by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There’s a shit-ton to get to, so let’s get to it…

Tonight Bug Heaven headlines a Bug Symposium production at The Sydney in Benson, where it’s also Benson First Friday (that means art shows throughout our little city in the city). Crabrangucci also is on the bill. $10, 9 p.m.

Both acts are on the line-up for the 2022 Petfest, happening Aug. 13 behind Petshop Gallery in Benson. This year’s headliners are Chicago electronic/industrial duo HIDE (Dais Records) and Amulets. The full line-up:

HIDE
Amulets
Cat Piss
Universe Contest
Ghost Foot
Nowhere
Bug Heaven
Better Friends
Thirst Things First
Mike Schlesinger
Problems
Aly Peeler
No Thanks
Dave Nance Band
Glow
Ruby Block
Jenny Haniver
Marcey Yates
Crabrangucci
Erawq

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: It’s the best local-band lineup of any Nebraska festival. Tickets are $30 advance/$35 DOS, and are available right now.

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Speaking of strong local line-ups, tomorrow night is one of the best: Jim Schroeder will celebrate the release of the vinyl version of his new album, Mesa Buoy, at a concert at Holy Family Community Center, 1714 Izard St. Joining him and his band are Megan Siebe, who’s also celebrating the release of her new album, and Dan McCarthy. It’s a free show and starts at 7 p.m.

Also Saturday night, We Were Promised Jetpacks returns to Omaha, this time to The Waiting Room, with Weakened Friends. 8 p.m., $16.

And then Sunday night is the big Sasami show at Reverb. This is a return engagement, as she kicked ass at Reverb back in April 2019. Since then, she’s really changed up her sound and style. Her new album, Squeeze (2022, Domino) goes from one extreme to another. Jigsaw Youth opens at 8 p.m. $15.

And lest we forget, it’s Bandcamp Friday, wherein the fine folks at Bandcamp waive their fees for all sales made through their website, and some record labels also are following suit. Bandcamp Fridays are becoming an important release date for indie bands, who use it to drop new singles or pre-sale album notices.

Among them are Simon Joyner, who this morning announced his new album, Songs from a Stolen Guitar, comes out May 20 on Grapefruit Records (a label he owns and operates). The all-star support includes Megan Siebe, viola, backing vocals; David Nance, lead guitars, backing vocals; Michael Krassner, guitar, piano; Max Knouse, guitar; Sunshine Joyner, guitar, vocal; Ryan Jewell, drums, percussion; Wil Hendricks, bass guitar, and Ben Brodin, Wurlitzer, B3, vibraphone. Check out a couple of the songs and preorder here.

Singer/songwriter/rocker Mitch Gettman’s new single, “Goldie” is over 11 minutes long and keeps you grooving the whole time. It’s the first track off a yet-to-be-announced new album and features Paul Jensen on bass, Nate Van Fleet on drums (he also co-engineered the track with Jeremy Gerrett, who mixed/mastered), and mind-blowing sax solo by Skye Junginger. Check it out below.

Little Brazil has released yet another new track off their forthcoming album, Just Leave, out June 3 but available for preorder from Max Trax Records website.

Tim Kasher dropped a new song (and video) fro his new album, Middling Age, which comes out April 15 on 15 Passenger (pre-order here). “Forever of the Living Dead” features Laura Jane Grace and Jeff Rosenstock. Check it.

And Dereck Higgins (of Digital Sex and Chemicals) has a new EP out today called Personal Power. Buy the download here, and check out a track below.

That’s all I got. If I missed your show (or your album release) 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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I told you to jump on it if you wanted VIPs — Outlandia Festival’s 2-Day VIP tickets sold out in a matter of hours, as did the Friday night 1-Day VIP tickets for The National. And just this morning, the Saturday VIPs for Wilco also sold out.

I’m still trying to figure out where exactly they’ll stage this event on the Falconwood compound (or locate the parking, for that matter), and so are a few other people I know who are going to the event. The map reveal will be as big as the lineup reveal!

BTW, all the Maha Festival VIPS are still available.

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There’s a fantastic show tonight at The Sydney in Benson. Athens band Blunt Bangs boasts a lineup that includes Reggie Youngblood (Black Kids) on guitar and vocals, Christian “Smokey” DeRoeck (Woods, Deep State, Meneguar, Little Gold) on guitar and vocals, and Cash Carter (Tracy Shedd, The Cadets) on drums. Their latest album, Proper Smoker (2021, Big Hassle Records) was recorded at Chase Park Transduction in Athens and is a scorching collection of indie power-pop influenced by the likes of early Teenage Fanclub and Superchunk.

