Color Green at Reverb Lounge, March 18, 2024.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Size Queen is a new LimOma band whose members include drummer Sam Crisler – one of the bookers of this year’s Lincoln Calling Festival. Last night I sat in The Sidney and watched Sam meticulously build his drum kit for a half-hour, wondering when the band would actually start playing. In the pre-Covid days, everyone knew an 8 p.m. start time meant a 9 p.m. start, but post-Covid most clubs have been insistent about start times, especially during weeknights. And yet, here we were at 8:30 as Crisler slowly placed one half of a high hat on the pull rod, then the next, then slowly tightened the clutch. I can’t say’s I blame them – the longer you wait, the bigger the crowd, right?

But the plan was to watch Size Queen play at The Sydney and then race across Benson and catch the show at Reverb, which was happening at the same time. Sure, I’d miss Heavy Clippings, but I just saw them last weekend at Goatfest but figured I could still catch The Dirts. Well, you know what they say about plans…

Size Queen at The Sydney, March 18, 2024.

Size Queen finally took the stage a little after 9 p.m. The only other person’s name I know in the band is guitarist Sam Lipsett, who also plays in Cat Piss. I’ve also met the bass player Jessy Hunt before, but knew nothing about the front person (who I’ve come to find out is Rosemary Ellis). 

The band’s sound was feral and combative, aggressive but controlled. I guess you’d call it post-punk, but much heavier and faster, bordering on hardcore, though Crisler’s drumming (thankfully) was more creative and interesting than the usual straight-four hardcore rhythms that seem only designed for moshing. Crisler’s drum work has a definite hard-rock persona that blended well with Lipsett’s feedback-driven, heavy-ass riffs and the solid bass lines. 

Above it all was the whirling-dervish front person who spewed undecipherable yell vocals, struggling to be heard above the rest of the noise. I’ve seen noise-rock bands who tried doing this style of music without a vocalist, and (for me) it rarely works. You’ve got to have someone out front screaming something, whether you know what they’re screaming or not — it adds a necessary counter to everything else going on. It’s risky, and Size Queen’s vocalist pulled it off. 

The band’s 15-minute set was a nod to ‘90s post-punk, more so, say, than grunge, though I was reminded of Skinyard, and the guy next to me (a legend in his own right) referenced Royal Trux. Plucinski’s Cat Piss has a similar but more focused bombast, and no doubt Size Queen will get there, too – remember, this was only their second show (and their first time in Omaha).

Heavy Clippings at Reverb Lounge, March 18, 2024.

By the time I got to Reverb, I’d already missed The Dirts, who played first (not how the bill was listed). On stage in front of a full room was Heavy Clippings sounding louder and more aggressive than at Goatfest/Scriptown last weekend. The band has a handful of singles available on Bandcamp that you can check out here. Those Bandcamp tracks sound more like demos, and one can only hope they’re leading up to a proper LP release in the near future. 

There is (and has been for years) an undercurrent of a “scene” going on in Omaha associated with the record stores The Antiquarium, Almost Music, and now Grapefruit Records. At the heart is Simon Joyner, who continues to produce amazing, vital records and seems to always be on the road touring. While Joyner is globally recognized by a niche audience, another Grapefruit Records regular, David Nance (and his current band, Mowed Sound), has probably garnered the largest fan base, thanks to a catalog of solid recordings, lots of touring, and a recent release on Jack White’s Third Man Records. Heavy Clippings also is part of this scene – a band fronted by Noah Sterba with Jeff Sedrel on bass — their sound fuses singer/songwriter Americana with a unique Midwestern flair.

Others that fall into this Omaha record store scene include Sean Pratt, Nathan Ma, Megan Siebe, Jim Schroeder, I’m sure many more. The group has been around for years – stretching back to the ‘90s – making their own DIY recordings and playing DIY shows. When anyone asks about an “Omaha Sound,” this is what comes to mind more than anything (including early Saddle Creek Records artists, who never had a central, common thread soundwise).

Though they’re from Los Angeles, Color Green has a connection to this scene via one of the band’s two core members – Noah Kohll — a former Omahan and fellow record store hanger-outer who likely has played alongside all these Antiquarium/Almost Music/Grapefruit folks at one time or another.  With fellow guitarist Corey Madden, Kohll has taken that Midwestern sound and fused it with something akin to Allman Bros./Derek and the Dominos-style blues rock to create something both new and familiar, and strikingly beautiful. 

At the heart of it is the gorgeous, intricate guitar play between Kohll and Madden that last night was spotlighted in intros that gracefully led into the songs, some sang by Kohll, others by Madden, harmonized sparingly by the band’s female drummer and bass player (whose names I don’t know but who were spectacular). 

