by TIm McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I swung by The Barley Street Tavern last night for Orenda Fink/McCarthy Trenching, and it was (as expected) a packed house, which means there were more than 50 people in the bar’s “music room,” where folk stood along the wall in the back and women sat on their boyfriends’ laps. Another 20 or so people were pushed into the main bar area, content with watching the performance on the security monitor-style camera above the bar.

Yeah, it was crowded, but had you wanted to see the show, you could have. I caught the last few songs by Whispertown’s Morgan Nagler, one of which was accompanied by Fink and another two accompanied by Omaha ex-pat Jake Bellows. Nagler had an innocent, some might say childlike, flair to her simple acoustic ballads. Bellows took over right after her set and played five or six solo acoustic tunes, sounding better than ever. He remains one of Omaha’s best lonely-heart crooners, like an Elvis lost on a desert island.

Dan McCarthy came on at around 11, taking advantage of the Barley’s house piano, which he said was made in 1917 and last tuned in 1918. Despite that, the rustic keyboard sounded perfect for his style of Randy Newman-meets-Chuck Brodsky-meets Tom Waits folk balladry, which included a few Scott Joplin rags. A couple members of hot new band Gus & Call joined him in the middle of the set (playing stand-up bass and that piano) when McCarthy picked up an acoustic guitar. He eventually made his way back to the piano and was still at it when I left at midnight, too tired to wait for Orenda (unless, of course, she played before Whispertown, which I do not know). The crowd had a hipster wedding reception feel to it, consisting of members of the Saddle Creek Records family and their friends and colleagues, all out to “welcome back” Orenda and Todd Fink to Omaha.

* * *

The folks at the MAHA Music Festival took a decidedly smart turn in how they picked the bands for their local stage this year — three of the five bands were chosen by folks involved with hearnebraska.org (including myself as an HN board member, though only one of the three bands chosen were on my list). As a requirement for accepting the local-stage gig, each band was tasked with curating one pre-festival showcase, where they would play along with two or three other bands of their choosing. Last Friday MAHA announced the line-up for these showcase events.

Strongest of the three is the showcase curated by So-So Sailors at Slowdown July 28. Playing along with SSS will be power-punk band Millions of Boys, the more traditional indie stylings of Fortnight, and one of the area’s best punk/garage/new wave rock bands, Digital Leather, who (one could argue) should have been in consideration for one of those three MAHA local stage spots.

The other Omaha showcase will be held June 22 at The Waiting Room, curated by Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship. Joining them will be New Lungs, a new trio featuring Danny Maxwell of Little Brazil on guitar and vocals, drummer Corey Broman and bassist Craig Fort. Think Polvo meets Dinosaur Jr. meets Mission of Burma meets classic ’90s Linoma punk. Also on the bill are noise rockers Ketchup and Mustard Gas.

And finally, there’s the Lincoln showcase curated by The Machete Archive to be held at Duffy’s Tavern July 1. Joining Machete will be Her Flyaway Manner, Irkutsk and Powerful Science. Brendan McGinn’s HFN has been around for years playing brutal, Fugazi-inspired punk. I can’t say as I know a thing about the other two bands.

All three showcases are all-ages events and absolutely free, so you best mark them down on your calendar.

There’s still one more MAHA local stage spot up for grabs, which will be determined by a public-vote talent competition as part of the OEA Summer Showcase July 8-9 in Benson.

* * *

One final bit of news: Judging by their Facebook fan page, it looks like Big Harp, the husband-and-wife duo of Chris Senseney (Baby Walrus) and Stefanie Drootin-Senseney (The Good Life, Consafos) are the latest “signing” by Saddle Creek Records. They’re still not listed on the Creek site, but I’m sure that’ll come any day now. It’s good to see Creek continuing to sign new talent in this era of music industry decline…

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Conduits at Dundee Spring Fling, May 21, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Ah, the joys of being an amateur meteorologist. The various and sundry weather services had warned all day that there would be thunderstorms Saturday evening, and lo and behold, the skies became angry just as the Dundee Spring Fling was about to erupt just past the rapture hour of 6 p.m. A glance at the radar indicated a line of hail-laden thunderstorms bearing north from Lincoln, so I sat tight and waited out Armageddon at home. I’m told the sky began falling about halfway through Gus & Call’s set. People ran for cover under the beer tents as pea-sized hail began to bounce off their heads.

The So-So Sailors at Dundee Spring Fling, May 21, 2011.

