Aussie band Civic didn’t so much get NOmaha’d by the crowd as much as they were NOmaha’d by Bad Religion at the Admiral Friday night, or more accurately, Dwarves, who opened for Bad Religion. I have little doubt that the Admiral’s show drew away their target audience, and it was a shame.
While it was an intense performance by Civic, you’re naturally going to lose something when only playing in front of 50 or so people in a mostly empty Slowdown Jr. Frontman Jim McCullough made the best of things, asking the crowd to move up closer to the stage between songs. “We have a problem,” he said with his charming Aussie accent. “This hole right here.” He pointed at the empty space in front of him. “Move up. You don’t have to be afraid.”
The crowd did move up and a few even tried to start a shoving mosh pit to no avail. Certainly Civic’s music lends itself to shoving, the band takes a clean, modern approach to punk rock even though their music is too well played for punk, sounding more like fast heavy metal with a snarl. I would have loved to have seen these guys play this show at a drunken, chaotic O’Leaver’s back in its heyday.
Regardless, despite the small crowd, Civic was good-hearted fun, clearly excited to be in Omaha (and Nebraska) for the first time. “For dinner, we were going to go to this joint where you can watch raccoons eat,” McCullough said between songs, clearly referencing the Alpine Inn in Ponca Hills. “But we were two hours late so we’ll have to throw some garbage in the pit and watch you eat it. Just kidding. When we come back, you’re all going with us.”
“And he’s paying,” quipped sideman Lewis Hodgson. Count me in.
Truly a night of contrasts between old-school, romantic, guitar-engineered pomp rock and new school, queer-focused, violent, oversexed dance music – one cast in shades of lavender blue, the other in blood-red shadows and strobe lights.
The night began with The Church, presumably an entire evening of them as there was no opening act and as the cheerful door guy pointed out, there would be two sets and an intermission. That’s a lot of Church.
The wizened British Australian five-piece walked onto The Waiting Room stage a little after 8 to whoops of applause from a comfortable crowd of around 250 — far from the sell-out a band like this deserves. With a heyday in the 1980s powered by their roaring, moody rock and MTV videos for songs like mega-hit “Under the Milky Way,” The Church’s heavenly guitar-fueled post-Pink Floyd rock deserves to be played in front of a sold-out arena instead of in small clubs like this. Their music can be soaring, dense and gorgeous like the best arena rock from the 1970s.
Frontman guitarist Steve Kilbey has lost little of his voice and there was a gravitas to the 69-year-old Brit who not only stood front and center singing the hits but also narrating the storyline to the band’s latest concept album, The Hypnogogue, a futuristic tale of overcoming writer’s block, love and getting older, not necessarily in that order.
Alongside him, lead guitarist Ian Haug, looking and sounding like British rock royalty, a throwback to an era when guitar tone was everything and a rock solo was a necessity to push any song onto the next level. Maybe it’s due to a steady diet of indie rock, but listening to Haug’s guitar was like stepping back to a time when musicians like David Gilmour, Jeff Beck and Brian May strode the earth like gods.
The fans, mostly dudes in their 50s, got plenty of what they came for in the opening set that included spot-on takes on old hits like “Destination” and “The Unguarded Moment” along with the new stuff that fit nicely alongside them. All gorgeously delivered, but I began to get itchy about three-quarters through the first set, as 9 p.m. approached and I knew industrial/punk/dance band Model/Actriz was about to go on stage around the corner at Reverb Lounge. So I snuck out right before the intermission.
Let me point out that I got Model/Actriz completely wrong in yesterday’s write-up. Well, mostly wrong. I said they sounded like a cross between industrial bands The Soft Moon and Nine Inch Nails when in fact they’re a throbbing hard-noise queer/dance/punk band whose adrenaline-fueled beats (no electronics at all) beg beg beg you to move and/or gyrate along with frontman / diva Cole Haden as he flings/twists/undulates first on stage then on the floor, calling out “Omaha” throughout the set, telling the tiny audience of around 30 that “I didn’t come here to take a nap.”
Model/Actriz at Reverb Lounge, Oct. 9, 2023.