Playing in the dark with only overhead stage lights, Color Green’s hour-long set consisted mostly of songs off their gorgeous 2022 self-titled album, released by ORG Music. And while that record is something you should seek out immediately, it doesn’t hold a candle to the band’s live performance, which took it all to the next level — the best guitar interplay I’ve heard in years (and that includes recent Nance/Schroeder slugfests). The band’s dynamics ranged from heavy riff-rock to bluesy mellow balladry that sounded like The Allman Bros. playing a cover of Led Zep’s “The Rain Song” – a comparison that I’m sure will make the Grapefruit Records folks cringe. 

Toward the end of the set, Kohll talked about his Omaha roots and even pointed out his parents in the crowd, saying the show was kind of a homecoming. That being the case, welcome home, Mr. Kohll. And please, don’t be a stranger.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, Atlanta-based self-described emo/indie punk Michael Cera Palin headlines a four-band bill that includes locals Trees With Eyes, Valley Street and Dullparty. $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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Ojai at O’Leaver’s, March 16, 2024.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Just getting to O’Leaver’s has become something of a nightmare with all the friggin’ road construction. Once through the maze of barricades along Leavenworth and Saddle Creek Saturday night, I found a parking lot chock full on both sides of the volleyball courts and almost expected to be turned back at the door. Inside, O’Leaver’s was comfortably filled but not cram packed (So where were all those people who own all those cars?). 

Ione at O’Leaver’s, March 16, 2024.

Ione was already halfway through her set playing in front of a woman-heavy crowd (a rarity for O’Leaver’s). Fronting a three-piece band, Ione stood alone with microphone in hand, a true pop crooner. There’s no denying she has a killer voice, polished and radio-friendly with all the familiar nuances heard on modern pop records, and I have no doubt if she keeps at it we’ll be seeing her on television one day singing a style of pop music that isn’t my cup of tea.

Interestingly, “Ione” has second persona — a side-act called Safe Space, which is a duo with her guitarist whose songs border on modern indie music a la Phoebe but not quite. She appears to be trying to cover all the bases with Safe Space, which is admirable and curious considering how much time she’s invested in her Ione brand. I was told months ago Ione was moving to Chicago. Better see her while you still can — her and he band are opening for Wyrmwood March 29 at Benson Theater. 

No doubt a large portion of the crowd Saturday was there for Ione as the place thinned out for Ojai. A trio fronted by guitarist / songwriter Michael Hulstein, their set was marred by an audio mix that put the bass way out front above all else. Bassist Micah Renner indeed has awesome bass-playing chops but I doubt even he would want his bass to be so prominent in the mix – it overpowered everything on stage. 

Meanwhile, Tanner Rogerson has one of the lightest touches of any drummer I’ve heard behind a kit. I kept checking to see if he was playing with brushes. Hulstein’s chiming, surf-style guitar parts were kind of great when you could hear them above the bass. His approachable vocal style is right on for songs I think I’m going to like when I hear them recorded and properly mixed. In fact, he said much of his set consisted of material from an upcoming EP. I was reminded me of Dave Doughman of Swearing at Motorists, a band I’m sure no one remembers or has even heard of, and a band that’s a lot weirder than Ojai. 

Long story short, I need to see Ojai again when they don’t sound like they’re playing in a bass competition. As for O’Leaver’s — it was hot, it was smelly, it was just as I remember it from the last time I was there. Here’s hoping it never changes. 

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A reminder about tonight’s shows, which I covered in detail last Friday…

At Reverb Lounge tonight LA band Color Green (Noah Kohll and Co.) headlines with The Dirts and Heavy Clippings. $15, 8 p.m. 

Meanwhile, down the street at The Sydney, Atlanta psych/electronic band Chew headlines with the Omaha debut of LinOma band Size Queen. 8 p.m., $10.

I’ll see you tonight in Benson…

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Heavy Clippings at Goatfest, March 9, 2024.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This year’s honorary Goatfest goat, Linda, was a sort of goat-ette — a miniature version of a goat whose cuteness was amplified by the diaper it proudly wore as it walked around the room adjacent to Scriptown brewery’s main room. A steady stream of parents hurriedly led their own “kids” to see Linda, forced to walk in front of the bands, the childrend with their tiny hands over their tiny ears. 

Goatfest could become one of those quirky events that cities boast about in their Chamber of Commerce write-ups – a combination beer bust, rock show and livestock display, hosted annually just before St. Patrick’s Day. Or even better, they should hold it monthly on every Second Saturday as part of the new Blackstone pseudo event, that, by the looks of the crowds in the streets, is off to a roaring start. 

Heavy Clippings was already deep in their set when we arrived, playing behind a large crowd bunched in the back and circling Scriptowns enormous bar. The band consists of two former members of the band Yuppies — Noah Sterba and Jeff Sedrel — along with Vince Franco and Tanner Rogerson, or as one person described them, “guys who used to hang out at Almost Music.” Stylistically, they play hypnotic post-punk, a sort of Midwestern version of Lewsberg or The Feelies with Sterba providing just the right amount of coffee-shop folk drawl. 

