by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 285: Sonic Youth

Tapping the mind of a 17-year-old.

Out of the blue last week I received an e-mail from Molly Misek. Ms. Misek had read my column/review of the Concert for Equality and wanted to interview me for an article for The Network, the highly esteemed Marian High School newspaper. I said sure, but to be fair, there’d have to be an information exchange — she could interview me, if I could interview her.

Look, how often am I going to get a chance to interview a 17-year-old about the music that surrounds her everyday life during what arguably is/will be her most formative years? Do you remember what you were listening to when you were 17? It’s very likely that you’re still listening to that same music today. And let’s face it, how else is a guy of my vintage (with no kids of his own) really supposed to find out what today’s youth is listening to?

Molly’s questions keyed on the Benson concert, the issues surrounding it, and, of course, the bands. Her piece will focus more on the cause than the music, even though it was Conor Oberst — not the plight of illegal immigrants — that drew her attention to the show. “It wasn’t about the issue at all. I’m a fan of Bright Eyes,” she said. “Everything Conor does is pretty awesome. I’m mostly a fan of him, and can’t say I was a fan of any other bands that played, but I’m not so into the super Omaha indie scene.”

Her love of all things Oberst began in 7th Grade when her cousins visited from Laredo, Texas. “They’re super-big fans of Bright Eyes,” she said. “Anyway, we were in Target and we see this guy in dark glasses and this shady kind of hair, and my cousin said, ‘Oh my god, that looks like Conor Oberst.’ She walks by him and says, ‘That’s his voice, Molly.’ Why would he be in a SuperTarget across from my house? They finally made me go up and ask and he said he was (Oberst), and autographed her shoe or something. After that, I got interested in his music and his albums. I wish I had been more of a fan, I would have appreciated it more.”

These days Molly’s record collection consists of about 60 CDs and 3,500 songs on iTunes, about half of which she actually purchased. “I used to buy a lot of CDs,” she said. “Before I got my Macbook I would buy them the regular way, from iTunes. Now that I have my Macbook, I rip them from YouTube if they’re good quality. I was never an ‘illegal person’ — I will buy a song if I feel the band deserves the money for it, not that any band doesn’t.”

Her last purchase was an Interpol CD, bought at Target or Best Buy. “It was probably not even a month ago,” she said. “I went through an Interpol craze and bought their previous three albums.”

Misek said she discovers new music on websites like Spinner.com. “They have a ‘Free MP3 of the Day,’ and I download it every day,” she said. Spinner has a few mainstream tracks (Weezer’s “Memories” is available), but its focus is almost solely indie music, with new tracks by bands like !!!, Revolver, and Broken Social Scene.

How does she define indie? “Indie music is considered anything that anyone doesn’t know about,” Misek said. “There are people who say, ‘Bright Eyes is too mainstream.’ Everyone can be a snob sometimes. When something becomes popular, you can become angry because you knew about it before anyone else. I needed to let that go and like music just to like it, not to be perceived as ‘cool’ or ‘indie.’ A lot of time indie music isn’t even that good.”

Her current favorite song is the new one by Enrique Iglesias. She also likes Lady Gaga (“I think she’s pretty revolutionary”), the new Arcade Fire, Miike Snow and Kid Cudi. “People like rap because it’s good at dances,” she said. “It’s easy to listen to. I’m not a huge fan of rap, but I won’t delete it from my iTunes.”

Molly goes to shows “every couple of months,” and would attend more all-ages shows, but “it’s a problem because I have to get a notarized parent’s signature. It’s a lot of work.” She didn’t know that places like The Slowdown can keep parental slips on file.

To galvanize a stereotype, I rattled off the names of 15 old-school bands like Boston, Journey and REM. Misek was familiar with all of their music, except for Tom Jones (“I’ve heard of him”), The Moody Blues (“never heard their music”), The Dead Kennedys, The Minutemen (Why would she know their music?), and one of my dad’s favorites, Herb Albert (while she knew about The Pixies because they’re one of her dad’s favorites).

Over the course of our hour-long phone interview, we talked about radio (“I used to like 89.7 The River, but now they play more hardcore stuff”), metal (“Weird metal bands are more popular with guys. It’s just gross”), Katy Perry (“I like her despite being normal bubble-gum pop”), and the “next big thing” (“From my point of view, it’s electronic”).

Even though technology has changed the way Molly’s generation listens to music, not much else has changed since when I was her age. Back then, I was always looking for that song that would change my life. Molly’s no different.

“Sometimes you’ll be listening to a song and then one lyric will hit you, and you’ll think ‘Oh my god, I so know what you’re talking about,'” she said. “Maybe I’m too romantic, but music is an expression of the soul. It kind of changes your mind a little. If you identify with a song, isn’t that what it’s supposed to do? Isn’t everything in your life life-changing?”

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room is the return of Eux Autres. As I said in this vintage 2005 interview, it’s pronounced “ooz-oh-truh,” and it means “The Others” in French, of course. The brother-and-sister rock band from Portland has Omaha roots. Guitarist/vocalist Nicholas Larimer graduated from North High School in ’96, while his drummer/vocalist sister Heather graduated from Central in ’90, where she was “the cheerleader that never smiled.” Since that story was written, the band added drummer Yoshi Nakamoto (The Aislers Set, Still Flyin’) and released a second album, Cold City, on Happy Birthday to Me Records, along with a handful of singles. They’ve got a new album, Broken Bow, waiting in the wings for a November release. Check out their latest free downloadable single, “World Cup Fever 2010.” It’s good. Opening is The Third Men. 9 p.m., $7.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Young Love's Erica Quitzow and Gary Levitt.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 283: Love and Records

The dynamic duo behind Young Love…

Oliver Morgan of local indie band Landing on the Moon described them this way (and I’m paraphrasing because it was after a long night at O’Leaver’s): They each do their own thing, completely, separately, and it’s obvious when you listen to their bands, but there’s no mistaking that they’re together in everything — their music, their business, their lives.

Oliver was talking about Gary Levitt and Erica Quitzow, the owners/operators of Young Love Records, the label that signed Landing on the Moon earlier this year. But in addition to running a label and a recording studio, the couple also each has his and her own band that the other plays in — Setting Sun and Quitzow. And the two couldn’t sound more different.

Setting Sun, Levitt’s project, is low-fi, mainly acoustic, neo-psychedelic indie rock reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel, The Decemberists, even a bit of Arcade Fire. The single “Driving” off the just-released Fantasurreal chugs like a tidy indie freight train, while “Make You Feel” is as psychedelic as you can get with a trumpet playing a counter melody. Levitt played most of the instruments on the album, but Quitzow added backing vocals, bass, violin and cello.

