New music: Specter Poetics, Pile, M83, Shiner, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Shalom, Rural Alberta Advantage, Indigo De Souza…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 3:59 pm February 19, 2023

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Feb. 10, 2023 – So, another showless weekend. The good news is there’s a lot going on next weekend. Until then, here’s a batch of new music that caught my attention to enjoy and ponder.

Specter Poetics is the electronic project of Jack McLaughlin. He released a new track last Wednesday, produced by engineering mastermind Ian Aeillo. Check it in Spotify (since it’s not in Bandcamp, or at least I couldn’t find it).  

Boston-based indie darlings Pile announced their new album, All Fiction, which drops next Friday. Here’s the first single:

M83 dropped the first single from their new album, Fantasy, this week. The whole thing comes out on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. This sounds like a return to form for the band that was so dominate a decade ago.

Shiner frontman Allen Epley has a new solo LP called Everything that dropped recently. Here’s the first single:

Saddle Creek Records’ roster of talent has been very busy lately. 

Black Belt Eagle Scout released a new track off their new album The Land, the Water The Sky, which came out today. It’s a leap forward to a denser, more complete sound:

Brooklyn singer-songwriter Shalom dropped yet another single for her upcoming album, Sublimation, which comes out March 10 on the Creek. Called “Soccer Mommy,” it’s kind of an ode to the indie band that she counts as an influence:

Rural Alberta Advantage is slated to play The Slowdown Feb. 26. They just dropped this new single last week.

And finally, maybe the most popular act on Saddle Creek’s current roster, Indigo De Souza, announced a new album, All of This Will End, is coming out April 27. The first single, “Younger and Dumber,” dropped this past week. 

And that’s all I got. Have a great weekend!

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights r

Lazy-i

Chatting with the Alien (in the column); Lincoln Exposed begins tonight…

Category: Blog,Column — Tags: , — @ 3:54 pm

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Feb. 9, 2023 – The February issue of The Reader is on newsstands (or so I’m told) and within its pages is the following column wherein I ask ChatGPT about the Omaha music scene. You can read it online at The Reader website right here, or you can read below, where its included for posterity’s sake. 

Tonight is the kick-off of the 18th anniversary of Lincoln Exposed. Check out the line-up and get ticket info here

* * *

Chatting with Our Inevitable Replacement

The Reader, February 2023

Omaha, Nebraska, has a vibrant and diverse music scene, with a mix of local and national acts performing in venues throughout the city. The city is home to several music venues, including the Slowdown, The Waiting Room, and the Holland Performing Arts Center. These venues host a variety of music genres, including rock, indie, hip-hop, electronic, and jazz.

Thus began my chat with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. What, pray tell, is ChatGPT? It’s a computer-based “answering machine” that interacts in a conversational way, but unlike other chatbots, it not only provides answers, but it also admits its mistakes, challenges incorrect premises and rejects inappropriate requests. And it does all this by tapping into its own data in its “neural network” rather than searching the web. I guess you could say it “thinks.”

ChatGPT doesn’t just write simple phrases, it composes full essays as if written by a human being, but with much better grammar (certainly better than mine). Think of it as a HAL 9000 computer with better manners.

Since its launch in November, ChatGPT has been used to write everything from poetry to movie scripts, even to write songs in the style of Nick Cave. It’s like a deep fake for literature. In fact, the program has proven to be a headache in the academic world. Axios reports ChatGPT is being used by some dodgy college students to write term papers … and getting away with it. They call it Chat Cheating.

Algorithmic journalism — or robot journalism — is nothing new. There’s a good chance the financial report, earnings review, even the recap of last night’s Knicks game was written by a robot. Writing stats-based stories is kind of robotic by its very nature, but could ChatGPT write fluently about art and culture — or, for that matter, local music?

To find out, I pulled up chat.openai.com on my Mac, created an account and began asking questions about the Omaha music scene. The initial responses were somewhat mundane and not much different than a Wiki search. Like anything else, I tended to skip over what it got right and zoomed in on the mistakes.