I don’t believe the band has any recordings, or at least any online, which is a shame (Sterba, btw, has a cassette out on Chris Fischer’s Unread Records). They sound like they should be playing either at Grapefruit Records downtown alongside Simon Joyner or on the soundtrack to your favorite just-discovered indie film. Either way, I’d see them again tomorrow if they were playing somewhere…

Head of Femur at Goatfest, March 9, 2024.

On the other hand, you’ll be seeing a lot more from Head of Femur. Frontman Matt Focht announced that the band was playing a ton of new songs from their upcoming album, and I have it on good authority that the record will be released on a long-standing, proper indie label in the very near future. 

Playing as a five-piece with Focht in the frontman pocket, the band ripped into a fresh set of proggy post-punk rock songs that were equal parts tuneful and challenging. Focht has a lilting, mewing voice that rides atop the sometimes complicated rhythms and melodies that are unafraid to take a quick left turn in the middle of a jam. No doubt these songs will sound completely different when heard through headphones. 

Highlights included “Tomato Party” and “Gravitational F’s,” whose names I only know because the band had their boldly printed setlist lying on the floor in front of where they played. Focht is a long-time Linoma indie music veteran, known as much for his work playing drums with Bright Eyes in the early days as for his Head of Femur output. When will this new album be released? I’ll let you know when I know.

As for Goatfest, like I said, I’d love to see Scriptown make live music a regular weekend-afternoon thing. This gig always feels like a South By Southwest day party (in the best way), with the crowd enjoying good music along with Scriptown’s delectable beers and now also smoked meats from Lazy Buffalo BBQ. After meeting Linda, here’s hoping the BBQ place keeps goat off the menu.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Matthew Sweet at The Waiting Room, Feb. 17, 2024.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

If it wasn’t a sell-out, it was dang close, as The Waiting Room was crazy-packed Saturday night for Matthew Sweet. Just moving around in the crowd was a challenge – a crowd that consisted of people in their 40s and 50s (and older), big people, mostly dudes, many carrying two drinks at a time because they didn’t want to deal with the bar situation. I didn’t even try to get my usual Rolling Rock, knowing I would never get it in time.

Instead, with no clear path in sight, I pushed my way through the cushion-like mass of humanity toward my usual perch at stage left, only to find that the bar had set up a four-top table in that small niche on the other side of the bathrooms, making things that much more crowded. At the table, two post-middle-aged couples dressed as if attending an awards program chatted and laughed in what was probably a rare night out for them. They didn’t seem bothered that tall people stood right next to their table, blocking their view. 

Sweet and his band took the stage a little after 9 p.m. Wearing a Greek sailor’s hat and mustache, he looked like a younger version of George R.R. Martin, a guitar slung over his shoulder, with wee lead guitarist John Moremen to his right, Velvet Crush bassist Paul Chastain on his left, young guy Adrian Carter between them on acoustic guitar and legendary Bangles drummer Debbi Peterson glowing perched behind her drum set. 

With no fanfare they tore right into opening song “The Ugly Truth” and kept on playing the hits, mostly songs off Girlfriend and Altered Beast, with newer song “Pretty Please” from the Tomorrow Forever thrown in for good measure. Sweet was in great voice and the band was tight.

It was right after playing “Winona” that things took a bit of a turn. Sweet launched into what felt like a 20-minute story that covered everything from Valentine’s Day to his second career making cat art (bronzes, now paintings) to his new tattoo to his love for the film MIdsommer to ideas for his next album and on and on – a speech that seemed even longer for me having already heard most of it a few weeks earlier during our interview. Sweet knew he was going on too long because he said so a few times during the monologue while his band wandered about adjusting their instruments, this wasn’t the first time they’ve heard these stories, either. 

I like stage patter as much as the next guy, and even feel offended when a band rifles through a set without acknowledging the audience standing right in front of them, but this massively long monologue killed the momentum the band had built up to that point in the evening, and felt like it would never stop. 

But it finally did stop and the band tore right back into their performance with “Devil with the Green Eyes” and continued for seven or more songs, ending their set with favorite “Evangeline,” wherein Sweet closed the song standing alone on stage with his back to the audience creating feedback with his guitar and pedals. I could hear him start to explain what he was doing as I left the Waiting Room, missing an encore that no doubt included “Girlfriend” and “Sick of Myself,” which he’s been playing as encores throughout this mini tour. 

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The Waiting Room has another terrific show queued up tonight – Yo La Tengo. This show was rescheduled from last fall to allow Georgia Hubley to recover from knee surgery. Promoted as “An Evening with Yo La Tengo,” expect to hear two sets filled with songs from throughout their career followed by an encore. The band played 22 songs at their Fort Collins show this past Saturday (the set list is here).  Good thing there’s no opener. 8 p.m. start time and $35. How will it do on a Monday night? 

