space” or “page count” or some inconvenience involving the phases of the moon. That said, in these days of the interweb, the fact that someone has gone to the trouble to sit down and compose a comment in response to something published in your paper deserves not only acknowledgment but proper presentation in those pages. It’s called giving your readers a voice.

Readers like a local celebrity of old, responding to the May 11 column about how “vintage” music has taken over the airwaves:

… As someone maybe 10 years older than you, let me assure you that Styx, Foreigner and the 70s incarnation of Steve Miller sucked then, suck now, and will still suck 30 years from now. Boston — not so bad.

Meanwhile, I agree completely with your premise. Let me add this for your consideration: Radio is ruining memory, sucking the sweetness out of nostalgia. In c. 1979, if I heard “Windy” by the Association, it took me back to high school, reminded me of the friends I hung out with at the pool that summer, put me in a specific place and time. And it was bittersweet because it took me directly from age 30 to age 17, skipping the intervening years in a sort of “time travel for the emotions.” But now when I hear Windy, it reminds me merely of when I heard it last week. Or maybe the week before, or the week before that, or …

Come to think of it, maybe you can’t share my regret at this turn of events, since there never was a temporal gap between spins of “More Than A Feeling” and the like — it’s been played every week since its release.

Your points about the fragmentation of today’s music audience are also true. Do you know that the fragmentation was deliberate, brought about by consultants, radio stations and (of course) advertisers? Anyway, one upshot is that these kids will never have the bittersweet experience of a shared nostalgic moment.

Not the most pressing problem in the world, I know. Just kind of a little sweetener that isn’t available any more.

Signed: D.D. Doomey

“DD” as in Diver Dan as in half of the team of Otis XII and Diver Dan Doomey that owned local morning radio on Z-92 when I was a tot growing up in Omaha (and later, Ft. Calhoun). I won’t wax nostalgic about Space Commander Wack (and Stupid Larry) or Lance Stallion Radio Detective other than to say Otis and Diver’s unbridled creativity hasn’t been heard on local radio since they left it sometime in the ’90s, unless you consider misinformed, opinionated blather and fart jokes “creativity.” Some do. Actually, most do, judging by the Arbitron numbers.

Reader Robin Tills also wrote in about radio’s nostalgia boom: “I am not a musician, but I wonder since there are only so many musical notes to write from, and a lot of great songs have already been written and sung from groups like Journey, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Boston, John Cougar, Cheap Trick, Survivor, and on and on, it’s gotta be hard to come up with something new. … I don’t know if today’s musicians really make an honest commitment to create great music…”

The problem isn’t that today’s music isn’t as good, the problem is that the good music isn’t getting heard. Tooling ’round town the other day with my iPod, Low’s “California,” Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins’ “Rise Up with Fists!!” and Sufjan Stevens’ “Jacksonville” came up on the shuffle back-to-back-to-back and I thought to myself all of these songs could be hits as big as any hit from the ’70s or ’80s if they only got picked up by Clear Channel or whatever music conglomerate owns the radio waves, because, folks, we certainly don’t own them anymore. Judging from D.D.’s comments, maybe we never did.

Omahan Ed Perini commented on the May 25 column about wearing hearing protection at rock shows: “…I agree that the myth that wearing earplugs ‘ruins the experience’ is ridiculous. In fact, I have found that wearing them cuts out a lot of the distortion, and eliminates some of the background noise – like, say, people who insist on talking loudly while a band is playing.”

They also protect from people who insist on talking — or rather screaming — at you during the set. Conversations like: “WANT ANOTHER BEER?” “WHAT?” “I SAID DO. YOU. WANT. ANOTHER. BEER?” “WHAT?”… Full throttle, directly into the ol’ ear canal. Much more damaging than that guitar solo you just missed. And completely unintelligible unless you’re wearing ear plugs. Just sayin’, do yourself a favor.

Keep those cards and letters coming, folks.

“Sometimes you just wake up and say, ‘What are we doing playing in a sports bar?'”

It’s a good question coming from a band that has played in such regal locations as a 500-year-old Buddhist temple in Osaka, a 19th century synagogue on the lower east side of New York City and countless historic venues throughout the United States, Europe and the world.

One can only wonder what Warn Defever, the mastermind behind His Name Is Alive, will think of the beer-stenched confines of O’Leaver’s Pub. Weeks into the band’s first headlining U.S. tour in 10 years, he’s already devised his own, personal ritual for exorcising demons from less-than-hallowed performance spaces.