For example, it listed The Hive among the city’s “several independent music venues” alongside The Waiting Room, O’Leaver’s, the Slowdown and Reverb. The Hive has been closed for years and was never an indie music venue. It listed Hear Nebraska as a top source for indie music news, though that website hasn’t been active since 2017. When it didn’t list Lazy-i.com among the city’s indie blogs, it apologized, and later listed Tim McMahan as “a notable figure in the Omaha music scene.” Hear! Hear! Clearly this is Machine Learning at its finest.

As the discussion went on, ChatGPT began crafting its answers around what it presumed were my preferences, ignoring a broader view of Omaha music. Asked “What are some of the best bands in Omaha?” ChatGPT listed Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, The Good Life, Ladyfinger (ne), The Mynabirds and O+S. Most of those bands haven’t released new music in a decade. Asked to list the best non-indie bands, it came up with 311, Saddle Creek Records, The Decatures, The Hottman Sisters, Big Harp, Digital Leather and Icky Blossoms — some of which are inactive or no longer living in Omaha.

But it got weirdly accurate when asked to list the “worst things about Omaha’s music scene.” ChatGPT’s answers ranged from “Limited exposure: Omaha is not a major music industry hub” to “Omaha has limited opportunities for local bands to perform” to “Omaha is not a main destination for touring bands.” Where was it getting this information?

Conversely, when asked how Omaha could improve its music scene, ChatGPT turned into a sage. Among its seven-point plan:

  1. By providing more funding and resources to local bands and venues, Omaha could help to support and grow the local music scene. This could include things like grants, low-interest loans, and tax incentives for music-related businesses.
  2. By working to develop an industry infrastructure, Omaha could help to connect local bands and venues with agents, managers, and other industry professionals who can help them take their careers to the next level. This could include things like music conferences, networking events, and mentorship programs.
  3. By promoting the Omaha music scene to a national and international level, the city could help to draw more attention to the local music scene and attract more visitors to the city. This could include things like hosting music festivals, creating a music-themed tourist trail, and working with local media outlets to promote the scene.

Further points included encouraging diversity, developing more affordable housing, encouraging collaboration and networking, and increasing education and mentorship opportunities. It’s hard to fault any of the robot’s suggestions, which leads me to believe at the very least that ChatGPT could replace our local politicians after it replaces our local music writers.

Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com.

First published in The Reader, February 2023. Copyright © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

* * *

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 em

Lazy-i

Live Review: Bad Bad Men; Lincoln Exposed starts Thursday…

Category: Blog — @ 7:27 am February 7, 2023
Bad Bad Men at Reverb Lounge, Feb. 3, 2023.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

If it looks packed in the above picture it’s because it was. Friday night’s Bad Bad Men/Cat Piss show at Reverb Lounge eventually sold out, though it wasn’t a sell out when I got there at around 9:30 after leaving a successful soft launch of the Ming Toy Gallery (thanks to all who dropped in). 

I stepped out for about 10 minutes and when I returned at 10 p.m. Bad Bad Men had launched a full-scale rock ‘n’ roll attack. The Wolf/Siebken/Hug power trio was blazing, and the closest I could get to the stage was where I took that snappy from behind the soundboard. 

My favorite moment was a song I’m guessing is called “Better Get Out” that ingrains a touch of hayseed grit in the band’s usual punk stance. Frontman/guitarist/vocalist John Wolf’s guttural vox delivery is in character of a bad, bad man who likely woke up in a filthy unmade bed surrounded by a case of empty Schlitz cans that litter the floor of the camper topper he lives in parked on an unpaved alley somewhere along La Platte Rd. The song pumped angrily atop the Hug/Siebken rhythm section before ending with a classic Wolf guitar solo. 

By the time Wolf choreographed the belly-to-butt crowd in a flipping-the-bird pose to Mr. Hug, I was turning a deeper shade of red thanks to being overdressed in a thermal turtleneck and parka. Alas, I could take no more, and was told that by the time Cat Piss hit the stage the room was at capacity (as if it wasn’t before). Rowdy fun. 

. 0 0 0 .    

