The 49’r Takes Five
You can’t stop the music at the midtown tavern.

Within the past few years, The 49’r has established itself as one of the city’s more important music venues, hosting a few national acts but mostly concentrating on providing a stage for up-and-coming local bands. It’s arguably the best place to see snarling, hard-ass rock and punk from bands like The Monroes, Anonymous American and Race for Titles.

So when word leaked out a few weeks ago that The Niner was cutting back on live music, it came as a disappointed both to the bands and the fans of those white-knuckle acts.

Rumor and conjecture did abound. Had The 49’r reached the end of the live music business cycle? A cycle that goes something like this: A bar suffers from a lull in business. A few bands that hang around the place ask if they can play some gigs there, and the owner figures why not, it could help drum up some business. More bands are booked and crowds grow like kudzu. Before long, folks start coming out just because they dig the bar, the staff and its jukebox, and before you know it, the live music becomes a nuisance for the regulars who just want to drink in peace. Seeing an opportunity to cut costs, the venue puts an end to the stage show.

That theory, in this case, is only partially correct, says Mark Samuelson, owner of The 49’r. During the height of his nightclub business, Samuelson ran four successful Omaha bars simultaneously: The Partners on 42nd and F, the legendary Howard St. Tavern in the Old Market, its “upstairs bar” called The White Rabbit, and the good ol’ 49’r at 49th & Dodge.

Today only The Niner remains, which Samuelson still operates along with his other businesses, Aksarben Fixture and Supply, an ATM business and some real estate ventures. The degree in which he operates The Niner, however, has changed. Samuelson says he’s somewhat removed from the bar’s day-to-day operations.

“I listen to my help,” he said when asked about the shift in the venue’s live music policy. “I think we got over-saturated, and every band wanted to play here. The staff was hearing that we were doing a little too much music. Now we’re only choosing the best bands that really draw people.”

He pointed out that The Niner’s live music policy differs from the way the Howard St. was run. Back then, Samuelson said he started booking new music acts because blues was such a tough sell. And it didn’t take long for the club to become a national tour stop for tomorrow’s superstars.

“We had the Smashing Pumpkins come in for a $140 guarantee and two vegetarian pizzas,” he said. “It’s crazy to think about that today.”

Unlike the Howard St, The 49’r doesn’t offer guarantees. Instead, bands take home whatever cover charge they can generate. “So if you’re just playing for the door, it doesn’t make sense for the big bands to come here,” he said.

There are exceptions, however, such as when the staff wanted to bring in New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain. “If they have a good idea, I just stay out of the way,” Samuelson said. So far, it’s worked well.

But if anything, The 49r’s biggest draw is its location in the heart of Dundee, or as their matchbooks used to say: “In the middle of everything and no place to park.”

“We’re not in the middle anymore. We’re downtown,” Samuelson said, laughing. “We’re so busy because we have so many people who live close to here. The .08 (drinking) law is really hurting a lot of clubs. No one wants to risk it.”

Better to tie one on at The Niner and safely stumble home then to get behind the wheel of a car.

So does the bar’s already-packed weekends without bands spell the end for The Niner’s live music? Hardly. In fact, Samuelson said the venue will get back into the swing of things later this fall. “It’s gonna pick back up,” he said. “I anticipate doing more than just a couple of shows a month like we’re doing now.”

And really, how could he ever stop? For it was at The 49’r back in the early ’70s that a 15-year-old Samuelson’s own band, Hat Trick, had its first gig. Ironically, the band’s second gig would be at The Howard St. Tavern.

Just placed online a feature/interview with the French-speaking brother-and-sister duo of Eux Autres (read it here). They’re both originally from Omaha and still have family here, which makes their gig tomorrow night at The Goofy Foot a homecoming of sorts. Among the things we talked about that didn’t make it into the story was perceptions and the indie scene. In this case, prejudicial perceptions that arise from Heather Larimer’s past history as a high school cheerleader — talk about about a no-no in the indie world (at least among some people). “I don’t hide it,” she said. “It’s weird, once you get around music people they don’t believe it.” She went on to say the whole cheerleading thing was her mother’s idea, having told her she’d need some sort of extracurricular activity on her transcripts if she wanted to get into college.

It was here that we talked about how some things are acceptable in the indie world and others are shunned… like success. It’s almost uncool to be successful, and certainly bands are almost immediately labeled as “sell outs” if they make the jump to a major label. “I don’t think indie rock has a natural suspicion of success,” Heather said, “but some people reject the idea of success in a preemptive way.”

“That way when someone’s not successful it’s because they don’t want it that way,” said brother Nicholas, suggesting I watch the documentary Dig! for a good example of that concept. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with success. You shouldn’t be embarrassed by what you’re doing.” If I go tomorrow night (and I plan to) it’ll be the first time I’ve had a chance to check out The Goofy Foot. Look for a review of show and the venue Friday morning.