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Ironically, the last band I saw in 2023 will be the first band I see in 2024. David Nance & Mowed Sound host their LP release show tonight at Reverb Lounge. The self-titled debut on Jack White’s Third Man Records came out two weeks ago. I mentioned the Pitchfork review already. But since then Allmusic, Paste and Spectrum Culture have also weighed in.

Allmusic gave the album a 4-star rating and concluded with: “It’s anyone’s guess if David Nance & Mowed Sound represents a new direction for the frontman or just a detour on the way back to wilder things, but if his goal was to show he had some cards up his sleeve we hadn’t seen before, he succeeds brilliantly.” 

Paste rated the album 8.0 – “The Nebraska musician’s latest shoulders rock music into new phenomena while remaining achingly indebted to its capacity for magic and freedom.”

Spectrum Culture gave the record a 79% rating (almost four stars) — “A surprisingly tight set of gently pan-fried country-tinged numbers from Omaha’s finest DIY rockers still contains plenty of good old American weirdness.”

High marks, almost “critical darling” territory. Heck even Matador Records co-founder Gerard Cosloy mentioned the record in on his Can’t Stop the Bleeding twitter account with this comment: “alright.  for the price of a lawn GA ticket to see Neil Young & Crazy Horse, you could instead purchase David Nance’s ‘Mowed Sound” AND Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band’s ‘Dancing On The Edge’ and you’d still have enough left over (for a downpayment on parking to see Neil Young)”

My review? 

David Nance & Mowed Sound, self-titled (Third Man Records) – This is throttled down David Nance. Restraining his usually blewsy, rough-hewn psych/garage rock, brings forth a rootsy, folk rock style more interested in songcraft than in blowing your head off, and that’s not a bad thing. And while there’s a hint of twang, as Nance says this ain’t no country album, and it ain’t. This is an old-fashioned record that should be purchased on vinyl, enjoyed one side at a time, preferably on a sun-drenched weekend afternoon.  So yeah, I dig it. I’d dig it even more if he’d amped up these songs with harder riffs and longer solos, like in his good old days. Rating: Yes.

Maybe we’ll get the harder versions of these songs tonight at Reverb Lounge. Pagan Athletes opens at 8 p.m. $15. Methinks this one could sell out.

Tomorrow night, Matthew Sweet returns to the Waiting Room Stage. I wrote about Sweet and this show yesterday, if you missed it. Mobile, Alabama-based twangin’ singer/songwriter Abe Partridge opens at 8 p.m. $25.

And that is 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

That’s it for January…

Writing about music means getting a few hundred (thousand?) pitch emails from promoters and labels per week. All get opened… if only to see if the act is coming to Omaha. If the record label is an indie favorite, or the band is familiar, the music may get a spin. Everything else gets the delete key. 

But every once in a while a band sends what appears to be a personal letter asking for a listen. The following ended up in the in-box this morning, f’r instance:

Hi, 

We are Stray Radio, an alternative rock band from Poland. We’ve just released a new album called “Afraid of Heights”. Maybe you will be interested in giving it a listen.

Cheers from Poland!

Is it really from Poland? Who knows. Maybe, maybe not. The internet is a wonderful, horrible thing. And despite all the phishing warnings about never clicking a link from someone you don’t know (especially if it’s a tinyurl), the plunge was taken.

Stray Radio hails from Bielsko Biala, Poland, according to their Bandcamp page. The band consists of Jan Cembala – vocal; Natalia Maliniewicz – guitar, Piotrek Góra – guitar, Marcin Maliniewicz – bass, Mikołaj Kowalczyk – drums. “All song written by Stray Radio, Mixed & Mastered by Marcin Maliniewicz, Drums recorded at Czecho Sound, Cover Design by Jan Cembala, Cover art taken from William Baxter Closson, Night Moths.”

That’s all fine, but is the music any good? Frontman Cembala is at his best when he’s not trying to emulate Jim Morrison. Just be yourself, Jan, like on tracks “Candy” or “Monday,” which are the least affected of the bunch. Clearly these guys have listened to their share of the Velvets and Iggy, and I can imagine them playing a darkly lit underground pub in, say, Katowice, each member with a cig hanging from his mouth, a lonely couple dancing close in the muted light. There are also some unfortunate metal-esque moments that remind me of ‘90s grunge, which I could have done without. 