I arrived at Underwood Street at around 9 p.m., after the storm had passed… mostly. As So-So Sailors got ready on stage, streaks of lightning veined across the sky just to the north. SSS’s frontman Chris Machmuller looked a tad nervous, but said that the show would go on, and indeed it did. Unlike Jake’s Block Party last weekend, the sound system was unreal, just terrific sound, and SSS took full advantage of it, playing to a crowd of a few hundred booze-soaked neighbors. The band — which was back to its usual 5-piece configuration (only two keyboards this time, and no Laura Burhann) ran through their non-released hits one after another in sort of medley fashion, right up to the last tune, where Machmuller said something like, “If this is the Rapture, take me home Jesus” before the band exploded in rock ‘n’ roll bliss.

Before Conduits came on, Gus & Call was called back on stage to finish off their interrupted set. Dan McCarthy sang lead on one song that channeled The Band circa 1968/Big Pink. They closed with what’s becoming their signature tune, “The Other Side of Jordan,” played with the same energy as that night I first saw them play it at Slowdown. This is a band to seek out; a band that could break out if they could ever find the right balance between their fun rock stuff and their slow-stroll boot-gaze drone ballads.

Finally at around 10:45, Conduits lit up the stage sounding like a black-light Euro dance band, thanks to Roger Lewis’ pulsing drums. Yes, they are self-proclaimed shoe-gazers, lovers of the drone, but there was a bigger swing to their sound Saturday night, a righteous throb that enhanced the overall glow.

The crowd looked like a typical packed night at The Waiting Room — a lot of familiar faces and fixtures of the local music scene. But in addition were the college kids, the big white bald guys, the backward hatters and the out-of-place high heels, the kind of crowd that you’d expect to see at a small-town street dance. And though these weren’t the usual cover bands and shallow pop acts that usually play at Dundee Days, the crowd still seemed into it. In some ways, this show was a dream come true — a showcase of some of Omaha’s best indie bands performing in the heart of the city, outside of both the bands’ comfort zone (i.e., not in Benson) and the crowd’s. Here’s hoping the fine folks at Amsterdam Felafel get another chance to book this event next year.

* * *

Tonight at The Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs it’s the Foo Fighters with Motorhead and Biffy Clyro. General admission tickets are $58.75 from Ticketmaster. Show starts at 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Solid Goldberg at The Barley Street Tavern, May 13, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The hype was true.

Solid Goldberg is a spectacle of most-groovy proportions. A musical head trip featuring one of the area’s — nay, one of the country’s — most ingenious musical talents. The set-up is deceptively simple: Two keyboards, a battery of effects pedals and amplifiers, a digital projector and colored lights, and Dave Goldberg. You may remember him from Full Blown or the Carsinogents or The Terminals or most recently, Box Elders. Now all by his lonesome (and loving it that way) Goldberg is free to make the music he’s always wanted to, and there’s no one to blame (or praise) but him.

Not surprisingly, he pulls it off. The core sound is a simple electronic beat layered with dense Goldberg-style psychobilly/garage/punk keyboards and his distorted, twisted, howling vocals that are part caged animal, part Elvis, part Jon Spencer. It’s groovy; as groovy as the psychedelic lighting effects that include floating dollar signs and the letter ‘g’ blasted right into Goldberg’s face. Ask Dave and he’ll tell you it’s all about the performance, but it’s the music that makes it work, driven mostly by a left hand that provides all the bottom end he needs, and more than enough to get all the other bottoms in the room shaking. Imagine Solid Goldberg leading a dance party from on top of a huge festival stage. Too bad none of the local fests have the cojones to give it a try.

Goldberg set up his rock ‘n’ roll space station not on the Barley Street Tavern’s stage, but in the back of the room, across from the soundboard. With the tables and chairs stacked up against the wall, the room felt like a rock club. Sure, the table/chair set-up is fine for acoustic gigs, but cleared out like it was Friday night, I get the feeling that they could host some sizable shows if they wanted to. The cleared-out set-up also worked well for twisted electronic metal-heads Cloven Path, who took the opportunity to shred right in the middle of the crowd.

* * *

Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies at Jake's Block Party, May 14, 2011.

Could the weather Saturday have been worse? Sure, it could have been raining or drizzling or snowing. Instead it was just overcast, windy and bone-chilling cold, made all the more painful by the prior weekend’s 90+ degree heat. The cold was almost too much to bear as I stood along with about 40 others, bent forward into a north wind that blew through Military Ave., at Jake’s “just because we can” Block Party.

By 6 p.m., Brad Hoshaw and the 7 Deadlies were rifling through a set that included some new tasty material, and closed with Hoshaw’s solo-acoustic rendition of Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic,” which he made thoroughly his own.

Matt Cox performed as a trio without a drummer, which he didn’t miss at all. I’ve been told he’s a blues guy, but he didn’t play any blues Saturday afternoon, more like C&W-inflected Americana, Hank Williams Sr./Jr. meets John Prine and a double-shot of bourbon. Word is he has a new album coming out. Looks like I’m late to the party (again).

