The day has arrived: Tonight at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple Street in Benson, singer/songwriter/author David Dondero performs music and reads from his new novel, Chaos the Cat.
– This is a limited-capacity engagement – only 40 people will be allowed in. Showtime is 7 p.m. We’ll be there after 6 p.m. preparing the space, so arrive early and check out the art.
– There are no pre-show ticket sales. A $15 donation is requested at entry, but for $25 you’ll also get a copy of the book. A big, burly, very tough bouncer will be at the door (named Craig).
– Ming Toy doesn’t provide seating. We’ll have some fold-out stools available (courtesy of BFF), but bring your own chair if you want to guarantee the ability to sit down. Or sit on the floor. Or stand.
– The program consists of music, then reading, then Q&A (moderated by the very tall Rob Walters) followed by more music. Not sure how long it’ll last but it’ll definitely wrap up by 10.
– BYOB. We’ll have a cooler of ice water on hand.
– Check out the art! The current show is called “Vox Humana” and is curated by Mari Dailey. Here’s a brief video that explains the show. If you want more info or want to purchase anything, see me or Teresa.
Need more info? Click here. Should be a tons of fun. See you tonight!
It’s been a quiet last few weeks in terms of college/indie music and now this weekend we’re confronted with a “midwest dilemma” in the form of multiple shows happening at the same time. Ah, decisions, decisions…
The primary log-jam is tonight. Over at the Benson Theater it’s the return of Midwest Dilemma, which is celebrating the release of a new album 13 years in the making, titled Searching for the Cure for Loneliness, which I previewed here. Expect an army of musicians on stage with frontman Justin Lamoureux – he said he hopes to have more than 12 musicians playing with him for this show. It’ll be like a full-on Benson folk reunion, as post-Omaha singer/songwriters Kyle Harvey and Brad Hoshaw will open the show, which starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 via the Benson Theater website.
Meanwhile, downtown at The Slowdown, Omaha indie legends Neva Dinova celebrates the release of their new album, Canary, which actually doesn’t come out until Sept. 27 on Saddle Creek Records. No matter, as the band likely will be playing it in its totality. I’ve heard an advance of this record and it already owns a place on my best of 2024 list. Opening for Neva are Omaha acts Size Queen and Mike Saklar’s The Sun-Less Trio. $25, 8 p.m.
Choose wisely…
But that’s not the end of your choices this weekend. Saturday is pretty packed as well.
Indie folk royalty Gillian Welch & David Rawlings are headlining at The Astro in La Vista Saturday night. Their latest, Woodland (2024, Acony Records) scored a massive 8.0 from Pitchfork, and yeah, it’s a beaut. Tickets are $55-$102. Starts at 8 p.m. with no listed openers.
Meanwhile, two festivals are happening Saturday.
Tomorrow afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. the Little Bohemia District is hosting its annual Little Bo Backyard Bash. The event is located at 1408 S. 13th Street, and is one of the most chill neighborhood events I’ve attended. This year, the music line-up is first-rate with Saving Fiona, McCarthy Trenching, Head of Femur and Left Handed Country. Food trucks, beer trucks and other stuff. No cost listed, which tells me it’s free (it was last year). More info here.
Then tomorrow night at The Waiting Room its Fletchival: A Benefit for Vic Fletcher. Vic has been a beloved fixture of the Omaha music scene for decades, and this benefit concert will help raise money as she battles ongoing health challenges. Performing at Fletchival: Bryan Poole, The Mercurys, The Album Party, Bad Bad Men, Filter Kings, Damones, and Midwest Dead Coalition. $20, starts at 5 p.m.
And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend!
Okay, two shows worth mentioning this weekend, both happening tonight.
