Tonight marks my first visit to the new Astro Theater in La Vista.
The venue actually opened last December, but tonight’s show – headlined by The Psychedelic Furs and The Jesus and Mary Chain — is the first concert that caught my attention enough to buy a pair of tickets.
I can’t imagine shedding any shrewd, technicolor observations on either band’s performance. Instead, look for detailed reporting and an assessment of “my Astro experience” in tomorrow’s blog (with photos!).
Looking over last night’s set lists from both bands’ gigs at the Stifel Theatre in St. Louis (here’s Psych Furs, here’s JAMC), expect a mostly “greatest hits” set, especially from the Furs. JAMC don’t have nearly as many popular/well-known songs, and are kind of a weird choice for this tour. A lot of the Furs’ fans are going to get bored and anxious waiting for their heroes. That said, I saw JAMC over a decade ago at South By Southwest and they were intense.
Frankie Rose opens tonight’s show at 7 p.m. Her claim to fame is as a member of the bands Vivian Girls, Crystal Stills and most recently Dum Dum Girls. Her latest album, Love as Projection, was released by Slumberland Records in 2023.
Tickets are still available, ranging in price from $59 to $99. See you there…
A common questions being bandied about by indie music fans this weekend: Which Cursive show are you going to?
Omaha legends Cursive are playing two shows – tonight and tomorrow night — at The Waiting Room in support of their new album, Devourer (2024, Run for Cover), which is (imho) their best album since 2009’s Mama, I’m Swollen. Full review here.
Playing both nights are tour mates, Philly post-punk band Gladie, whose last full-length, Don’t Know What You’re in Until You’re Out, was released in 2022 on Plum Records. The four-piece is led by ex-Cayetana member Augusta Koch and includes Pat Conaboy (ex-Spirit of the Beehive). Definitely worth getting there early.
Tonight (Friday), Little Brazil has the honors of opening the show. For Saturday night, that honor falls on Criteria, who I’m told will be trying out a handful of new songs during their set (along with their usual greatest hits).
Both shows start at 8 p.m. and will run you $30. Neither has sold out as of this writing. Choose wisely, or better yet – go to both!
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Other than those Cursive shows, there ain’t a shit-ton going on tonight or tomorrow, though Saturday, Indiana alt-rock band Houndmouth plays Slowdown’s main room. They’re big festival draws (or so I’m told) and this one’s already sold out. 8 p.m.
Ah, but Sunday night, Los Angeles band Color Green plays at Grapefruit Records. One of the band’s two core members – Noah Kohll – is a post-Omaha veteran of the Antiquarium/Almost Music/Grapefruit Records scene. They played a knockout gig at Reverb this past March.
Opening for Color Green Sunday night is Simon Joyner, whose new band, Simon Joyner and The Bells, includes some very familiar names: James Maakstad, Sean Pratt, Margot Erlandson and Tanner Rogerson.
Joyner’s new album, Coyote Butterfly, which drops Nov. 22, is his first collection of new material in two years. He’ll be playing a couple dates in Arizona and LA in November before he heads to Europe for a tour in 2025. Here’s a chance to get a sneak preview of the new album (and band). 7 p.m., $10.
Also Sunday night, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy Is headlining at The Admiral with Elizabeth Moen. $40-$75. This is a seated show and starts at 7:30.
One last show of note: Singer/songwriter Taylor Hollingsworth, who you might remember from Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, is in town recording the new Las Cruxes album at ARC. He’s taking some time away from the knobs to play a show Sunday night at Pageturners Lounge. Jack McLaughlin opens this FREE show at 8 p.m.
And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.
Superchunk plays tonight at The Waiting Room, and it’s not their first Omaha appearance. Like I said in this 2010 interview with guitarist Jim Wilbur written in support of their 2010 appearance at The Maha Music Festival, anyone who grew up loving college rock in the ’90s has a Superchunk album in his/her collection. My first was 1993’s On the Mouth, whose opening track, “Precision Auto,” with its chugging guitar, crash-bash rhythms and barked out lines: “Do not pass me just to slow down / I can move right through you,” fueled way too many reckless two-lane passes in my ’78 Ford Fiesta.
In the article, Wilbur talked about the band’s history and future and even provided some “Wilbur Wisdom” about touring, technology and having never played Omaha up to then. Back then, the band was on the road in support of Majesty Shredding – at the time, their first album in nine years.
For this go-’round, Superchunk is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Foolish, and tonight will perform a set peppered with favorites from the classic 1994 LP.
