Garden Party 2025, Abby Holliday Saturday; new Lodgings,Vempire…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 10:02 am May 9, 2025
Singer/songwriter Abby Holliday headlines Garden Party festival Saturday at Sonny’s in Aksarben Village.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Garden Party festival, which has been held in back yards since it began in 2022, is making a big move this year to the gorgeous outdoor compound known as Sonny’s in Aksarben Village 

Organizer and musician Madeline Reddel hopes the free, all-women-fronted music festival can eventually grow large enough to host in Stinson Park. And with this line-up (and the gorgeous weather forecast for Saturday) she may be on her way.

The talent consists of artists from throughout the country and Omaha. The headliner is Nashville indie singer/songwriter Abby Holliday, who self-released her third LP, Crack a Smile Come on Stay A While, last October. She’s been compared to Phoebe Bridgers, but isn’t nearly as downcast/depressing. A better comp might be Blondshell or Lucy Dacus.

Other out-of-towners on the festival bill include Autumnal (Denver), Keo & Them (Wichita), Honey Marmalade (Brooklyn), and former Omahan/now Chicago resident Ione. Locals include LyriQ LaShay, Peachy Beaches and Twin Pages. Grace Lundy kicks things off at 2:30 p.m.; Abby Holliday is slated to go on at 9:30 p.m. 

Like I said, it’s free. Attendees can come and go as they please, bring leashed dogs, blankets, chairs, purchase food to be delivered from the Inner Rail or nearby businesses, and buy drinks at Sonny’s bar. More info and the complete schedule is at gardenpartyomaha.com.

Garden Party is the only music event on my radar this weekend. There are no other touring indie shows, and I’m not aware of any local indie shows happening, either. 

With that in mind, there are a couple new releases out today.

Lodgings new LP, The Thousand Yard Stare, carries on the angular, jangly, crash-bash tradition we’ve come to expect from the Omaha band whose members include vocalist/guitarist Bryce Hotz; Steve Micek, guitar; Mike Laughlin, bass; and Eric Ernst on drums. The album includes guest spots by cellist/violinist Megan Siebe and guitarist Sean Pratt. 

The 8-song album was recorded at Archetype Recordings by Hotz, primarily on 2-inch analog tape at 15 ips (according to the liner notes). That’s all the more reason to buy the limited edition gatefold vinyl, which you can order from their Bandcamp page

This just dropped today, and I’m listening to it for the first time as I write this. The only comp that comes to mind is maybe Matador band Chavez. If you were into Ride the Fader, you’ll dig this.

Also, Lincoln electronic duo Vempire dropped a new single, “Always Forever by Cults” which isn’t a cover of a Cults song. I know, it confused me as well. Check out the new track below, and five other versions at their bandcamp page

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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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Preview: Future Islands, Open Mike Eagle at The Admiral tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 9:39 am May 7, 2025
Future Island’s Sam Herring in full shimmy mode during SXSW 2014. The band plays tonight at The Admiral.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s been years since Future Islands played Omaha; in fact, according to my notes, the last show was back in 2017 at The Waiting Room. 

Based on recent videos, the band hasn’t changed much both sonically and performance-wise. Frontman Sam Herring is still the center of attention, emoting as if acting out a Shakespearean soliloquy backed by three players frozen in place. 

Veterans of past Future Islands shows can pick their favorite Herring-ism from a list that includes: 

— Picking the imaginary berry and eating it (along with his hand)
— Pounding his chest, hard, like a gorilla
— Reaching into his chest and pulling out his heart, and eating it (along with his hand)
— Swinging his fist round-house style, hard and wide, just like Elvis
— And “Hello God, it’s me, Samuel” (performed earnestly, On the Waterfront Bando-style, while looking up toward an imaginary moon).

Then there’s the dance moves: the twist, the low dips, the high kicks. Herring sells it and sells it well. He is fun to watch, only because it looks like he’s really enjoying himself up there on stage. 

I was a wee bit surprised the band was booked to play the largish Admiral until I noticed they have around 2.8 million monthly listeners in Spotify. Their biggest hit, “Seasons (Waiting on You,” from Singles (2014, 4AD), has over 138 million plays. 