Down at Slowdown’s frontroom, Psymon Spine headlines. I never heard of this New York band prior to bumping into the listing this morning while perusing the Slowdown website. The core members — Noah Prebish, Peter Spears and Brother Michael — have collaborated with the likes of Joe Goddard of Hot Chip and Nick Millhiser of LCD Soundsystem and Holy Ghost. Their dance-punk sound reminds me of DFA acts like The Rapture, and their latest, Head Body Connector, released by Northern Spy Records in February, carries on that tradition. Opening act Wedding is Anna Schulte, who was backed by Nate Van Fleet, Michael Frederickson, Ben Brodin and Nick Costa on her 2023 recordings. Sgt. Leisure also is on the bill. Just $15. Bring your dancing shoes.
Meanwhile, at The Astro Amphitheater in La Vista, Aussie experimental psych-proggers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard headlines. Very Lips-ian. You might remember the show’s opener, NYC’s Geese, who played a drummer-less set at the 2022 Maha Music Festival. $50-$99, 7 p.m.
Oh yeah, and I almost forgot – It’s Benson First Friday! If you’re in the Benson area tonight, drop by Ming Toy Gallery (6066 Maple) where we’re hosting Vox Humana, a special art show curated by Mari Dailey that features art from 14 local artists including Jamie Burmeister, Anna Stoysich, Mike Eggert and Eduardo Gardea. The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m.
And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend!
I haven’t been to a rock show since mid-August. — since Petfest, to be exact. It’s one of the longest lulls between rock shows for me in recent memory, but late August was a slow time for indie/college music in Omaha.
One of the esteemed gentlemen who runs One Percent Productions – Marc Leibowitz – once told me that without him and the indie rock shows he books I’d have nothing to write about. He may have been right, but despite what Leibs said, there’s always things to write about, and moving forward to fill these lulls in touring indie shows, I’ll return to writing album reviews on a more frequent basis.
Album reviews easily are the toughest thing for me to write, and while I question their value in this age when music is (practically) free, I still get a ton of label requests to write about releases (Ah, but not like the old days, when the labels sent CDs! I loved to come home to a mailbox overflowing with manila envelopes…). We also used to have a lot more local indie bands recording and releasing albums, which simply ain’t the case no more…
Anyway, the balance of the month is looking busy as does October. Check out the updated “Up-and-Coming’ calendar below. On top of the list is tonight’s show at Reverb Lounge.
Austin’s A Giant Dog have come through town a few times over the years, including shows at Milk Run back in 2016 and on the River City Star in 2017 (Shipwrecked! Fest). They describe their sound as “… raucous ear candy culled from the hook-driven melodies of Slade, the glammy swagger of Marc Bolan, the morbid fantasy of Killer-era Alice Cooper, and the unpredictable wit of Sparks.” That’s quite a spate of comparisons.
That said, the five-piece, fronted by vocalist Sabrina Ellis, does have a throwback sound that recalls over-the-top FM radio rock, especially on their latest EP, Raw (2024, Merge Records). Expect onstage theatrics? Opening tonight at 8 p.m. is local indie rockers Bad Actors. $20!
And here’s the rest of the up-and-coming touring indie/college music calendar for the balance of September into October. Let me know if I’m missing anything.
Sept. 5 – A Giant Dog @ Reverb
Sept. 12 – Soft Kill @ The Slowdown
Sept. 12 – Magdalena Bay @ The Waiting Room
Sept. 14 – Gillian Welch & David Rawlings @ The Astro
Sept. 18 – David Dondero @ Ming Toy Gallery
Sept. 21 – Built to Spill @ The Waiting Room
Sept. 22 — Bright Eyes @ Steelhouse
Sept. 23 — M. Ward @ The Waiting Room
Sept. 24 – Why? @ The Slowdown
Sept. 25 – Descendents @ The Admiral
Sept. 26 – Foxing @ The Slowdown
Sept. 27 – Shovels & Rope @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 1 – Odie Leigh @ The Slowdown
Oct. 1 – Jungle @ The Astro
Oct. 4 – Brigitte Calls Me Baby @ Reverb
Oct. 4 – High Vis @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 4 – Turnover @ The Slowdown
Oct. 5 – Fontaines D.C. @ The Slowdown
Oct. 7 – Saturdays at Your Place @ Reverb
Oct. 8 – Boris @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 9 – Jeffery Lewis @ Grapefruit Records
Oct. 10 – MJ Lenderman & The Wind @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 10 – Melt @ The Slowdown
Oct. 10 – Pixel Grip @ Reverb
Oct. 12 – The Red Pears @ Reverb
Oct. 16 – Mdou Moctar @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 17 – Superchunk @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 18-19 – Cursive @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 20 – Jeff Tweedy @ The Admiral
Oct. 22 – Psychedelic Furs/Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Astro
It’s that time of year again. Lazy-i will be on hiatus tomorrow and this weekend as we take in the sights and sounds of New York City. So what’ll I be missing?