It’s another bleak week for shows, with virtually nothing interesting booked through the weekend. I guess all the bands will be in Lincoln next weekend as the 18th annual Lincoln Exposed festival gets under way. It’s a loaded line-up of all-local acts playing at five Lincoln clubs Thursday through Saturday night. The full line-up is hereTickets are mere $25 for an all-access pass or you can buy individual day passes as well. The weather should be friendly to this one, so plan early. Wouldn’t it be great if they could pick this whole thing up and put it Benson for a weekend?

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Cat Piss, Bad Bad Men, Ming Toy Gallery tonight; #BFF; Nowhere, Hussies Saturday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 7:25 am
Cat Piss at Peftfest 2022. The band hosts its vinyl release part tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight’s Cat Piss show at Reverb Lounge – easily the biggest show of the weekend – is also a vinyl release show for the band’s latest album, Cat Piss Rides Again, which was actually released way back in June, a time that seems like forever ago, when we all wore T-shirts outside and complained about the humidity. You won’t be doing that tonight. 

That it takes more than six months to get vinyl pressed should be no surprise to anyone who’s followed the Great Post-Covid Vinyl Shortage. As I said back in June at the original album release show: “Cat Piss is releasing their debut album, Cat Piss Rides Again, on Boise, Idaho label Mishap Records, and the two singles I’ve heard are like an homage to the ‘90s Nebraska punk sound (i.e., bands like Mousetrap, Cellophane Ceiling and Sideshow come to mind). Cat Piss is Casey Plucinski on guitar/vocals, Nathan Wolf on drums/vocals and Sam Lipsett on bass/vocals. The new album was recorded by Ben Brodin and mastered by Carl Saff. Get ready for this one.”

And if you were going to buy it, there is no better way to do it than at tonight’s show, but if you can’t make it for some reason, today is also Bandcamp Friday, which means Bandcamp will wave its fees and send all the money from sales directly to the bands. 

Tonight’s opening act, Bad Bad Men, yesterday released a brand-spanking new song on Bandcamp. The bruising, gut-punch called “Wrist Action” is but a taste of what’s to come from the power-trio of Wolf/Siebken/Hug, but oh, what a taste it is. Recorded this past October at ARC Studio by Adam Robert, the track will have you slapping on the pink handcuffs and succumbing to a necessary rock interrogation. Buy it today at “The Right Price” of one crisp dollar.

This one starts at 9 and is $10. Be there or be square.

. 0 0 0 .

And it’s also Benson First Friday! Tonight’s a special BFF because my wife’s new art gallery, Ming Toy Gallery, opens at 6066 Maple (right next door to my favorite restaurant, Au Courant). The gallery is named in honor of my grandparents’ restaurant, Ming Toy Cafe, which once resided at 45th and Military Ave. It’s a group show that features non-traditional artists, and in some ways, a soft opening, as the first solo art show (by Denise Levy) is next month. Still, stop by and check out the new place, have a beer and say hello. 

. 0 0 0 .

Also tonight, right down the street at The Waiting Room, Satchel Grande headlines a show with Josh Hoyer and the Soul Colossal. $10, 8 p.m. 

. 0 0 0 .

Finally, hardcore band Nowhere headlines a show Saturday night at The Sydney with Hussies and Local Ponzi Scheme. 9 p.m., $10.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend!

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Looking ahead, looking around; Lightning Stills tonight, New Found Glory Sunday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , — @ 1:05 pm January 28, 2023
Lightning Stills at Petfest in 2021. The band plays at Slowdown Jr. tonight. 

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Man, I miss going to rock shows. The well has definitely been dry the past few weeks/months when it comes to touring indie bands. I haven’t written a live review since the Vera Devorah show at Reverb the day after Christmas.

And a glance at our local venues’ calendars shows slim pickings for the next few months. That said, it’s not just an Omaha thing. I spent some time last night looking at other regional show calendars and things are tough all over. 

RecordBar, a 300-capacity venue in Kansas City that counts Mammoth among its bookers is hosting School of Rock showcases all weekend, and is booking the same combination of tribute/cover bands and gloopy roots/funk and local acts through next month. They’re also getting the Unsane/Violenteer, Rural Alberta Advantage, Pedro the Lion and Zepparella/Bad Bad Men shows in the coming months that we’re getting but also have Kevin Morby, King Tuff and The Casket Lottery coming through.