Then there’s Quitzow, Erica’s sassy, sexy dance project, whose only goal is getting the audience to forget about their dreary lives for a little while and have some fun. Juice Water, her just-released second album, is a synth-driven dance-floor ass-shaker, thick with beats, bass and Quitzow’s snarling, cooing, barking vocals. Levitt produced the record and added some percussion and bass.

“I mixed both the records, but we mostly write by ourselves, though we do help each other in bits along the way,” Levitt said.

“Gary has the studio days, and I work through the night,” Quitzow said. “I ask him for feedback sometimes and he brings a lot of fantastic ideas, particularly for arrangements. Sometimes he’ll play a bass or percussion track. After tracking, he brings the production magic to the records. He’s an obsessive studier of sound technology and can make things sound however I want.”

The couple first met playing music together, eventually becoming collaborators on more than just music. “We’re not married and we really don’t relate to the idea, though we fully respect anyone who does,” Quitzow said. “Marriage doesn’t fit in with our approach to life, we’re either together or we’re not. I don’t participate in any other religious institution, so why this one? Ultimately, music brought us and keeps us together, it’s our biggest passion.”

So I guess it only made sense for them to start a record label, which Levitt quipped was a “really smart career move.” They formed Young Love in 2004 as a musicians’ collective — they now have four bands on the roster, rounded out by Seattle band Skidmore Fountain.

So how did a label based out of New Paltz, New York (just outside of Poughkeepsie) discover and sign a band located halfway across the country? “We knew Oliver through his brother and played together in Omaha,” Levitt said. “We also hung out and housed Little Brazil and Ladyfinger when they played in New York. I can’t remember which came first, but we hit it off and fell in love. We love their music and hard working spirit and also their genuineness.

“Each band on Young Love Records is part of a family,” Levitt added. “If a brother or sister does well, they help their siblings along the way. This interview is probably a case in point. I’m not sure you’d be talking to us right now if it weren’t for Oliver Morgan and Landing on the Moon.”

True, but then again, without Landing on the Moon, it’s unlikely that the bands would even be coming to The Waiting Room Thursday night. Pulling from everyone’s resources seems an obvious recipe for success, and one of the only reasons to be part of a label in this age of record industry decay. Unless, of course, your label is Merge.

“It would be great to become as influential as Merge Records,” Levitt said. “I would still want to record bands all the time, but it would be a dream come true to own some more great gear. If we sold as many records as Neutral Milk Hotel or Arcade Fire, I could probably get that Fairchild 670 I dream of.”

With their label having just signed a deal with distributor Red Eye (Kill Rock Stars, Barsuk, Warp), that two-channel compressor just might be a little more within reach.

“Success is defined in many ways for us,” Quitzow said, “by people coming to our shows knowing the music because they downloaded it for free, or when people sing along and dance at a show, but financial success may continue to come primarily from licensing. Oh how I fantasize about BMI checks.”

She also fantasizes about being alone, something that rarely happens when you’re on the road with the guy who isn’t your husband. “Right now I’m on tour and exhausted from connecting,” she said. “I’ve been connecting so intensely with people at shows and people who we stay with. The music is a vehicle for conversation and sharing experiences, and I’m pretty tapped from meeting so many shockingly like-minded people. I want to be in a padded room or a stimulation-deprivation tank for like 10 days.”

Stimulation-deprivation tank? All I can say to that, Erica, is welcome to Omaha.

Setting Sun and Quitzow play with Landing on the Moon, Thursday, Aug. 12, at The Waiting Room. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $7.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room, it’s a trio of superstars: Ted Stevens (Cursive, Mayday, Lullaby for the Working Class), The Bruces (Alex McManus) and The So-So Sailors (indie rock supergroup extraordinaire) all take the stage for one night only. $7, 9 p.m.

Down at Slowdown Jr., Chicago indie-pop band Netherfriends (Emergency Umbrella Records) performs with Sam Martin (Capgun Coup). $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at The Concert for Equality, July 31, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here’s my “official review” of last Saturday’s Concert for Equality that runs in today’s issue of The Reader, presumably with a handful of photos (Pt. 1 ran here Monday). The whole day felt like a small-town street dance, a gathering of a community for what will be remembered as one of the most important indie music concerts in Omaha history. If you missed it, well, you can always relive it on YouTube.

Column 282: Live Review: Concert for Equality

Breaking down another language barrier.

It was supposed to be a protest concert — the Concert for Equality — but it will likely be remembered as a Saddle Creek Records music festival with an underlying, almost subliminal message about the evils of local laws designed to discriminate against immigrants.

A good message, no doubt, but how could it compete with this concert’s line-up? When was the last time that the three crown jewels of Saddle Creek Records played in Omaha in the same week? A decade ago? Ever?

With The Faint playing the previous Saturday at the MAHA Music Festival, and now Bright Eyes and Cursive playing at the Concert for Equality, we were seeing it happen again. Add performances by Desaparecidos and Lullaby for the Working Class, and you’ve turned the clock backwards 10 years, to a time when Omaha music mattered to the nation.

But even that line-up wasn’t enough. The buzz in the crowd all day was that Neil Young was going to drop by for a couple numbers at the $50-per-ticket concert at The Waiting Room following the outdoor show. Yes, Neil Young. Why stop there? Why not Bono or Springsteen or a reunited Led Zeppelin or the ghost of John Lennon? If there ever was a secret special guest lined up, it probably was Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy or another of concert organizer Conor Oberst’s music buddies like M. Ward or Jim James, who had showed up unannounced for the Obama rally at the Civic a few years back. But even those two seemed like a long-shot now that the Fremont anti-immigrant law that got the ball rolling was unlikely to be enacted anytime soon.

For every line of copy and sound bite in the local news that amplified Oberst’s message of both indignation and tolerance, there was a hate-quote from cave-dwellers like NAG (Nebraska Advisory Group) calling Oberst a racist and suggesting that he be deported. The media was bracing for a protest, but if there was one, no one saw it on Maple Street. Word spread that a handful of flag-waving crazies had set up camp near the Walgreens on Radial Highway. They might as well have been in Lincoln.

Nothing was going to stop this concert, anyway. After three warm-up bands — Flowers Forever, Vago and The Envy Corp — Bright Eyes took the stage exactly at 7:15 and played a too short set that included “Bowl of Oranges” and “Road to Joy,” along with new Oberst number, “Coyote Song.” The Bright Eyes line-up was core members Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott, along with Clark Baechle on drums and Cursive’s Matt Maginn on bass. Like the MAHA second stage, it was hard to watch their performance while a blinding sun burned just above the lighting rigs, forcing everyone’s left hand in front of their eyes, while their right held a cold tall-boy.