Their latest album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore (2024, 4AD), carries on their long-running, somewhat simplistic sound — peppy kick drum, synth cushion, bass bounce, and Herring. The difference is Herring appears to have lost the odd growl that characterized early recordings, and that’s probably for the best. Their current single, “The Tower,” is enjoying heavy rotation on Sirius XMU. 

Opening act Open Mike Eagle, a.k.a. Michael W. Eagle,  is described in Wiki as an LA-based hip-hop artist and comedian with Chicago roots who credits They Might Be Giants as an influence. His 2017 concept album, Robert Taylor Homes, made it on both Rolling Stone‘s and Pitchfork’s top-50 list that year. The Eagle takes the stage at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42.

One other show of note tonight: Self-proclaimed Colorado plant-rock act No Fauna headlines at The Sydney in Benson. They sound like proggy PUP on their latest EP, Winter (2025, Iggy Longerelle), Locals The Ivory Claws and Box Eats Miah also are on the bill. $10, 8 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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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You don’t know what you’re missing (or do you?)…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 10:41 am May 6, 2025
Nick Cave performing in Minneapolis May 11, 2025. Photo by Nick Neary.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A quick addendum to yesterday’s post regarding upcoming indie tours coming to Omaha… or the lack of them.

Yesterday, a small caravan of Omaha music fans drove to Kansas City to see music legend Nick Cave perform at their convention center. Cynics, pragmatists and realists will argue Cave could not draw a big enough crowd to justify a performance in Omaha sandwiched between the Twin Cities and Kansas City, and they may or may not be right. 

But that logic doesn’t necessarily apply to every indie act that bypasses Omaha. And there are a lot of them. Which acts? 

Well, just over the next week alone, Omaha is missing out on Lucy Dacus, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Lambrini Girls, The Magnetic Fields, Gang of Four and Youth Lagoon. 

In the coming weeks, we miss out on Sasami, Peter Bjorn and John, Momma, Bartees Strange, Tennis, Matt Berninger and The Wedding Present. All are playing in Minneapolis.

The list continues in June, as Preoccupations, Robyn Hitchcock, Annie DiRusso, Blondshell, Sleigh Bells, Sunflower Bean, Perfume Genius, DEVO and Dean Wareham all will skip Omaha. And these are only the indie bands I see listed on the first-avenue.com website. I’m sure there are others.

While bands bypassing Omaha is nothing new, it does seem like we’re seeing a shift from indie tours being booked in Omaha to more metal, country and pop tours, or just fewer smaller tours. Tour bookers, promoters and venues make decisions based purely on financial questions: Which shows will sell tickets in this market? Which won’t? And so on. 

The result for indie music fans means putting a lot more miles on your SUVs as you travel to Minneapolis and Kansas City to see your favorite bands…

I guess the lesson here is you can’t always get what you want. At least we get Future Islands tomorrow night, right?

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Julien Baker/Torres cancel; updated touring indie calendar…

Category: Blog — Tags: — @ 9:15 am May 5, 2025
Elvis Costello performing in Memorial Park in August 2021. He and his band, The Imposters, are playing Steelhouse Omaha Oct. 22.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Julien Baker & Torres concert, slated for May 12 at The Admiral, was cancelled over the weekend. The reason: “Due to recent events, Julien Baker is prioritizing her well-being and taking time to focus on her health.” Refunds are being issued. 

We’re just entering the spring tour season but most of the summer tours have been announced, and the schedule is looking kinda light indie-music-wise. However, last-minute touring shows pop up now and then. 

Below is the updated list of touring indie bands on my radar. Let me know what I’m missing. The standouts (for me, anyway) are Florist, Built to Spill, Maha Festival, Rilo Kiley, Samia, Father John Misty and Elvis Costello. 