The Bottleneck in Lawrence used to be a prime indie rock club and still hosts an occasional show. They’ve only got eight dates booked in February and the only upcoming indie show is The Lemon Twigs in mid-March (but they also have Kevin Morby in April). 

What about 7th St Entry in Minneapolis? Their website calendar combines 7th St. with Turf Club, Fine Line and Fitzgerald Theater. They’ve got Semisonic over the next few days, but their February is the same collection of cover/tribute acts and emo-night-type events. However, their February is a little better, with Samia, The Beths, Jerry Harrison/Adrian Belew and Viagra Boys on their calendar.

The point is, there’s not a lot of bands touring in January and February, and with temps below-zero this weekend who can blame them? Many of the few higher-end indie acts on tour through April have Omaha as a tour stop. There are, obviously, exceptions. 

. 0 0 0 . 

Alright, what about this weekend here in River City? 

Tonight at Slowdown Jr. local country howlers Lightning Stills opens for so-called “newgrass” band Arkansauce. $15, 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, tonight at The Sydney Jeremy Mercy & The Rapture Orphans headlines a show with Box Eats Miah and J.P. Omaha. $10, 8 p.m. 

Tomorrow night (Saturday), Ragged Company opens for Fox and Orion Walsh at The Slowdown.

And then Sunday night pop-punk band New Found Glory headlines on The Slowdown’s big stage. Leanna Firestone opens at 8 p.m. $38. 

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend. 

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Another 2022 year-end list; glancing at ’23; new The Natural Lines…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 7:22 am January 26, 2023
A screen cap from The Natural Lines video for new single “Monotony.”

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Personal critical guiding light and mentor Robert Christgau has published his 2022 Dean’s List at his And It Don’t Stop website. His preamble is worth the read alone, as he posits a perspective from a critic in his 80s who has been writing about rock music longer than I’ve been alive. He remains my favorite critic if for only his writing style that makes every phrase sing. Maybe not so much for his choices: His No. 1 album of 2022 was Selo i Ludy Performance Band, Bunch One, self-released in 2019, which none of us (likely) have heard. His No. 2 is a broadly held pop moment. Read and subscribe. I did. (BTW, here’s my year-end list for those who missed it…).

. 0 0 0 . 

On the other side of the coin is Paste Magazine‘s “33 Most Anticipated Albums of 2023.” If you define “indie” as primarily a singer/songwriter genre, then this list is for you, and includes two Saddle Creek Records artists (Shalom and Black Belt Eagle Scout). I’m also looking forward to those new ones by Quasi, Algiers, M83 and Everything But the Girl. Each listing includes a YouTube video to give you a taste of what’s coming. Of note: So far two of the 33 artists are currently scheduled to tour through Omaha — Runnner at The Slowdown Feb. 28 and The New Pornographers April 28 at The Waiting Room. 

. 0 0 0 . 

Not making the Paste list is our old friend Matt Pond’s new band The Natural Lines, whose self-titled debut will drop March 24 on Bella Union (preorder via Bandcamp). The band just released a new video for “A Scene that WIll Never Die,” but I like this video for the single “Monotony” better (see below). This album is the best thing Matt’s done in a long time. Here’s hoping that the band makes it to Omaha The Natural Lines eventually hits the road. 

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Conor ‘jams’ at B-Bar; Lincoln’s DEMOS (ex-Strawberry Burns, The Sleepover) releases Hell’s Angles…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 7:36 am January 24, 2023

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Hmmm…. another quiet weekend for me, though stuff happened, including a sort of Bright Eyes “secret show” at B-Bar Saturday night. “Bright Eyes” only in that two members of the core members – Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis — were in the band that also included MiWi La Lupa on drums, Zach Schmieder on bass, Cubby Phillips on guitar and Shawn Foree on synths. I did not attend this affair, but heard from various reports that the performance was “improvisational” and involved Mr. Conor singing articles from magazines. No Bright Eyes songs were performed. One person who was there said it was like going to a Bright Eyes show where you were allowed to talk during the performance. Another said it was like watching a band practice. 