After years of watching a sullen, almost depressed Conor Oberst scowl throughout his concerts, it was a pleasure to see him smiling and energized, as if the crowd of mostly like-minded fans had lifted the weight of the world from his tiny shoulders. He seemed almost… happy.

The sun retreated behind one of Benson’s broken buildings as Gillian Welch and David Rawlings began their set of acoustic finger-picking folk that wound up being a highlight of the day. When Cursive launched into pain-howl ballad “The Martyr” it didn’t matter if any Benson resident had bought a ticket — they heard Tim Kasher screaming in their living rooms. I cannot understate how loud it was — earplug loud from down the street at Benson Grind. Cursive matched the volume with an intensity that was violent, angry, amazing.

And then came Desaparecidos — Landon Hedges, Denver Dalley and the rest of the crew all on stage, all growed up playing the best set of the band’s disjointed history. Watching Desa brought on a wave of both nostalgia and lost opportunity. If ever there was a project that Oberst needed to be part of right now, or for that matter, during the Bush years, it was Desa — the perfect vehicle for his bitter temper tantrums, a rallying cry against cynicism for a disinterested, privileged suburban generation. A pity that the Desa set would only be a one-off.

As would the Lullaby for the Working Class reunion. Ted Stevens and his crew countered a day of anger and noise with an evening of acoustic serenity — soothing, soaring melodies that have aged well over the past decade.

In the end, Neil Young stayed home. There would be no “special guests” at The Waiting Room for the “Deluxe” ticket holders. The “hootenanny” consisted of Welch and Rawlings, joined by members of Bright Eyes followed by more Desaparecidos, and then the finale — everyone joined in on a song by David Dondero with a chorus that ran close to the tune of Bright Eyes’ “Land Locked Blues,” but with the lyrics:

They’re building a new Berlin Wall
From San Diego to Texas, so tall.
Don’t they know that they can’t stop us all?
But they’re building a new Berlin wall.

Oberst did his best to rally the troops behind a sentiment that I’m still not sure any of them clearly understood. I know I didn’t. The message sounded like: We don’t need any borders… at all. Would the suggestion still make sense the next morning, after the sing-along fever-buzz wore off? Oberst and his followers could work to get rid of all the localized, backward-thinking immigration laws that are destined to pop up like kudzu across the country, but they still had a federal crisis to deal with. I wonder if Conor or Dave can figure out a lyric that rhymes with “feasible, sensible national immigration policy.”

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

And now, the final word on the 2010 MAHA Music Festival. Even though it was only a few days ago, it already seems like it was last year, especially with the next big music event looming on the horizon.

Column 281: Review: MAHA Music Festival

Better the second time ’round.

It's True at the MAHA Music Festival, July 24, 2010.

Year two of the MAHA Music Festival already was a success by the time the first band took the main stage, even though things had gotten off to a rocky start.

A giant bitch of a storm named Bonnie had taken its toll on the airlines. Main stage artist Ben Kweller had tweeted at 2 a.m. Saturday that his flight had been canceled, causing a loud, low groan from the collective mouths of everyone involved with the festival. Cell phones lit up like hand grenades, and Kweller found himself driving by car from one airport to another, desperately trying to find a connection to Omaha. He made it, as did fellow main-stager Superchunk, who also got caught in the same shitstorm of flight cancellations.

As a result, the entire MAHA program was pushed back by more than an hour. City officials gave an OK to let the party run ’til midnight. Kweller and Old 97’s swapped stage times and everybody won.

When I arrived at around 2:30, It’s True already was on stage, playing to a smallish crowd that was downright monstrous compared to last year’s tiny gathering for Appleseed Cast’s afternoon set. It was the second to last stage appearance by It’s True, the band on the verge of a nervous breakdown only a few months after releasing its debut full-length and just as a nation was beginning to take notice. No one knows for sure why frontman Adam Hawkins, who now lives in central Iowa, wanted out, and no one had the courage to ask.

MAHA limbo contest winner Betsy Wells was up next on the festival’s pseudo “second stage,” which was nothing more than a stack of amps set up on a wall adjacent to the main stage. After last year’s debacle, there was talk of moving the second stage to somewhere more “fan friendly,” so that people could watch bands without having to stare into a burning hot sun. But that never happened. A bigger problem: The second stage sounded louder than the main stage, with the overdriven stack at the perfect height to shear the eardrums off anyone stupid enough to stand in front of it without earplugs. A couple girls in hot pants leaned over and held their ears as they shuffled away in their flip-flops.

I didn’t pay much attention to Old 97’s, who sounds like a thousand other bands that play that style of easy-to-ignore alt-country-pop. But isn’t that the way with festivals? You can’t love them all. The hippies dancing jigs to Old 97’s were going to be making phone calls during Superchunk.

Landing on the Moon, another MAHA battle-of-the-bands winner, played a solid set on the ear-splitter stage. Then things began to really heat up. MAHA organizers trotted out a grinning Mayor Jim Suttle to declare, “This is what we mean by quality of life in Omaha. Music tonight, tomorrow, forever!” The crowd reacted with a smattering of disinterested applause, only to lock in when Ben Kweller was introduced.

Ben Kweller at the MAHA Music Festival, July 24, 2010.

Wearing crazy-clown red pants and a Panama hat, a sleep-deprived Kweller looked like Flying Tomato Shaun White as he launched into a set of singer/songwriter Americana backed by drums and bass. The stage crowd — probably the same people there to see Old 97’s — dug his grinning, folky hick-rock.

By now the crowd had ballooned to a few thousand, and the Lewis and Clark Landing was beginning to look like a music festival. Cheap fold-out lawn chairs formed wall fortresses around dirty tasseled stadium blankets. A walk from the entrance to the stage meant finding your way through the maze of encampments without being scowled at for stepping on someone’s shit. By the end of the day, the little tent city near the stage would be pushed aside as the crowd took over.

The Mynabirds, who along with Satchel Grande managed to avoid humiliating themselves at a “contest” to get their second stage slot, played a confident set while the sun blazed over cute frontwoman Laura Burhenn’s shoulder.

Superchunk at The MAHA Music Festival, July 24, 2010.

The last of the afternoon light was spent on Superchunk. I looked at my iPhone afterward for notes but didn’t find any — I had been too enraptured by the band. For me and the rest of the crowd in their 30s and 40s standing in front of the stage, Superchunk were conquering heroes playing for their first time in Nebraska. This was our Perfect Moment, and we were soaking it in.