Tonight (Thursday) The Sydney is hosting a handful of folk artists with Nashville-by-way-of-North Carolina’s Brooks Forsyth in the headliner position. The inimitable Sean Pratt ialso is on the bill along with Tom Bartolomei. 8 p.m., $10.
Friday night, LA indie/surf-rock act The Buttertones plays Reverb Lounge. The band reinvented itself with new personnel after being mentioned in a #metoo controversy involving Burger Records, according to a Los Angeles Times story. Tucson duo New Misphoria also is on the bill along with show-opener Las Cruxes. $25, 8 p.m.
Saturday night, prog-metal giants Mastodon plays at the Astro Amphitheater with Lamb of God, Kerry King and Malevolence. This one likely will be enjoyed throughout the entire La Vista community. $50-$150, 5:30 p.m.
Also Saturday night, emerging Nebraska indie band Cowgirl Eastern headlines at Slowdown with Ohm Shell and Three of Cups. 8 p.m., $15.
That’s all I got. If I missed your show put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend!
This morning Neva Dinova’s publicist, Terrorbird Media, sent out links to the band’s latest video, which also happens to be the last-ever Love Drunk-produced video. Love Drunk mastermind, Django Greenblatt-Seay, is ending the series with No. 150.1, a video for Neva Dinova’s “Edge of Something.”
Love Drunk got its start way back in June 2010 when Django shot a one-take video of Portland singer-songwriter Nick Jaina. A year later, I wrote about Love Drunk for my column in The Reader,which you can still read online here in Lazy-i.
Love Drunk produced videos fast and furiously over its first five or six years for bands including many of Saddle Creek Records’ stable of artists (Cursive, Criteria, Orenda Fink, The Mynabirds, among others) and other national acts like The Menzingers, The Photo Atlas and Cymbals Eat Guitars. But Love Drunk’s bread-and-butter was videos for Nebraska artists, and just about every great band from that era was represented. You can check out the entire Love Drunk video catalog at the Love Drunk YouTube channel.
So why is Django hanging it up? “I don’t need the project as much as I did when I was in my 20s and early 30s,” he said. “I put all that work in, and reaped the benefits, but I no longer have the drive to own it.”
Instead, Django’s in conversations with some younger people interested in building something similar to Love Drunk but that could end up being more like a KEXP’s or the Tiny Desk Concert video series. More to come!
When I went to the Love Drunk channel I discovered that in addition to the “Edge of Something” video there’s also a new video for Neva Dinova’s “Someone’s Love,” which also went online today. Both are below.
Neva Dinova via Terrorbird also announced a couple new rock show dates, including a headlining gig Sept. 13 at Slowdown. They’ll also be playing Sept. 17 at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn.
No touring indie/college bands are coming through town this weekend (What else is new?).
Tonight, Jeremy Mercy and the Rapture Orphans are headlining at The Sydney. Mercy has been releasing a series of new country-rock singles, including the one below. Are these part of an upcoming album? Ask him tonight. Joining Mercy and his band are Frankie Chiaro and Watson & Co. $10, 8 p.m.