Opening the show is our own indie power-pop combo, Ojai. And there’s a mystery about the second band on the bill. The 1% Productions website says a new band, Ah Ensemble, are on the bill — a band that consists of members of And How. The future of And How appears to be in doubt, if you followed the band on Instagram (an account that has since been taken down). Meanwhile, the Facebook event listing for this show has Hussies in that opening spot. I guess you’ll find out tonight.

This is a 3-band bill with a 9 p.m. start time, which unfortunately takes me out of the game on a Tuesday night. The Sydney appears to be the only music venue booking three-band shows with 9 p.m. start times on weeknights. My biggest concern is that Blunt Bangs will learn what the term “getting Omaha’d” means… $10.

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Add eight more bands to the Petfest line-up for their Aug. 13 festival in Benson. Newly announced:

Nowhere
David Nance
No Thanks
Better Friend
Glow
Ruby Block
Bug Heaven
Thirst Things First

They join already announced:

Amulets
Cat Piss
Universe Contest
Ghost Foot
Mike Schlesinger
Problems

And there’s more to come. Petfest tickets go on sale Friday, April 2.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Turns out someone from Gary Numan’s team got COVID, which is why Thursday’s show was postponed. In a message, Numan said he hopes to reschedule sometime toward the end of summer. Here’s hoping safe passage through illness.

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Tickets to the Outlandia and Maha music festivals both went on sale today at 10 a.m. If you want VIP tix to either event, you better buy them now.

Yesterday, @OutlandiaFest on Twitter replied to one of my tweets at @tim_mcmahan (come on by!) that “The ‘land adjacent’ was purchased by Falconwood and will now be home to the new, improved and vastly larger Falconwood. Maybe they need to rebrand to Falconwood Mega Park. Just wanted to clarify it most certainly is still Falconwood Park.”

The additional property is the Salvation Army Gene Eppley Camp, which Falconwood shared a border with on two sides. I’m still curious where the stage will be, and the parking. Organizer Marc Leibowitz (of 1% Productions) said in the OWH article that there would be thousands of parking spots available. I’ll try to swing by the park this weekend and see what I can see…

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As of this morning before I went to work, Petfest had announced six bands so far for their Aug. 13 festival in Benson:

Amulets
Cat Piss
Universe Contest
Ghost Foot
Mike Schlesinger
Problems

More to come. Amulets is an ambient/noise project by Portland’s Randall Taylor. Haunting. Petfest tickets go on sale Friday, April 2.

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Tonight at Reverb Lounge it’s Omaha indie band Lodgings. I’ve seen these folks a few times at O’Leaver’s (who, more than ever, appear to be out of the live music business. Come on, O’Leaver’s, book some shows). Joining Lodgings tonight is GLOW and southern-fried rockers Lightning Stills (Craig Fort and Co.). $8, 9 p.m.

Is the new normal 9 p.m. shows on weekends and 8 p.m. start times during the week (except, apparently, at The Sydney)? Well, it’s better than 10 p.m. start times.

That’s it. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Let me leave you with the just-released single by Nathan Ma, “She’s WIld” mixed by Young Guv. 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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As you already know if you were going, the Gary Numan show slated for tonight at The Waiting Room is postponed.

I checked out the website for First Avenue — the famous venue in Minneapolis (you remember Purple Rain) to see if they had any details since Numan postponed his show there last night. But no more details than we have already from our 1% site — it’ll be rescheduled, hold onto your ticket, etc. Someone from 1% posted that someone on Team Numan is sick, and I heard that he lost his voice performing two nights ago in Chicago (no idea if that’s true).

I made the mistake of clicking on First Avenue’s calendar of upcoming events. First Avenue not only books the iconic club but also its 7th St. Entry stage, Palace Theatre, The Fitzgerald Theater, Fine Line and Turf Club. All are listed on the calendar.

There literally is at least one indie show, and in many cases multiple indie rock shows, every night of the week. Every touring indie band you can think of shows up on that calendar. Don’t look unless you want to get very depressed at what’s passing us by down here in NOmaha.

But as I’ve said before: If Omaha got all their shows — great shows every night of the week — there’s no way I could attend them and remain employed. Or alive. The good news is that with the addition of Admiral, Astro, Steelhouse and whatever else is on the horizon we don’t know about, our calendars will begin to look a lot more like First Avenue’s.