Then, The Faint. Despite becoming their own tribute band these days, since they no longer write new music, their set was what festival goers will remember about MAHA II. The crowd was at its peak, and dancing — it was the kind of spectacle that MAHA organizers had dreamed of.

Headliner Spoon came on at 11 p.m. and never caught hold, but by then, it didn’t matter. MAHA already had gone into the books as a success. MAHA organizer Tre Breshear said scanned ticket attendance was just over 4,000, slightly below their target but a big improvement over year one.

Spoon at The MAHA Music Festival, July 24, 2010.

In retrospect, this year’s main stage roster was a tip o’ the hat to ’90s-’00s indie — the kind of music that the organizers grew up listening to (presumably). Old ’97s, Superchunk, Spoon, The Faint, even Ben Kweller had his best music in the earlier half of the ’00s. The festival will garner a younger audience if it tries to book more up-and-coming acts next year, such as Sleigh Bells, MIA, Wavves, The National, Foals, Band of Horses, New Pornographers, along with the usual legacy acts. If they want to extend this event to two days, they’ll need to book a couple huge bands — one to anchor each day. And I mean Pixies/REM/Wilco huge. That’s pricey. And risky. There also are those who think the line-up should be more diverse stylewise. Bottom line: They’re never going to please everyone, and they’ll only fail if they try.

* * *

The schedule for Saturday’s Concert for Equality has been announced, but first, the news…

The Associated Press reported last night (right here) that the Fremont City Council voted unanimously to suspend a voter-approved ban on hiring and renting property to illegal immigrants. “The council also unanimously decided to hire Kansas-based attorney and law professor Kris Kobach, who drafted the ordinance and offered to represent Fremont for free to fight the lawsuits. Kobach also helped write Arizona’s new controversial immigration law,” the AP story said.

The story went on to say Fremont faces lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, which both expected to ask a federal judge today to temporarily block the ban from taking effect.  ACLU of Nebraska said it and the city will ask the judge to block the ordinance pending a final court resolution.

So despite the fact that the law has been suspended, the lawsuits will go on, which makes the Concert for Equality just as relevant from a fund-raising standpoint as ever. The court battle could drag on for years.

With that, here’s the schedule for Saturday’s concert, by way of One Percent Productions:

Outside:
Flowers Forever – 5:00-5:30
Vago – 5:45-6:15
The Envy Corps – 6:30-7:00
Bright Eyes – 7:15-8:00
Gillian Welch – 8:15-9:00
Cursive 9:15-10:00
Desaparecidos – 10:15-11:00

Inside:
Fathr^ – 5:00-5:40
Simon Joyner – 6:00-6:40
The So-So Sailors – 7:00-7:40
Conchance – 8:00-8:40
David Dondero – 9:00-9:40
Closed from 10:00 – 11:00
Lullaby for the Working Class – 11:30-12:15
Hootenanny – 12:30-2:00

If there are any “special guests,” they’ll likely be showing up during the “Hootenanny” portion of the program. Rumors are rampant as to who those special guests would be. So… where do we park? I’ll pass on more info about the show as I get it.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

BTW, a quick glance at Craigslist yesterday showed Deluxe Concert for Equality tickets were being offered for as much as $200 each, while general admission tix were being offered for $100 each. There are 25 listings there now, and most are “want to buy” ads.

Column 280: Goodbye, OEAAs…

It’s better than beating a dead horse…

I just finished writing a 1,000-word critical review of this past weekend’s Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards showcase in Benson, and then I threw it out.

It dawned on me after adding the -30- (a traditional, out-dated way of ending news stories) that I should take the same tact that I take for bands that I don’t care for — just don’t write about it. There’s no point in tearing down the OEAAs. The bands that participate aren’t indie bands, aren’t bands that I cover in my column and website, and aren’t the kind of bands Nebraska has become nationally known for.

In truth, the OEAAs don’t target any specific “type” of band. The organization’s showcases are open invitations to anyone willing to play for free, with apparently no criteria that eliminate anyone from consideration. As a result, the showcase has become a two-day open mic night, where truly talented performers like Ember Schrag, Ground Tyrants and a couple others, get lost in the overwhelming fog of mediocrity.

Even the annual awards process has become somewhat misguided. As an OEAA Academy member, I found myself not voting in a number of categories last year because the nominees simply didn’t fit the category definition — and I’m not talking about from a genre standpoint, but as representing the best bands from the Omaha/Lincoln area in a specific category. I have no interest in voting for the least mediocre among five mediocre bands, while the area’s real talent — the bands that release albums on nationally distributed record labels, the bands that go out of state on tours — are consistently ignored by the process or refuse to participate.

When the OEAAs began four years ago as a non-profit, there was some discussion that money generated from the effort could some day support a scholarship fund or some other worthy cause. But that never happened. Conceivably, money raised from the showcases is funneled into covering costs involved in putting together the annual awards banquet — a program that’s supposed to showcase the best and brightest, but where the best and brightest rarely perform.

Despite all of this, there’s no question that folks enjoy the OEAA showcases and awards banquet, whether I do or not. Who am I to begrudge anyone for having a good time? So with that, I wish the OEAAs the best of luck as I resign my position as an Academy Member, put down my gun and slowly walk away…

* * *

Speaking of the OEAA’s, the MAHA Music Festival filled its final opening slot for bands performing on the Kum & Go Local Stage from those participating in last weekend’s OEAA showcase. In an open vote of OEAA patrons, the winner was R&B act Voodoo Method, a band that harshly clashes with the national acts chosen to perform on the main stage. I guess that’s what the MAHA committee gets when it leaves a decision as important as who will perform at their concert up to someone else.

* * *

If you were on the fence as to whether or not to buy tickets to the Concert for Equality, being held July 31 in Benson and featuring Bright Eyes, Cursive, Desaparecidos, Lullaby for the Working Class, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, The Envy Corps, David Dondero, The So-So Sailors, Conchance, Simon Joyner, Flowers Forever and Vago, along with some TBA superstars, you can forget about it. The event sold out last week. Deluxe Tickets, which originally cost $50 each, were being listed on ebay for $315 a pair last week, and I suspect you’ll see even higher prices as the event gets closer. Could the concert be moved from one of Benson’s side streets to Maple Street, freeing up more tickets? We’ll have to wait and see.