Tomorrow, Black Heart Booking hosts its annual Punk Rock BBQ at Reverb Lounge. The “summer tradition” combines “the love of loud, crazy punk rock music and delicious flame-seared delicacies.” Among the bands are Hand Painted Police Car, DSM-5 and Bad Actors. Full line-up and details here. $30, 4 p.m.
And that about does it. There’s basically nothing happening indie/college music-wise for the balance of the month, which is a shame considering we’ll be entering Husker Hell soon. Oh well… Have a great weekend….
For Throwback Thursday, a blog entry from 20 years ago… Whatever happened to Beep Beep? Whatever happened to The Goofy Foot?
Beep Beep and a peek behind the Creek; Kyle Harvey says goodbye, The Lepers tonight– Aug. 19, 2004
I guess you can call this extended version of the Beep Beep profile/interview (read it here) a Lazy-i exclusive — The Reader chopped off about a third of the story to make room for ads (I think they also cut my Sebadoh story as well — hey, that’s business). You get an interesting look inside the decision-making process that Creek goes through when they bring on a new band. Beep Beep is the latest expansion team in this successful league of indie rock stars. The fact that the band thinks of itself as the “black sheep” of the label is amusing and fitting and probably appropriate. Creek may not have a “sound” as Jason Kulbel says, but they do have certain boundaries that the bands are comfortable playing within, and Beep Beep breaks through them all. Yeah, Creek doesn’t have a “sound,” and they don’t really have anything like Beep Beep, either. There’s something strange and psychotic about their music, something that borders on violence and voyeurism, an eccentric decadence indeed. The guys in Beep Beep are as curious as anyone as to how their oddity will mesh with the rest of the label’s bands, which seem almost mainstream in comparison. As Chris Hughes says, “The record takes five listens to get the hook. If you give it a chance, you’ll get it.” I just don’t know if indie America (or America in general, for that matter) has the patience or the attention span to listen to anything five times.
Tonight’s shows: Kyle Harvey “and friends” at the Goofy Foot — it’s being billed as one of his last Omaha performances before he moves to Nashville. Meanwhile The Lepers and Players Club are at O’Leaver’s. Very unlikely that I’ll attend either show as I’m looking at three days in a row starting Friday night. Instead, I might check out the Metallica documentary at The Dundee Theater — I hate Metallica, but I hear this is a good flick. If I go, I’ll pass on a review tomorrow.
Check-in: The Good Life, Album of the Year; The Faint, Wet from Birth.
It’s time for a fresh look at the touring indie band gig calendar for Omaha. Notable additions include High Vis Oct. 4 (that’ll be a busy Friday night!), Jeffrey Lewis at Grapefruit Oct. 9, M. Ward Sept. 23 at The Waiting Room and Modest Mouse Nov. 12 at Steelhouse Omaha. That makes three Steelhouse shows on the calendar, with Bright Eyes playing Steelhouse Sept. 22 and Molchat Doma playing there next year (Feb. 24)…
Sept. 5 – A Giant Dog @ Reverb
Sept. 12 – Soft Kill @ The Slowdown
Sept. 18 – David Dondero @ Ming Toy Gallery
Sept. 21 – Built to Spill @ The Waiting Room
Sept. 22 — Bright Eyes @ Steelhouse
Sept. 23 — M. Ward @ The Waiting Room
Sept. 24 – Why? @ The Slowdown
Sept. 25 – Descendents @ The Admiral
Sept. 26 – Foxing @ The Slowdown
Oct. 1 – Odie Leigh @ The Slowdown
Oct. 1 – Jungle @ The Astro
Oct. 4 – Brigitte Calls Me Baby @ Reverb
Oct. 4 – High Vis @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 4 – Turnover @ The Slowdown
Oct. 5 – Fontaines D.C. @ The Slowdown
Oct. 7 – Saturdays at Your Place @ Reverb
Oct. 8 – Boris @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 9 – Jeffery Lewis @ Grapefruit Records
Oct. 10 – MJ Lenderman & The Wind @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 10 – Melt @ The Slowdown
Oct. 12 – The Red Pears @ Reverb
Oct. 16 – Mdou Moctar @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 17 – Superchunk @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 18-19 – Cursive @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 20 – Jeff Tweedy @ The Admiral
Oct. 22 – Psychedelic Furs/Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Astro
Oct. 23 – Kate Nash @ The Slowdown
Oct. 26 – Porches @ Reverb
Oct. 31 – Lunar Vacation @ The Slowdown
Nov. 12 – Modest Mouse @ Steelhouse
Am I missing something? Let me know…
With Petfest behind us, Omaha’s festival season is now officially over. I’ve sent multiple emails to Maha Music Festival organzers about 2025 plans and… radio silence. Can’t be a good thing, can it?