Tonight, however, is movie night at O’Leaver’s, where they’ll be hosting a free screening of Urgh! A Music War. You can read more about the movie in last week’s column, or check out what movie night host Mike Tulis has to say about it here. I’m told by Mr. Tulis that usually only a handful of people come out for the film, which makes for a laid-back vibe. So come on by around 9, sit back, and watch the Gang of Four, XTC and The Cramps do their thing on the plasma screen. See you there.

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Sorry about not updating yesterday. I was busy writing a piece on Eux Autres, which will be online tomorrow, and finishing this week’s column focused on The 49’r, which hits the site on Thursday. At the same time, my e-mail has been getting buried with “reminders” from labels and press agents about the upcoming CMJ festivities as if I could take a week off my job and fly to NYC to cover it for Lazy-i. To be honest, I’d much rather go to CMJ than SXSW, though something tells me the logistics involved in attending CMJ are much more complicated (and expensive). Among the showcases of interest for us Omaha folk:

— Saddle Creek night at CMJ. According to the Creek’s recent e-mailing: “Saddle Creek Night at CMJ will be held at the Bowery Ballroom on Friday, September 16, and feature Orenda Fink, Maria Taylor, Criteria, Two Gallants, and a surprise guest. Tickets will be on sale Aug. 24.” Wonder who the “special guests” will be, considering both Conor Oberst and Tim Kasher are now living in New York? To me, the most interesting part of this is the Fink/Taylor showdown that’s bound to happen on stage. Cat fight! Just kidding. Actually, I wonder if they’ll do a couple songs together. Judging by my interviews with them earlier this year (linked here), the odds of that are almost nil.

— Team Love Records Showcase at The Knitting Factory, Sept. 17. According to Press Here Publicity: “Team Love is a record label started by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, who believes music should be free for all to have it. And oh, what music it is.” The schedule: Mars Black, 6 p.m.; Neva Dinova, 6:50 p.m.; Willy Mason, 7:35 p.m.; Craig Wedren, 8:25 p.m.; David Dondero, 9:15 p.m.; Tilly and the Wall, 10 p.m. Lots of questions surface with this one. Is Neva Dinova on Team Love now? (Not likely). Is Willy Mason performing music again? He quit touring quite a while ago for personal reasons. He supposedly released a new EP, Hard to Lie Down, on Radiate/Virgin Records Aug. 8. His U.S. website, willymason.com, is no longer functioning. And where’s Team Rigge?

— My pick for CMJ if I was going? The Merge Records Showcase at Rotko Sept. 16, featuring Richard Buckner, Tenement Halls, Annie Hayden, Portastic, Crooked Fingers and The Rosebuds. The night before, you could catch The Arcade Fire at the Central Park Summer Stage. Oops… it’s already sold out.

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I had read on one of the sites that The Places were supposed to play, but the name didn’t appear on the O’Leaver’s site. Guess that’s because O’Leaver’s didn’t know they were playing, either. The Places is essentially singer-songwriter Amy Annelle, and for this evening, a guy in a long-sleeved Miller High Life dress shirt accompanying on guitar. (Looking through my online archives, turns out I wrote about The Places back in October 2001, which is further evidence of my growing senility. The story was a preview for a gig at The Junction with Dropless, The Storied Northwest, Fromanhole. I don’t think I went that night). Standing back by the door I tried to catch as much of her set as I could and dug just about everything I heard, which was acoustic indie-folk and her cutting voice singing stories that I only caught in bits and pieces. I should have been playing closer attention. At one point, she added a tape recording of weird sounds to the accompaniment. Someone needs to bring her back again.

Kite Pilot was good, but seemed a little nervous. Turns out they haven’t been able to practice much because they don’t currently have a viable practice space. Maybe this works into their favor as there was a raw, loose quality to their set. New drummer Jeremy Stanosheck seems to be getting more and more into a groove. He has some big shoes to fill replacing Corey Broman — one of the more minimalist-yet-muscular drummers on the scene. Especially considering that Broman plays on Kite Pilot’s just-completed full-length. Stanosheck will do just fine, though I wish he’d hit those drums harder. I almost wish he’d take a “scream therapy” approach and lock himself in a room with his drum kit and try like hell to break the drumheads just to get over the hump. A few of the new Kite Pilot songs are damn intricate and complicated, with numerous time changes and shifts that threw the band a couple times. Stanosheck helped keep it all together admirably. The highlight was their last song, “Far From You, or Light from the Far Unknown,” which also happens to be the last song on the new album. It showcases Erica Petersen’s bouncing, funky bass and Austin Britton’s trippy guitar (especially on the floating mid-song interlude). One more note about their set: Kite Pilot took an inevitable step by not playing the “hit” from their debut EP, “Tree Caught the Kite.” Seems like they’ve moved on, sort of, even though a few people I spoke with afterward were disappointed that they didn’t get to hear it. I was one of them.