  • – Future Islands, May 7 at The Admiral
  • – Julien Baker & Torres, May 12 CANCELED
  • – Being Dead, May 13 at Reverb
  • – Black Country, New Road, May 14 at Slowdown
  • – Spellling, May 15 at The Waiting Room
  • – Anna McClellan, May 17 at Slowdown
  • – Friko, May 20 at Reverb
  • – Florist, May 24 at Reverb
  • – Southern Culture on the Skids, May 27 at Waiting Room
  • – Panchiko, June 8 at The Slowdown
  • – Samantha Crain, June 17 at Reverb
  • – Har Mar Superstar, June 20 at Reverb
  • – Michael Cera Palen, June 24 at Reverb
  • – The English Beat, June 24 at The Waiting Room
  • – Holy Fawn, June 25 at Reverb
  • – Tripping Daisy, June 27 at The Waiting Room
  • Hurray for the Riff Raff, July 15 CANCELED
  • – The Avett Brothers, July 17 at The Astro Amphitheater
  • – Built to Spill, July 20 at The Waiting Room
  • – Maha Festival, Aug. 2 at RiverFront Park
  • – Laura Jane Grace & Band, Aug. 2 at The Slowdown
  • – The Head and the Heart, Aug. 10 at Astro Amphitheater
  • – Gregory Alan Isakov, Aug. 18 at The Astro
  • – Brooks Nielsen (of Growlers), Sept. 8 at The Waiting Room
  • – Rilo Kiley, Sept. 17 at The Astro Amphitheater 
  • – The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Sept. 23 at Slowdown
  • – Swans, Sept 28 at The Waiting Room
  • – Samia, Sept. 29 at The Waiting Room
  • – Father John Misty, Sept. 30 at Astro Theater
  • – Franz Ferdinand, Oct. 7 at The Admiral
  • – Elvis Costello & The Imposter, Oct. 22 at Steelhouse Omaha

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Clarence Tilton album release show, #BFF tonight; Season to Risk Saturday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 9:53 am May 2, 2025
Clarence Tilton at the Parkwood Lane Bluegrass Festival, Sept. 7, 2019. The band celebrates the release of their new album tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Omaha-based alt-country act Clarence Tilton has been working the release of their latest album, Queen of the Brawl,  since the first single, “Fred’s Colt,” dropped last October. The song featured contributions by country music legend Marty Stuart.

A second single from the album, “Flyaway Cafe,” featuring Tanya Tucker’s daughter, Presley, dropped a month later. It wouldn’t be until April 4 before the full album was released, and now, tonight, we get the album release show for Queen of the Brawl at Reverb Lounge. 

Homer’s Music’s MarQ Manner interviewed the band for The Reader (yes, The Reader is back, but only online), wherein they talk about the new album. You can read that interview here. What I’d love to know is how much the Tiltons have invested in this record, from talent to production to promotion, and if it’s all paying off beyond self-releasing a quality collection of country-flavored story-songs. 

There’s a worn-leather ease to Queen that reflects a band so comfortable playing together it seems like they’ve always been here and will be around long after we’re gone, not unlike the Midwestern plains that spawned them. While the Weber brothers, Corey and Chris, continue to be the band’s center-point thanks to their stellar guitar-pickin’ skills, don’t forget Paul Novak, who also sings on a number of tracks (He wrote the second Tucker-contributed song, “Pretty Things”). In fact, glance the liner notes and you’ll see all three Tiltons have songwriting credits throughout.

Stylistically, the album vacillates between traditional country and ‘90s alt-country, with songs like “Sorrow and Sail,” and “Fred’s Colt” recalling my favorite alt-country act, The Silos. But more traditional C&W ultimately wins out. If the band really wanted to pressure-test this album with a die-hard country crowd they’d play a dance hall like Bushwacker’s, where two-steppin’ is required (at least when they’re not hosting hair-metal bands). Is there any better compliment for country music than a dance-floor full of scootin’?

Anyway, opening for Clarence Tilton tonight at Reverb is Turn Turn Turn. $10, 8 p.m. 

BTW, it’s also the first Friday of the month and that means Benson First Friday. Galleries and other businesses throughout Benson will be displaying art from some of the area’s finest talent. That includes at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple Street (right next to Legend Comics and Coffee), where we’re celebrating the opening of Nolan Tredway’s Alternate Plains. Come on by, check out this eye-popping art, have a drink and say hello. We’ll be there from 6 to 9 p.m. 