While their much-lauded debut album, Dogsbody, is a high-octane thumper, it’s also dark, cast in shadows and strobes like a modern-day audio version of a darkly Times Square bar scene from a ’70s movie. The record is not as fun as the music performed live, where the energy is over-the-top, driven by a Aaron Shapiro’s always-percussive, muscular bass, Ruben Radlaeur’s simple but dominating drums and Jack Wetmore’s rattling, nervous guitar. The music is pure and all-encompassing, but it’s Haden’s full on, in-your-face performance (literally) bordering on disturbing (He’s not coming for me next, is he?) that made the spectacle what it was.
The highlight was early in the set when Haden stepped down to the floor for a confrontational rendition of the song “Matador,” spitting out lines: “Get hard / Dumb fuck / Fuck good / Come strong,” and then asking, “What’s your name anyway? What’s your name? What’s your name Veronica? What’s your name?” leaning in close person-to-person through the nervous, energized crowd. He would later directly serenade one young male patron, his mic chord wrapped around his wrist, pleading. Oh my.
The energy continued to rise through the set’s best songs from the new album, including killer versions of “Donkey Show,” “Mosquito” and “Crossing Guard.” Toward the set’s end, the throbbing dance beats devolved into throbbing (and less-interesting) slabs of pounding noise and Trent Reznor-style screams before pumping back up for the closer. Imagine seeing them play in front of a crushed, sweaty crowd in a larger city…
I got back to The Church for the second set’s closing songs, including a majestic version of “Tantalized” and an encore that included Starfish standout “Reptile.” I was back in the time machine, and it might be where I belonged, but I still listened to Model/Actriz on my way home.
This weekend was a study in accessibility – three shows, three experiences, only two out of the three were successful.
Friday night’s crowd for Slow Pulp at The Slowdown was picture perfect – the floor of the main room was nicely filled but not too crowded, you could get around easy but the place didn’t feel empty, I was able to stand at my favorite stage-left perch throughout the set. It’s the way I like it at Slowdown and probably a bummer for the club owners, who would prefer a jam-packed evening for obvious reasons.
Slow Pulp at The Slowdown, Oct. 6, 2023.
Slow Pulp came on at around 9 and were terrific. The remarkable thing about the band is how lead singer Emily Massey’s flat, unadorned, unfussy vocals perfectly compliment the bands’ impeccable playing. On the surface, Slow Pulp is nothing new or groundbreaking — they play somewhat run-of-the-mill indie rock that would fit comfortably alongside other modern-day female-led indie projects like Alvvays or Momma. Their strength lies in creating a sound that feels comfortable and assured — a fine, even style of songwriting I could listen to all night.
At time’s Massey’s voice was as naked and pure as a senior-year talent show, but it’s that unassuming, unadorned style that made it so appealing, powered by a super-tight band who looked relaxed and assured. Her voice only got stronger as the night wore on, peaking during a great rendition of “Broadview,” a favorite off their most recent album, Yard, where Massey pulled out a harmonica and pushed the song into Neil Young Harvest territory.
Saturday night was Rosali at Pageturners but, alas, it was not to be. When I arrived at around 9 Sean Pratt was on stage with Megan Siebe and every table was filled. Folks were standing in the back in the aisle that leads to the parking lot and I wondered where I would be able to stand and watch the show. The answer: nowhere. It was like the old days at The 49’r, another bar where if you didn’t get there early you were screwed because the tables took up all the room right up to where the band played and there was nowhere to go where you wouldn’t be in someone’s way, especially if you’re 6-foot-2.
So with no place to stand, I turned around and left and learned a lesson that the trick (or necessity) to seeing a show at Pageturners is to get there early, before the performances start.
Finally Sunday night it was down to Grapefruit Records for an in-store concert by Lewsberg. The set-up was as Simon had described it – the store had wheeled the album racks into the hallway, creating a big-ish space for people to stand in front of the the small elevated stage. It was a comfortable crowd of around 50 with a few seated on the floor to the left of the stage like grade schoolers at storytime.
The Prairies at Grapefruit Records, Oct. 8, 2023.
One of the openers, The Prairies, consisted of Dave Nance, Noah Sterba, Myke Marasco and Kevin Donahue all having the time of their lives playing old songs from an old cassette recorded years ago – a cassette I would now like to own a copy of. Each took turns rotating between instruments (“Everyone plays drums in The Prairies”) for these short, sharp, fun songs that heralded back to the good old days of Nebraska post-punk.