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I’m looking at the calendars, folks, and other than tonight, there ain’t much happening musicwise this weekend.

That means there’s no excuse for missing Kite Pilot tonight at O’Leaver’s, with The Trembling and The Atlas. As I type this, I’m listening to Kite Pilot’s yet-to-be-released debut full-length, Mercy Will Close Its Doors, and I’m liking it. I don’t want to get deep into a review right now because it only showed up in my mailbox yesterday, but I will say that it indeed rocks. The Trembling is a girl-voiced garage-tinged indie band from Motor City (hear for yourself). $5, 9:30.

And, uh, that’s looking like about all there is this weekend. The Terminals are rumored to be playing at Shea Riley’s Saturday night (but they’re not listed on the SLAM calendar, so buyer beware).

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Engine Down’s farewell tour pulls into Sokol Underground tonight with Bella Lea. According to enginedown.com: “After a long and prosperous run as a band the four friends have decided to leave Engine Down for the history books. With a good taste in the mouth we decide to enjoy our last tour with friends and family.” Bella Lea is Maura Davis, formerly of Denali, backed by members of Pinebender and Euphone. Both Engine Down’s and Bella Lea’s websites say that Des Ark also is on tonight’s bill, though they’re not listed on the One Percent site. $10, 9 p.m.

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Column 39 — Urgh! O’Leaver’s Music War
Updated venue screens classic ’80s music film.

Sometime around 1980, a handful of eager documentary film makers took up cameras and marched around the globe but not to capture important world events, cataclysmic natural wonders, historic sports daring-do or gripping human drama. Instead, they took a snapshot of a music scene going unnoticed by the unwashed masses too busy rockin’ the paradise and looking for a juke box hero.

The product of their hard work was the documentary Urgh! A Music War, a film that captured the ’80s best New Wave and punk bands flying deep under the musical radar. Combining live performances with documentary-style footage of leather-bound scenesters, the film shows us where today’s post-punk bands got their chops. Included are rare performances by seminal underground heroes Gang of Four, Echo and the Bunnymen, Dead Kennedys, Pere Ubu, X, The Cramps, and Wall of Voodoo alongside FM acts such as The Police, The Go Go’s, Devo, Gary Numan, UB40 and Joan Jett. And finally, there are the forgotten obscurities, such as Au Pairs, Toyah Wilcox, Orchestral Manoeuvres, Oingo Boingo, Chelsea, Klaus Nomi, Steel Pulse, Magazine, Surf Punks, 999, Skafish and Fleshtones. Urgh! captures a total of 34 bands on stages in London, Los Angles, Frejus, San Diego, Portsmouth and New York City.

So why haven’t you heard of this landmark documentary? Probably because it never saw national big-screen release. Urgh! was only briefly available on VHS and was never released on DVD. And although the Sundance Channel aired an abbreviated version a few years ago, Urgh! has been all but forgotten in the annuls of rock history.

Until now.

O’Leaver’s Pub is hosting a screening of the rare, uncut, unavailable in the U.S., 2-hour-plus version of Urgh! A Music War as part of its monthly music movie night Aug. 31. After watching it, you’ll know exactly where modern-day bands like Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes and local acts like Beep Beep and The Faint got some of their best ideas. At the very least, it’s worth it to see where today’s indie hairstyles originated.

It’s also a good a reason to check out all the recent additions at O’Leaver’s, including their new A/V system complete with a 42-inch plasma TV, satellite receiver and an ear-busting PA.

O’Leaver’s owner Sean Conway said the improvements were long overdue. Since he and business partner, Chris Mello, bought the neighborhood bar three years ago, O’Leaver’s has turned into one of city’s most important live music venues, hosting some of the best local bands as well as undiscovered national touring acts. “Undiscovered” because O’Leaver’s has become a sort-of a way station for last-minute gigs by bands that are just passing through. Its size (capacity around 100) makes it too small for the big shows, but a perfect place for below-the-radar acts. It’s also an ideal proving ground for local bands that are just getting started. O’Leaver’s has hosted some of the best shows so far this year, including performances by nationals The Silos, Matson Jones and The Willowz and locals Tim Kasher, Simon Joyner and Ladyfinger.

Despite putting three or four live shows per week (They’ll be celebrating their 300th show this November), the venue still has time to squeeze in movie night. The idea was spawned by O’Leaver’s patron Mike Tulis, a local rock music authority and one of the city’s busiest bass players (The Monroes, The Third Men, Simon Joyner and the Wind-up Birds). Tulis has a large video collection of his own and enjoys getting together with friends to watch the classics. “It’s easier to get people to O’Leaver’s to see a movie than have them come over to my living room,” he said. “Plus you don’t have to stop the film to run out and get more beer.”