Look, I’m part Polish and the rules are very clear that when you get a cold call email from one of your Polish brethren you take it, and I’m not sorry I did… But I wonder if they’re really from Poland…

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Icky Blossoms at The Waiting Room, Dec. 26. 2023.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

An observation about the crowd at last night’s “day-after-Christmas” concert featuring Icky Blossoms (and friends) that someone else made, which, on hindsight, seems particularly relevant: Other than ourselves and a couple folks who were with us, there were no familiar faces in the sold-out-sized crowd jammed on the floor of The Waiting Room. Demographically, the audience was young for a band that hasn’t released any new music in almost a decade (eight years since Mask, to be exact) and whose early single (the bouncy “Babes”) was released in 2012. Yet despite this, the crowd was mainly filled with anonymous 20-somethings (other than us) there to get their dance on. These Christmas concerts usually feel like millennial wedding receptions populated with the usual group of music-scene hipsters who grew up listening to the same records from the Saddle Creek label (either their own copies or their older brothers’ or sisters’ copies). This, it seemed, would be a good thing, — a reflection that the band’s audience is rotating a new generation of listeners, perhaps driven by recent song placements in video games (see Sunday’s blog entry) or (more unlikely) the after-effect of Icky Blossoms having performed at this summer’s Maha Music Festival. Either way… hope for the future?

We arrived just as PROBLEMS (a.k.a. Darren Keen) was finishing his set and the place was already jam packed. There was Darren on stage behind his synth equipment riding herd over a flock of gyrating dancers. 

David Nance and Pearl Lovejoy Boyd at The Waiting Room, Dec. 26, 2023.

I grabbed my Rolling Rock and we pushed through the crowd toward the front just a David Nance and his band began their set. I’ve always been a Nance fanboy back to his Actor’s Diary (2013, Grapefruit Records) days, having watched him go from a noise collage artist through psych rock, garage rock to what he’s doing now, which resembles something that Robbie Robertson and The Band might have played during their Scorsese-filmed heydays. Nance has a crisp, golden voice with just the right amount of wheeze to give it the soul needed to power these Midwest blues-rock nuggets. 

Top of the list was an uptempo rock number about “taking the covers off” with someone, which was a new one on me, and, a more laid-back-than-usual version of “Credit Line,” a cool ripper with a groovy guitar loop that, in times past, had straight-up rocked. Nance’s overall set was more subdued than any in recent memory, powered by his usual sidemen including drummer Kevin Donahue and guitarist Jim Schroeder, with Pearl Lovejoy Boyd providing tasty harmony vocals. I don’t know who that was on bass, but he was awesome. 

Then on came Icky Blossoms, and by then we had pushed our way through the crowd to that dark divot off the side of the stage by the bathrooms, well out of the way of what I assumed would be a bouncing mob. 

Icky Blossoms sounded as good as always, though I don’t remember seeing them play to such a large crowd. The band played their usual set drawn from their two albums, the highlights (for me, anyway) again being the dance numbers – “Babes” and “Cycle” among them. By the time they got to the night’s big raver, “Sex to the Devil,” they’d asked the lighting guy to turn off the overhead lights, leaving them illuminated only by the under-lit stage lights that strobed in sync with their music. That lighting combined with the bouncing crowd gave the room the same energy I remember from Faint concerts from back in the day. 

Joining the core band of Nik Fackler, Sarah Bohling and Derek Pressnall was bass player Sara Bertuldo (See Through Dresses) and drummer Javid Dabestani – with this solid line-up, new music (reportedly) on the way and what appeared to be a fresh new audience, there’s nothing holding back Icky Blossoms except their own complicated lives. It would be fun to see them re-emerge as a modern-day dance powerhouse…

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

By all accounts, 2023 should have been a turning-point year for the Omaha music scene – two new, grand and glorious 3,000-plus capacity music venues opened. Now no one can say Omaha doesn’t have large-ish, high-quality state-of-the-art music venues to attract the best and brightest touring bands. 

And yet, here we are, still getting bypassed by the best and brightest who can’t seem to find Omaha on a map as they plot their tours. 

Steelhouse Omaha opened in May – a modern metal box of a venue located downtown with all the charm of an airplane hanger, designed (supposedly) for standing-audience performances of more than 3,000 (though the venue also books seated shows). Its chief competition – the 3,000-plus capacity Astro Theater in La Vista that opened earlier this month — boasts an adjoining 5,000-plus capacity amphitheater that opened in September. 

The booking fire-power behind Steelhouse comes courtesy of those greedy bastards at Live Nation, while longtime local heroes One Percent Productions and their partner, KC’s Mammoth Productions, book the Astro complex. Exciting times? Well…. maybe. 

Since both opened, neither has booked a performer that could be considered cutting-edge, modern or progressive, and probably rarely will, because of the perception that those kinds of bands don’t do well in this market. Instead, prepare for a parade of legacy acts whose heyday was 30 (or more) years ago (Rick Springfield, anybody?) along with a wagon-train of country performers (Yaw! Git!) and goon rock/metal/tattoo-discount bands. It’s all about booking sure-thing sell-outs (even though Steelhouse is operated by a non-profit organization dedicated to the arts).