The best way to describe Lewsberg’s set was how my wife described it, saying she felt like she was in a cool, secret club somewhere in Europe. To me, it felt like seeing Talking Heads during their 1977 tour at someone’s house party in the Lower East Side.
The Rotterdam four-piece played songs off their amazing new album, Out and About (2023, 12XU), as well as older favorites like “Cold Light of Day,” from 2020’s In This House. Their simple arrangements, chiming guitars and frontman Arie van Vliet’s dry, close-to-spoken-word Lou Reed-style delivery gets them compared to Velvet Underground, while their stripped down rhythms recall The Feelies, but for me there was a trance-like quality I haven’t heard since The New Year/Bedhead. That’s a lot of comparisons for a band that has created something wholly originally and difficult to pin down – quiet yet intense, the only thing more intense was guitarist Michiel Klein’s tight, skull-like stare throughout the set as he focused on the repeated rhythm parts or opened up on solos. It was good to see him smile after the set.
II can’t wait to see another show at Grapefruit Records. If this is what it means for indie to go back underground, I’m all for it.
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It’s another Monday night in Omaha with three marquee shows happening at the same time, maybe because these touring bands just finished playing bigger cities over the weekend. Whatever the reason, there are choices to me made.
In the case of The Church, who is playing tonight at The Waiting Room, Omaha is actually the kick-off city for the next leg of their U.S. tour. They’re out on the road supporting new album, Hypnogogue, a strong collection that recalls their mid-‘80s heyday when they released Starfish and their biggest hit, “Under the Milky Way.” This is “an evening with The Church,” which means no openers. $35, 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, around the corner at Reverb Lounge, electronic post-punk band Model/Actriz headlines. They remind me a shit-ton of The Soft Moon – same sort of bracing bounce electronic rhythms mixed with static noise and bass, like Nine Inch Nails meets The Rapture. This could be a really cool show. Conjunto Primitivo opens at 8 p.m. $15.
Meanwhile, The Slowdown is hosting the long-sold-out Ethel Cain show. Everyone’s wondering how The Slowdown got this gig, considering Cain has sold out much larger rooms. I’m told she specifically sought out the club on this tour — a tiny room considering she has nearly 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify and one of her most popular tracks is called “A House in Nebraska” – a stark and depressing song about crippling lost love. Midwife opens at 8 p.m.
Mitch Gettman and his band played most (but not all) of his new double-CD Tilde to a crowd of less than 100 Saturday night at The Slowdown. He kicked off the set with Track 1 from CD 1, “Someday,” and then went right into Track 2, “PS,” and so on, but eventually changed it up. In the end, he didn’t play it all but did play all my favorites from the 90-minute audio tome.
Backed by a rhythm section of bassist Kevin Sullivan and drummer Adam Stoltenberg (who also co-produced the album), along with a guitarist whose name I didn’t catch, Gettman filled out the dense sound heard on the record playing either keyboards or guitar (using a repeater pedal to give him even more coverage). He seemed at times to be a reluctant frontman, as if he didn’t want to get in the way of his own songs. This makes for an enigmatic performance, with Gettman looking focused, earnest, not wanting to miss a single note (which he didn’t).
I guess you’d call it a tight performance. He did loosen up on his R&B send-up, “Adore You,” which included some righteous rapping and a rhythm that got the crowd moving. Not one of my favorites from the album, it translated much better live than on record, likely because Gettman knew he has to really throw himself into it to make it work.
That was the case with most of the guitar-driven numbers (versus the more retrained keyboard tunes), including the night’s centerpiece, a gorgeous rendition of “Empire,” my favorite track from the album, which Gettman held for his encore. I wish he would have instead launched his set with it. The other big standout was an extended version of “Goldie,” a track that, if this album was released by a label, would be the primary single despite its nearly 12 minute run time.
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Uh Oh on the Omaha Mobile Stage at teh Little Bo Backyard Bash, Sept. 16, 2023.