* * *

Finally, I skipped Day 2 of the OEAAs to attend the Speed! Nebraska showcase at a crushed-full O’Leaver’s — the epilogue to the Soapbox Riot soapbox derby held at Seymour Smith track earlier that day (and won by Wagon Blasters’ frontman Gary Dean Davis). Speed! Nebraska Records boasts arguably the best roster of pure rock bands in Nebraska — including Mercy Rule, Ideal Cleaners, Techlepathy, The Third Men, Mezcal Brothers and Wagon Blasters, all of whom performed that night (and none of whom played the day before at the OEAA showcase). Note to the MAHA committee: Any of those bands would have been an amazing addition to the Kum & Go stage. Maybe next year?

* * *

It’s a night of nightmare music at Slowdown Jr. tonight with Gunnison Beach, New Jersey noise band East of the Wall (proggy, syncopated rhythms, monster vocals, loud), Name (crazy fast guitars, metal, screaming), Masses (pounding instrumentals, violently loud, torturous), and Techlepathy (intricate, tense, free-fall explosions). Earplugs highly recommended. $8, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Mercy Rule at The Waiting Room, Lincoln Invasion, July 9, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Lincoln Invasion organizer Jeremy Buckley e-mailed late yesterday to say that bands who took part in this year’s festival took home $80 each vs. $30 each at least year’s event — quite a bump in pay. Yeah, I know, $80 ain’t much, but at least it’s something, especially considering that the bands had to make the drive from Lincoln — most of them in gas-guzzling Econolines. Ain’t nothing wrong with getting paid…

Column 279: Attack from Star City!!!!

Live Review: Lincoln Invasion, Pt. II

Another Lincoln Invasion has come and gone. And so the question begs to be asked: Which city — Omaha or Lincoln — has the better band roster?

But before we get to that, Lincoln Invasion organizer Jeremy Buckley chimed in to say that last Friday night’s “festival,” featuring more than 20 Lincoln bands at six Benson venues, was a moderate success. “The attendance numbers will be impossible to calculate completely accurately, but if we assume that every patron paid $8 to attend ($5 got you into one venue) then we had about 326 paid,” he said. “So that would be the low end for overall attendance. For last year I’d have to guess but I’d bet we had about 300 paid over the course of two days. So yeah, better all around. Here’s to hoping next year we have even better luck, though this year was more than we could’ve expected.”

Fewer bands but higher attendance should have translated into more money per band — that’s right, unlike the OEAA Benson festivals, bands actually get paid to play Lincoln Invasion via a split of the overall door take — a novel idea. Here’s my recap:

Singer/songwriter Ember Schrag closed out the early bill at Benson Grind. With her ’70s chop haircut and plaid skirt, Schrag reminded me of one of the Tuscadaro sisters — Leather or Pinky, I’m not sure which — but sounded like Regina Spektor backed by a bass player and Omahan Gary Foster on drums. Her easy-going acoustic ballads had the rural flair of Basia Bulat and the sophistication of Suzanne Vega, though Schrag sings as well or better than either of them. Too bad an ever-present buzzing from the PA effectively killed my buzz throughout her set.

Next up down at The Barley Street was Shipbuilding Company, a five-piece with keyboards and wobbly voiced frontman Mike Elsener (ex-Head of Femur) on acoustic guitar. Their music seemed to target a slacker / Pavement / low-fi crowd, and most of the time just missed the mark as it wandered over a baroque landscape that was a bit too frilly for my taste. That is until their finale, when the keyboardist pulled out a melodica and it all came crashing together on a roaring indie pop rocker that I’d like to hear again right now.

Masses at The Waiting Room was an endurance test. The guitar-heavy four-piece launched its set with some spacey, trance-y stuff that quickly shifted into catchy math. But it was all downhill after that, as the instrumental-only outfit poured it on way too heavy, and turned into a messy cacophony of noise where everything blurred into everything else until you began to wonder if they knew what they were doing. Did I mention it was loud — thunderously, painfully loud? People escaped onto the sidewalk in front of the club holding their ears, catching a break from the throbbing, raw din that rolled and rolled and rolled always at the same plodding, Excedrine headache pace. How about some dynamics, boys? Without it, you’re just making intricate, painful noise. The set became a sonic wrestling match between the band and the crowd, and by the end it felt like a bully standing on your neck, testing to see how much more you could take.

After the feedback cleared, the crowd slowly funneled back into The Waiting Room for legendary ’90s band Mercy Rule. What can I say that hasn’t already been said about the trio other than their sound never seems to age? Earnest, stoic working-man guitarist Jon Taylor hasn’t lost his angry touch, nor his love for ear-bleeding volume.  So just like every other Mercy Rule shows from back in the day, lead vocalist Heidi Ore’s delicate crooning was lost and buried beneath the guitar-fueled tonnage — and it’s still a shame.

The band took the opportunity to try out a few new songs that were harder and harsher than anything from a catalog that spans 20 years. But it was the old familiar songs that the crowd fully embraced and none more so than set closer “Summer,” where Heidi belted out the tune’s signature line, “I love summer when it’s HOT, HOT HOT.” Mercy Rule continues to be one of Nebraska’s most dynamic and fun bands (and most photogenic, thanks to their trademark floor-mounted flood lights). Their heroic anthems are as relentless as a semi-truck barreling down on you, growing ever larger in the rear-view, about to crush everything in its path. If we’re lucky, it’ll never slow down.

Last stop was at The Barley Street Tavern where punk duo Once A Pawn closed out the evening. Drummer/frontwoman Catherine Balta’s voice kinda/sorta reminded me of Gabby Glaser of Luscious Jackson belting out her punk rants in a slightly atonal caterwaul, while guitarist/co-pilot Eric Scrivens gleefully spun in circles like a dog chasing its tail. As cute as they were angsty, the duo’s Achilles heel was the similitude of their compositions — after awhile, they all began to sound the same, but I guess you could also say that about The Ramones.

So which music scene — Omaha’s or Lincoln’s — has the better collection of bands? These days, Lincoln has the upper hand when it comes to sheer variety, especially when Omaha seems content with its ever-growing parade of Americana folk bands. I guess we’ll have to wait until after this weekend’s Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards Summer Showcase before we can deterimine a real winner.

* * *

Moments after posting yesterday’s blog update, the listing for the $299 “buy now”-priced pair of Concert for Equality tickets on ebay disappeared. I guess the seller must read Lazy-i or the tickets sold. Then this morning a different pair went up on ebay (here), this time for a buy-now price of $315!

* * *

Earlier this year (or maybe it was late last year?) Singer/songwriter/musician Brad Hoshaw shared an idea with me: To create a musicians’ hostel out of his Benson apartment where out-of-towners could find a cheap, clean, safe place to sleep while in town on tour. If Benson is going to become Omaha’s version of Austin’s 6th Street, there has to be a lodging option besides asking from stage if anyone can spare some floorspace, or spending precious tour revenue on a hotel room located miles away.