That said, the band hasn’t been sitting on their asses for the past 30 years. This past January, Superchunk released the “Everybody Dies” b/w “As in a Blender” 7-inch, followed hot on the heels of last year’s Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-sides & Strays 2007–2023.
When they played at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall Tuesday night, Superchunk performed a 16-song set with five encores. Check out that setlist here. Tonight’s opening band, Merge label mates Quivers, hails from Melbourne, Australia, and dropped their latest album, Oyster Cuts, this past August. $30, 8 p.m. and surprisingly not sold out… yet.
Picking through some newsy bits I missed in the in-box:
The Fizzle Like a Flood Kickstarter campaign for the new album, Black Walls (which I wrote about here), met its fundraising goal in just 15 days – impressive. The campaign continues through the end of the month, however, so go there and check out the rewards and/or order your copy of the new album.
I’ve always liked Kickstarter as a pre-sales program, though it must be a pain in the ass for the artists who have to do fulfillments!
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Yesterday Neva Dinova, the project from post-Omaha singer/songwriter Jake Bellows, announced a 6-date West Coast tour for December. The band’s latest, Canary (2024, Saddle Creek), stood at No. 154 on the latest College Radio Charts. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you really should. It’s their best album to date (imho).
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What other notable albums are on the latest College Radio Charts?
– Well, Cursive’s latest, Devourer (2024, Run for Cover) stood at No. 74. The band plays two shows this week – Friday and Saturday – at The Waiting Room.
– Bright Eyes’ latest, Five Dice, All Threes (2024, Dead Oceans), currently stands at No. 13 on the charts. The fact that Bright Eyes was taken of the road for the balance of the year due to Conor Oberst’s “vocal problems” no doubt isn’t helping album sales. Bright Eyes’ 2025 tour kicks off Jan. 16 in Phoenix…
– Midwest Dilemma’s self-released album, Searching for the Cure for Loneliness, came in at No. 261, which is impressive considering the band isn’t touring. How does that happen?
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The latest single by Omaha’s favorite alt-country band, Clarence Tilton, features country music icon Marty Stuart on vocals guitar. The song, “Fred’s Colt,” explores the legacy of a Civil War-era Colt Dragoon passed through Tilton frontman Chris Weber’s family.
The band opened for Stuart when he played in Omaha in 2019 and at some point played the song for him. “I loved this song the moment I heard it. It is a breath of fresh air, real writing,” Stuart said in the press release.
Weber said Stuart’s contribution to the song “really blew our minds. What he did was so cool — not just the solo but all the little parts in between. It was a real lesson for us from a real pro who gave our tune his undivided attention.”
The single, which dropped last Friday, will be on Clarence Tilton’s upcoming full-length, Queen of the Brawl, slated for 2025.
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Soak in the next few weeks of shows, because we’re rounding a corner and the road ahead looks rather barren. Like I always said: if you have a chance to catch a touring indie band, catch it, because you never know when the next one will be coming through town.
Here’s the latest and greatest touring indie shows coming to Omaha through the end of November:
Oct. 16 – Mdou Moctar @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 17 – Superchunk @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 18-19 – Cursive @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 20 – Color Green @ Grapefruit Records
Oct. 20 – Jeff Tweedy @ The Admiral
Oct. 20 – Taylor Hollingsworth @ Pageturners
Oct. 22 – Psychedelic Furs/Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Astro
Oct. 23 – Kate Nash @ The Slowdown
Oct. 26 – Porches @ Reverb
Oct. 26 – Griefcat @ The Sydney
Oct. 31 – Lunar Vacation @ The Slowdown
Nov. 4 – quickly, quickly @ Reverb
Nov. 8 – The Ivory Claws @ The Sydney
Nov. 10 – The Sufrajettes @ Reverb
Nov. 11 – Dusk @ Reverb
Nov. 12 – The Rev. Horton Heat @ Waiting Room
Nov. 13 – Sorry Mom @ Reverb
Nov. 29 – VIAL @ Reverb
Am I missing something? Let me know…
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Tonight at The Waiting Room, Nigerian band Mdou Moctar headlines. He’s considered one of the most innovative artists in contemporary Saharan music “His unconventional interpretations of Tuareg guitar have pushed him to the forefront of a crowded scene,” according to his Bandcamp page. The band’s last album, 2024’s Funeral for Justice, was released on indie giant Matador Records and received Pitchfork‘s “Best New Music” designation along with its 8.4 rating. Opening this show is personal fave, Rosali, a band that includes members of our very own David Nance Band. Her sublime new album, Bite Down, was released this year by Merge Records. $25, 8 p.m.
