At Slowdown, it’s The Show Is the Rainbow‘s big 5-year anniversary extravaganza. TSITR main man Darren Keen wanted it on Slowdown’s big stage and that’s exactly what he got. Expect some special guests during his set. Opening is Relapse recording artist Vvervvolf Grehv featuring Dapose of The Faint, Fathr featuring James Cuato (Saxophone), Clark Baechle (Drums), Dapose, and Seth Johnson (Visuals, etc.), and Lincoln indie rockers, Eagle*Seagull. $8, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at The 49’r, it’s No Blood Orphan playing what likely will be their last show for awhile as guitarist/frontman Mike Saklar will be turning his attention to Mal Madrigal. Also on the bill, the “awesome sound” of Panang. Probably $5, probably starting around 10:30.

Finally, over at The Waiting Room, it’s the annual Lash LaRue Toy Drive featuring performances by The Mercurys, The Filter Kings, John Henry and Vago. Admission is $10 or an unwrapped toy. Show starts at 8.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Our old friend Mike Perry pointed out on the webboard that Zack Nipper and Bright Eyes have been nominated for a Grammy for Best Recording Package for Cassadaga. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen the packaging, which received almost as much publicity as the recording upon its release. Zack and Co. are facing some stiff opposition from the likes of Black Sabbath, Menomena, The Fold and GTS (the list is here). It’s impressive how many indie labels are in the running. Conventional wisdom would say that the Sabbath album should win due to the academy’s familiarity with the band. But I’m not buying that logic (Yep, I’m predicting a Bright Eyes win — surprise, surprise).

Tonight is huge for shows, starting off with The Pendrakes’ CD release show at The Waiting Room with Old Money and Landing on the Moon. I’m listening to their CD, Sunday Punch, as I type this. For whatever reason, I was mistakenly under the impression that The Pendrakes was a rock-a-billy band. It isn’t. Their style is straight-up rock in sort of a Tom Petty vein. It’s well done. Interestingly, the disc was produced by Grasshopper Takeover’s Curt Grubb and was recorded at Grubb’s basement studio, Grubb Inc. (and mastered by Doug Van Sloun at Focus Mastering). $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, garage punk trio Box Elders, featuring them thar McIntyre Brothers and groove king Dave Golberg, is playing over at O’Leaver’s with Bombardment Society (featuring mega-bassist Lincoln Dickison (guitarist for The Monroes)) and Private Dancer (members of STNNNG). Bring your earplugs, it’s going to be loud. $5, 9 p.m.

Baby Walrus headlines a show at PS Collective that features a handful of hot Next Wave artists, including Tim Perkins, Hyannis and Talkin’ Mountain. 8 p.m., $5.

Meanwhile, Honeybee (a member of the Slumber Party brigade) opens for Canadian band The Most Serene Republic (Arts & Crafts Records) down at Slowdown Jr. $7, 9 p.m.

Hey, does anyone know who Cross Canadian Ragweed is?

Look for Saturday night’s show line-up tomorrow.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Tonight is the big Omaha Entertainment Awards Nominee Showcase Block Party being held at a handful of venues in Benson. For $5 you can pick up a wristband that will get you into showcases at Mick’s, The Waiting Room, España, The Barley St. Tavern and PS Collective. Sayeth the OEA website: “The Waiting Room Lounge, Barley Street Tavern and Mick’s will host bands performing in 20-minute segments. España will feature DJs and ethnic ensembles, and the PS Collective will present the performing arts showcase. Screens throughout The Waiting Room and other establishments will show a constant feed of visual arts nominee highlights.” This is a helluva deal. There isn’t an official schedule yet, but a tentative line-up has appeared on SLAM Omaha, and is below:

At Mick’s:
6:15 Steve Raybine
6:50 Side Effects
7:25 Lucas Kellison
8:00 John Henry
8:35 Oxygen
9:10 Sabor
9:45 Sarah Benck and The Robbers
10:20 No Better Cause
10:55 Forty Twenty
11:30 Chris Saub

At The Waiting Room:
6:00 Icares
6:50 Mariachi Luna y Sol
7:25 a symbiont
8:00 Mariachi Zapata
8:35 Satchel Grande
9:10 Little Brazil
9:45 Narcotic Self
10:20 Confidentials
10:55 Wholes
11:30 Venaculas

At The Barley St.:
6:15 South Paw Bluegrass
6:50 Tim Wildsmith
7:25 Acoustic Groove
8:00 Secret Weapon
8:35 Matt Whipkey
9:10 Black Squirrels
9:45 112 North Duck
10:20 Filter Kings
10:55 tba
11:30 Paria

At España:
9:30 Brent Crampton
9:50 Shor-T
10:20 Jamazz
10:45 Shif-D
11:15 HG Filled
11:40 CMB
12:05 Articulate
12:35 Chiffy
1:05 Breathless
1:30 Goo

As an OEA academy member, I need to see as many bands as possible that I haven’t seen before, which means I’ll be spending most of my evening at Mick’s. I could come up with an elaborate personal schedule to weave back and forth through the various venues, but I know that none of them will adhere to their scheduled times. It’s going to be a real crapshoot if you want to see a specific band. Just get there early and ask the guy at the door who’s next.

Wouldn’t it have been great if they had blocked off Maple St. and let people walk from venue to venue with beer/drinks in hand? Or if street food vendors (operated by Benson restaurants) were available so you could nosh as you go? I’m not looking forward to eating at Subway tonight.