Well, months later the Benson Musicians Hostel is open for business. Located at 6051 1/2 Maple St. Apt. #2, the hostel has bed-space for six people, though more can crash on the floor if need be. The price is $10 per bed or $40 for your entire posse. Amenities include a kitchen, stereo (w/turntable and records), an empty “mini-bar” and, of course, a full bathroom.  Judging by the photos on the hostel’s Facebook page, the place looks rather cozy. Sayeth Mr. Hoshaw: “Other than providing a convenience for those that bring art/entertainment into our city, my hope is that the bands will linger in the mornings and spend money on Maple St, before they leave town. Thus helping the retail shops, restaurants, auto mechanics, grocery stores, etc.”

Bravo! To help get the ball rolling, a fundraising concert is beind held tonight at The Barley Street Tavern to raise cash to cover some basic operational expenses and add amenities such as a washer/dryer and WiFi. The cover is $5, and there will be a donation jar on the bar.

The performance line-up:

9 p.m.: Chad Wallin
9:30 p.m.: All Young Girls are Machine Guns –
10 p.m.: Doug Flynn (Comedian)
10:15 p.m.: Brad Hoshaw (Brad Hoshaw & the Seven Deadlies)
10:45 p.m.: Jake Bellows
11:15 p.m.: Justin Lamoureux (Midwest Dilemma)

Midnight: Cass Brostad (Cass Fifty and the Family Gram, Traveling Mercies)

12:30 a.m.: Andrew Bailie (It’s True!, Riverside Anthology, The Wholes)

* * *

The new 2 a.m. closing time for Omaha bars begins tonight. As I reported earlier, One Percent Productions has no intention of pushing band start-times back at its shows. Only time will tell if their approach will also make sense for less-savory places like O’Leaver’s (where I definitely could see shows going later) or fancy-smancy Slowdown (very unlikely  — they rarely run past 12:30 now). In the end, it’s much ado about nothing, at least for me.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Landon Hedges of Little Brazil confirmed that the Desaparecidos reunion July 31 at the Concert for Equality will be an old-school full band event featuring all five original Desa members: Hedges, Conor Oberst, Denver Dalley, Ian McElroy and Matt Baum. For fans and followers of the Omaha indie music scene, this will be an historic event, especially when you factor in the Lullaby for the Working Class reunion.

I can think of two other bands that also are ripe for reunions — Commander Venus and Slowdown Virginia. Why not? They’re all going to be there…

* * *

Column 278 is a rehash of recent blog fodder, including the Concert for Equality announcement (that news broke right at deadline), and the It’s True break-up announcement (with one added comment: I don’t think you’ve heard the last of It’s True’s songs. Hawkins isn’t going to stop playing music; but he may stop playing it with other people, and what started out as a solo project could end up that way).

And one other thing: I was at Westroads Saturday afternoon picking up a new pair of flip-flops when I had a brush with this generation’s Donnie Osmond. As Teresa and I were leaving the DSW we heard high-pitched screams — a cross between fear, pain and orgasm — coming from the second floor of the mall. The cause of the turmoil was gliding down the escalator right in front of us, surrounded by an entourage of bodyguards and white-shirt security — teen heartthrob Justin Bieber and his bangs, looking like any other 16-year-old spending an afternoon at the mall.

Bieber looked bored and disinterested as flocks of teen-aged girls clustered just out of arms’ reach snapping photos with their cell phones. Yes, there were tears.

As the screams faded down the hallway I imagined a distraught Conor Oberst walking through the crowd, hands covering his ears, headed in the other direction, lost in thought trying to solve the problems of Arizona, Fremont and the state of civil rights in these United States, the whole time being completely ignored. Ah, Conor… it could have been you.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr., it’s Maps & Atlases with Drink Up Buttercup and The Globes. M&A’s latest, Perch Patchwork (Barsuk), is uptempo indie-pop with an acoustic flair, though it in no way resembles modern folk. Nothing twangy about these guys. Seattle’s The Globes plays trippy math rock that can slide into psychedelic. Mesmerizing. $10, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 277: A modest proposal…

An unbiased review of It’s True’s debut album.

It's True, self-titled

Here was the problem: Everyone knows somebody in It’s True, and very likely is friends with that person.

Maybe it’s affable keyboard player Kyle Houfek, the veteran of a thousand bands (or at least a few). Or frontman Adam Hawkins, who seemingly greets everyone with a warm miss-me? hug (Yeah, he’s one of those). And then there’s bass player Kyle Harvey, the George Washington of the Benson music scene whose bartending gig at The Barley Street Tavern — including “soup and song” night every Monday — has kept the place alive. Not to mention good-guys guitarist Andrew Bailie and drummer Matt Arbeiter.

So everyone knows someone in It’s True, especially the tiny circle of local music “critics.” And everyone knows that everyone knows someone in It’s True. Which brings up the question: Can anyone write a review of the band’s debut full-length and have it be considered unbiased? Even me — the tell-it-like-it-is a-hole who is merely tolerated (and certainly not loved) has been accused of being a homer for It’s True. When I didn’t make it out to their CD release show at the end of April, someone affiliated with the venue asked where I had been. “Of all people, you should have been there. You’re the band’s biggest supporter.” I am? I’ve never even interviewed the full band before — only Hawkins way back in February ’09 when It’s True was really still a solo-acoustic project.

To be honest, people who know my writing know that I don’t play favorites or pull punches for anyone. But still, there would be those who would read a positive review as favoritism, or a pan as a despirate reach for credibility (“He’s only saying it’s shitty because he wants people to think he’s unbiased“).

It was a quandary both for the band and local music journalism in general, but I had this idea: Have someone from outside of our scene write the review, someone who never even heard of the band (which, quite frankly, would be just about anyone outside of Omaha as the band isn’t on a record label and has only done a couple brief tours).

So, early in June, I did a little research with the help of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies website to find a newspaper somewhere in the country with similar demographics as The Reader. I quickly discovered Flagpole Magazine, “everybody’s book on what to do in Athens, GA.” The publication’s verified circulation as of March 2009 was 14,825, very near The Reader‘s unverified 18,500 (as of Dec. 2008). But more importantly, the paper covered Athens — home of R.E.M., Pylon and the B52’s — it’s a town renowned for its music scene.

With a target in site, I sent an e-mail titled “A modest proposal from a fellow alt newspaper,” that explained the situation and simply asked if anyone on the staff would be willing to review the new CD by It’s True. “The review would run word-for-word — fully attributed to the author — as part of my column,” I wrote. And yes, I would even pay for it.