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Tickets to the Outlandia Festival go on sale tomorrow. Here’s a prediction: Single-day VIP tickets for Friday night (headlined by The National) will sell out almost immediately. In fact, all the VIP tickets will go fast. The price is right at $199 for one-day VIPs and $340 for 2-day VIPs. In addition to getting your own viewing area, your own bar and (maybe most important of all) your own bathrooms, VIP tickets come with free parking.

In fact, VIP tickets are the smart way to go for the Maha Festival as well. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Friday) at 10 a.m.

One last prediction: Friday Outlandia GA tickets will sell out quicker than Saturday GA tickets.

One area of confusion that arose concerning Outlandia: The Omaha World-Herald yesterday published this article about the festivals. From the article: “At 160 acres, the land adjacent to Falconwood Park was ideal for the new festival, Leibowitz said, because it is large enough to accommodate a large number of attendees.” The land adjacent? I thought Outlandia was being held at Falconwood Park. This makes me wonder where exactly the festival is taking place if it’s “adjacent to” Falconwood Park. More to come….

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One last thing, Maha Festival band Sudan Archives have a new track out that made it on the Spotify All New Indie playlist called “Home Maker.” It’s a Pitchfork “Best New Track” selection as well. Check it out below. Just a little service to help out those folks who are saying “who are these bands playing at Maha this year…”

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Year in and year out, Lazy-i and The Reader had developed a “Top 20” list of the area’s best bands. It was the product of a lot of back-and-forth among the various music beat writers at The Reader, hosted over drinks at a local bar. I was one of the indie music voices. That tradition slowly faded over the years really because The Reader’s music staff became smaller and smaller.

Yesterday on Facebook, a couple readers posted comments that suggested I wasn’t keeping up with the young bands coming up in the local indie scene, which got me digging around online for the last “Top 20” list. Neither The Reader nor Lazy-i had published one since before the pandemic (the 2019 list). With that in mind, here’s my current list of the top local indie bands. Note: I said “Indie” bands, not country acts, not pop bands, not metal, R&B or traditional rock bands, not cover bands, etc. There is a difference. And as I’ve pointed out time and again, Lazy-i covers the local and national indie music scene.

These are the survivors, these are the ones who made it through the other side of COVID. These are bands I know for one reason or another still exist post-pandemic. There are bands not listed here that I’m unsure are still performing. There are also bands not listed I haven’t heard before. Regardless, if we had one of those Top-20 list discussions, this is the list I’d bring to the table. I’m sure I’m missing someone, so let me know.

Lodgings
No Thanks
James Schroeder
Megan Siebe
McCarthy Trenching
Sean Pratt
Problems
Nowhere
Scott Scholtz
David Nance Group
And How
Twinsmith
The Brigadiers
Steady Wells
BIB
Those Far Out Arrows
Las Cruxes
See Through Dresses
Jack McLaughlin
Relax, It’s Science
Magu
Win/Win
The Sunks
Ojai
Nathan Ma
Solid Goldberg
Uh Oh
Leafblower
Lightning Stills
Stathi
Anna McClellan
Ethan Jones
Matt Whipkey
Dereck Higgins
Bokr Tov
Wagon Blasters
The Lupines
Mere Shadows
Simon Joyner
Jeff Runnings
Clarence Tilton
Cat Piss
Matthew Sweet
Bug Heaven
Universe Contest
Josh Hoyer
Domestica
Glow in the Dark
Digital Leather
Benny Leather
Pagan Athletes
Bad Bad Men
Stephen Sheehan
Ben Eisenberger
Big Nope
Dirt House
Oquoa
Eric in Outerspace
Hussies
Mike Schlesinger
Mitch Gettman
Little Brazil
Conor Oberst
Criteria
Flight School

This is also a list I’ll reference when asked by out-of-towners (as I sometimes am) what bands are worth checking out in the area and/or adding to their gig when they come to town…

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One of the most anticipated shows of the year is tonight at The Slowdown. Yves Tumor headlines with dance maven Doss. I believe this show has been rescheduled a number of times since before the pandemic and now it’s happening. 8 p.m. start time, $30.

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Little Brazil just dropped another track from their forthcoming LP Just Leave (out June 3) called “Station.” Check it below, and pre-order the album from Max Trax Records.

Bright Eyes continues to release songs from their companion series that accompanies their most recent set of reissues. This time it’s a cover of Elliott Smith’s “St. Ides Heaven,” that sounds nothing like the original and includes vocals from Conor’s pal Phoebe Bridgers. The track comes from Letting Off the Happiness: A Companion EP, out May 27 on Dead Oceans.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As we all know by now, Outlandia Festival announced their line-up yesterday, and it’s easily the biggest drawing ticket of any local festival in recent memory.