Since the series began, O’Leaver’s has screened Rock and Roll Circus, The T.A.M.I. Show, Let It Be, Devo night, Rock and Roll High School and The Girl Can’t Help It. “The nice thing about it is, as we continue doing this, others are pulling out movies that they have and bringing them in,” Tulis said. He said the next step is finding videotapes of local bands from Omaha’s mid-’90s Golden Age to feature as trailers before the movies. Perhaps someone should produce an Omaha version of Urgh! featuring Mousetrap, Mercy Rule, Frontier Trust and Digital Sex?

O’Leaver’s free screening of Urgh! A Music War starts at 9:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 31.

Today is D-Day at Saddle Creek Records. The label is dropping three releases simultaneously — Orenda Fink’s Invisible Ones, Criteria’s When We Break and Broken Spindles’ Inside/Absent. You can read reviews of all three here. Meanwhile, Plexifilms is releasing the Spend An Evening with Saddle Creek DVD today. Methinks the phone will be a-ringing at Creek’s office park address.

A few publications have chimed in already on the new Cursive CD, The Difference Between Houses and Homes (Lost Songs and Loose Ends 1995-2001), which was released a couple weeks ago. Richmond.com like it (see here). Mammoth Press gave it 5 out of 10 (read here). Philly.com gives it a B (here). Punknews.org gives it 2 1/2 stars (at this review). And Pitchfork gave it a 6.3 (right here). I’m still forming an opinion, though I’ve had it in my car for a couple weeks.

Meanwhile, there’s a new Q&A with Criteria at The Springfield News-Leader. One funny exchange: Q: You’ll be here the day (When We Break) comes out, so that’s good timing for us. A: Yeah, there’s maybe four or five people in Springfield who are stoked, I’m sure. (Laughs). Read the whole thing here. Punknews.org gave When We Break 3 1/2 stars, by the way (here), while Mammoth Press gave it a, yikes, 10 out of 10 (here).

Then there’s the Pitch Weekly bash of the new Broken Spindles CD (this one). Here’s a tip to the reviewer: If you’re going to bash the record, you should at least get the name of the person performing the music correct. Who’s Josh Peterson?

Tonight at O’Leaver’s: St. Louis indie rock Riddle of Steel w/ Bill Latham. $5.

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Column deadline impeded today’s update. That said, there is a show worth checking out tonight, at O’Leaver’s of course: Dynamite Club (NYC), Shineyville and Watch the Stereo. According to their site “Dynamite Club was formed 2001 in New York City by two young ‘jazz’ musicians, Kentaro Saito and Mike Pride. Conceived as a ‘Rock Band,’ their avant-grade influenced sound and extraordinary energetic and unique stage performances – involving actual Kung-Fu fighting and wrestling!” How fun is that? Starts at 9:30.

I’m told the Dundee Theater was crowded but not sold out for last night’s screening of Spend an Evening with Saddle Creek. I wasn’t there. There was a sizable crowd at O’Leaver’s for Terminals/Dollyrots — I missed that one, too, so I could get home and write. Damn you deadlines! More tomorrow.

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This is what’s on my radar for this weekend:

Tonight, cover band 57 Chevy plays three sets at O’Leaver’s. Among their members is Ladyfinger frontman Chris Machmuller’s dad. Will Chris take the stage and join the hi-jinx during a set? $5, 9:30.

Tomorrow night: Criteria, The Stay Awake and Facing New York at Sokol Underground. This is the official When We Break CD release show, and I suspect it’ll be somewhat packed despite the 4.8 (out of 10) review that the CD received on Pitchfork, which has quietly become one of the most important indie music news/criticism outlets in the biz, rivaling Magnet. The writer categorizes Criteria as “emo” and goes out of his way to say ‘let’s not debate it, and oh, by the way, post-hardcore is emo.’ Of course he’s wrong on both counts, but to use that reasoning to discount the CD’s value is weak anyway. If he doesn’t like it, he should just say so instead of labeling it something that it clearly isn’t. Oh well. Amazingly only $5, 9 p.m.

Then Sunday night it’s The Terminals and The Dollyrots at O’Leaver’s. The Dollyrots are a Warped Tour power-pop band who, if they don’t pay attention, could get eaten alive by The Terminals, who will be unveiling a three-piece line-up.

Also Sunday night, the screening of the film Spend an Evening with Saddle Creek at the Dundee Theater (see yesterday’s blog entry). 7 and 9 p.m. showings. I assume it’ll be the usual $8 ticket price.