The next day, Flagpole Music Editor Michelle Gilzenrat replied, saying she would reach out to her writers. Critic David Fitzgerald took the challenge. He’s written reviews of CDs by Gorillaz, Titus Andronics, The Black Keys and Tobacco, and will have an interview with Mates of State in the next issue.

So I sent Fitzgerald my one and only copy of the disc. And despite being buried under his own deadlines, I promptly received his draft this past Tuesday. Here it is, uncut, unedited, in its entirety:

IT’S TRUE, self-titled (self-released) — Hello Omaha, thanks for having me! Writing from Athens, Georgia, and charged with the task of crafting an objective review of a band that everyone in Omaha apparently loves, I am glad to say that IT’S TRUE! have a really nice thing going. Something tells me that lead singer Adam Hawkins has heard enough Ben Gibbard comparisons to last him several lifetimes, but, and I intend no pun here, it’s true. Hawkins’s silky smooth vocals, bathed in warm, chiming guitar and summer-y synths, took me back to the early aughts in the best possible way, and while the vaguely emo, indie pop strains of The Postal Service, The Shins, and my hometown’s own Andy LeMaster were never far from my mind, IT’S TRUE! have created a truly lovely record that can stand proudly beside its peers. The opening track, “Take This One from Me,” is a Beach Boys-inflected, dream pop gem that acts as the initial push to this swaying, seaside hammock of an album. The biggest intrusion into an otherwise light and wistful collection of songs is the bluesy, two-chord lament “What Have I Done,” which revels in the power of a smartly rendered refrain, without straying too far from the album’s breezy, radio-friendly aesthetic. Closer “I Think It’s Best (If I Leave)” serves as a near-perfect bookend, striking a melancholy tone that suggests a downward slant to the record as a whole, without letting it slide into legitimately depressing territory. All in all, these guys aren’t doing anything terribly original, but they’re confident, talented performers keeping a particularly accessible brand of indie rock alive, and there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s true. — David Fitzgerald

Bravo, Mr. Fitzgerald. I couldn’t have said it better myself. With that out of the way, I will add just these two cents:  The CD is the best local release so far this year. And I’m not just saying that…

* * *

Speaking of It’s True, the band is playing tonight at Slowdown Jr. with our old friends from Ames Iowa, Poison Control Center, and Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship. $8, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, The Young Veins open a show at The Waiting Room for Rooney, along with Black Gold. Rooney is fronted by Robert Schwartzman, the brother of actor Jason Schwartzman (and an actor himself, having appeared in The Virgin Suicides, among other films). Formerly on Geffen, the band is now self-releasing its material. They fancy their style as “brit-pop,” which seems wrong (more like an American Franz Ferdinand). Openers The Young Veins have a very obvious “Please Please Me”-era Beatles sound that is endearing in its nostalgia. Their latest, Take a Vacation, came out on One Haven Music, but their PR is being handled by Press Here (seems anymore, your publicist is more important than your label). $15, 9 p.m.

* * *

Tomorrow: An interview with Son of 76 and The Watchmen.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Gary Coleman Has a Posse, spotted in the wild.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You may ask “where’s the connection to music in this column?” The answer is that the “posse” is ensconced in the Omaha music scene. If you go to a lot of shows, you’ve seen the man behind the stickers before. And that’s all the clues I’m going to give you. Here’s a more typical example of the infamous Gary Coleman posse sticker “in the wild.”

Column 276: Gary Coleman’s Posse

Omaha’s outlaw street artist strikes again…

There’s a terrific movie that opened last weekend at Film Streams called Exit Through the Gift Shop. The documentary explores the guerrilla street artists of the past decade — guys like Shepard Fairey, who now is famous for the iconic Obama campaign poster, and the film’s director, the elusive, mysterious artist known as Banksy, whose satirical pieces of stenciled street art on topics such as politics, culture and ethics have adorned walls throughout London and beyond.

I saw the movie last Friday and left the theater excited about Bansky and Fairey and street art, and wondered why something like that doesn’t happen around here. And then I remembered that Omaha had its own version of Fairey’s “Obey Giant” art sticker campaign — the ubiquitous Gary Coleman Has a Posse.

For a time in the early part of the 2000s, you couldn’t go anywhere around Omaha without finding a sticker or 8 x 10 print of Gary Coleman’s cherubic face plastered to the back of a street sign, light pole, stop light, park bench or any other public spot. The stickers were everywhere, but the large Colemans — sometimes wheat pasted in 2 x 2 arrays — were less common. One of those big 8 x 10 Colemans survived for years on a giant electrical box on Underwood St., weather and time unable to pry it off the green paint.

There had been rumors as to who the mastermind was behind Gary Coleman Has a Posse, whispers that it was someone with ties to the Omaha music scene. Motivated by the film, I began sniffing around and asking questions until I hit paydirt Sunday night. Via cell phone, I finally made contact with the culprit, whose identity remains a secret, at least for now.

He told me that he started the Gary Coleman Posse back in 2001. “I always followed street art and was a fan of Banksy,” he said over the phone. “I got the idea from Shepard, the guy behind Obey Giant, who encouraged people to start their own posses. I thought about who I wanted to pick as an icon. I grew up watching Gary Coleman on Diff’rent Strokes, and knew people would immediately recognize the face.”

The first 3 x 5 stickers were portraits of Coleman in a striped sweater; later versions simply focused on his round, pumpkin-like face. “I bought sheets of sticker paper from Office Depot and cut them out myself and started posting them,” he said, adding that there was no rhyme or reason as to how spots were chosen, they just had to be places with lots of foot traffic. “I never actually put them on anyone’s building or ruined anything, and the first stickers would come off with the rain, so I wasn’t too worried about long-term damage.”

Eventually, he switched to more durable vinyl stickers. “I probably placed a few thousand easily,” he said. “I always kept them with me. I didn’t go out dressed up all in black and sneak around the neighborhood. I did it in daylight, right in front of people.”

Gary Coleman Has a Posse sightings began to spread to Lincoln, Kansas City, Oklahoma, Texas and beyond, thanks to garycolemanhasaposse.com, where fans from anywhere could request stickers. Next came the large-format wheat-paste posters, which the artist said were surprisingly durable. “That wheat paste is like Krazy Glue.”

The campaign began winding down in 2006 after another street artist — Yuppie Takeover — was busted for slapping his posters on private property. It made Gary Coleman’s Posse think twice. “I never got caught,” he said, “but I kind of grew out of it.”