Also tonight, Boston post-punk band Kal Marks headlines at Reverb Lounge (Exploding in Sound Records) with frickin’ four openers: NightoSphere, Missouri Executive Order 44, Nowhere and Western Haikus. Talk about your late nights! 8 p.m. $15.
Tonight at The Waiting Room, North Carolina singer/songwriter MJ Lenderman headlines with his band, The Wind. Lenderman’s latest album, Manning Fireworks (2024, Anti-), has been at the top of the College Radio Charts for a couple weeks (just above the new Nick Cave album), and is one of my favorites for 2024.
Along with Waxahatchee, Cassandra Jenkins and Wednesday (in which he plays lead guitar), Lenderman is at the forefront of the current folk-rock trend in indie music, one that owes a lot to artists like Neil Young, Jackson Browne, CSN and the ’70s folk-rock acts that came before them.
Based on his past set lists, expect about a 20-song set tonight heavy with tracks from the new record. Lenderman has been rolling out covers of songs by Vic Chesnutt, Lucinda Williams, Wednesday and Smog on this tour. Who will he cover tonight? Opening for Lenderman is Jeffersonville, Indiana, folk rocker Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band. $25, 8 p.m.
Also tonight just around the corner at Reverb Lounge, Chicago industrial/dark wave/EBM trio Pixel Grip headlines. LA synth/dance act Madeline Goldstein opens at 8 p.m. $25.
New York singer/songwriter Jeffrey Lewis and his band – Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage – are doing an in-store performance tonight at Grapefruit Record in the Old Market (1125 Jackson Street). You really should go.
Lewis and his band have played Omaha a few times over the years – way back in 2013 opening for Quasi at Slowdown, and again in 2016 with David Nance at Reverb Lounge – great shows. I spoke with Lewis for that 2016 show — that interview reads like one long, run-on sentence. I’m not sure why I didn’t edit the interview more thoroughly, except for the fact that it took place on the cusp of the 2016 elections, and let’s face it, everyone’s mind was occupied with the disaster that was about to take place at the polls. Sort of like right now.
Lewis’ Rough Trade 2001 debut LP, The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane, captures his earliest urban folk storytelling in all its glory. But I think I actually first heard Lewis’ music when Rough Trade released 12 Crass Songs (2007, Rough Trade) –a collection of covers of ’70s English punk band Crass.
Lewis’s story-songs have the same raw, matter-of-fact narrative style and humor as my favorite underground comic book writers/artists, like R. Crumb, Daniel Clowes and Harvey Pekar. And as a matter of fact, Lewis even augments his music career with his own comic book series, Fuff — or at least he did back in 2016. I’m not sure if he still does — a lot has happened since then.
For this tour, Lewis and his band are playing as-yet-unreleased songs from an upcoming 2025 album along with “some old favorites” from his 20+ year career. Joining him tonight are touring band Grasping Straws and our very own Megan Siebe. Tickets are $20, doors at 7:30 p.m.
It’s a crazy-busy weekend, so let’s get right to it.
Chicago’s Brigitte Calls Me Baby is a throw-back act that sounds like all the ‘80s candy-pop bands you remember from MTV / Breakfast Club soundtrack. They even carry on the vampy post-glam pretty-boy look from that era, or at least frontman Wes Leavins does, affecting a faux accent on songs like “We Were Never Alive” from their ATO Records debut The Future Is Our Way Out (well, he sure doesn’t sound like he’s from Chicago). The band is on the verge, so I’m kind of surprised this show hasn’t sold out tiny Reverb Lounge, yet. Lincoln five-piece Parking Lot Party opens the show at 8 p.m. $18.
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Meanwhile, around the corner at The Waiting Room, London-based modern-post-punk band Hi Vis headlines. Like Brigitte, they also have a sort of ’80s/‘90s MTV sound (to my ears, anyway). They cite Gang of Four, Stone Roses and The Cure as influences, which kind of comes through on their latest album, Blending (2022, Dias Record). They have a new album coming out later this year. Local acts Trucha and Glow own the undercard, which starts at 8 p.m. $25.
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Also happening tonight (Friday), Slowdown has Virginia Beach dream pop band Turnover. Their 2015 album Peripheral Vision, is one of the more popular releases in mid-size indie label Run for Cover Records’ catalog. Phoenix shoegazers Glixen open, along with Texas band Glare. This one’s in the main room and starts at 8 p.m. $30.