Despite wearing an insulated wool peacoat I only had enough left to make it through one more band — Gus & Call — who continue to define their unique brand of alt-country that mixes twang with drone and feedback, or “Bootgaze” as I like to call it. I left right after their set at around 8 p.m., just as the crowd was beginning to show up. Here’s hoping the weather is better for this Saturday’s Dundee Spring Fling…

* * *

Watch your MAHA Music Festival Feed (facebook.com/MahaMusicFestival) tonight at around 9 as they announce two more main stage acts and three local bands who will be performing on the side stage, as well as all the details regarding their local showcase events. If you’re a Guided By Voices fan, chances are you’ll dig one of these main stage acts, a definite classic.

* * *

Speaking of classics, TSOL is playing tonight at The Waiting Room w/ Shot Baker, Bullet Proof Hearts, RAF and Cordial Spew — maybe the best full-out punk show of the year. $14, 8 p.m. (early start). Bring your earplugs!

Just as classic is Lucinda Williams tonight at The Slowdown. This also is an early start — 8 p.m. — with no opening act, so you better get down there on time. $30.

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Cars, circa now.

Column 322: Can The Cars Make a Comeback in a Modern Age?

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This started as a simple review of The Cars’ new album, Move Like This, which was released on Concord Music this past Tuesday. It’s the band’s first studio album since 1987’s Door to Door, and the first since the death of bassist / vocalist Ben Orr of pancreatic cancer in 2000.

If you grew up listening to The Cars or are just a fan, you’re going to love this record. It has all the classic Cars qualities — Ric Ocasek’s yelping vocals and infectious melodies, Elliot Easton’s blazing guitar riffs, Greg Hawkes’ quirky neon-pink keyboard touches and David Robinson’s usual metronomic percussion. The only thing missing is Orr’s dreamy, ballad vocals, and of course, his amazing harmonies, which were central to The Cars’ sound. I’m not sure who’s handling the harmonies these days, but they’re there, and somehow the band manages to muddle through despite Orr’s irreplaceable loss.

The Cars, Move Like This (2011, Concord Music)

Actually, they do more than just muddle through. Move Like This is hands-down better than 1980’s Panorama and miles better than their presumed swansong, Door to Door. In a perfect world, this would have been their follow-up to 1984’s Heartbeat City, the strangely modern (for its time) sinister masterpiece that stands as the band’s high-water mark.

But as I sat down to write this glowing review, a question kept running through my mind: No matter how good this record is, would it — could it — find an audience with a new generation of music fans, or is it doomed to merely be considered a quaint reflection of a simpler time?

Let me put it in a way that older readers are more likely to understand. Heartbeat City was released 27 years ago. I remember the first time I heard it on the radio while driving around in my 1978 Ford Fiesta. It seemed modern and edgy back then, certainly more modern than the music released 27 years prior to Heartbeat City, in 1957.

I’ve always considered the pre-Beatles late-fifties as the “Happy Days” era of rock. We’re talking Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Patti Page, i.e., my parents’ music. Needless to say, I didn’t spend much time listening to the local ’50s radio station when I was a teen-ager. That was old people’s music.

In fact, I considered the music that came out just 17 years prior to Heartbeat City’s release –– the music of 1967 — as hippie stuff, antiquated and quaint, a reflection of a simpler time when every day was lived in the drug-fueled “Living Color” of eternal summertime — at least it always looked like summer in the historic news footage. Music of the ’60s was Freedom Rock — old-fashioned, dusty relics compared to the music that would come out just 10 years after it.

The Cars first album, released in 1978, felt starkly modern compared to the disco hits of The Bee Gees, the schlocky ballads of The Commodores and Billy Joel, and the glam of Nick Gilder and Sweet, all of which had big hits the same year.  Their debut, which included the creepy hit “Moving in Stereo,” along with the album’s follow-up, Candy-O, felt brazenly cutting edge. Candy-O managed to carry the torch of a blossoming New Wave movement, but still had enough pop sensibility with songs like “Let’s Go” and “It’s All I Can Do” to attract a huge, national mainstream audience.

The hits kept coming with 1981’s Shake It Up, though the band’s formula was beginning to tire. Then came Heartbeat City and the beginning of the MTV era. With songs like “You Might Think,” “It’s Not the Night” and “Drive” — and the videos that helped power those songs up the charts — The Cars had effectively reinvented themselves. Despite the singles’ obvious pop leanings, there was something deeper and darker about Heartbeat City. The rumor going ’round was that the album was really a cynical, clever take on the ’80s drug culture; a love story about someone trying to pull a lover or a friend from the abyss of heroin addiction. The more you listened to the record, the more it made sense.