It’s not the promoters’ fault. I came to the sad conclusion that indie music – that style of music that made Omaha a nationally recognized entity in the ‘00s years – has quietly gone out of fashion here and gone back underground. Country acts have gained popularity (as far as booking is concerned) — Omaha has always had its share of shit-kicker bars and C&W radio stations.

But in addition, metal & punk have really become a dominant Omaha thing, with punk and metal shows being held almost weekly. Frankly, it’s a long time in the making. The River, 89.7 FM, has made metal/punk music their staple for years. National promoters Mammoth Productions has booked large metal shows for decades, and the mighty Black Heart Booking has really stepped up in its punk/metal productions. Add to that two new all-ages spaces focused on metal/punk — The Swamp in Lincoln and The Blind Spot in Omaha. Both are “text-for-the-address” DIY venues and already have become game changers.

Omaha still gets a respectable number of touring indie shows, thanks to One Percent Productions (The Waiting Room, Reverb Lounge) and The Slowdown (still booked by Knitting Factory, as far as I know), but it’s not like the old days, and very likely will never be again. 

But here’s the deal – despite Omaha’s lag of interest in indie, the genre remains as popular than ever outside our state. On the coasts and in big market cities, Indie bands are bigger than ever and continue to produce great music, whether or not we have a chance to hear it here live (or on the radio). 

THAT BEING THE CASE… while I had no trouble putting together this year’s Lazy-i Best of 2023 compilation CD (details below), after listening to hundreds of new releases, I still struggled to come up with 10 favorite albums from 2023. Below are the albums I consistently reached for and returned to when listening to new music this past year. As you can see, there are only eight (in no particular order):

• Sextile – Push (Sacred Bones)
• Slowdive – Everything is Alive (Dead Oceans)
• boygenius – The Record (Interscope)
• Blondshell – self titled (Partisan)
• Lewsberg – Out and About (12XU)
• Mitch Gettman – Tilde (self-release)
• Hotline TNT – Cartwheel (Third Man)
• Pardoner – Peace Loving People (Bar/None)

Just as interesting are the albums that didn’t make the list. Sufjan Stevens is a perennial favorite, but his latest, Javelin, was another collection of weepers inspired by yet another personal tragedy. I can only take so much of his despair. Mitski, Ratboys, Wednesday, Slow Pulp and Indigo De Souza all released notable individual tracks, but couldn’t carry an entire album. Water from Your Eyes and Actor/Actriz, who topped my live show list (more on that later), weren’t nearly as interesting in the studio. 

No doubt about it, vinyl continues to be wildly popular among collectors, but I can’t help but wonder if we’re seeing the decline of the “album” as an art form. How important are albums to a youth generation that listens to the majority their music via streaming, playlists and Tik Tok? Attention-span erosion not only is destroying long-form journalism, it’s killing long-form music formats. It sounds depressing, but I’m not sure it’s necessarily a bad thing.

What is depressing is the continued decline of the media that covers our city’s arts culture. The Reader, Omaha’s only arts and entertainment alternative weekly (that became a monthly), ended its 30-year run with its September issue. I personally miss it and the deadlines it forced upon me, but I’m not certain anyone else misses it. 

So who’s left to cover Omaha’s creative endeavors? The Omaha World-Herald is all but gone. In fact, other than, say, Omaha Magazine, I can’t think of any other print publication with an arts voice. Which leaves us, unfortunately, with that echo-chamber we call social media, and folks, that ain’t gonna cut it. The irony, as I’ve pointed out, is that Omaha has more music venues, more art spaces, more restaurants and theaters than ever before. 

Speaking of live performances, despite a lack of touring indie shows coming through town, I attended well over 50 rock shows last year, which ain’t bad (but nothing like the old days). Below are my favorites:

• Goatfest 2023 – Those Far Out Arrows, Bad Bad Men at Scriptown Brewing, March 11 — loud, hard garage rock paired perfectly with Scriptown’s delectable homemade brew. And those actual live goats only added to the atmosphere.
  
• Water from Your Eyes at The Slowdown, April 8 — Opening for a flat performance by headliner Snail Mail, Rachel Brown spoke or sang lyrics in beat with the dissonance over harsh, brittle, noise symphonies provided by guitarist Nate Amos’ cut-jab guitar riffs and acidic synth tones.

• Fleet Foxes at Steelhouse, July 2 — Along with The Killers kick-off, this was the only show I witnessed at this new venue, which by itself was the star of the shows. 

• Blondshell, Hello Mary at 7th St. Entry, Minneapolis, July 11 — My only “travel show” of 2023 was memorable if only for experiencing the shithole that is 7th St. Entry. While we came to see Blondshell, Hello Mary was the show-stopper.