Earlier in the day I swung by the Little Bo Backyard Bash, the third-annual “festival” held in the parking lot across the street from the old Bohemian Cafe on 13th St. If the intent was to get people to rediscover this new, vital district, it worked, for me at least. I haven’t been down along this street in years and was pleasantly surprised by the cool, new little shops and restaurants (including Fizzy’s, a hip diner/bar that took over part of the Bohemian Cafe).
In addition to the usual art and beer tents, the Omaha Mobile Stage was on hand to host the music. Uh Oh played a full set in front of an intimate gathering of neighbors, families and their pets (lots of dogs!).
David Nance at the Little Bo Backyard Bash, Sept. 16, 2023.
David Nance closed out the day with a solo acoustic set. He’s one of the only performers who can hold my attention with only his guitar and his voice. Despite the small crowd (by then, the Husker game had started), Nance looked content sitting on stage and singing his stories.
The weekend’s upon us, but first, a record review…
Mitch Gettman, Tilde (2023, self-released) — It’s hard not to look at this double-CD 20-song collection as anything less than a culmination of where the Omaha singer/songwriter has been heading since he began his musical journey more than a decade ago. Tilde is a mish-mash of styles, an audio resume, as if Gettman was trying to prove he can play anything your heart desires. He goes from somber piano ballad to Beatle-esque pop to shoe-gaze to Americana to indie to funk to hip-hop, and that’s all on the first CD.
In fact, Gettman said he’s been working on Tilde since 2018, starting as a single-disc project that eventually expanded to single disc plus EP and then double album. Listeners would be hard-pressed to understand the rhyme or reason behind the song order. Gettman says disc 1 (the first 10 tracks, for those who will be downloading/listening via Bandcamp/Spotify) “is more akin to my past releases — singer-songwriter, alternative, indie rock-type stuff; while disc two is more experimental and suggests where I might be going from here on out as a musician and a songwriter.”
The line of demarkation between the two collections is faint. Disc 1 feels more like a song-o-matic pick-your-style conglomeration, but also contains some of his best work, including the epic rockers “Outside the Lines” and “Empire”; shoe-gaze killer “Must Be Killing Me,” the Wilco-esque “Still Hold On” and gorgeous keyboard-driven lovesong “Heroine.” But Disc 1 also includes various and sundry experiments in hip hop and funk as well as curious cover of The Carpernters’ “Sing.”
DIsc 2 (tracks 11-20) are more cohesive as a collection, as Gettman leans into heavier territory with songs that range from psych to traditional rock to gorgeous, cinematic tracks (“Foraging in Torus,” “Atilla the Hun”) where he gives his musicians room to stretch atop the repetitive arcs. It’s hard not to play “spot the influence” as you go. The FM-ready “Daily Routine” and “Pitfalls Ahead!” are so reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac you wonder if it’s a tribute, while the softer indie tracks feels like a nod to Alex G and the rhythm-fueled stuff could be influenced by Tame Impala.
It culminates in the final track, the 11+ minute “Goldie,” that shifts from a standard indie rock song with a funky bass line into something you might find on a Khruangbin album. Again, Gettman gives himself and his sidemen room to roam with great effect. The album is a showcase of Getmann’s musicianship as he handles guitar, bass, keys and an assortment of soundmakers throughout, with help from drummers Nate Van Fleet and Adam Stoltenberg, who are central to the album’s success, along with contributions from Paul Jensen, bass; Skye Junginger, tenor saxophone; Ryan Call, upright bass; and Blake Deforest, trumpet. Gettman and Stoltenberg get production credits and the whole thing was recorded at various Omaha and LA studios.
As a whole, the record is something of a marvel and one of my favorite albums produced locally (or elsewhere) from the past year. The nature of modern music listening allows fans to pick and choose and make their own album out of 90-plus minutes of tracks that have no real central theme or concept (lyrically, Gettman sways between the usual lovesong stuff and reflections on the mundane nature of life – his life – Gettman is the everyman trying to get through his day, and the only thing keeping him going is that special someone – not groundbreaking stuff, but pop lyrics rarely are). I could whittle my choices down to a single, 12-song album but my choices would no doubt differ from yours.
With literally thousands of albums being dropped on Bandcamp every Friday, the odds Tilde will be “discovered” and heard by the audience it deserves is rather slim. When asked (in this day and age when anyone can record and release music online) why record labels are essential, I will point to this as an example. Had this album been released on any small or mid-sized indie label, it would at least get heard by critics, tastemakers and influencers. Self-released albums are doomed to be heard only by a friends-and-family audience. If that becomes the case with Tilde, it would be a shame.