Wilco, The National, Band of Horses, Silversun Pickups, The Breeders, Local Natives, Real Estate are the top “gets,” and each is a big draw by themselves. The price point of $79 single day / $149 2-day is a bargain (but don’t forget the $25 parking fee (or $15 if you’re willing to take a shuttle)). I don’t know what Falconwood Park’s capacity is, but even without knowing, I have to believe this will sell out. Tickets go on sale this Friday, and the festival is Aug. 12 and 13.

Meanwhile, today The Maha folks announced its line-up for their festival July 29 and 30 at Stinson Park in Aksarben Village. The headliner is Beach House, who currently has the No. 1 album on the college radio charts (It already topped the Billboard rock and alt charts), with Car Seat Headrest returning to headline the Friday night lineup. Filling in the gaps are Princess Nokia, PUP, Indigo De Souza, Sudan Archives, Bartees Strange, Geese and Sweeping Promises. Tickets are $35 for Friday night, $65 for Saturday, and $85 for the two-day event. Parking is free.

In a cage match where ticket sales are the key to victory, Outlandia will win hands down. But there’s one problem with Outlandia’s line-up, for me anyway: There’s not a single band I want to see. Everyone is ga-ga about The National, which to me is like the (comedian) Steven Wright of indie bands. Droll, very droll. I’ve seen Wilco before (Zzzzz), and I was at Aksarben Coliseum when The Breeders opened for Nirvana 30 years ago, and that was a snooze.

Outlandia’s history has direct ties with the Maha Festival. Three dudes who originally put together Maha are involved, and I guess that partially explains the line-up. Those guys all worship Wilco and have wanted to book them at Maha as long as I can remember. The knock against Outlandia: It’s old white-guy music, Dad Rock. Maybe so, but Dad Rock sells, baby, especial in this market.

As for Maha, well, I’m not a big Beach House fan, either. I’ve seen them live at TWR, and they bored me to tears. But, I love Indigo, Car Seat and PUP, and am intrigued by Geese, Bartees and Sweeping Promises. Actually, I’m intrigued by the entire line-up except Beach House, but I’ve never liked Maha’s headliners. This year’s Maha Fest is like a SXSW showcase sponsored by Pitchfork. Of the bands booked, only Beach House, PUP and Car Seat Headrest could fill The Waiting Room. The rest (except for maybe Princess Nokia and Sudan Archives, who I know nothing about) would be hard-pressed to sell out Reverb. Compared to Outlandia, Maha’s line-up is more youth-targeted, diverse and likely to sell poorly in a market that doesn’t have a real college radio station. But that’s always been the case.

Outlandia only has two local bands on the bill, Clarence Tilton and Masonjixx. Maha has six local acts, but still manages to miss the mark when it comes to capturing what’s going on in local indie music scene. Only Spanish-language punk band Las Cruxes fits that bill.

That’s where Petfest comes in. The tiny festival hosted behind Petshop Gallery in Benson just happens to be the same day as Outlandia this year — Aug. 13 — and the ticket price is about the same as Outlandia’s parking fee. Hands down, Petfest has the best local line-up of any festival or concert. Having seen this year’s line-up, I can tell you that will be true again. But this year, it’ll also have a few national touring acts, too. Because of Outlandia’s surprise announcement yesterday, Petfest has decided to slow-drip announcing their line-up over the next couple of weeks.

So who will be the big winner? In my opinion, all of them will be. Because as I said before, Outlandia targets a different audience than Maha (or Petfest). As a wise man told me, the kids will be at Maha, and their dads will be at Outlandia.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, Cassandra Jenkins opens for Andy Shauf. Her 2021 album, An Overview of Phenomenal Nature, was on my 2021 year-end best-of list. Andy Shauf’s latest, The Neon Skyline, is out on ANTI- records. 8:30, $20.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s a loaded weekend full of under-the-radar bands. Not only haven’t I heard of most of these folks, finding information online about them is super-challenging. You’d think if you were going to head out on tour, that you’d have either a well-established website or Facebook page to explain who/what your band is all about…

Anyway…

Tonight, Newcastle, Australia indie-pop band Vacations plays at Reverb Lounge. Forever in Bloom came out in 2020 on Human Sounds Records, which has a roster of acts none of whom I’ve heard of. Very punchy jump-jangle rock in a Jetpacks vein (or what I remember WWPJ to sound like). KC band Kid Computer opens at 8 p.m. $15. This is a No Vax No Entry show so bring yer stuff.