• Maha Music Festival at Stinson Park, July 30 — It was the last year for the annual festival at this location and maybe its best line-up in past eight years, highlighted by riveting sets from Big Thief, Icky Blossoms, The Beths, Turnstile and BIB. Next year Maha moves to the riverfront…

• Petfest 2023 outside Petshop Gallery, July 20 — The all-day festival continues to be the best all-local concert held each year. Highlights included sets by Thirst Things First, Cat Piss and Head of Femur.

• Mitch Gettman at The Slowdown, Sept. 16 — Gettman and his band performed the best songs from his double-album, Tilde, that showcased the singer/songwriter’s range and talent. 

• Lewsberg at Grapefruit Records, Oct. 8 — The Old Market record store unveiled a new stage and new set-up for its live in-store performances. The Rotterdam four-piece took full advantage, playing a transcendent set that sounded like Lou Reed fronting The Feelies.

• Model/Actriz at Reverb Lounge, Oct. 9 – All-encompassing, frontman Cole Haden’s in-your-face performance (literally) bordered on disturbing (He’s not coming for me next, is he?) made the spectacle what it was. This was my favorite show of the year.

• Sextile at The Waiting Room, Oct. 19 — At their best, even the most dead pile of human flesh couldn’t help but move to Sextile’s coal-black rhythms, but with a crowd of only around 150, the show would have been even better at a club the size of Reverb.

• Hotline TNT at Reverb, Nov. 22 — Very much a Sugar/Bob Mould/Teenage Fanclub vibe – pure ’90s post-punk that was even better live than on their much-lauded, overblown debut album. 

• Neva Dinova at Reverb, Dec. 14 — Playing as a power trio (with special guest Mike Saklar playing guitar on a handful of numbers), Jake Bellows went beyond the usual ballideering for a Live Rust-style rock show that indeed rocked.

Finally, there’s this year’s Lazy-i Best of 2023 compilation CD! I’ve been putting this comp together since 1994, originally on cassette.  It’s a collection of favorite tracks I’ve come across during my work as a critic-at-large for Lazy-i.com and the aforementioned, now-defunct, Reader. The CD is mailed to friends and associates as a sort of year-end holiday card that’s also an audio time capsule (and collector’s item!).  

In years’ past, I’ve given copies away in a contest. This year, I’m sending copies to anyone who asks while supplies last (and there ain’t many). Just send me your mailing address via email to tim.mcmahan@gmail.com. 

Here’s the track list: 

• Genesis Owusu, “Leaving the Light” from the album STRUGGLER (AWAL)
• Sextile, “Contortion” from the album Push (Sacred Bones)
• noname, “Namesake” from the album Sundial (self-released)
• Slowdive, “Kisses,” from the album Everything is Alive (Dead Oceans)
• M83, “Amnesia,” from the album Fantasy (Mute)
• Yo La Tengo, “Aselestine” from the album This Stupid World (Matador)
• Hotline TNT, “I Thought You’d Change” from the album Cartwheel (Third Man)
• boygenius, “Cool About It,” from the album The Record (Interscope)
• Blondshell, “Joiner” from the album Blondshell (Partisan)
• Lloyd Cole, “Warm by the Fire,” from the album On Pain (Edel Music)
• Neva Dinova, “Outside,” single (Saddle Creek)
• Slow Pulp, “Broadview” from the album Yard (ANTI-)
• Palehound, “Eye on the Bat” from the album Eye on the Bat (Polyvinyl)
• Pardoner, “Get Inside!” from the album Peace Loving People (Bar/None)
• Lewsberg, “Communion,” single (12XU)
• Water from Your Eyes, “Out There (The Dare Version)” from Crushed by Everyone (Matador)
• Bad Bad Men, “No Thanks” from the album Messed Up (SPEED! Nebraska)
• Model/Actriz, “Mosquito” from the album Dogsbody (True Panther)
• Lana Del Rey, “Let the Light In” from the album Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (Interscope)
• Mitch Gettman, “Empire” from the album Tilde (self released)
• Bright Eyes, “Christmas in Prison” single featuring John Prine (Oh Boy)

The playlist also is available in Spotify. Simply click this link or search “Tim McMahan” in Spotify, then select Profiles, then Public Playlists. You’ll find it along with a few from past years.

Next week – PREDICTIONS!!!

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Neva Dinova at Reverb Lounge, Dec. 14, 2023.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Fans of Jake Bellows came out in droves last night at Reverb Lounge where Jake, Roger Lewis and Megan Siebe performed as Neva Dinova. It wasn’t a sellout but (I was told) dang near one, with a couple hundred people on hand to welcome their wayward son back to an Omaha stage. 

Bellows, who looks identical to the guy I interviewed in his basement practice space 22 years ago, ripped into an hour-plus set of old favorites (“Dances Fantastic,” “Brooklyn” among them) and new rockers. That’s right, I said rock songs, as the new tunes Jake and Co. unveiled (mostly) ripped at the same pace and power of the band’s recent single (which was also performed last night). 