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And you have a chance to hear Mitch Gettman and his band play songs of this marvelous album Saturday night at the release party at The Slowdown. Also on the bill is Matt Whipkey. Goodview opens the show at 8 p.m. in the front room. $12.
That same night, there’s a Speed! Nebraska showcase at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Lincoln super group Domestica tops a bill that includes Wagon Blasters, Bad Bad Men and Clarence Tilton. It says it starts at 8 p.m., but this is O’Leaver’s after all. Here’s hoping it starts late so I can swing by after the Gettman show. Oh yeah, it’s also free.
Saturday is busy. Saturday afternoon is the Little Bo Backyard Bash – the 3rd annual Little Bohemia Bash on the corner of 13th and William in the Dundee Bank parking lot. This year includes live music, art, activities, food trucks, beer, cocktails and many other surprises. All proceeds go to the Little Bohemia Business Association. Among the live music is Dave Nance Band (7 p.m. set time), Uh Oh (6 p.m.) and the Polka Police. It’s free (I think). More info here.
What about tonight? The only thing on the radar is a weird little show at Reverb featuring Nashville indie band Safari Room. The band’s frontman, Alec Koukoi, reached out to say he grew up in Omaha. Joining him is Bad Self Portraits. Sazcha opens this show at 8 p.m. $18.
And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend!
Rarely is there anything going on music-wise over the Labor Day weekend in New York City. The usual Lower East Side venues were no exception this year, but after checking a local gig website, I discovered a show at Union Pool, a venue located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. With an afternoon to kill, we took the L train over the East River and found a very different landscape than the towering canyons that had surrounded us the past few days.
Located across from an elevated freeway overpass, Union Pool sits on the corner down the street from a series of low-rise buildings with old-school retail businesses like barber shops, natural food stores and the ubiquitous pot shops that have popped up throughout NYC (and especially Manhattan). Just like how barber shops all have punny names (A Cut Above, Head Office, Heirloom, etc.) these pot dispensaries are destined to be plagued with a similar nomenclature (Magic Puff, Higher Empire, Day Dream, etc.).
Pot is legal in NYC and the smell of ditch weed is everywhere, much more prominent than cigarette smoke ever seemed to be. People light up walking down the street, in parks, anywhere outdoors and certainly at Union Pool — a former pool supply store (no actual pool or pool tables). The interior had a nice bar and a closed-off (this day) stage area, while their patio reminded me of O’Leaver’s — about the same size but with a permanent taco truck parked on blocks inside its fence. We hung out and drank beers across from the pseudo outdoor stage where band gear sat untouched for the next hour while DJ Rottweiler did his set.
I generally don’t pay much attention to DJ sets but was unable to ignore this one as it consisted of punk and post-punk songs I’ve never heard before by a variety of acts both American and European — all pretty awesome. I Shazam-ed most of the set, though for every two songs Shazam found one remained elusive. Among the ones it could identify:
– The Scabs, Leave Me Alone
– Fuzzbox, Love is a Slug
– Glueams, 365
– M.A.Z.E., Spread the Germicide
– U Skripcu, Nove Godine
– The Bombettes, Amsterdam
– Joachim Witt, Goldener Reiter
– Chin-Chin, Stop! You’re Crying
– Alkalino, Hungry Eyes
– Ian Dury, Wake Up and Make Love With Me
– Tee Vee Repairman, Bad Taste
– Via Talas, Sama
– Kollaa Kestaa, Kirjoituksia Kellarista
– Jawoll, Rendezvous
– Novecento, The Only One
Whether its O’Leaver’s or Union Pool, hipsters are pretty much the same, although while all the dudes wore the usual band-T-shirt-and-jeans combo, a number of women were dressed as if they stepped right out of CBGB’s circa 1977. Very hip indeed. As the afternoon wore on and the place got crowded, the scene became more varied and there was even a few folks older then us eating tacos by the outdoor bar. If I lived in Williamsburg, Union Pool would definitely be a regular haunt.