It’s nice to see Oberst is still hanging around Omaha. He could live virtually anywhere he wants, and chooses to camp out in his hometown, which make him unique among the many Saddle Creek Records acts who defined Omaha’s indie sound in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s.  

. 0 0 0 .

DEMOS, Hell’s Angles (2023, self-release)

You remember Lincoln’s Cory Kibler from Crush the Clown and Strawberry Burns fame? Sure you do. Cory’s got a new project called DEMOS that just dropped a new album today called Hell’s Angles

The 10-song LP has origins that date back to 2011, though most of it was recorded in Lincoln over the past few years. It was “mixed and produced by Jim ‘Kimo’ West, Grammy Award-winning solo artist and longtime guitarist for Weird Al. It was mastered by Golden Mastering in Ventura, CA.,” says Mr. Kibler.

The album has a real Built to Spill essence to it, thanks to the guitar work and Kibler’s Doug Martsch-esque vocals. The rest of the band consists of Greg Joyce, drums, guitar and vocals; Jarek Olivetti, guitars, vocals and drums on “Shut Each Other Up” and “Morning Will Come,” and James Tucci, bass, various synths and noises. It’s available on CD and digital download (buy it from the Bandcamp page), and maybe vinyl in the future. Kibler says don’t expect an album release show anytime soon as Olivetti lives in Seattle. 

There was a bit there when I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get these songs on tape,” Kibler said. “Definitely very different from the young band experience, when you’d use what little show money you had to record and mix an entire record in like six days! We have a horse-ton of other demoed songs as well, so look for our follow-up in 2033!”  

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

The Faint re-emerge; new Stathi, Names Without Numbers; Plack Blague, Jeff in Leather Sunday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 10:01 am January 21, 2023
Plack Blague at The Slowdown, Dec. 30, 2016. The Blague performs at Reverb this Sunday afternoon.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Apologies for the lack of updates. Lazy-i is updating its back office software, so some things are moving around that, if done properly, you shouldn’t notice. Let me know if you do. 

. 0 0 0 .

Local heroes The Faint have been added to the Just Like Heaven Festival May 13 in Pasadena. Rolling Stone said the third-annual one-day festival brings together “fan-favorite indie rock and electro-dance artists.” Yeah Yeah Yeahs are the headliners and top billed include MGMT, Future Islands, and M83. The Faint is listed in the smaller type, but they’re there. This is the first we’ve heard from the band in a few years, with frontman Todd Baechle living somewhere in the California desert near Thousand Palms, California. It’ll be a return engagement for The Faint, who played at the first Just Like Heaven fest back in 2019. 

Will this be a one-off show for The Faint? I highly doubt it. Keep your eyes peeled. 

. 0 0 0 .

Since I’ve been remiss in posting, here are a few things that have been dangling in my in-box this week.

Singer/songwriter Stathi dropped a new track recently called “Make Sense, Make Amends.” Says Stathi: “I collaborated with a friend of mine in NYC and producer Emmett Folger on this one, and we recorded the tune at his studio in Brooklyn. We played all of the instruments between the two of us and I recorded all of the vocals with the exception of the vocal samples that are laced into the song.” Check it out and watch for a new demos release from Stathi in the coming weeks.

Omaha power pop act Names Without Numbers dropped a new single called “Florida.” Says NWN’s Dave Owens: “We plan to release 1-2 more singles and then an EP in spring. We already have studio time booked in May to record another collection of songs and hope for a late 2023 release. Then on top of that, it is the 20-year anniversary of our first LP, Running Marathons/Chasing Ambulances. We’ll have a full remastered re-release with vinyl and other goodies later this year via Steadfast Records.”

Cleveland’s Steadfast Records counts The Appleseed Caste and Unwed Sailor among its roster. Check out the single below:

. 0 0 0 . 

Actually, another reason for lack of updates has been the lack of shows. This weekend is no exception. 