A head’s up on a few new local things I’ve been listening to…
Midwest Dilemma is back. Sure, singer/songwriter Justin Lamoureux has played here and there over the past few years but he hasn’t released any new music since 2008’s Timelines & Tragedies. The new one, Searching for the Cure for Loneliness, is slated for release Sept. 13.
Says Lamoureux: “These songs are rooted in the early days of Midwest Dilemma and most of them were recorded in guitarist Nic Johnson’s basement in 2011. Time passed as it always does and these recordings were put on the shelf until they began resurfacing in 2019. The songs never really left, but their stories became more and more relevant as we experienced the loss of family and friends, the absence of friends that moved away, and then the fear and isolation of the pandemic. These songs have been a part of us for over 13 years and witnessing their rebirth all these years later has been transformative.”
He said my favorite song from the new album, a banger called “Stolen Car,” was originally supposed to be recorded in 2011 when the rest of the album was recorded. “Ian (Aeillo, sound engineer extraordinaire) recorded it at Make Believe (Studio) in 1 day, getting in all the players including my 3 littles. It was magical,” Lamoureux said. I’d share the track with you, but he’s holding back on that one, so you’ll just have to wait.
As with his last record, there’s a shit-ton of musicians on the new album: In addition to Lamoureux on guitar and vocals, you have Nic Johnson, guitar, vox; Joye VanTrimmell, cello, Vox; Ben Arunski, tuba, trombone; John Klemmensen & Unknown, trumpets; Tyler Cook, upright bass; Kaitlyn Hova, violin; Jackie Six, flute; Ian Simmons & Elizabeth Webb, clarinets; Bob Schimpf, bassoon; Dan McCarthy, accordion; Rebecca Lowry, ukulele; Django Greenblatt-Seay, banjolin; Jason Ferguson, mandolin, lap steel; Aaron Jordan, Rhodes, piano; Scott Zimmerman, vibraphone; Matt Arbeiter, drums; Inaiah & Chela Lujan, vox; Ella, Idelle & Luci Lamoureux, vox. Whew!
Lamoureux said he’s trying to get a 12+ sized band on stage for the album’s release show, which is Sept. 13 at Benson Theatre (He’s currently rehearsing with nine musicians). Joining them will be old pals Brad Hoshaw and Kyle Harvey. It’ll be just like Benson 2008 all over again!
Omaha singer/songwriter Anna McClellan today dropped a single called “Jam the Phones” via Father/Daughter Records. This follows two earlier singles, “Hold You Close,” and “Like a Painting.” Can a full-on album be far behind? Check out the lyric video, directed by Katrina Peterson:
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I generally don’t like cover songs, preferring to simply enjoy the originals, but I do dig Mitch Gettman’s cover of the Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell chestnut “Wichita Lineman,” which just dropped earlier this week.
I guess we’re entering an era once again where artists need to record and release covers, understanding they can pique the interest of new listeners, especially when performed live, because these days, the only way musicians are making any money is playing live on stage…
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Speaking of which, tonight, PACKS headlines at Slowdown’s front room. You can read a Ten Questions interview with PACKS frontperson Madeline Link right here. Omaha slacker-indie phenoms The Dirts get things started tonight at 8 p.m. $18.
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