The rest of the weekend is pretty light, at least when it comes to indie music. 

Tomorrow night (Saturday) our old Kansas City friends Season to Risk plays at The Sydney in Benson. The band has been on the road in support of 1-800-MELTDOWN. Released last month on INIT Records, the record picks up right where they left off in the ‘90s. Latin-punk act Las Cruxes also is on the bill. The synth-and-drum duo Pagan Athletes opens the show at 9 p.m. $18.

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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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Throwback Thursday: When Bright Eyes sang to George Bush on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 10:39 am May 1, 2025
Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst on The Tonight Show with David Letterman, May 2, 2005.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Politics sucked 20 years ago when George W. Bush was president. 

In his first term, Bush invaded Iraq as a reaction to 9/11. The Iraq War’s death toll ranged from 151,000 to over a million Iraqis, depending on which study you point to. The numbers are still disputed to this day.

Ultimately, the war helped propel Bush to a narrow victory over democrat John Kerry in November 2004. And I can say from personal experience, a lot of people were pretty bummed about the prospect of the next four years. 

Among them was Conor Oberst. Bright Eyes was about to reach the zenith of its popularity with the ambitious release of both I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn on Jan. 25, 2005. As part of the promotional tour for those albums, Bright Eyes appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 2, 2005 – a big deal for a band from Omaha. A year earlier, Bright Eyes had its network debut on Late Night With David Letterman, so national TV was nothing new, but this time, Oberst had something special up his sleeve. 

Leno apparently had seen the rehearsal. During the opening monologue, when introducing the night’s guests, including Bright Eyes, Leno turned to bandleader Kevin Eubanks and said: “You hear the song he’s doing Kevin? I haven’t heard a protest song like this… you know I grew up in the sixties. I used to do a Jesse Winchester, a Jerry Jeff Walker, and Kris Kristofferson doing these anti-Nixon… This is a song that’s right up there. This will galvanize the audience. You’ll go one way or the other but you will have an opinion when he’s done.

The performance took place at the tail-end of the show. Out walked Oberst with his acoustic guitar, dressed like a country singer, complete with a black cowboy hat. What happened next was pure TV Gold. 

The song, “When the President Talks to God,” was released as a free iTunes download and was the B-side of a promotional 7-inch, with A-side “First Day of My Life.” It would go on to win Song of the Year at the 2006 PLUG Independent Music Awards and would help fuel the Dylan comparisons which Oberst never understood. 

We thought we had it bad back then; we had no idea how bad things could become. Maybe it’s time for Bright Eyes to record the sequel…

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Show-wise tonight, Oklahoma City band Husbands plays at Reverb with JW Francis. $20, 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, local rockers Cinema Stereo plays at The Sydney in Benson with Public Figure and the mighty Las Cruxes. $13, 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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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New Indigo De Souza, Rig 1; Rilo Kiley in the NYT; Hurray cancels; Nada Surf tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 10:33 am April 30, 2025
Indigo De Souza goes to Loma Vista for her new LP.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Saddle Creek Records has a history of discovering amazing talent and then somehow losing it to other record labels. One recent, unfortunate example is indie powerhouse Big Thief, who broke to a huge national audience with their debut studio album, Masterpiece in 2016, and the follow-up, Capacity, the following year, both released on Saddle Creek.  But the band moved to legendary indie powerhouse 4AD Records with the release of U.F.O.F. in 2018.

Now Indigo De Souza, another rising indie star who got her start at Saddle Creek Records, has ditched the label after 2023’s All of This Will End, and today announced her full-length, Precipice, will be coming out July 25 on Loma Vista Recordings. Check out the first single, “Heartthrob,” below. De Souza will be doing limited touring, including performances at Pitchfork Festivals in London and Paris. 

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With Saddle Creek still in mind, today some news about Desaparecidos member Ian McElroy a.k.a. Rig 1. The former Omahan now New Yorker dropped a new single today, “Old Gaia,” that also features Brad Greenberg a.k.a. BrightA. It was released by Flower Moon Records, a label run by Maria Taylor of former Saddle Creek Records act, Azure Ray fame. Check it.