And that, it seemed, was the end of the Gary Coleman Posse. But then last month Coleman unexpectedly died, after taking an “accidental” blow to the head during a fall. In their mourning for the Diff’rent Strokes star, people fondly remembered that Gary Coleman had a posse, and they wanted it back. And that’s just what they’re going to get.

“I’ve made a couple new designs,” the outlaw said moments before hanging up. “I just got back from placing a new sticker in Benson. Tonight was my starting point. I want to keep his memory alive.”

And with that, the only question left to ask is “What’chu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?“

* * *

Tonight at O’Leaver’s, Portland band System & Station takes the stage with our very own Well-Aimed Arrows and a new band featuring John Klemmensen (Landing on the Moon) on drums, Matt Hall (The Party) on bass, and Bret Vovk (Underwater Dream Machine) on guitar and vocals. Maybe, if we’re lucky, they’ll let the audience name their band… $5, 9:30 p.m.

* * *

Tomorrow: An interview with Deerhoof.

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

This week’s column is a redux and addendum to last week’s blog entry on Lincoln Invasion and the Lincoln Is A Music City organization (which is here). As you’ll see, Son of 76 and The Watchmen frontman Josh Hoyer read that piece and sent a thoughtful, well-written response explaining the name and the mission. Interestingly, Omaha doesn’t have anything like LIAMC, unless you count Benson as a whole. One could also point toward the OEAA’s, but that has evolved into another Benson-music-boosting organization, and doesn’t really represent the city of Omaha as a whole.

Column 274: Bold Statement

Will the real Music City please stand up?

Nobody likes the idea of competition when it comes to art and music. And yet… whenever “Omaha invades Lincoln” or “Lincoln invades Omaha,” it begs the question as to which scene has the strongest roster of bands — maybe only to me and a few other a-holes, but the question does come up.

And it’s becoming harder and harder to defend Omaha, especially when you look over the line-up playing the second annual Lincoln Invasion festival July 9 in Benson: The Amalgamators, Amy Schmidt, Diamond Kazzoo, Dirty Talker, Ember Schrag, Husbands, Kris Lager Band, Machete Archive, Manny Coon, Masses, Mercy Rule, No One Conquered, Wyoming; Once A Pawn, Orion Walsh, Pharmacy Spirits, The Power, The Renfields, Ron Wax, Shaun Sparks and the Wounded Animals, Shipbuilding Co., Smith’s Cloud, South Of Lincoln, Tie These Hands, and The Vingins.

Very solid. The only bands missing (that come to mind) are High Art (The latest project by Darren Keen of the Show Is the Rainbow), For Against, UUVVWWZ, Son of 76 and The Watchmen and Ideal Cleaners. Event organizer Jeremy Buckley said High Art is playing the night before at The Waiting Room; and the rest simply were unavailable. “I think we were able to balance a lineup of established acts with a good number of newer bands that have made waves in Lincoln, but haven’t had much exposure in Omaha yet,” Buckley said.

The venues involved in the one-day music orgy: The Barley Street Tavern, Burke’s Pub, Benson Grind, Louis, The Sydney and The Waiting Room. A mere $8 will get you into all six venues all night, or $5 gets you into any one venue for the evening.

According to a press release, the fest is being “supported” by an organization lamely called “Lincoln Is A Music City” — a “collection of people who are interested in promoting and growing the local music scene in Lincoln, NE,” according to their website.

The title is a bold statement. Most people consider Lincoln to be a “Football City” or the state capital or a great place to get drunk, but “A Music City”? And if Lincoln is “a music city,” then what is Omaha? Can Omaha be a “Music City” too? Which one really deserves the title? And here we go again…

The whole thing sounds silly. Most people think of Nashville as “a music city,” or New Orleans. But not Omaha, and certainly Lincoln, but I guess to the handful of bands behind the effort, Lincoln can be whatever they want it to be.

Lincolnite Josh Hoyer — Son of 76 frontman and reluctant spokesman for the effort — explained that “Lincoln Is a Music City” started as a slogan printed on a banner used for a group photo of more than 200 Lincoln musicians. “From that there were some folks wanting to make T shirts with the same phrase,” he said. “So I asked that we get together and talk about raising money from the sales to promote our growing music scene. From those meetings a few things happened, one of which was a decision to call the group ‘Lincoln Is a Music City’ instead of Lincoln Music Union or Star City Music Nerds, etc. That idea was put forward by Jon Taylor of Mercy Rule. We dug it, and hence the name was born.”

Hoyer said he has no delusions of Lincoln being anywhere near the stature of Nashville or New Orleans, Chicago, Seattle, NYC or even Omaha for that matter. “We are a sports town,” he said, “but that is exactly why we are making the effort to raise awareness in Lincoln — to the population that doesn’t go out for live music — that our city really does have some great musicians and bands. The slogan is kind of the carrot before the horse carriage. It was our thought that with work, publicity, organization and passion, Lincoln could become a music city as well as a sports city.”

Helping him with his cause is a handful of musicians, promoters and club owners, including Buckley and Lincoln Invasion co-conspirator Dub Wardlaw, Brendan Evans, Jon Taylor and Brendan McGinn of Her Flyaway Manner. So far they’ve started a free all-local concert series at UN-L, launched a local music radio show on community station KZUM Friday nights at 6 hosted Taylor and his lovely bass playing/singing wife Heidi Ore, and helped organize the Lincoln-named festivals, such as Lincoln Invasion, Lincoln Exposed and Lincoln Calling. They’re also thinking about starting a ‘zine that would be an alternative toGround Zero, Lincoln’s entertainment/arts rag.

For Hoyer, making Lincoln a “music city” was part of his decision to plant roots there. “I have a 1-year-old daughter, and instead of moving back to New Orleans (where he lived for six months) we decided to raise her in a safer place with a better support system,” he said. “However, I was in love with NOLA because music is a way of life there. I want to make a living playing music… and I am. I believe Lincoln is a musically diverse and talented city. The trick is getting a larger mass of people here to embrace that and start filling the clubs.

“Who knows where it will end up? But what I do know is, the people that have a passion for music in Lincoln are true blue, as well as talented and creative. Lincoln is a Music City. At least in my eyes it is. I’m just trying to persuade a few other folks to feel the same way.”

* * *

Tonight, local legendary hardcore band Hercules plays a rare show at The Hole on a bill that includes Minnesota band In Defense, High Dive and Agress. No price listed on the Myspace page, but it’s probably $5, and starts at 7 p.m. No Booze!

Also tonight,  Korey Anderson and Edge of Arbor open for Matt Cox Band at The Waiting Room. $5, 9 p.m.