A scene from the 2023 Outlandia Festival.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

While we wait for a Maha Festival announcement, the fine folks at the Outlandia Festival have announced the dates for their 2024 festival — Aug. 9-10, again at Falconwood Park in Bellevue. No other info was provided, though I suspect a line-up announcement is imminent. I’ve got a funny feeling that this is Outlandia’s year to dominate the local festival season… 

Not much for touring indie rock shows again this weekend. Things take a turn for the better next week. 

Tonight at The Astro in La Vista, Boston funk band Lettuce headlines. They’ve self-released most of their bouncy instrumental albums. Nigel Hall opens with a DJ set at 8 p.m. $35-$65.

Also tonight, local singer/songwriter Ebba Rose headlines at Reverb Lounge with The Pickles of Dill and Nick Lytle. 8 p.m. $15.

And Lincoln Exposed 2024 continues. The sched is below. Tickets are $12 per night or $35 for an all access pass that gets you into everything all weekend. You can buy them online here or in person at the Bourbon Theater.

LINCOLN EXPOSED 2024
Friday

ZOO BAR (21+)
5-5:40 – Corson Branch Buzzard Club
6-6:40 – Scott Severin & Stateleigh Holmes 
7-7:40 – Dirty Talker
8-8:40 – LaPerm
9-9:40 – Crack Mountain
10-10:40 – Red Cities
11-11:40 – The Killigans
12-12:40 – The Midland Band

DUFFY’S TAVERN (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – Mudpuddles
7:40 – 8:20 – The Allendales
8:40 – 9:20 – FAHR
9:40 – 10:20 – The Bottle Tops
10:40 – 11:20 – Dip Tet
11:40 – 12:20 – Ro Hempel Band

BOURBON THEATRE (ALL AGES)
6:20 – 7 – quiet2quiet
7:20 – 8 – The Other Side Of Now
8:20 – 9 – Sweats
9:20 – 10 – Accidentology
10:20 – 11- The Wildwoods 
11:20 – 12 – Universe Contest

1867 BAR (21+)
5:40 – 6:20 – Will Hutchinson Trio
6:40 – 7:20 – Blondo
7:40 – 8:20 – Witherpoint 
8:40 – 9:20 – Ghost Town Radio
9:40 – 10:20 – Guilt Vacation
10:40 – 11:20 – Wagon
11:40 – 12:20 – Night Push 
12:40 – 1:20 – Means To An End

Saturday

ZOO BAR (21+)
5 – 5:40 – 23rd Vibration
6 – 6:40 – In the Pocket featuring Nebraska Jr. 
7 – 7:40 – Scallywags 
8 – 8:40 – Cobras
9 – 9:40 – The NitroBats
10 – 10:40 – Fall Break
11 – 11:40 – Emily Bass and the Near Miracle
12 – 12:40 – Mad Dog and the 20/20s
1 -1:40 – Black Ophanim

DUFFY’S TAVERN (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – Powerful Science 
7:40 – 8:20 – Aage Birch
8:40 – 9:20 – Ghostlike
9:40 – 10:20 – Head of Femur
10:40 – 11:20 – The Obscurants
11:40 – 12:20 – The Machete Archive
12:40 – 1:20 – Wicked Bones

BOURBON THEATRE (ALL AGES)
6:20 – 7 – Orion Walsh & the Rambling Hearts
7:20 – 8 – The JV Allstars
8:20 – 9 – Vera Devorah 
9:20 – 10 – Estrogen Projection 
10:20 – 11 – Verse and the Vices 
11:20 – 12 – Dark Oceanz Live

1867 BAR (21+)
5:40 – 6:20 – Floating Opera
6:40 – 7:20 – ((ECHO))
7:40 – 8:20 – The Credentials 
8:40 – 9:20 – Letters From Friends
9:40 – 10:20 – Cuddlebone 
10:40 – 11:20 – Parking Lot Party
11:40 – 12:20 – Dudes Gone Rude
12:40 – 1:20 – Wick O’ Rya

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

* * *

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

Tonight is the kick-off of the 19th annual Lincoln Exposed festival – four nights of live local music hosted on four Lincoln stages. The event’s full schedule is below, and I admit knowing only a handful of the more than 100 bands taking part. I’ve bolded the acts I would go out of my way to check out… if I was going to the festival.