Tomorrow night it’s the Squirrel Flower show at Reverb I mentioned earlier this week (Is Reverb becoming thee destination for small indie rock shows?). Opening is fellow Chicago band SafeSpace, or at least I think it is. There’s about a dozen “Safe Space” pages in FB and online. The band that owns this one, below, hasn’t released an album since 2018, but I hope it is these guys because this song is pretty awesome. $15, 8 p.m. This one also is a No Vax No Entry show, so bring your stuff to get in.

Meanwhile, down at Slowdown Jr., Saturday night, Austin-based laid-back indie band Summer Salt headlines a show with Brooklyn’s Renata Zeiguer and Chicago’s Kate Stephenson. 8 p.m., $25.

Sunday night, Columbus electronic/post-punk band Child of Night (Play Alone Records) headlines at The Sydney. Their latest, The Walls at Dawn, is a deep-beat blacklist dance-fueled gothy collection that’s sneaky good. Profit Prison from Bolognia, Italy (on Avant! Records) and Omaha’s Cult Play also are on the bill. 9 p.m., $10. It’s a shame this is a late show on a Sunday night…

Also Sunday night, Pagan Athletes opens for Garst at Slowdown Jr.. Social Cinema also is on the bill. $10. 8 p.m.

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Chicago by way of Boston’s Squirrel Flower a.k.a. Ella Williams has been writing and recording indie folk music since 2015, but broke through the waves with 2020’s I Was Born Swimming (Polyvinyl) that Paste Magazine called a record “you’ll want to sink into, like a warm bath or maybe a 4 p.m. ocean that’s been baking in the hot sun all day.”

She followed it up with Planet (i) (Polyvinyl, 2021), of which Allmusic said, “Themes of personal, meteorological, and environmental disaster scud like silver clouds over the album’s panoramic arrangements in a tenuous, but pleasingly textural way.” In fact, the record’s one-sheet called it “a love letter to disaster in every form imaginable. Tornadoes, flooding, gaslighting assholes, cars on fire—these songs fully embrace a planet in ruin.”

Sound depressing? Yeah, it can be. But most of Planet (i) is acoustic-riff indie rock that fits alongside acts like Cassandra Jenkins or Tomberlin at their quieter moments. It’s a pretty record that feels like a long, contemplative road trip, dusty and afternoon-sun lit, lost along an empty Highway 30.

Expect to hear tracks off this one when she rolls into Reverb Saturday night, as well as songs off her just release follow-up EP, Planet (Polyvinyl), which consists of outtakes from the Planet (i) sessions and a cover of Bjork’s “Unravel.”

We caught up with Williams and asked her the Ten Questions. Here’s her rather minimal responses:

What is your favorite album?

Squirrel Flower’s Ella Williams: Nebraska by Springsteen 😉

What is your least favorite song?

Happy Birthday

What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Playing music with them 

What do you hate about being in a band?

Literally nothing !

What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Bagel with cream cheese

In what city or town do you love to perform?

Chicago! Where I live right now. 

What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

I’ve never had a bad gig but one time I played in Sioux City, Iowa, and we got caught in the craziest rain storm ever. Full rivers flowing on the street while we were loading out.

Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

I have very low living costs and teach and work catering/restaurant gigs from time to time. It took a long time to get to the point of only needing a bit of side work here and there.

What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

I worked as a carpenter’s assistant for a bit, which I really loved. Would like to go into carpentry maybe. I would hate to be in finance or be a coder. 

What are the stories you’ve heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

Mainly just nice tales from my friend Paige, who grew up on a goat farm outside of Omaha! Can’t wait to play in Omaha. 

Squirrel Flower plays with Tenci Saturday, March 19, at Reverb Lounge. Tickets are $15, showtime is 8 p.m. This is a No Vax No Entry show, so bring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

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Omaha band And How released a new track off a forthcoming album with no set release date (that I know of). Produced/recorded by Ian Aeillo, who gave me the tip, the song was recorded at the old Enamel Studios (and I’m sure there’s a good story behind that). When we’ll hear more tracks from these sessions is a mystery, as I’m told frontman Ryan Menchaca has his hands full with this project and touring with Thick Paint. Fingers crossed that both bands play at this year’s Petfest…

Speaking of which, tonight And How plays with Thick Paint and Masonjixx (headliner) at Reverb Lounge. $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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You know that feeling when you’re sitting at your desk at your office (or wherever you work) after returning from a long vacation, when you’re staring at your computer screen and you think to yourself “It’s like I’ve never been gone.”?