Move Like This doesn’t have any deep, overshadowing pretext to its lyrics, but songs like “Blue Tip, “Sad Song” and “Free” are as hitworthy as anything from any of The Cars’ best albums.

But does any of that matter? In this era of Animal Collective, M.I.A., Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire, can The Cars be considered anything more than colorful nostalgia by the teens and 20-somethings who have never known a world without the Internet or hip-hop (and yes, The Beastie Boys may have a similar problem with their amazing new album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, which is decidedly “old school”)?

Can Move Like This ever be taken seriously next to today’s releases, or will it be relegated to the unfortunate genre known as “Dad Rock”? Will today’s youth think of a band like The Cars the same way I thought of Pat Boone when I was their age? Is good songwriting as relevant now as it was 27 years ago? Is rock and roll timeless? Or all we all just getting old?

* * *

An even better question: How will Move Like This be remembered 27 years from now, in 2038?

* * *

Tonight at The Sydney in Benson, Brad Hoshaw and The Lepers open for Rock Paper Dynamite. $5, 9 p.m. Check out The Sydney’s kick ass new website. How many local characters can you name from the homepage photo?

Also tonight, Chicago-based mash-up freaks The Hood Internet are playing at The Slowdown as part of the Big Omaha Conference. Guaranteed entrance with BO badges is between 7 and 8 p.m., then its $10 tix at the door until it sells out (and it will sell out). Show starts at 9.

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Of Montreal at Slowdown, May 6, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’d heard that Of Montreal’s stage show was a flamboyant circus-like extravaganza that included skits and costume changes, but I wasn’t prepared for the bizarre spectacle I saw Friday night at Slowdown. Strangest moment: Simulated sex between two stage performers in flesh-colored body suits wearing pig-head masks. Most beautiful moment: The scene captured in the above picture involving iridescent metallic body suits and a large iridescent angel/moth costume. Add to that an ongoing wrestling match simulation between various masked performers, a giant blob wearing a gas mask with an enormous crab claw attacking a pig person, and a 12-foot-tall shimmering creature with four arms.

And let’s not forget the actual band, which played a great set of dance-y pop songs fronted by an effeminate Kevin Barnes in hot pants and full make-up.  After the shortish set, the band came out for a couple encores that concluded with a final wrestling match that involved everyone in the band who, one-at-a-time, were tossed or dived into the audience to be carried overhead leaving only the fiddle player on stage, who played a solo version of America the Beautiful before all the musicians and performers returned to stage for a fiddle-powered hoedown. What more could you want from a show?

BTW, this show was well-attended but far from a sell-out (or so it appeared). It was a great crowd, though, that got its aerobic work-outs in on the dance floor. Another aside: Of Montreal used an innovative camera-and-projector system that captured the stage antics, distorted the images, and then projected them onto a huge screen backdrop — the most effective use of projectors I’ve seen at a rock show.

* * *

I continue to get asked what I think of the whole Red Sky Festival situation. I finally told someone yesterday that, really, Red Sky couldn’t be further away from what I cover (which means it couldn’t be further away from what I’m interested in)  especially after last week’s announcement of country superstar Jason Aldean, who I’ve never heard of prior to that announcement. That followed Thursday’s announcement of Better Than Ezra, George Clinton and Cowboy Mouth on the annex stages. Aldean tickets are slightly more than the 311 tix ($54.75, $44.75, $29.75). This sliding scale pricing system is somewhat confusing, especially from a “festival” standpoint, though maybe after all the headliners are announced, Red Sky will announce a one-price-for-everything option. Or maybe not. Perhaps they’re simply viewing this as six days of concerts held in the ball park, each concert seperately priced. Considering your typical 311 fan won’t give two shits about Aldean (and vice versa) this probably makes sense. Instead of a festival, Red Sky is more of a hodge-podge, but it does leave open the possibility that Live Nation will book at least one good alt/indie band during their Week of Banality.

Of more interest is the MAHA Music Festival, and its announcement of three additional main stage bands to join Guided By Voices, Matisyahu and Cursive. When that announcement will be made, no one knows, though one would hope it’s coming soon as MAHA tix are now on sale.