Lincoln has at least two multi-venue festivals — this and Lincoln Calling, which brings in a handful of poplar national touring acts as well as a gaggle of locals. It takes place in the fall, and has for years. I’m told this year it’ll be happening in the spring – stay tuned.

Which brings up the burning question: Why doesn’t Omaha host something like this? The old-timers will remember there have been attempts at multi-day Omaha festivals in the past, but all eventually petered out. With at least seven potential stages (The Waiting Room, Reverb Lounge, The Sydney, Brokedown Palace, the Benson Theater, Hardy’s Coffee, The Petshop) and even more bars that could also host bands — all within walking distance of each other — Benson would be an obvious choice to host a similar music festival.

But Benson isn’t the only game in town. The Blackstone District, Little Italy, Dundee, the Capitol District, heck, even the Old Market, all could accommodate a multi-venue music festival. And yet, Omaha has nothing. So why hasn’t it happened? Maybe it’s because Omaha doesn’t have a college population like UNL or because there is no individual organizer willing to do all the footwork needed to pull it off. But the most likely reason: It’s not a big money-maker for the venues that would have to be involved.

This is where the good folks who put on The Maha Music Festival could naturally step up, a perfect chance to expand their fan base and show support for the local music scene. Ah, but methinks Maha has its hands full figuring out what it’s going to do for their own 2024 Festival. Last year, Maha announced their full 2023 line-up on Feb. 22, which is just a couple weeks away. Will we be getting the 2024 line-up announcement soon?

Anyway, here’s the Lincoln Exposed 2024 schedule. Tickets are $12 per night or $35 for an all-access pass that gets you into everything all weekend. You can buy them online here or in person at the Bourbon Theater.

LINCOLN EXPOSED 2024
Wednesday
ZOO BAR (21+)
5 – 5:40 – Saving Fiona
6 – 6:40 – Peace, Love & Strychnine
7 – 7:40 – The Said Mantics
8 – 8:40 – Vibe Check 
9 – 9:40 – A Ferocious Jungle Cat
10 – 10:40 – M Shah
11 – 11:40 – Amolador

DUFFY’S TAVERN (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – Prairie Psycho
7:40 – 8:20 – OTOS
8:40 – 9:20 – Slow, Pioneers
9:40 – 10:20 – Dude Won’t Die
10:40 – 11:20 – Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal
1:40 – 12:20 – jdreams the alien + WINTERPOOR

BOURBON THEATRE (ALL AGES)
6:20 – 7 – Hosting Monsters
7:20 – 8 – Domestica 
8:20 – 9 – Leaves Brown
9:20 – 10 – Loose Change
10:20 – 11 – Cyphen
11:20 – 12 – Chasing Supernovas

1867 BAR (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – Neon Zoo
7:40 – 8:20 – Hot Dealers
8:40 – 9:20 – ImAsh 
9:40 – 10:20 – Sitra Achra
10:40 – 11:20 – Das Dat
11:40 – 12:20 – Frailin Hearts

Thursday

ZOO BAR (21+)
5 – 5:40 – Comfy
6 – 6:40 – Church of Blues 
7 – 7:40 – All Knowing McGill
8 – 8:40 – Mustache`
9 – 9:40 – Beyond Bananas
10 – 10:40 – The Fatal E’s
11 – 11:40 – Head Change

DUFFY’S TAVERN (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – All Star City Blues Band
7:40 – 8:20 – Root Marm Chicken Farm Jug Band
8:40 – 9:20 – Love & Gumption
9:40 – 10:20 – Lee Bowes and the Jupiter Rings
10:40 – 11:20 – F.A.C.E.
11:40 – 12:20 – Fascinus Rex

BOURBON THEATRE (ALL AGES)
6:20 – 7 – Sputnik Kaputnik 
7:20 – 8 – The Hangin’ Cowboys
8:20 – 9 – Jet Set
9:20 – 10 – Hold Your Breath
10:20 – 11 – Ivory Daze
11:20 – 12 – Swaul Pope