“Some bars have a vibe that comes from people drinking there for years. Just the smell of the place, it’s not the most spiritual of environments,” Defever said via cell on the road somewhere between San Francisco and Seattle. “We used to play a song at the beginning of our set to cleanse the room of evil spirits and get everyone on the right page. Then last night I realized — where did those bad spirits go? They went to the next bar down the street.” (continued)

I’m told that The Cardinal Sin didn’t make it to O’Leaver’s last night. Something about one of the guys in the band “throwing out his back,” according to the show’s promoter. Just how old are these guys that they’re already suffering from back problems? Apparently Jaeger Fight made it, so the night was salvaged. I didn’t go. Nor will I be attending tonight’s festivities at O’Leaver’s: A Utah band with the unfortunate name of TaughtMe, along with Justin Lamoureaux’s Midwest Dilemma and the always interesting Kyle Harvey. $4, 9 p.m. There are more details about this show here on the webboard.

One other item: This Bright Eyes article is making the rounds up in the Great White North where boy wonder will be playing a string of shows leading to his Memorial Park gig a week from Friday. His Dylan comparisons = lazy journalism comment is old hat. He’s right about Canadians being more laid back — they clearly are, in my experience. Smarter and kinder as well. Based on this piece, I assume that he’ll also pass on playing “When the President Talks to God” when he makes it back. Quote of the article: “I don’t see the record being as homogenized as the last two were.” Homogenized? So does that mean he’s going back to low-fi? Not likely.

Look for the His Name Is Alive piece bright and early tomorrow morning.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I went to a total of no shows last weekend (If anyone wants to chime in on the Tilly show, please do so right here). That’ll all change this week. In fact, having not stepped foot in O’Leaver’s in a while, it looks like I could be spending a lot of time there in the next few days, perhaps starting tonight with Jaeger Fight (featuring The Reader‘s managing editor Andy Norman on bass) and Minneapolis’ The Cardinal Sin.

I’m going to stupidly give you an early head’s up about Thursday’s His Name Is Alive/NOMO show. Stupid, because it could well be one of the best shows of the year, and me telling you this will only make it more unbearably packed in tiny O’Leaver’s. NOMO is a 10-piece afro-beat band that is, in a word, amazing. The new His Name Is Alive CD, Detrola, is on heavy rotation on my iPod as I type this. This one would have been nice to see at Sokol Underground. Look for a feature/interview with HNIA’s Warn Defever online here Wednesday.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Tonight at Sokol Underground, Tilly and the Wall with Dave Dondero. The $5 show is SOLD OUT. Tilly keyboardist Nick White said their staging might have a “tropical theme” complete with flower leis. Fun! Speaking of Tilly, did anyone see this item in yesterday’s Des Moines Register about the band’s upcoming marriage? I didn’t even know Jamie and Derek were dating. When is Of Montreal just going to throw up their hands and move to Omaha? Seems like they play here or in Lincoln about six months.

Also tonight, the return of Charlie Burton to the Omaha stage at Mick’s. The show is supposed to be a “CD release party,” except that I’m told there won’t be any CDs on hand to release. Maybe FedEx will come through in time. Take a trip down memory lane and read this 1998 interview I did with Charlie when he was still living in Austin. $5, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night is Anonymous American with Scott Severin and Virgasound at Sokol Underground. $7, 9 p.m. And that’s it for the weekend, folks. Get out and enjoy the weather.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Column 79: Flyover Country
Will cheapskates kill our scene?

I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day about a show at one of our many fine establishments taking place that very evening. Never mind which show or where it was — doesn’t matter. What does matter is that this person loved the band and had for years. You going tonight? “No,” he said, “I like the band and all, but sheesh, $12? That’s way too much.”

Twelve dollars too much to see a band that this guy goes on and on about all the time? It’s the cost of a movie and a fizzy drink at your local Cineplex, about a third of what it costs to fill up your car and the amount you wouldn’t think twice about paying for a good CD. Twelve dollars — the price to see not one, but three bands, including a touring national act whose videos have aired on MTV, perform live for your enjoyment for one night only.

Well, let me let you in on a little secret, folks: Quality national bands are starting to pass Omaha by. That’s nothing new, but in the past year or so, it’s started to become more and more commonplace… again. Why? Because Omaha is known as a cheap-ass town when it comes to ticket prices, at least as far as mid-tier indie acts are concerned.

We’ve had it good here for so long that we’ve forgotten what it was like before Omaha became ground zero for the burgeoning national indie scene a few years ago. There now is an entire generation of concertgoers who don’t know what it’s like to have to drive to Lawrence or Denver or Minneapolis to see their favorite indie bands. Whether it was because of Saddle Creek Records or the tenacity of the two or three local promoters who keep the circus in town, Omaha became a destination spot for indie rock tours — no longer a gas-and-go drive-through city.