Success performing in the patio at Union Pool, Sept. 3, 2023.
We stuck around to catch the the first five or six songs from opening act, Success. I was expecting them to sound like their debut EP, First Edition, from 2021, but instead they played a straight-up hardcore set, which is always fun for about 10 minutes.
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Anyways, we’re back. And the music just keeps on coming…
Tonight at Reverb Lounge, LA act Diners, a.k.a. Blue Broderick, headlines. She’s on the road in support of her 10-song LP Domino, released last month via BarNone Records. The album was recorded by power-pop producer Mo Troper and it indeed sports that classic ’70s style. Also on the bill is Compressed and our very own BB Sledge. $15, 8 p.m.
Also tonight, Winnipeg noise rock trio Tunic headlines at The Slowdown. They call their sound “atonal punk. feedback laden filth.” To me they sound like a proggy version of Protomartyr with lots of yelling, weird chords and time changes. Joining them tonight is The Radical Sabbatical and our very own Healer. $15, 8 p.m.
Last night’s Cannons show was officially the weirdest crowd I’ve seen at The Slowdown. They fit no specific demographic or style – a strange combination of parents you’d see at a Little League baseball game combined with late-30s club people in resortwear or sequined pants. Alongside them, folks dressed like accountants and teachers. Here walked a young woman with what looked like a fashion-forward walking cane, passing a blond in a gold lamé crop top standing next to five guys dressed in identical black T-shirts loudly talking about bad TV shows. Lots of “Untucked” dressed shirts and slightly overstyled women who thought they were in for a night of dancing that would never happen on that overcrowded dance floor.
New Constellations at The Slowdown, Aug. 29, 2023.
New Constellations frontwoman Harlee Case was commanding the audience when I arrived, at times sounding like a cross between Kim Carnes and Angel Olson fronting an indie pop band that was much less “dance-y” than what’s heard on their latest single.
This was also one of the most crowded Slowdown main room shows in recent memory — even my secret spot near the fire doors at stage left was taken by couples with arms draped over each other. One couple feverishly made out standing in front of the stairs.
I pushed through the crowd to get a spot on the floor between sets and was immediately asked to move by a skinny young guy with a shadow mustache dressed as if for his Confirmation. “I’m saving this spot for Beyonce,” he said, making a hoop with his arms in front of him.
Beyonce? She’s here tonight?
“No,” he yelled over the music. “Fiancé. My fiancé.” I nodded, held up my hand in a peace gesture and pushed my way back up to the top aisle and through the crowd to the back by the pool tables where a steady stream of club goers walked in an out to the patio. The between-set music was a combination of Avril Lavigne, Steve Monite and late-’90s Cher. When Tina Turner got her turn, the crowd rose with the chorus — “What’s Love Got to Do With it?”
I realized pretty quickly this wasn’t going to be my scene. Early in the evening, someone I knew spotted me standing in the back and asked what I was doing there. “This is the last show I expected to see you at.”
I shot him a look. “Don’t be absurd. I like modern dance music as much as the next guy.” Which was true. I do like well-produced dance music from artists like Tei Shi, Your Smith, Charli XCX and La Roux, which Cannons music sort of reminds me of — well-made, catchy. And here was Cannons tonight – a live, 4-piece band playing dance music – bass, drums, guitar/synth and vocals that sounded almost too good to be true.
I walked up to the back end of the crowd that had pushed its way to the bar – the closest I’d get to the stage for the rest of the night. Every song sounded like an ‘80s dance anthem. A few girls in the crowd sang along while wiggling their arms over their head as the band played their hit, “Bad Dream.”
The sound mix was too bright for this style of music, which actually sounded better with earplugs. Front woman Michelle Joy announced this was their Heartbeat Highway tour, their upcoming fourth album, which has yet to be released. Among the new songs unveiled last night, “Can You Feel My Heart?,” which was straight out of an ‘80s homecoming dance but with a groovy Delfonics-style twist to the chorus. All of which might explain the older audience, although I have no idea where they could have heard this band before, other than on Netflix – but how many bands have you discovered from Netflix?