1867 BAR (21+)
5:40 – 6:20 – Mothawk
6:40 – 7:20 – Tupelo Springfield
7:40 – 8:20 – Cornerstone Dub
8:40 – 9:20 – Gollie G
9:40 – 10:20 – After Arizona
10:40 – 11:20 – Bull Face 
11:40 – 12:20 – Blowing Chunks

Friday

ZOO BAR (21+)
5-5:40 – Corson Branch Buzzard Club
6-6:40 – Scott Severin & Stateleigh Holmes 
7-7:40 – Dirty Talker
8-8:40 – LaPerm
9-9:40 – Crack Mountain
10-10:40 – Red Cities
11-11:40 – The Killigans
12-12:40 – The Midland Band

DUFFY’S TAVERN (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – Mudpuddles
7:40 – 8:20 – The Allendales
8:40 – 9:20 – FAHR
9:40 – 10:20 – The Bottle Tops
10:40 – 11:20 – Dip Tet
11:40 – 12:20 – Ro Hempel Band

BOURBON THEATRE (ALL AGES)
6:20 – 7 – quiet2quiet
7:20 – 8 – The Other Side Of Now
8:20 – 9 – Sweats
9:20 – 10 – Accidentology
10:20 – 11- The Wildwoods 
11:20 – 12 – Universe Contest

1867 BAR (21+)
5:40 – 6:20 – Will Hutchinson Trio
6:40 – 7:20 – Blondo
7:40 – 8:20 – Witherpoint 
8:40 – 9:20 – Ghost Town Radio
9:40 – 10:20 – Guilt Vacation
10:40 – 11:20 – Wagon
11:40 – 12:20 – Night Push 
12:40 – 1:20 – Means To An End

Saturday

ZOO BAR (21+)
5 – 5:40 – 23rd Vibration
6 – 6:40 – In the Pocket featuring Nebraska Jr. 
7 – 7:40 – Scallywags 
8 – 8:40 – Cobras
9 – 9:40 – The NitroBats
10 – 10:40 – Fall Break
11 – 11:40 – Emily Bass and the Near Miracle
12 – 12:40 – Mad Dog and the 20/20s
1 -1:40 – Black Ophanim

DUFFY’S TAVERN (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – Powerful Science 
7:40 – 8:20 – Aage Birch
8:40 – 9:20 – Ghostlike
9:40 – 10:20 – Head of Femur
10:40 – 11:20 – The Obscurants
11:40 – 12:20 – The Machete Archive
12:40 – 1:20 – Wicked Bones

BOURBON THEATRE (ALL AGES)
6:20 – 7 – Orion Walsh & the Rambling Hearts
7:20 – 8 – The JV Allstars
8:20 – 9 – Vera Devorah 
9:20 – 10 – Estrogen Projection 
10:20 – 11 – Verse and the Vices 
11:20 – 12 – Dark Oceanz Live

1867 BAR (21+)
5:40 – 6:20 – Floating Opera
6:40 – 7:20 – ((ECHO))
7:40 – 8:20 – The Credentials 
8:40 – 9:20 – Letters From Friends
9:40 – 10:20 – Cuddlebone 
10:40 – 11:20 – Parking Lot Party
11:40 – 12:20 – Dudes Gone Rude
12:40 – 1:20 – Wick O’ Rya

* * *

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.

The art of Mari Dailey opens at Ming Toy Gallery tonight as part of Benson First Friday.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Happy Groundhog Day. Our weekend music calendar is like very much like the movie Groundhog Day, in that every year around this time there are no touring indie bands coming through town. And this year is no exception.

That said, it’ll be unseasonably warm this weekend, including tonight, which is Benson First Friday (#BFF) – when the galleries and businesses up and down Maple Street feature art by our talented local artists. If you’re out and about, drop in at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple Street (right next to Legends Comics) and check out the opening reception for Mari Dailey. The evening will also feature spoken word performances by four poets including Todd (The Toddfather) Robinson starting at 7 p.m. And it’s also our one-year anniversary at this space, so… cake! The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. See you there!