Well, things have changed. Bands that made Omaha a tour stop over the past few years aren’t so eager to make the stop again. Why should they when the night before they sold out a venue twice the size of Sokol for a ticket that cost twice as much? Suddenly taking a day off instead of playing here is looking a whole lot better.

I talked about the issue with a number of promoters last week. Some say I’m full of poo-poo. That Omaha ain’t New York or LA and that prices should be lower here. But others say it is a problem, and gave specifics. No one wanted to be quoted for fear of making their patrons sound like cheap-jack hustlers.

Regardless, look at the facts: When Gomez, one of the more popular indie bands with a broad age demographic, played here last month, they did it for the lowest ticket price of their entire tour — $15. Most of their gigs were in the $20 range, and their show at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium was $25… and sold out. The Omaha show only drew around 300. Wonder if they’ll stop by here again.

It’s not entirely our fault that we’ve become spoiled. Take the Saddle Creek/Team Love bands, for instance. The Faint and Bright Eyes charge twice as much for shows in other cities than they do here. Friday’s Tilly and the Wall show is only $5. Tilly’s charging $12 the following night in Des Moines. These bands play on the cheap because they feel indebted to the town that gave them their start. Nothing wrong with that, except that we’ve come to expect it, while the rest of the country is paying the going rate.

Is it just an indie thing? Sounds like it, when dinosaur acts at the Qwest Center sell out $100+ shows in less than an hour, and craphole (or kraphole) bands like Kottonmouth Kings have no problem drawing their usual head-banging crowd at $34 a pop. Suddenly $12 to $15 doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

But apparently it is. Omaha’s sweet spot when it comes to indie shows has always been $8 to $10. Once you get in the teens, it becomes a crap shoot for the promoters. Yet most mid-tier indie bands are now demanding at least that much to make it worth their time. The ones that do play here leave angry because they’ve made half as much as they did the night before, at a show that sold out.

It comes down to this: Ticket prices are going up eventually. Say bye-bye to the under-$10 show except for nights that feature “experimental,” up-and-coming local or unknown acts. The $12 to $15 (and $20 to $25) ticket looms large on the horizon. And if you want to keep your favorite indie bands coming here, you better show up and lay it out. If you pay it, they will come. If you don’t…

Tell me about being on Team Love. Did Conor have to sign off on the record before it was released?

We really wanted him more involved in the whole recording and production part of it. He didn’t get a chance to hear it until it was mostly finished. We sent him 12 songs that we recorded and started thinking about track order. That was a collaboration between Nate and Conor, and then we sat down as a band and discussed it. That was most of what he did. It would have liked him to have had a bigger role.

So how has it been being on Team love?

We couldn’t be happier. We have so much freedom to do what we want. We’ve been so lucky with him just starting a label. The press release will say that this is the second Tilly album on Conor Oberst’s label. It’s nice to be aligned with him. A lot of his bands really trust in his vision.

What was it like working with AJ Mogis in the studio?

He’s great. He’s good at micing stuff to make it sound really interesting and clean. He finds the exact sound you want. And he has a thing where he won’t tell you which take is best, but will do more takes if you’re willing. It was on our heads to decide if we needed another. It’s obviously has better sound quality than the debut because we did this one in a studio.

I heard you moved to LA, true?

I moved out in January but haven’t been there very much. I’ve been back a week before we left to tour Europe and play South by Southwest.

Why the move?

I have a couple friends there. I love the weather. LA’s got a bad rep. I wanted something … maybe just bigger and a little dirtier than Omaha. I love Omaha for sure. I’ve been here four and a half years. I’m from Atlanta. It’s funny to say this, but there’s so much stuff to walk to from my house — there’s a grocery store right across the street. I only drive on the freeway when people out of town come in and visit.

How do you get pumped up before shows?

It’s always so much fun just to perform. We feed off the audience energy. The five of us in a row on stage, it’s like a team vibe. It’s important to us that people have a good time at our shows.

One of the most enjoyable nights I’ve had at O’Leaver’s in a long time, could you ask for a more diverse bill? Isn’t this what all shows should be like? Probably. Maybe. Definitely.

First up was An Iris Pattern fronted by Omaha’s own man of mystery and intrigue Greg Loftis looking like the spitting image of Jeff Tweedy, surrounding himself with some of the better talent in the city, judging from what I heard. James McMann on bass is no slouch, whether you like GTO or not, you cannot deny that this guy has some amazing chops. I don’t know who the other guys were, but all were solid, especially the band’s lead guitarist, who clearly understands the right way to play an arena-style rock guitar solo. Iris Pattern is just that — an arena-rock band that would have felt right at home at the Civic Auditorium in the ’70s. The guy next to me compared them to Billy Thorpe, and in fact, Loftis’ voice has a similar timbre. Another guy was reminded of early Gram Parsons. I couldn’t put my finger on who they sounded like, but can tell you that live they’re much harder than what can be heard on the recordings posted at their myspace site. The sound mix was uneven and disappointing, mainly because these guys seem engineered for a larger stage (though the headliners, who have a similar trait, sounded perfect). Someone get them down to Sokol Underground.