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But wait, there’s more going on tonight! It’s the first Friday of the month which means it’s Benson First Friday (#BFF)! That means art galleries and businesses up and down Maple Street will be displaying art from local artists. That includes Ming Toy Gallery (6066 Maple St.), where we’re celebrating the opening of “Drawing the Interior” – – an exhibition of work from Toni Parker, Ariel Carrillo and Emma Geiger. The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Come by, say hi, have a drink and/or snack and enjoy some great art.
One other show tonight worth your time – Lincoln band Estrogen Projection is playing tonight (Friday) at The Sydney in Benson with opener Not My Wedding. $10, 9 p.m.
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OK, moving on to Saturday!
What to say about Fontaines D.C? IYKYK, and apparently a lot of people do as the show sold out a week ago. The Irish band is on a U.S./Canadian tour that brings them to Slowdown’s big room Saturday night, supporting their new album, Romance (2024, XL Recordings), a follow-up to their 2022 breakout album, Skinty Fia. A glance at their setlist from their Sept. 30 Phoenix show indicates a 16-song set heavy on material from the last couple records, followed by a two- or three-song encore closed out by their current hit, “Starburster.”
Opening band, NYC-based Been Stellar, is supporting their debut album, Scream from New York, NY, out via Dirty Hit Records. They just came off a tour supporting The 1975 and a UK headlining tour. This one’s in the main room, starts at 8 and like I said, is SOLD OUT.
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Fontaines isn’t the only big show going on Saturday. Over at The Admiral, LA’s The Airborne Toxic Event headlines. Their new album, Glory, came out last month on Little Tokyo Records. Their biggest “hit” was “Sometime Around Midnight,” from their 2009 debut on Island. Fellow LA band Near Beer opens at 8 p.m.
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But wait, there’s more! Also Saturday night, Marty Amsler, who we all remember from ’90s Nebraska-based breakout act The Millions, has a new band called Mono in Stereo. They’re opening for Omaha band Sons of No One at Reverb Lounge. 8 p.m., $10.
And down the street at The Sydney, New Orleans-based dance-punk band Special Interest headlines. Their most recent album, Endure, came out in 2022 on Rough Trade. Lincoln leather-synth-dance-industrial dude Plack Blague opens this show at 9 p.m. $15.
Also, Indian Caves are playing a set with Notion Club and High School Dilemma at Fontenelle Supply Co., 1414 So. 13th St. $10, 7 p.m., kids and dogs are welcome!
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And if your weekend wasn’t busy enough…
Sunday is the 8th Annual Porchfest – 12 stages including Omaha Mobile Stage at Yates Illuminates, the Gifford Park Neighborhood Market stage, seven house porches, plus poetry, art, and open mic porches! We’re talking 70+ local performers including McCarthy Trenching, Midwest Dilemma, Mitch Gettman, Jeremy Mercy, B.B. Sledge and Tom Bartolomei. It starts at noon and runs all afternoon. The full schedule is here: https://porchfestoma.tumblr.com/schedule . The weather should be awesome, so check it out.
And thats all I got (Whew!). If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Is it me or do we live in a city that’s feast or famine when it comes to live indie music? Anyway, have a great weekend. .
Who remembers Fizzle Like a Flood, the bedroom project by Omaha singer/songwriter Doug Kabourek?
Turn back the hands of time to November 2000 – just 24 years ago – when Kabourek released what was arguably his masterpiece, Golden Sand and the Grandstand – a tribute to the good ol’ Aksarben thoroughbred horseracing track that used to exist in the area where Aksarben Village currently stands (Think about that the next time you watch a movie at Aksarben Cinema or dine at the Inner Rail food court!).
Kabourek circa 2000.
It was a time when Nebraska and Omaha were just emerging at the center of the indie music universe, thanks to Saddle Creek Records. Kabourek even played a role in the origins of one of the label’s most famous acts.
From a 2000 Lazy-i interview with Kabourek: Kabourek has anonymously played a role in the Omaha and Iowa City music scene for six or seven years, first jamming with the band that would become Norman Bailer (an early incarnation of The Faint). He left Todd Baechle and company after they recorded a cover of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.” “I didn’t think they’d get anywhere,” he said.
Oh, how wrong you were, Doug.
It was also a time when musicians were just beginning to make bedroom recordings, and Kabourek as Fizzle Like a Flood was a sterling example. The lush, sweeping sounds heard on Golden Sands were all recorded and mixed in Kabourek’s home using a small multi-track recording and a PC – quite a feat at the time.
But even more impressive was the music, which was first released (as a CDR) on boutique cassette label Unread Records, and later on Earnest Jennings. Kabourek had a knack for creating great indie pop reminiscent of acts like Sebadoh and Flaming Lips.