Only one show is on the radar — that bondage-loving EDM-powered, Lincoln-based, leather-gimp Plack Blague is playing an afternoon show at Reverb Lounge Sunday. You read that right – a matinee. Joining him is the rising local electronic music artist Jeff in Leather and Gore-TXT doing a DJ set. .No idea why the afternoon scheduling as there’s nothing else on the Reverb schedule that day. So… experiment? $10, 3 p.m. It’s as good a reason as any to do some day drinking.

And believe it or not, that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

The Broke Loose tonight; Perfect Form, Minne Lussa, Dirty Talker Saturday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 8:17 am January 13, 2023
Perfect Form at O’Leaver’s, Jan. 31, 2020. The band returns to O’Leaver’s Saturday night.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We’re in the heart of winter, and that means no touring indie shows for the foreseeable future. Oh well, let’s take what we can get.

Tonight at The Down Under Lounge, for instance, sees the return of indie twang rockers The Broke Loose. As I was digging around the internet to see if the band released anything new, I fell upon their anthem for Omaha soccer franchise Union Omaha, which really isn’t indicative of their sound, but I had to share it anyway. The band takes The DU stage at 9:30. No price listed.

Then tomorrow night there’s a trifecta of bands playing at fabulous O’Leaver’s, headlined by Lincoln band Perfect Form, who we last saw at O’Leaver’s back in 2020 (in fact, I think they were the last band I saw before the Covid lock-down!). Perfect Form includes members of Pharmacy Spirits fronted by Jim Reilly. Their sound is reminiscent of so-called “First Wave” acts like Joy Division, Gang of Four and Wire. Joining them is Omaha band Minne Lussa and Lincoln act Dirty Talker — a trio featuring Brendan McGinn, Adam 2000 and Justin Kohlmetscher. 9 p.m., $7.

Also Saturday night, Bennie Does Bowie returns to The Waiting Room. $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.

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Music Visions for 2023: A look forward (and backward) at the Omaha and national indie music scenes; BIB, Whipkey tonight…

Category: Blog,Column — Tags: , — @ 7:41 am January 11, 2023

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

What mysteries will be revealed as I gaze into my magic Fender Squire Strat and see the future of Omaha’s (and the nation’s) indie music scene? Ah, but before we get to 2023, let’s see how I did with my predictions for 2022:

2022 Prediction: COVID-19 will have its last ugly gasp this winter and then will quickly fade away (except from our memories). By late summer, music venues’ mask-and-vax mandates will be a thing of the past.

Reality: Mask-and-vax mandates are distant memories, but COVID is still very much with us.

2022 Prediction: With TikTok creating the next generation of pop stars, more indie acts will take advantage of the platform.

Reality: TikTok remains a potent talent incubator … for pop stars, not indie stars.

2022 Prediction: The Maha Music Festival will be back and at full capacity. But it won’t be alone. Another Nebraska-based, indie-flavored, day-long music festival will be announced in ’22 that will be in direct competition.

Reality: The Outlandia Festival, with headliners Wilco and The National, was launched at Falconwood Park in Bellevue.

2022 Prediction: With two small music venues closing in ’21, watch as a new, small live-music venue opens to help fill the void.

Reality: There have been new venues in the past year, but nothing could replace The Brothers.

2022 Prediction: Helping fill those small-venue stages will be an army of next-generation indie bands created during the pandemic, many consisting of children of the aught-era indie bands that made Omaha famous.

Reality: Only a couple come to mind: Cat Piss and Pagan Athletes, both bands featuring the progeny of local music legend John Wolf.

2022 Prediction: Unfortunately, when it comes to popular national indie acts, we’ll continue to be “NOmaha” for national tours.

Reality: See my year in review story, published here last month. Pretty much dead-on target.

2022 Prediction: Look for another big-time indie music name to be taken down by a #metoo-style scandal.

Reality: In August, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct.

2022 Prediction: After opening offices in Los Angeles and New York City, Saddle Creek Records will make a major announcement that will impact the label’s Omaha legacy.

Reality: Nothing new here, though is their Omaha staff shrinking?

2022 Prediction: Bands and performers we’ll be talking about this time next year: David Nance, Little Brazil, Modest Mouse, Christian Lee Hutson, DIIV, Spoon, Desaparecidos, Yo La Tengo, Jenny Lewis and (once again) Phoebe Bridgers.