* * *

Let’s face it, last week was pretty strong for shows. But it looks like we’re going to pay for it this week, as I can’t see anything of interest show-wise until Friday night, and of course, Jake’s Fest on Saturday. If you know of something hot going on this week, pass it along…

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Sky Drops at The Barley Street Tavern, May 3, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It was a late start at last night’s show at The Barley Street Tavern. I would find out later that it was because opener Pastel Pistol canceled. That meant sitting alone in the bar, quietly stewing over a Rolling Rock while playing Tiny Bird on my iPhone for an hour. Us working types are taking a chance going out on a “school night” to see a show, hoping that it’ll wrap up at least by midnight so that the 5 a.m. wake-up call isn’t quite as painful…

The touring band, The Sky Drops, finally got started a little after 10:30. With all the bands jumping on the “shoegaze” bandwagon these days, this was the first that actually had that classic guitar sound that I identify with the subgenre — that shimmering, rainy-day woozy drone made famous by bands like My Bloody Valentine. Guitarist/vocalist Rob Montejo pulled it off with a Fender Jaguar, a small stack of amps and an array of effects pedals that bent the notes in an off-kilter, underwater sort of way. Meanwhile, drummer Monika Bullette merely kept the beat on her small kit, nothing fancy, and provided sweet harmony vocals. Yeah, they could have used a bass, just like every two-piece out there. Still, Montejo’s guitar tone did a good job filling in the void. I was thrown by his clear, unaffected voice. He has one of those very American voices — sort of Lou Barlow meets Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) meets Dan Wilson (Semisonic) — that provided a distinct contrast to the feedback. Definitely worth losing sleep over.

Eli Mardock at The Barley Street Tavern, May 3, 2011.

The impressive thing about Eli Mardock, who followed The Sky Drops, is that he writes actual songs. That sounds funny/stupid I know, but it’s what has always distinguished him and his projects from the rest of the crowd. Good songs, good arrangements. Nothing wasted. The set up was Mardock, who switched between acoustic, bass, and electric guitars; Carrie Butler on space synths and keyboards, along with a bassist and drummer who I didn’t recognize. Mardock still has that slightly affected, showy drawl, which has become his trademark. A good voice, and certainly memorable. But back to the songs — Mardock has a way with strong, catchy melodies and equally cool counter melodies that are, for the most part, uniquely his own. There were a couple moments in the short, 5-song set (though long songs) that crept dangerously close to Radiohead territory, but every time he managed to throttle back his Thom Yorke tendencies, shifting to a synth or guitar solo. Gorgeous stuff that outshines his work with Eagle Seagull. Call it pop music of the best kind, songs that are just fun to listen to. It’s True has a similar, though obviously different, quality. Mardock said he’s finished recording an album’s worth of material and is off to New York to mix it. More to come…

A quick note about The Barley Street’s sound: I was told that the system had been retooled around the time that Brad Hoshaw took over the venue’s booking chores. I’m not sure what they did, but the bands sounded quite good last night. Credit goes to the sound guy who took his time balancing everything during sound checks and adjusted throughout the set. I’m sure the dozen or so other folks who turned out appreciated the effort…

BTW, I got home a little after midnight…

* * *

There are two hot shows going on tonight. Down at Slowdown Jr. it’s Hunx and His Punx with Shannon And The Clams & Talking Mountain. Chris Aponick has the skinny on H&HP’s man-love rock in this interview in The Reader. $8, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, up at The Waiting Room, it’s the return of The Felice Brothers with Shovels & Rope. Kevin Coffey’s got the lowdown on the band in an interview with the band’s bass player at his Rock Candy blog, right here. $13, 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Digital Leather at O'Leaver's April 30, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

My weekend was so musically voluminous that I had to split it into two blog entries. And this is part 2:

I admit I was a little bummed when I heard Digital Leather’s lineup no longer would include keyboards. Not just that Annie Dilocker no longer was playing with the band, but no keyboards at all. Listen to Sorcerer or Blow Machine or Warm Brother. The keyboards are a center point of the band’s sound on all those albums. Make that were a center point. Someone told me that DL frontman/songwriter/genius Shawn Foree’s new songs simply didn’t use keyboards, so there is no reason to have a synth on stage anymore. In fact, Digital Leather was down to a three piece Saturday night at O’Leaver’s. Former guitarist Austin Ulmer is apparently living large in Grand Island. Foree is now on guitar, backed by John Vredenburg on bass and Jeff Lambelet on drums.

So here’s the thing about Foree:  He’s a prolific songwriter that’s constantly evolving his sound. And no matter what the lineup, that songwriting style — his voice — comes through on everything. Such was the case with the new material unveiled Saturday. Yeah, I missed the keys, but to be honest, they almost always were (regretfully) lost in the mix during live sets anyway. And even without them, there was no mistaking these for anything but DL songs. As a three-piece, the shift is to a more stripped down sound (naturally) that borders on traditional garage punk, which isn’t too far from where they’ve been headed for the last couple of years (on stage, anyway). Meanwhile, DL standards like “Your Hand, My Glove” were transformed into punk trash anthems that ride the bass line. “Studs in Love,” with extended riffage, was a highlight (Vredenburg called it their “Pink Floyd version” of the song). After the main set was done, the crowd wanted more and got it. The night ended with a cover of M.O.T.O.’s “Deliver Deliver Deliver.” beefed up raw and twice as fast as the original. Where’s that new album, boys?