That’s sort of how I felt like this past weekend at rock shows. COVID-19 body slammed us beginning in the late-spring / early summer of 2020. Within a few weeks of St. Patrick’s Day, venues had cancelled all their shows, and just a few weeks after that, the venues themselves were shuttered, as were we all, literally.

Looking back on that time it’s still hard to believe what the country went through; what we went through. Glance at this story I wrote during the beginning of the lock down about being locked down, or just scroll back through time in this blog and you can quickly relive the peril. In a lot of ways, we lost a couple years’ worth of the things we took for granted.

And now we’re back. Again. But this time it’s different. This time it feels like it’s for good.

None of this was going through my head this past weekend at Reverb and Slowdown Jr., however. Instead, I looked around at the mask-less crowd and thought to myself, “It’s like we’ve never been gone; it’s like COVID never happened.” Well, that’s not 100% true. The Slowdown was still checking vaccination cards at the door, and there were hand-sanitizer dispensers at the door of the club. And a couple people still wore masks, bless them.

Now we all wait, holding our breath, that another variant doesn’t emerge from the COVID abyss. And now with a war in Europe, we’ve got something else to worry about.

The war wasn’t mentioned on stage this weekend. Lala Lala played to (by my guestimate) about 75 people in the Slowdown small room. It was a very young, hip crowd vs. whoever was over at CHI Center that night for Tool. Backed by an incredibly talented rhythm section and a multi-instrumentalist whose gauntlet included an alto saxophone, front woman Lillie West played about an hour of oldies and newies.

This was the first stop of her tour, and she admitted to having a case of nerves. You wouldn’t have known it from her performance. Her vocals modulated from breathy-whisper-mumble to clear-voiced-spectacular. But from my limited knowledge of her catalog, she played mainly songs from her latest album, but there were some old ones thrown in and one song she said they’d never played before in front of a live audience.

West’s voice is many-layered, and can switch in tone from song to song. On top of that, she adds electronic effects to change it up even more, including layers of electronic harmonies that were gorgeous.

I caught the last few songs from opening act Elton Aura. Figured I should take a photo because this guy is so good he’s destined to become a star, and then I can point to this photo and say I was there when he opened for Lala Lala right after the pandemic. Elton said this was his first show ever. Impressive, Mr. Aura.

Friday night I caught Indian Cave and Minna Lussa at Reverb. Seemed like the majority of the crowd was there for the opener. Indian Cave is a new band and it showed. The style was very much in the emo spectrum, with the frontman’s voice reminding me of Geoff Rickly from Thursday. There were even some Cursive-esque guitar breaks thrown into the usual four-chord compositions to give it a mathy/angular edge. It’ll be interesting to watch this band grow.

Minne Lussa continues to impress with their dense, dreamy sound. I’ve said before they remind me of early Galaxy 500 or Luna and I stand by that, but the addition of warm, glowing instrumentals adds an Album Leaf flair. Frontman Matt Rutledge uses an effect on his vocals to give it a tinty, far-away sound on songs that are otherworldly to begin with. The fact that he’s singing a few of them in French is of no consequence when the vocal mix makes it hard to understand the words. No matter. It’s the vibe that matters on music that’s played in the darkest of dark-blue/purple lighting, as if the whole thing is taking place underwater.

It was great to be back at rock shows, without a mask. As if we’d never been away.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here comes the weekend.

Tonight it’s all happening in Benson. First on the list is Minne Lussa at Reverb Lounge. Fronted by Matt Rutledge, with guitarist Pat Reefe (ex-Tomato a Day), guitarist/vocalist Eric Bemberger (ex-Beep Beep), bassist Alan Legge and drummer Eric Ebers (ex-Ritual Device), the band has a smokey shoe-gaze quality reminiscent of Galaxy 500 or Luna. Just gorgeous stuff. Opening is local four-piece Indian Caves (Dan Krueger, Joe Ranne, Kyle Moeller and Leslie Wells). $7, 8 p.m.

Meanwhile down the street tonight at The Sydney Darren Keen’s latest project, Problems, headlines a bill that includes Benny Leather and Gore-TXT. $7, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night is the big Lala Lala show at Slowdown Jr. which I wrote about here yesterday. Joining Lala Lala is Chicago R&B/hip-hop artist Elton Aura. $20, 8 p.m. This one is No Vax No Entry, so bring your stuff to get in.

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.