Though it’s been almost a year since they played live, The Monroes have not lost an ounce of their rural-fied energy. Classic heartland tractor-punk at it’s finest. If you’ve never heard them before, their rural punk sound is driven mercilessly by Lincoln Dickison’s guitar, which sounds like a chainsaw cutting a Hot Rod Lincoln in half. Keeping Dickison from going completely unhinged is the rhythm section of drummer Jesse Render and bassist Mike Tulis. Render’s drums are rat-a-tat-tatty, understated and subtle. I tried to imagine what Render and these guys would sound like behind a big, throaty, hammering drum set and realized it would throw everything out of whack. Translated: leave it alone, it’s just right. Tulis’ role is just as important as it is understated. Listen closely and you realize he’s the guy driving the tractor. Then there’s frontman Gary Dean Davis, who looks exactly like he did more than a decade ago when he was fronting Frontier Trust, the band that The Monroes most resemble. Gary’s hog-calling, atonal yell — barking out lines about Impalas and the hook-and-ladder formation — speaks for the everyman in every Nebraskan whose ever navigated the state’s washboard-ladden dirt roads. Highlight of their set was a new yet-to-be-recorded tune that shows Render at his rat-a-tat-tattiest. If you missed them last night, The Monroes are playing a Speed! Nebraska Records showcase down at Sokol Underground June 30 with Ideal Cleaners and Diplomats of Solid Sound.

Finally, taking the stage in all their theatrical glory were Oklahoma City’s The Stock Market Crash. People who’d seen them before warned me that I should have worn sunglasses because these guys like to shoot flood lights into the crowd a la The Faint and a dozen other dance bands. Frontman Matthew Bacon looked like he just walked out of a late ’80s Duran Duran video with a get-up that included a Russian sailor’s shirt, jacket, Clockwork Orange bowler, tight slacks and eyeliner. The style didn’t stop with the costume, Bacon had all the moves you’d expect from any British pop band that you remember from the early days of MTV’s 120 Minutes (who remember ABC?). The whole thing would be a joke if the band wasn’t so damn good. They were as close to authentic as you’re going to find, emulating bands like Psychedelic Furs and Morrissey, though at the end of the day, Bacon reminded me of an energetic Jarvis Cocker from Pulp channeling Bowie and Julian Cope. Yes, there were flood lights, as well as stage smoke and strobes, lighting up Bacon as he darted into the crowd and leaned into frightened, confused patrons. Fun!

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Briefly, here’s what’s happening this weekend show-wise:

At the top of the order are The Monroes with Stockmarket Crash and An Iris Pattern at O’Leaver’s. This is a comeback of sorts for The Monroes, who haven’t played live in quite a while. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Two Gallants are doing a one-of-a-kind acoustic set at Mick’s in Benson. It may be the only time you’ll get to see the duo take this approach to their usually blazing sea-shanty ballads. That said, playing unplugged should be an easy transition for these folky guys. With Drakkar Sauna. $8, 9 p.m.

Saturday night at Sokol Underground boasts the return of The Cuterthans after a four-year absence. Did I say Cuterthans? I guess they’re actually going by the name Skull Fight!, which is less interesting than the original name. “The Cuterthans (err.. Skull Fight!, as the audience will find out that night) have got pieces of the Carsinogents, Viagrasound (Virgasound) , The Fonzies, and Roarbot all balled up into one,” said cuter than a skull fighter Jason Steady, who also promises that the band will be offering free root beer at the show. How can you beat that? Also on the bill are Straight Outta Junior High, Treaty of Paris and VKS, a band that Steady says is “a bunch of high school-aged kids playing ska. That’s right, SKA. Just when you thought it was long gone, here come the youngsters.” $7, 8 p.m.

Sunday night is a busy one, what with everyone having the next day off and all. Down at O’Leaver’s it’s The Third Men opening for Oakley Hall, a band that Conor Oberst name-checked in his interview in this week’s issue of The City Weekly, which should guarantee the place will be crawling with slackerly indie kids. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, downtown at Sokol Underground, Rhymesayers member DJ Abilities will be on the turntable and the mic. $10, 9 p.m.

And if you’re in Lincoln, you’ll want to check out Saddle Creek Records artist Ladyfinger with Them Vs. Them and the incomparable Virgasound at Duffy’s. $5, 9:30 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—