Over the years, Kabourek as Fizzle (and other incarnations) released more music, most only on Earnest Jennings. And now Fizzle Like a Flood is back with a new record – Black Walls and William Hall, a sort of sequel to Golden Sands about the now defunct Mystery Manor, an Omaha-based haunted house that opened in 1984. Kabourek says the “10-song album will create an immersive and positively screamadelic songscape!”
He talks about the new album and its origins on the homepage of his Kickstarter campaign. Kabourek is trying to raise $3,500 to cover the cost of pressing vinyl for the already-recorded album. He’s offering a variety of kooky and cool Kickstarter rewards for patrons, including custom coozies, art prints by Megan Thomas, artifacts from his homemade haunted house, not to mention a copy of the new record on red splatter vinyl.
The Kickstarter campaign runs through the end of the month, and as of this writing, Kabourek was already more than a 1/3 the way to his goal. Head on over and throw some money at this project. Check out a preview track of Black Walls and William Hall below.
Rule No. 1 for writing a one-sheet: Don’t just talk about the artist; tell his/her/their story and make sure it has a hook.
In New Orleans’ singer/songwriter Odie Leigh’s case, the hook involves a bet with college roommates over who would be the first to create a viral TikTok video. Leigh won with a clip for her song “Crop Circles,” which, as of this writing, has around 400,000 likes in TikTok. More impressive (especially from those of us who don’t use TikTok) is that the single, released in February 2022, has more than 7 million plays in Spotify.
Did TikTok virality lead to Leigh’s contract with indie label Mom+Pop Records? I’m sure it had something to do with it. The label just released her debut LP, Carrier Pigeon, this past July, launching Leigh on a tour that comes to Slowdown’s frontroom tonight. It’s an album of mostly self-deprecating love songs by an unsure participant who no doubt will come out on top, just as she did in that TikTok battle. Idaho singer/songwriter Valley James, whose music is inspired by the likes of Patsy Cline and Chris Isaak, opens the show at 8 pm. $25.
Also tonight, London neo-soul trio Jungle plays at The Astro Theater in La Vista. Their hit, “Back on 74,” off their latest album, Volcano (2023, AWAL), has been on constant rotation on Sirius XMU throughout the spring of summer of ’24. New Yorker hip-hop artist Bas opens the show at 8 p.m. $50-$75.
It’s the start of a busy October, show-wise. Here’s the latest calendar of touring indie bands headed our way:
Oct. 1 – Odie Leigh @ The Slowdown
Oct. 1 – Jungle @ The Astro
Oct. 4 – Brigitte Calls Me Baby @ Reverb
Oct. 4 – Turnover @ The Slowdown
Oct. 5 – Fontaines D.C. @ The Slowdown
Oct. 5 – Special Interest @ Sydney
Oct. 7 – Saturdays at Your Place @ Reverb
Oct. 8 – Boris @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 10 – MJ Lenderman & The Wind @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 10 – Melt @ The Slowdown
Oct. 12 – The Red Pears @ Reverb
Oct. 16 – Mdou Moctar @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 17 – Superchunk @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 18-19 – Cursive @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 20 – Color Green @ Grapefruit Records
Oct. 20 – Jeff Tweedy @ The Admiral
Oct. 22 – Psychedelic Furs/Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Astro
Looks like it’s going to be another Sydney weekend…
Tonight at The Sydney in Benson, Japanese-American costumed punkers Peelander-Z take the stage. I have a friend who lives out of state who describes them as “if The Ramones and the Power Rangers had a baby. Costumes, choreography – hard to imagine them in a tiny space like Sydney.”
Meanwhile, wiki says “Peelander-Z has a complex stage act, which involves hand-written signs, costumes, and audience participation. The signs often contain the lyrics to their songs. At some of their shows they also bring people from outside of the band on stage to play their instruments as they do a stage act.”
Oh boy! It sounds like The Sydney is the perfect place for this show. 9 p.m., $15.
Meanwhile, The Waiting Room has the more serious folk of Shovels & Rope. The husband and wife team of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst are on the road playing songs off their new album, Something Is Working Up Above My Head (Dualtone), which “finds Hearst and Trent leaning heavier into the rock and punk roots that have always been foundational to the signature sound.” Al Olender opens the show at 8 p.m. $30.
Tomorrow night (Saturday) it’s back to The Sydney for Wichita “post-bubblegrunge” band Breeding Brainbow. Their latest EP, Or Do You Hate Me, came out last November on Shiprek Records. Providing support is our very own Bad Self Portraits and Uh Oh. $10, 9 p.m.
And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.
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