Today also is Bandcamp Friday. That means proceeds from all purchases made today go directly to the artists, as Bandcamp doesn’t take a cut on purchases made today (and in many cases, neither do participating record labels). So go to Bandcamp and support musicians!

Among them, TIT. I’ve been wondering what Digital Leather’s Shawn Foree has been up to lately, and now we know. TIT is the project by Foree and Bobby Hussy (The Hussy, Wristwatch). Today they announced their debut, out April 5 on No Coast Records. According to the Bandcamp page, this one is 10 years in the making and includes a special guest appearance from Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) handling lead vocals on one track. Preorder the album today to pass along those Bandcamp bucks.

While you’re at it, might as well preorder the self-titled debut by by David Nance and Mowed Sound, which comes out Feb. 9 on Jack White’s Third Man Records. 

Show-wise, tomorrow night Mike Saklar’s band The Sun-Less Trio plays at fabulous O’Leaver’s. It’s part of a three-band bill that also includes mysterious headliner The Radical Sabbatical. White Wolf T-Shirt opens the show at 9 p.m. And guess what? It’s free.

Also Saturday night, Des Moines alt-folk-rock band The Nadas is playing at The Waiting Room. To their credit, the band has been coming through Omaha literally for decades. They were named among The Best College Bands You’ve Never Heard of by Playboy in 2001, or “the Creed era” as it’s known in the alternative rock world. Emma Butterworth (no doubt a relation to Nadas’ frontman Mike Butterworth) opens the show at 8 p.m. $30. 

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

* * *

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.

Brooklyn’s MX Lonely play tonight at Blindspot.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Blindspot, the all-ages venue located at 619 So. 20th St., apparently hosted BIB’s tour kick-off show last night, based on some online footage from the socials. Secret show? I didn’t see it listed on the Blindspot Instagram page. But that’s the way it can be with these DIY spaces. The fact that Blindspot is even putting their address on flyers now is a massive step forward.

Tonight, Blindspot welcomes in February with Brooklyn indie band MX Lonely, whose sound has been described as a combination of shoe-gaze and grunge. Shoe-grunge?  Grunge-gazers?  Hey, let’s nix it the labels, shall we?

They’re on the road supporting the upcoming release of their Spit EP on Boston label Candlepin Records, which, according to Brooklyn Vegan (who no doubt got the info from a one-sheet), is a follow-up to their 2022 LP Cadonia. The latest single, “Too Many Pwr Chords,” comes with a video that is a cautionary tale about jogging with your bandmates.

Opening the show tonight is Omaha underground buzz bands Western Haikus and Cupholder. This is a nice get by Blindspot, which more often hosts metal and hardcore shows. $10, 7:30 p.m. Will this ripe old indie hipster infiltrate this youth-targeted DIY space tonight? Maybe…. 

This is last touring indie show for a couple weeks, so get it in or regret not going… Here’s the latest touring-indie-band Omaha calendar:

•  Feb. 1 – MX Lonely at Blindspot
• — Feb. 16 – David Nance and Mowed Sound LP release at Reverb
• — Feb. 17 – Matthew Sweet at Waiting Room
• — Feb. 19 – Yo La Tengo at Waiting Room 
• — Feb. 24 – Porno for Pyros at The Astro
• — Feb. 29 – Katy Kirby at Reverb
• — March 6 – Jenny Lewis at The Admiral
• — March 18 – Color Green at Reverb
• — March 22 – Sun June, Wild Pink at Reverb
• — April 14 – Twin Tribes at Reverb
• — April 20 – Rosali at O’Leaver’s
• — April 24 – Sheer Mag at Reverb 

* * *

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…

* * *
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.

PROBLEMS drops by O’Leaver’s Saturday before heading to New Zealand.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Just for giggles, I took a look at what was happening music-wise last year at the end of January and believe it or not, it was even quieter that this year. The biggest gig was that weird, improv, jam performance by Conor Oberst at the B-Bar where boy genius sang news stories from random magazines backed by an all-star band that included MiWi La Lupa, Cubby Phillips and The Sydney’s Zach Schmieder, among others. I was not in attendance, but it’s an example just how desperate we can get for entertainment during the darkest nights of January. 