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Saddle Creek got a shout out in the New York Times in a feature story about the Rilo Kiley’s “Resurrection” published this past Tuesday (link behind firewall). The article traces the band’s rise with the release of arguably their best album, The Execution of All Things, in 2002, and follow-up, More Adventurous, in 2004, both released by Creek. The band split with Saddle Creek for 2007’s Under the Blacklight, which came out on Warner Bros. They broke up a year later.

Now Rilo Kiley’s back and on the road again (including a show at the Astro Amphitheater Sept. 17), supporting last week’s reissue of Execution, again on Saddle Creek Records. The Times article states there’s a “greatest hits album” coming out on Saddle Creek; but are they talking about the reissue? Can’t imagine the Times being inaccurate…

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Just a head’s up: As I was perusing upcoming shows on The Slowdown website, I noticed one of the few shows I was looking forward to seeing at the venue — Hurray for the Riff Raff — has canceled their July 15 show. No reason was given for the cancelation, as the tour continues to Chicago July 17…

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One show that’s not cancelled is tonight’s Nada Surf concert at The Waiting Room. Described as an indie band, I’ve always thought of them as alternative, having scored a hit back in ’96 with the Weezer-ish track “Popular,” off their High/Low album, released on Elektra. Man, it must be weird singing that song almost 30 years later. The band has always made Omaha a tour stop, going back to the early 2000s. Chattanooga duo The Cle Elum opens the show at 8 p.m. $25. 

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Cryogeyser, Flooding, Vazum tonight; Ty Segall Saturday; Bright Eyes, Cursive, Bad Nerves Sunday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , , — @ 9:09 am April 25, 2025
Bright Eyes at The Admiral Theater, July 2, 2022. The band plays Sunday night at The Astro Theater.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You survived the worst monsoon/hailstorm since last year’s worst monsoon/hailstorm (leading up to next week’s worst monsoon/hailstorm) and deserve a weekend of premium indie rock shows. So where are they happening? Well, chum, you’ve come to the right place.

It starts tonight at Reverb Lounge. Cryogeyser is three-piece shoegaze band from El Lay fronted by singer/songwriter Shawn Marom whose latest self-titled album has been compared to ’90s-era Ride (by the folks at Monster Children), whereas I was reminded of ‘90s indie acts like Madder Rose and Scrawl. Their latest single, “Mountain,” features guest vocals by Karly Hartzman of Wednesday and is somewhat awesome (see video below). Joining them on this tour is Kansas City slowcore trio Flooding (an appropriate band for what we went through yesterday) and Lincoln’s Ghostlike. 8 p.m., $20.

Meanwhile, right down the street at The Sydney in Benson, Detroit alt-goth duo Vazum headlines. Omaha goth-rockers Absence+Alchemy opens at 9 p.m. $10.

Seems like this Ty Segall acoustic showcase happening Saturday night at Scottish Rite Hall (202 So. 20th St. in downtown Omaha) was announced over a year ago, and now here it is. This show is intriguing; my last Segall experience was one of the loudest concerts in memory. How will his songwriting translate in a quieter acoustic setting? You might be pleasantly surprised. Opening is Los Angeles singer/songwriter MIkal Cronin, whose worked with such acts as Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff, Shannon and the Clams. 

My last Scottish Rite experience was for a Jenny Lewis show way back in March 2006. The hall was kind of a bare-bones concrete-stepped auditorium. Anyway… Tickets range from $30 (balcony) to $40; show starts at 8 p.m.

I’m happy to report that fabulous O’Leaver’s survived the Great Saddle Creek Flood of 2025 unscathed and is hosting a three-artist show with singer/songwriters Ronette Lee, Vernon John and Paul Petersen. The show’s free and starts at 9. 

There’s also a sort of hidden show Saturday evening featuring Cowboy Eastern at Benson Theater as part of the Benson Film Festival. Fest organizers are taking a shot at adding live music to the event. Their set is scheduled for 6 p.m. and is $10 or free with an all-access pass. More info at bensonfilmfest.com.