In typical Omaha fashion, this mish-mash crowd of Soviet-era disco dancers, Jersey Shore extras and elderly hipsters stood motionless throughout the set, staring at Joy as she gyrated across the stage one hand in the air, the other holding her microphone, while the band stood rock solid in the background. I thought how great this music would sound in a darkly lit club filled with folks grooving to the beat, but how it lost something in an overcrowded venue filled with people who were either too crowded or too afraid to move.
My evening at Bad Bad Men’s album release show at Reverb Lounge Friday night was successful in all but actually seeing Bad Bad Men perform. It’s starting to become one of those things — at least for 4-band bills — where I’m either going to go early and catch the openers or arrive late and catch the headliners. Having seen Bad Bad Men perform many times and as recently as a few months ago, I opted for the former vs. the latter, as I haven’t seen Wagon Blasters play in awhile. So apologies to John Wolf and his crew, who no doubt killed it, based on the chatter I’ve seen online. Pick up your copy of their new albu, Messed Up, online right here.
As for Wagon Blasters, Gary Dean Davis and company continue to perform with the same energy as any GDD project dating back to Frontier Trust. Gary is a timeless, non-aging entity, which I guess makes him a god (a rock god?). He bounced high on the tiny Reverb stage, belting out classic Wagon Blasters songs, sometimes with cowbell, others times with mouth harp, always with a big voice and the best stage persona of anyone ‘round these parts.
While Wagon Blasters have an amazing rhythm section, the band’s secret sauce is Mr. Will Thornton on guitar – no one plays quite like him and no band has ever matched the twang-meets-punk sound that defines “Tractor Punk.” It’s the combo of Thornton’s ringing style and Gary’s auctioneer bark that drives this massive Case harvester through fields of rolling rock (OK, that is sort of a beer reference). The only quibble about Friday’s performance is that Reverb’s stage may be too small for Gary’s bounding leaps, which one time landed him smack dab into the bass-drum mic set-up (Crunch!).
Those Far Out Arrows at Reverb Lounge, Aug. 25. 2023.
Those Far Out Arrows continue to evolve their garage psych-rock sound, kicking back on grooves that could go on forever (if I had my way). Fronted by the Keelan-White brothers of Ben and Evan on guitar and vocals, the band is one of my favorites for getting lost in their chugging rhythms and hypnotic ax work. Their last release was 2020’s Fill Yer Cup, which means they’re due for a new release. Come on, boys, let get it going!
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Last week Saddle Creek Records released a remix of Neva Dinova’s “Something’s Out There” — the band’s first new music in a decade — by The Faint’s Todd Fink. It’s a trip. Check it out:
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Tonight you’ve got a rare Monday night five-band show at a place called Razor Wire Productions, located at 1808 Vinton Street. Headlined by Las Cruxes, the line-up includes Sacramento band Santohs, Peach Paw, Good View and Grief Police. Ben Eisenberger kicks things off at 7 p.m. It’s BYOB and it’s $5 (suggested donation).
If you thought this year’s Maha Festival was miserably hot, it didn’t hold a candle to Petfest last Saturday. With the heat index rising somewhere to around 105 degrees, the annual festival held behind Benson’s Petshop Gallery felt like a survival contest. No doubt the extreme temperatures put a damper on the BFF fundraiser’s attendance numbers, which, when I was there from 4 to 7 p.m., looked to only be around 100 sweaty, stoic bodies.
Like last year, the festival performances switched between two stages – one inside the garage of Petshop, the other across the rock parking lot. Festival organizers hung colorful parachutes in an vain effort to provide something resembling shade. Goddamn, it was hot.
Thirst Things FIrst try not to implode from the heat at Petfest 2023, Aug. 19.
Despite the extremes, Lincoln band Thirst Things First kept with their tradition and wore matching black track suits — stifling. A red faced Mike Elfers ripped into their set backed by this always entertaining band that is sort of a cross between Devo and The Faint but with a better sense of humor. Just like last year, their synth and guitar-heavy sound wowed the crowd. What will it take to get these folks to play a show in one of Omaha’s countless venues? The answer is $$$… or oil.
Little Brazil perform under the parachutes on the “outside stage” at Petfest 2023.
Next up across the gravel-pit lot was Little Brazil. No matter the conditions, these guys bring the rock. They took the opportunity to roll out a couple new songs, which they say will be recorded and released on a 7-inch single early next year. On one of them, Landon Hedges played a unique dissonant chord progression countered by Shawn Cox’s funky middle-Eastern-sounding riff.