Baby Tears opened the night with a set of gutter punk that was all grit and sweat and pain; with staging punctuated by a hilarious smoke machine that looked more like car exhaust than a special effect. Millions of Boys, the second opener, has transformed themselves from the twangy indie band that I saw last August at their debut to a full-out punk band with pop leanings. Both are recommended.

* * *

MECA / Red Sky finally began making some announcements, just a few months before their 6-day spoogefest at TD Ameritrade Park. Last week they announced their initial pricing scheme: 1-Day Pass: $15; 3-Day Pass: $30; 6-Day Pass: $60. Hey Red Sky — there’s no discount between the 3-Day and 6-Day pass — what the f**kl? Doesn’t matter anyway because “All passes include admission to Stages B & C only. Entry to Main Stage in TD Ameritrade Park Omaha is not included.” (their bf, not mine). So, $15 a day to see the county fair bands and the local yokels. If you want to see the headliner, well, that’ll cost ya extra, son.

Red Sky also announced last week that it’s pulling the ol’ “Battle of the Bands” shtick to fill those 20 or so local band spots. I guess I can’t blame them since your typical MECA schlub very likely has never heard a local band play before. I suspect we’ll see all the same bands at their showcases that we’ve historically seen at OEA events — i.e., none of the local bands that actually tour outside of Omaha and/or release distributed recordings (i.e., Saddle Creek bands). But you never know. Red Sky boasts on its “Battle of the Bands” webpage

that it’s paying acts who play at their showcases (depending on the draw, whatever that means), as well as those who emerge victorious and make it to the C Stage.

And yesterday, RS announced its first headliner – 311 – which I suspect will set the tone for the entire festival. 311 is a local favorite, and should do very well, especially since tickets are reasonably priced at $35 and $25 (and includes admission to the B & C stages). RS also announced Sublime as part of the 311 package, but we all know that they mean Sublime with Rome, the Sublime knock-off band, who should fit right in line with the Journey knock-off band that will probably be announced next, but not until next week, apparently. RS is drawing out their announcements, for reasons no one knows for sure. Probably because they’ve yet to ink deals with the other big-name acts. Regardless, so far I’m 1-1 on my lineup hunches from way back in March.

* * *

Finally, here’s an interesting show going on tonight: Wilmington, DE, duo The Sky Drops plays at The Barley Street Tavern with Eli Mardock and Pastel Pistol. The Sky Drops is Rob Montejo, formerly of Smashing Orange, who once opened for Lush in London and recorded a John Peel Session in February 1992. The other half of The Sky Drops is Monika Bullette (drums/vocals). This show should be required attendance by anyone interested in first-wave shoegaze. $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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Good Life at The Slowdown, May 1, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I have to mention this…

I didn’t hear the news until after I got to Slowdown last night, and not on the radio, as I was tuned into the new tUnE-yArDs CD (which, ironically, is titled whokill). While waiting in line to buy my ticket, the leader of one of the city’s better rock bands (who wasn’t on the evening’s bill) came up to me rather gleefully saying, “Did you hear? They got Osama bin Laden.” I glanced over at three guys standing on the sidewalk smoking who were overhearing all of this, grinned and said, “OK, I’m with you. And?” expecting a punch line. “No really, the president is going on later tonight with an official announcement.” I just kept smiling. The musician shook his head and said, “Look at your iPhone. It’s true.”

I knew I wasn’t being punk’d. A few hours earlier, someone had posted on Facebook (specifically @jeremy.lipschultz) that an out-of-the-ordinary late-night announcement was coming from the White House at 9:30 CT, but it hadn’t happened by the time I’d left home. When I walked into the cavernous darkness of The Slowdown, I noticed more people than usual (which means everyone) with faces aglow from gawking at their smart phones. They stared intently, saying nary a word. And the only acknowledgment from the stage came from Tim Kasher, who said something like “Some of you might think it’s a big deal. You all know what I’m talking about since we all have computers in our pockets.” A handful clapped. Not a lot. During the break between sets outside on the patio, someone who has spent half her life under the shadow of Osama said. “I guess it is a big deal, right?” I told her the best thing about it was that it might help decide the 2012 election. We both nodded and changed the subject. The night was supposed to be about music, not the capture of the modern-day real-world equivalent of the head of HYDRA or SPECTRE. I’m happy they got the guy, and I’ll leave the rest of the commentary to the political blogs…

Conduits at The Slowdown, May 1, 2011.