Needless to say, things ain’t that bad this year. No, there’s nothing happening tonight, but Saturday you got choices. 

Top of the list is a barn burner at fabulous O’Leaver’s headlined by former Nebraskan now Chicagoan Darren Keen a.k.a. PROBLEMS as he prepares to head down under for a tour of New Zealand. Joining Darren at the Club Saturday night is guitarist Jim Schroeder’s project, Mesa Buoy, which in the past has featured such notables as Kevin Donahue, Colin Duckworth, Patrick Newberry, Michael Overfield, Megan Siebe and David Nance. I have no idea who’s playing with Jim for this gig, but if he only gets a few of those folks, we’re in for a treat. Opening the evening is Dan Brennan’s noise-rock project Healer that features Rick Black and John Svatos (of Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship) and Joe Mickeliunas (of Back When fame). Old-fashioned start time of 9 p.m. and cost $10 to get in. 

Also Saturday night, Reverb Lounge is hosting so-called West Coast country artist Jaime Wyatt. I say “so-called” because I’ve been listening to her latest album, Feel Good (2023, New West), and it falls closer to retro-soul or roots/blues rock than C&W, which is a nice way of saying I didn’t get car sick listening to it (as I do with country music). If you like Natalie Prass you might dig this record. (But I can’t say the same about her previous album). Connecticut country-folk dude Joshua Quimby opens at 8 p.m. $25.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend. February is just around the corner…

* * *

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

As we wait for February and touring bands to return to Omaha, we’re left checking out new music, of which there is much. Here’s a sampling:

Hotline TNT played a rad show at Reverb last year. They’re still out plugging away at their most recent album, Cartwheel, and yesterday dropped a new video for the track “Stump.” 

“This song came to be in just one afternoon when I was reflecting on a game of cards I played with my family in Minnesota. I’m glad we finally made a video for it because the man who seduced us all with the biggest Billboard smash of the 20th century (Rob Thomas) posted the track on his Instagram story and that was all I needed to know we made a hit.”

A few years ago, Minneapolis Uranium Club showed up in Omaha and played a head-spinning show at Petshop Gallery that is still one of my best memories of the place (along with that amazing Ceremony show, who remembers that one at Sweatshop?). Well the Club is back with a new album, the first since 2018. If you’re into Devo-influenced head trips, here’s your ticket. Infants Under the Bulb is out on Anti Fade and Static Shock, March 1, ollowed by an 11-day Australian tour. Someone bring them back to Omaha, please…

Remember Mary Timony? Sure, we all do. The former Helium frontwoman (and Ex-Hex and Wild Flag) is releasing her first solo album in 15 years, out Feb. 23 on Merge Records.  Untame the Tiger emerged after the dissolution of a long-term relationship and was bookended by the deaths of Mary’s father and mother. “This was the hardest thing I’ve been through. Every week I had to manage a new crisis. Because I was making impossible decisions on behalf of my parents, creative choices now seemed more manageable.”

Pete Yorn’s latest claim to fame was a cameo appearance in Killers of the Flower Moon, which I have yet to see, and probably won’t before the Oscars. He’s also got a new track out called “Someday, Someday,” that sounds like classic Pete Yorn. No idea if this is a prelude to a new album…

* * *

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.

A screencap from the new David Nance & Mowed Sound video for “Tumbleweed.”

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

David Nance and Mowed Sound dropped the second single, “Tumbleweed,” off their upcoming self-titled album to be released on Jack White’s Third Man Records Feb. 9. The video is pretty trippy. 

The song was “written in less than five minutes in a car ride on the Fourth of July, 2021,” according to the TMR press release. “The whole album is a big magic trick,” Nance said, “most of these songs were written as country songs and then were perverted into different forms…but it sure as shit isn’t a country record.”

In addition to the band, local heroes Megan Siebe and Skye Junginger make guest appearances. Pre-order here.