I stood next to a long-time Neva fan throughout the set and would often turn to him after songs, both of us saying, “That’s another new one.” Turns out the band will be in town for an extended period as they record a new album, no doubt capturing on in the studio the songs we heard last night. 

Jake Bellows holding court at Reverb Lounge, Dec. 14, 2023.

They weren’t all rockers. It wouldn’t be a Neva Dinova/Jake Bellows concert without its share of slow-motion dirges that glow dimly like light through a NyQuil bottle… up until that point in every one when Bellows ripped into one of his Gilmour-esque guitar solos.

Early in the set, the band brought even more fire power on stage by asking Sun-Less Trio frontman/guitarist Mike Saklar to join them for five or six numbers, including some of those Neva chestnuts. Saklar’s ax work added just the right touch of extra spice to the musical stew. 

Doom Flower at Reverb Lounge, Dec. 14, 2023.

It wasn’t until I got home and did some research that I discovered the frontwoman of opening band, Doom Flower, was none other than Jess Price of the band Campdogzz, who releases music on Cursive’s 15 Passenger label. Unlike that band’s full-throttle rock, Doom Flower was going for a shimmery, Mazzy Star vibe – mid-tempo songs bordering on slowcore accented with trip-hop beats, a lead guitar tone that sounded like synths, and Price’s withdrawn, indecipherable, mumbled vocals. Gorgeous in its own way if only for the vibe, though I did wonder what Price was mewing about…

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It’s another weekend of local shows, which is what we get this time of year.

Tonight at The Sydney in Benson, Las Cruxes headlines a show that includes locals Frankie Chairo and No Sé, a band that has a potent shoegaze sound – no idea who they are or where they’re from, but check out their two tracks on Spotify. $10, 8:30. 

Tomorrow night (Saturday) it’s the big sendoff for The Reader at The Admiral Theater. Omaha’s arts and entertainment weekly turned monthly quit publishing earlier this year and the world hasn’t been the same since (for me, anyway). The invitation says there will be a roast for those responsible, which no doubt will focus on founder/publisher John Heaston. That alone is worth the price of admission (free!), but there also will be music from Stylo, Hector Anchondo, Noizewave and Mandown (it’s like a latter-day Ranch Bowl reunion). The fun starts at 7 p.m. Like I said, it’s free, with any donations going to a charity. Stop by and say goodbye to an Omaha institution!

Also Saturday night, Pageturners in Dundee is hosting a night of local singer/songwriters with Tom Bartolomei, Sean Pratt and Mike Schlesinger. This one is free, though there’s a $10 suggested donation. Starts at 8 p.m. 

Sunday night it’s back to Pageturners for a late afternoon musical treat provided by McCarthy Trenching. Starts at 5 p.m. and, same as before, free with suggested donation.

Also Sunday night, Nebraska singer/songwriter Andrea von Kampen provides a night of music at The Waiting Room. Von Kampen was a top-10 finalist in the 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Contest, which likely helped land her a record deal with Fantasy Records. She’s from Ann Arbor, but went to high school in Seward and received her degree in music at Concordia University. $20, 7 p.m. 

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

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Stephen Sheehan with Stigmata Martyr at Reverb Lounge, Nov. 24, 2023.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Well, I missed the Criteria/Little Brazil show Saturday. And the Ryan Davis show at Grapefruit last night. The holidays being what they are, it just wasn’t in the cards. 

I did catch Stephen Sheehan performing with Stigmata Martyr Friday night at Reverb Lounge. This was the best Sheehan performance I’ve seen since his Digital Sex days, thanks to the energy coming off the stage as the band performed four songs by Joy Division. The setlist:

• – Warsaw
• – Day of the Lords
• – Ceremony
• – Transmission

The rarely heard “Warsaw” was the big surprise, as was the fact that Sheehan and the band, maybe wisely, bypassed other Joy Division staples like “Love Will Tear Us Apart” or “Disorder,” which may have required Sheehan to attempt Ian Curtis’ famous dance moves. Those songs also invite other comparisons, which aren’t necessary as there is no replacing Ian’s always slightly off-pitch bass-baritone delivery. Instead, Sheehan simply sang the songs as Sheehan, and the performance was better for it. 

If you missed it, you’ll get another chance to see/hear Sheehan in action as he’s among the performers taking part in the Damones’ New Year’s Eve Eve show at The Waiting Room Dec. 30. 

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You say after a weekend of turkey that you’re hankering for some accordion-powered Spanish-language Tex-Mex punk rock? Well Reverb Lounge has you covered as tonight, San Antonio’s Piñata Protest headlines. Joining them are No/Mas, Amolador and Bolzen Beer Band. $18, 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.