Back to the subject at hand… A few hundred showed up at last night’s Omaha Girls Rock! benefit at Slowdown — a nice crowd. I got there in time to catch Conduits, who has become a finely honed drone machine effortlessly firing on all six fuzzy cylinders. When they’re dead-on, like last night, their music is like that moment in a great wide-screen movie when the flyover-plane — barely strafing the desert — comes to the edge of the cliff and the shot opens to a miles-wide canyon below. Huge, majestic, breath-taking. Conduits were made to perform on a large scale, on large stages like Slowdown and The Waiting Room (and MAHA’s main stage?). I don’t know if I’d get that same feeling if they were playing at, say, O’Leaver’s or Barley Street, but I’d like to find out.

Seeing The Good Life again was like running into old friends at the bar that you haven’t seen in way too long, catching up on gossip, reliving old war stories, remembering everything you liked about them and wondering why you haven’t spent time with them lately. During a free-spirited set that lasted over an hour and included special guests Chris Machmuller on alto saxophone (on two songs) and Craig Korth adding harmonies to a cover (“Oh Yoko”), the band seemed to barely scratch the surface of their fantastic catalog. A grinning Kasher told the crowd how much fun they were having on stage and thanked them for sharing it with them, especially since they “only play about once a year” anymore, which is an absolute shame.

By all indications, the fund raiser was a big success. Now it’s time for the folks at Omaha Girls Rock! to roll up their sleeves and get to work. You can find out more about the organization right here.

A side note: The long-awaited four-song split with Conduits, Icky Blossoms, InDreama and Touch People has finally arrived and was on sale at the merch table last night, which means if you preordered a copy, it should be on its way.

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Tomorrow: A live review of Saturday’s Digital Leather show, some Red Sky comments and info about a show at The Barley Street that you crazy shoegazers won’t want to miss…

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Kite Pilot at Stir Lounge, Council Bluffs, April 23, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I don’t know the backstory behind last Saturday night’s Kite Pilot gig at Harrah’s Stir Lounge in Council Bluffs other than it wasn’t some sort of one-off reunion. In fact, if you were among the 30 or so in the bar hoping to hear “Tree Caught the Kite” or “On My Lips” from their amazing debut EP or maybe “Lucid Lights” from their debut LP Mercy Will Close Its Doors, you would have been sorely disappointed. Instead, the four-piece that features husband-and-wife team of Todd and Erica Hanton, guitarist/vocalist Austin Britton and drummer Jeremy Stanoschek played songs from their never-distributed 8-song EP (“released” just prior to their breakup in May 2007) as well as a couple new tunes presented rather matter-of-factly. In other words, Kite Pilot has picked up right where it left off without blinking. As you might guess (or hope), their sound is “the same as it ever was” — and yes, that’s a veiled reference to early Talking Heads. KP continues to proudly hoist a New Wave/Post Punk banner in style and songcraft. Their new songs have the same angular-pop sound that defined them back in the mid-aught years. The only downer other than not hearing those classic songs off the EP is that Todd played trumpet on only one song. Like a superhero “reboot,” Kite Pilot seems determined to look forward with only a moment’s glance toward its past. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

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Today at 10 p.m., the fine folks behind The MAHA Music Festival will be releasing the initial line-up for this year’s event, which is slated for Aug. 13 at Lewis and Clark Landing. Yes, I know the names of the three bands that will be announced. No, I’m not going to let that information slip. You’ll know soon enough, especially if you follow MAHA on Facebook or Twitter. And even if you don’t, you’re bound to see it somewhere. I will say this: They’ve done a masterful job in the face of some staunch competition for touring bands this summer.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, it’s the return of The Black Lips with Vivian Girls and Solid Goldberg. Chris Aponick has an interview with Lips’ guitarist/vocalist Cole Alexander in the current issue of The Reader, where he talks about working with Amy Winehouse / Duran Duran producer Mark Ronson on their upcoming album (Check it out here). $13, 9 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The So-So Sailors at The Waiting Room, April 21, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I doubt that very many people were at The Waiting Room last night specifically to see The So-So Sailors. In fact, I ran into an old friend who was sitting in the back booths during their set as if no band was playing at all, ignoring them altogether. I can’t say that I blame him as he had no idea who they were or why he should be listening. He was there for the Pornos. Still, he missed out on the most interesting part of the night, to me anyway.

The New Pornographers at The Waiting Room, 4/21/11.