The David Nance & Mowed Sound Feb. 16 album release show at Reverb Lounge is one of the spotlight concerts in Omaha winter music calendar. Here’s the latest list of touring indie shows through Spring. Next up: that MX Lonely show at the mysterious Blindspot…

• — Feb. 1 – MX Lonely at Blindspot
• — Feb. 16 – David Nance and Mowed Sound LP release at Reverb
• — Feb. 17 – Matthew Sweet at Waiting Room
• — Feb. 19 – Yo La Tengo at Waiting Room 
• — Feb. 24 – Porno for Pyros at The Astro
• — Feb. 29 – Katy Kirby at Reverb
• — March 6 – Jenny Lewis at The Admiral
• — March 18 – Color Green at Reverb
• — March 22 – Sun June, Wild Pink at Reverb
• — April 14 – Twin Tribes at Reverb
• — April 20 – Rosali at O’Leaver’s
• — April 24 – Sheer Mag at Reverb 

* * *

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

It’s a right damn shame this Arctic cold has dropped on us like an anvil this weekend considering all the shows, but, heck, it is January boys and girls…

There’s nothing on the indie-show radar for Friday night, but Saturday’s looking busy…

Portland trio Joseph consists of three women who know their way around harmonies. The band’s local connection – ARC’s Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes fame produced their second album, I’m Alone, No You’re Not (2016, ATO). Their latest full length, The Sun, was released last April by ATO and is reminiscent of First Aid Kit thanks to those multi-layered harmonies, but with more mainstream-pop melodies.  They’ve performed on all the usual late-night haunts (Fallon, Conan, even Jools Holland). Opening is LA-based singer/songwriter Sister, whose claim to fame is having her single, “Love Me Right,” used in Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground podcast. $32, 8 p.m. 

Meanwhile, Lincoln electronic leather fetish performer (I think he got upset when I said Pulp Fiction-style gimp, so no more of that) Plack Blague headlines at The Waiting Room Saturday night. Joining him is a cadre of local electronic artists including Ex Lover, Specter Poetics and DJ Lady Muerte. $15, 8 p.m. 

Also Saturday night, local folks Bad Actors headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s with The Broke Loose and Sioux City’s Sexy Ca$h. This is a free show that starts at 9 p.m. 

It’s back to O’Leaver’s Sunday afternoon/evening for a sort of goodbye show for Neva Dinova, as the band has wrapped up some recording and frontman/guru Jake Bellows is headed back to Los Angeles the following day. I caught the trio (Jake is joined by Megan Siebe on bass and legendary drummer Roger Lewis) when they played at Reverb last month (read the review) when they played a wide selection of old and new Neva material. Joining them again Sunday is Jess Price of Doom Flower and Campdogzz doing a solo set, and our very own Sean Pratt, who I’m told also has been in the studio. This is an early show with a 5 p.m. start time and will cost you $15. The weather guy says by Sunday this abysmal cold will have lifted, too, and let’s face it, it’s always red hot inside The Club. 

Later Sunday night, Chicago’s Squirrel Flower a.k.a. Ella O’Connor Williams, returns to Reverb Lounge. She’s on the road supporting her latest LP, Tomorrow’s Fire (2023, Polyvinyl), which is a step up in sound and shoegaze intensity vs. her more laidback Planet (i) LP. When she was here in 2022 she used a repeater pedal liberally throughout her set to provide a layered sound even though she was backed by a full band. She’s on the road with Los Angeles band Goon, who’s last studio release, Hour of Green Evening (2022, Demonde), received a solid 7.1 rating on the ol’ Pitchfork meter who said the band blends “plaintive psychedelic rock with sweet folk melodies,” — accurate. Get there early and catch The Dirts, who opens the show at 8 p.m. $20. 

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Bundle up and have a great weekend!

* * *

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.

The Kingdom Flying Club, circa 2004…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Looking for something to post today (there is nothing going on… I mean nothing), I ran across my first review of fabulous O’Leaver’s, published 20 years ago today in Lazy-i. O’Leaver’s had already been hosting live shows for awhile before I first stumbled into The Club, and my comment that I “can’t imagine a Saddle Creek Band playing an announced show there” would prove to not only be wrong but in some ways prescient as members of Cursive would eventually buy the bar years later. 