Sunday is the big Bright Eyes/Cursive show at The Astro Theater in La Vista. It’s the last date of their joint tour and a sort-of homecoming that’s bound to include some surprises. Or maybe not. I guess we’ll see. 

On this tour, Conor and Co. have been playing a 19-song set with 3-song encore that includes songs from throughout his catalog as well as a couple tunes with Cursive, even a Lullaby for the Working Class cover. Check out the setlist from last night’s show in Louisville.

Cursive has been playing a 14-song career-spanning set that includes that mash-up with Conor of “Recluse I Don’t Have to Love.” Here’s the setlist from the April 22 show at McKees Rocks, PA

Tickets are $45; the show starts at 7 p.m. 

Finally, competing with that big BE/Cursive show is UK punk band Bad Nerves at The Waiting Room. They describe themselves as the bastard child of a Ramones/Strokes one-night stand. Their last album, 2024’s Still Nervous, was released on Loosegroove Records. Very poppy, very fast, very fun. San Francisco rockers Spiritual Cramp is tour support. Omaha’s Social Cinema opens the show at 8. $25.

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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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Brooklyn no-wave trio Pons, Trees with Eyes tonight at Reverb…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 9:03 am April 22, 2025
Brooklyn no-wave trio Pons plays tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Reverb Lounge continues to book some interesting acts; tonight it’s Brooklyn-based post-punk no-wave artist Pons

The description at onerpercentproductions.com says Pons is an experimental project that began in North Carolina with guitarist/vocalist Sam Cameron and drummer Jack Parker. They added second percussionist Sebastien Carnot after they released their first EP in 2018, according to Totally Wired

The band moved to NYC after the release of their 2020 debut, Intellect. Their 2023 full length, The Liquid Self, was released on Dedstrange Records, a label run by Death by Audio / A Place to Bury Strangers’ Oliver Ackerman, along with Mitchell O’Sullivan and Steven Matrick. 

Their latest single is a cover of Suicide’s “Fast Money Music,” and appears to have some connection to Gogol Bordello, who posted the video. Reminds me lots of acts like Devo, Uranium Club and various egg punk acts. It’s not necessarily indicative of their overall sound, which is much more percussive, and weird. 

Pons has become known in some circles for their madcap live shows. This one could be sneaky good. Opening the show is Omaha’s Trees with Eyes and Lincoln electropunks Benjamin Gear X. $15, 8 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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Mssv, Dan Jones & The Squids, Pagan Athletes tonight at Reverb…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 9:30 am April 21, 2025
Mssv plays tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s Monday night in Omaha, which means concert night. Tonight it’s Mssv (Main Steam Stop Valve) at Reverb Lounge. 

The trio consists of free jazz guitarist Mike Baggetta, drummer Stephen Hodges, who’s worked with Tom Waits, Sam Phillips, James Harman and David Lynch, and legendary bassist Mike Watt, best known for his work in ’80s post-punk bands MInutemen and fIREHOSE, though Watt’s played with a ton of luminaries including Porno For Pyros, The Stooges, J Mascis, the list goes on and on. In fact, most folks at Reverb tonight will be there to see Watt. who’s one of the most amiable guys in rock. Seems like everyone has either talked to him (or interviewed him) over the years.

That said, Mssv has been a band since 2019. The story goes (according to Wiki), Baggetta and Watt recorded an album with drummer Jim Keltner, who didn’t like traveling, so they brought on Hodges to tour that album. The trio has since recorded six albums, including their most recent, On And On (2025, Big Ego Records). Their mostly instrumental, proggy music combines jazz and punk for a noisy, angular sonic stew. At age 67, and after a number of illnesses, it’s good just to see Mr. Watt is still at it. 

Kansas City’s Dan Jones & The Squids plays a more straight-forward style of post-punk, with Jones crediting Minutemen, Robert Pollard and The Meat Puppet as influences. Their latest is 2023’s Rock and Roll Daydreams

Opening the show at 8 p.m. is Omaha synth-and-drums punk duo, Pagan Athletes. $18. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one sold out…

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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