Cat Piss plays a scorching set in the Petshop garage stage.
Omaha post-punk power trio Cat Piss followed inside the Petshop garage and even got a few sweaty kids slamming in front of the garage door.
While there was plenty of booze to choose from, Petfest didn’t offer food options – in fact no food trucks or food vendors that I could find. Maybe Dundee Day or the Riverfront grand opening hogged them all (or they were just following Maha’s example). That forced folks to leave the festival to eat, and likely provided a cooling respite from the heat and humidity in one of the nearby restaurants. I also needed a break, leaving after Cat Piss’ set to go home and change out of my sopping wet clothes.
Head of Femur rips through another hot song on the Petfest “outdoor” stage.
But I was back an hour later to catch the full set from Head of Femur on the “outdoor stage.” The band has been around since 2001, fronted by guitarist vocalist Matt Focht, they’ve released albums on a number of indie labels including Spin Art and Grey Day Records and are critical darlings thanks to their intense, intricate yet catchy take on prog rock.
Focht and company rolled out a number of new songs that were more melodic and less proggy than their usual fare. To my ear they sounded more traditional — and groovier — and a natural for a festival like Outlandia next year. Here’s hoping this new material is a precursor to a new album.
I split after Femur, though I could hear the festival echoing off the streets of Benson from my house a mile away. It’s a shame that the heat got in the way, but a good time was had by the hearty few who endured the inferno.
The Petfest compound looking North. Yes, i was as hot as it looks…
If Phoebe Bridgers is truly the “saddest factory,” then Soccer Mommy is the queen of mid-tempo bummers. Playing to a crowded but far from sold out Waiting Room last night, Soccer Mommy a.k.a. singer/songwriter Sophie Allison and her band, pulled out one mid-tempo bummer after another, and it was sadly, sweetly satisfying.
Allison’s band was first rate – two guitarists (one pulling double-duty on keyboards) and a killer rhythm section, they were at their best when everything shimmered in a shoe-gaze haze. At the center of it all was Allison’s sweet, clear, hang-dog vocals that made every song sound like the morning after. She even turned Sheryl Crow’s feel-good summer pop-song “Soak Up the Sun,” into her very own bummer anthem.
The set list pulled heavily from her latest album, Sometimes, Forever, but included plenty from her catalog, from “Circle the Drain” to the stark “Darkness Forever,” where the band was given room to stretch out. Toward the back half of the set, Allison dispatched the band for a solo rendition of early chestnut, “Still Clean,” that placed a spotlight squarely on that sweet voice, that yes, was reminiscent of Sheryl Crow, though much more forlorn.
The night’s best moments came during the two-song encore, where the band ripped into her biggest hit, “Your Dog,” that finally got the crowd moving. It was followed by rocker “Don’t Ask Me,” which cast shades of early Bettie Serveert — pure ‘90s indie rock. Leaving the hits for the encore is probably the oldest trick in the rock ‘n’ roll handbook, but I couldn’t help but wonder how different the evening would have gone if they started their set with these two rippers.
Pool Kids at The Waiting Room, Aug. 8, 2023.
Opening band Pool Kids was the first female-fronted emo band I’ve seen in a long time (and by “emo,” I mean the more recent Fall Out Boy/Thursday/”emo night” version). Fronted by vocalist Christine Goodwyne, the band leaned more into alt-rock than indie, thanks to her high-flying rock delivery. Say what you will, but the crowd looked like they were having a lot more fun during Pool Kids’ set…
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Austin’s Temple of Angels just released their debut full-length, Endless Pursuit, last month on Run for Cover Records (Runnner, Young Guv). The record is a collection of chiming, dreamy rock songs that sound like a cross between The Church, trippy Cure and The Sundays, with a nod to The Chameleons, who they reference on their one-sheet.
The band plays tonight at Reverb Lounge with one of my favorite locally connected acts, Nathan Ma Band. Unfortunately, there are two more bands on tonight’s bill — The Dirts and Western Haikus — which makes this a four-band bill on a school night – come on, guys. Starts at 8 p.m., $17. Worth it if you don’t have a job to go into the next morning.
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