Over 20 years, O’Leaver’s surprisingly hasn’t changed much – at least not the main room where bands perform. When Kasher, Maginn and Stevens took over, they upped the sound system and made a shit-ton of improvements, including adding that bucolic beer garden. But the overall ambience in the main room is the same, including those record-album sleeves stapled to the walls like college-dorm wallpaper.

After a time of post-COVID live music dormancy, it sounds like changes are afoot at O’Leaver’s. The club recently closed its grill and seems to be returning to hosting live music, judging by a somewhat robust upcoming events calendar that includes Sunday’s Neva Dinova show and that Rosali gig in February. Check out their full upcoming events calendar. Asked online if O’Leaver’s has turned the rock machine back on, someone who handles their social accounts replied, “Well YES WE HAVE!!!”

As for Columbia, Missouri’s Kingdom Flying Club, after that 2004 O’Leaver’s gig, I interviewed the band in support of their return engagement two months later (With Civella, and A Cult of Riley, read that interview here). The band released a maxi-single a year after their 2003 debut on Emergency Umbrella Records, and then just… disappeared, which is a rock ’n’ roll trope that has been repeated a million times and will be repeated a million more.  That said, you can still listen to their debut on YouTube (linked below). 

Live Review: Kingdom Flying Club at O’Leavers – Jan. 18, 2004

Part of what I heard about O’Leavers is true. It is a small place — some would say downright tiny. But I wouldn’t say it’s cramped. It’s actually cozy in sort of a Homy Inn sort of way. Also like The Homy, O’Leavers is decorated with tons of shit on its walls — in this case, hundreds of album covers that span a few decades, as well as rock posters, including a prominent image of David Bowie in full Ziggy mode. With a bar on one end, the band plays directly across the room in a step-up seating area, standing right in front of a nonfunctioning fireplace. It’s like someone’s funky, 1970s “music room” or a college guy’s basement apartment, and I suppose that’s where it gets its charm.

I have heard people complain that it’s too small for live music. It wasn’t last night, but that’s because the bill consisted of under-the-radar acts. I can’t imagine a Saddle Creek band or one of the large West Omaha bands playing an announced show there. The room looks like it could comfortably hold maybe 75 people. Last night’s crowd looked to be around 50, and there was plenty of room to walk around, get a drink, even sit down. The sound system this night was provided by Matt Whipkey of Anonymous American fame, two small overhead amps and whatever gear the band brought with it. As a result, it wasn’t deafening — I didn’t need to wear earplugs and could talk to people without screaming during the sets.

I walked in hearing the strains of a band fronted by the guy who used to be known as Stop At Line. His new band consists of him on electric guitar and a drummer playing sorta screamo punk a la Desaparecidos. It’s not bad, but it needs a bass and some variety in the songwriting — every song sounded the same.

The headliner was Columbia, Missouri’s Kingdom Flying Club. You already know how much I like this band if you read my Year in Review (their album, Non-Fiction, made my year-end top-10 faves list and a selection from it is included on my 2003 Best of Comp (which you can still enter to win a copy of… see details). Now after seeing them live, I’m convinced that they could be the next Weezer — a bold statement, I know, but they’ve got that whole pop-rock thing down to a science. Live, they sound like a cross between Weezer and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin or any other band you can think of that played that sort-of alt style circa 1993. Their stage presence is pure slacker — the thin, pasty keyboardist/vocalist looks like he’s about pass out at any moment, while the other vocalists/guitarist looks like he just walked out of the quad at Everyplace University. They were sloppy at times, not exactly tight, but their approach almost seemed intentional. I think these guys know that it’s their songs that are going to get them noticed, and despite their liaise faire attitude; they won over the crowd playing mostly songs off Non-fiction, though there were a couple I didn’t recognize. They closed with a cover of AC/DC’s “T-N-T” which was respectfully messy and fun.

My take on O’Leavers is that it’s a delightfully and purposely unpolished gem of a club that will continue to have an impact on Omaha’s music scene. Now if they’d only get a website so that we could find out who’s playing there next.

— Lazy-i, Jan. 18, 2004

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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.