Don’t get me wrong, New Pornographers were pretty special. Presented as a 7-piece with uber-star Neko Case along for the ride looking like she just got back from the Laundromat in her hoodie and wind-blown red witch hair. Even without makeup and with tired, older eyes she still looked good to me. And she sang good, too, even though she didn’t own the spotlight (that was leader Carl Newman’s job). You can’t beat Neko being “only” part of your band, no stronger or weaker then the other six members who reached back for some oldies but played what you expected from Together. They sounded terrific, just like they do on their records, and the sold-out crowd dug it.

So-So Sailors, who played right before them, will never be as big as New Pornographers. Probably not, though I admit to enjoying their short, 30-minute set just as much (or more) than what I saw of NP’s. Frontman Chris Machmuller sat behind a keyboard backed by Dan McCarthy who sat behind another keyboard backed by Ben Brodin who sat behind yet another keyboard. And they were backed by the incomparable Alex McManus on guitar. Standing dead center (and the center of attention, whether he deserved it or not) was bass player / backing vocalist Brendan Greene-Walsh, with Laura Burhenn to his left  (just back from touring with Bright Eyes) and Dan Kemp on drums. That’s all of them. And what you got with three keyboards is a very organic, very earthy sound, augmented by Mach’s brassy warble and his occasional alto sax solo. The music really is unlike anything being played around here. It sounds humble. It sounds soulful. It sounds very Sunday afternoon after a long Saturday night. A song like the amazing “Young Hearts,” which was the centerpiece of their set, can’t be compared to anything that I can think of. Mach said that they’ve finished recording their debut album, but he didn’t know when it was coming out. Hopefully sometime soon, and hopefully on Saddle Creek or some other label with its reach, though I’m not holding my breath.

The Rural Alberta Advantage at Slowdown Jr., 4/21/11.

Anyway… after the first eight or nine songs by New Pornographers, I got a text from one of my Reader colleagues saying that Lord Huron had just finished at Slowdown and that Rural Alberta Advantage was up next. So I trotted  out to my car and onto Radial Highway and made my way down to Slowdown. I got there just in time to catch RAA’s entire set. The show wasn’t sold out, but it was plenty full with a crowd whose average age was a good 15 years younger than what I’d seen at TWR. New Pornographers are the vets; RAA are the up-and-comers. I’m not going to compare the two and declare a victor in this Canadian invasion, but I will say I was happy I made the trip downtown. For the first time I started “to get” RAA and what they’re about.

A thin trio, here’s a band that glows in an intimate setting like Slowdown Jr. rather than on an outdoor stage like their gig last June in Slowdown’s parking lot. Frontman Nil Edenloff pushed every inch of his life into his vocals as he viciously strummed his acoustic guitar. Meanwhile, pixie-ish beauty Amy Cole performed a plate-spinning act as she sang, played keyboards and punched out a bass line with her feet on her Moog Taurus III bass pedals. I asked her last week if they ever would consider getting a bass player and she said no way. But while I liked what she was doing, I still think they could use an extra set of strings. They played a number of songs from their new album, Departed, including a rousing version of my personal fave, “Tornado ’87.”

Halfway through the set, Edenloff thrilled the crowd with a surprisingly earnest acoustic solo version of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” I think a lot of people knew it was coming as the song got raves when they played it at SF’s Bottom of the Hill last week. If there was a weak spot in their game it’s that too many of their songs sound alike, and after a half-dozen, they begin to blend together into one extended, rousing ballad.

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Easter weekend is never a good weekend for shows, and this year’s is no exception.

The highlight is tonight’s red-hot rock show at The Waiting Room. But first at 7 p.m. at TWR is an early show — The Found Footage Festival, a collection of seriously bad but funny commercially developed videos gathered from VHS tapes collected at various garage sales and thrift stores. Check out foundfootagefest.com for more info. $10. The late show starts at 9 p.m., headlined by Back When and featuring Little Brazil, Talking Mountain and Self Evident, all for just $7.

Meanwhile, down the street at The Barley Street Tavern, The Yuppies are headlining a show with Baby Tears, High Diving Ponies and Death of a Tax Payer. $5, 9 p.m. Saturday night, John Klemmensen and the Party are playing at The Barley Street with Tina Sparkle and Traveling Mercies. $5, 9 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Honey & Darling are playing at O’Leaver’s with The Empty Spaces and Blue Lights Shine Bright. $5, 9:30  p.m.

And that’s just about it for the weekend. Except, of course, for Big Al’s annual “Free Music Festival,” being held tonight through Easter evening at The Hideout, 320 So. 72nd St. As the name implies, there’s no cover charge. Line-up / info here. Shows start at 8:30.

ADDENDUM: I almost forgot one of the most interesting shows of the weekend: The long-awaited return of Kite Pilot, opening for Thunder Power at Harrah’s Stir Lounge Saturday night. $5, 9 p.m. Go!

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.