Reality: Nance, Little Brazil, CLH, Spoon, Hutson, Desa, YLT and Bridgers all had new releases in 2022.

2022 Prediction: No Filter 2021 will be the last Rolling Stones tour.

Reality: The Stones are immortal.

2022 Prediction: A certain music journalist will begin compiling information for an oral history of the Omaha/Nebraska music scene.

Reality: Not yet, but soon.

2022 Prediction: After years of being shut out, a Saddle Creek Records act will finally perform on “Saturday Night Live.”

Reality: Ugh! I’m giving up!

So, six out of 12 – 50%? Bah, I can do better than that! Let’s take a look at what will happen in 2023:

Prediction: For a majority of young indie music acts, recording and releasing entire albums is costly and almost always a money loser. Beginning this year, we’ll begin to see a new focus on bands (and labels) promoting individual tracks rather than full albums. Is the album era beginning to wane?

Prediction: With inflation through the roof and the erosion of album revenues, touring also has become a money-losing proposition for new bands. Watch as more artists join Santigold, who cancelled her tour in September stating the current tour model is not sustainable. For many bands, touring will be limited to close-to-home markets.

Prediction: Big music festivals and national indie tours will be dominated almost solely by legacy bands in ’23 — acts whose heydays were one, two, even three decades ago. OK Boomer.

Prediction: Also in the bummer category, despite the vinyl explosion, downtown Omaha will not be able to sustain so many record stores. Watch as one of them closes its doors in ’23.

Prediction: In a shrewd, money-making move, a number of large local stages once known for hosting indie rock shows will begin booking full weekends of cover bands, Ranch Bowl-style.

Prediction: Omaha Performing Arts’ new Steelhouse music venue will open in May. Booked by Live Nation, it won’t be afraid to take chances (partially because it’s a funded nonprofit) and will pump new life into Omaha’s waning indie music scene.

Prediction: The Maha Festival will make a huge announcement after it enjoys yet another successful year in 2023. Don’t worry, great things are on its horizon.

Prediction: Meanwhile, Outlandia Festival will be bigger and better in Year 2, adding on-site camping and a broader array of artists, including new breakthrough indie acts.

Prediction: So, does Omaha have room for a third music festival? You better believe it. Watch for the announcement.

Prediction: The band with the longest-running original lineup, U2, will finally come to an end.

Prediction: Bands we’ll be talking about this time next year: David Nance, Lewsberg, Phoebe Bridgers (again), The Faint, Courtney Barnett, The Smiths, Parquet Courts, Hand Habits, Orville Peck, Matt Whipkey, Cactus Nerve Thang, Icky Blossoms and Car Seat Headrest.

Prediction: A huge movie crew will arrive here in River City in ’23 to begin filming a Netflix/Amazon/Hulu docu-drama series about the music scene during the early 2000s. Omaha, get ready for your closeup!

Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com.

First published in January 2023 issue of The Reader. Copyright © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

. 0 0 0 .

I predict two shows of importance tonight…

Omaha noise/punk band BIB (Pop Wig Records) kicks off yet another tour tonight at Reverb Lounge. Joining them on tonight’s bill are Total Sham, Dose, and Fire Sign. $10, 8 p.m.

Also tonight, Matt Whipkey, Justin Lamoureux and Aly Peeler are having “singer/songwriter roundtable” at The Jewell. $10, 7 p.m.

. 0 0 0 .

Lazy-i Best of 2022

Relive the year gone by with the  Lazy-i Best of 2022 Comp CD!

The collection includes my favorite indie tunes I’ve come across throughout the past year as part of my tireless work as a music critic for Lazy-i and The Reader. Among those included: Big Thief, Arcade Fire, Belle and Sebastian, Sudan Archive, Megan Siebe, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Plains, Simon Joyner, Rosie Thomas and more.  The full track listing is here.

To enter to win a copy of the CD, send me an email with your mailing address to tim.mcmahan@gmail.com. Hurry, contest deadline is Thursday, January 12, at midnight.

* * *

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i