If you don’t want in to deal with the drama, swing over to O’Leaver’s tonight for Midwest Dilemma with Zephuros and Lincoln singer/songwriter Cory Kibler (ex Robot, Creek Closer). I’m told the new MD recording is stunning and includes a plethora of instrumentation which may or may not be replicated tonight on stage. $5, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Saturday night was sweet and sour. I got to the Barley Street Tavern at around 10:30 and discovered that I missed an impromptu 4-song set of Compost songs performed by Todd Grant and Matt Rutledge. Everyone was still buzzing about it. Ah, if I would have only known…Ted Stevens was already on stage, backed by Alex McManus. Calling themselves The Shitbirds (or as McManus preferred, The Shyte Byrds), the duo played a set of bluesy folk songs punctuated by Stevens’ trippy, clever lyrics. McManus spent the set ripping into some amazing fills and solos on electric guitar. At times, the arrangements seemed downright esoteric. Stevens hinted at a future album, but didn’t give any specifics.

Next up was Cary Smith, with Todd Grant playing the sideman role. Smith only played a couple songs, stopping and starting throughout, sometimes to tune his guitar. Afterward, Grant played two songs — one from the Grant/Kasher sessions from a couple years back; the other, a roaring version of “The Know” from Strangled Soul. And that was it for Grant. He told me he intended to play more, but apparently the night was running long and he wanted to give Jake Bellows the stage — a real disappointment as I’d hoped to hear a full Grant set. Next time. As consolation, it was the best Bellows solo set I’ve ever heard. His voice soared throughout his hour of sleepy, downcast folk ditties (that included a Mayday cover). Nice crowd of 40-50.

* * *

There’s an item in the Hollywood Reporter (here) about Nik Fackler’s film Lovely Still, which currently is shooting somewhere around Omaha. One amusing line from the story: “‘Lovely’ will feature an original score by Nathaniel Walcott and Michael Riley Mogis of Bright Eyes.” I guess score credits demand more formal names than “Nate” and “Mike.” For the first time, Landau’s and Burstyn’s co-stars in the film were named: The super-hot Elizabeth Banks (40 Year Old Virgin) and Adam Scott (HBO’s Tell Me You Love Me). I have yet to see the production trailers around town.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

So I’m standing there next to the wall that divides The Waiting Room’s stage area with the rest of the bar, next to a video camera that was recording The Third Men’s entire set, wondering how anyone was ever going to hear this band’s music.

Like I mentioned before, Boost is one of the best CDs I’ve heard this year, released on Speed! Nebraska records, eventually available from iTunes and Rhapsody and other online sales points. That’s a lot of availability, but still, who would go out and buy this disc? Here we were at their CD release show with maybe 50 people. The band was pleased with the turn-out, but I thought it was kind of light. What did I expect? It was a Thursday night and there had been very little pre-show hype (My item in The Reader was useless, seeing as the paper apparently hadn’t been distributed that day — there certainly weren’t any new copies at TWR last night). I’m watching them run through their set of songs from the new album, and this guy tells me, “These guys are the most accessible band in Omaha. I could play this for my friends (He was a youngster) or my folks and all of them would be able to get into it.” He was right. And it was because of that accessibility that Third Men music would work so well on radio. But we all know that will never happen.

Neither would serious touring. Here was a band whose style would work well in rock clubs around the country. I can imagine them opening for Matthew Sweet or R.E.M. or Wilco (talk about dreaming). Still, every member of the band has a real job/career and isn’t about to let that go to hit the road (well, unless Matthew Sweet or R.E.M. or Wilco called).

On top of that, I also know that Boost will never get reviewed in Pitchfork or any of the mainstream music publications (not that the band sent copies to them anyway). What would Pitchfork think of this album? It’s not indie, it’s not electro-dance, it’s not freak folk. It wouldn’t get reviewed. Believe me — I get a lot of CDs in the mail. As hard as I try to listen to them all, I’ll never have that much time. Imagine how many discs Pitchfork gets per week? I assume they shuffle through them and decide which to review based on being familiar either with the band or its label. Any copies of Boost sent to Pitchfork would wind up in a bin with all the other CDs from bands and labels that the editors never heard of.

So how does The Third Men’s music get heard? On stage, at shows like last night’s. Hopefully people who went will tell their friends and the next time they play, the crowd will be a bit bigger (though their next show, at TWR Dec. 20, will be part of a night of cover acts — i.e., they’ll only be playing cover songs). At that pace, without radio, without touring, The Third Men’s record will be lucky to sell a few hundred copies. Which is probably enough for these guys, anyway. Still, it’s a shame that it’ll likely never get heard by a bigger audience, an audience that would eagerly embrace this band…

Anyway… onto the weekend, which starts tonight with McCarthy Trenching at The Waiting Room with Alina Simone, Brad Hoshaw, & Reagan and The Rayguns. Sounds like the only full band on the bill is The Rayguns, everyone else is either playing solo acoustic or with only one or two side players. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at Sokol Underground, it’s the Nebraskafish Rising showcase featuring Sam Martin (Capgun Coup), No, I’m the Pilot, Ingrid Blood, Outlaw Sin Bandana (Brendan Hagberg), Robert Cook and FTL Drive. $6, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night could be tricky if we get hit with an ice storm. Hopefully it’ll miss us and I’ll be able to make it to The Barley St. where singer/songwriter Todd Grant is scheduled to play a solo set accompanied by some of the area’s best troubadours including Scott Roth (Roth canceled, he’s being replaced by…) Ted Stevens, Cary Smith and Jake Bellows (Neva Dinova). Grant, a former member of ’90s band Compost, will unveil a set of new material as well as songs recorded with Tim Kasher (Cursive) and, for the first time in years, will perform songs from his critically acclaimed 1995 solo album, Strangled Soul, an album which I still listen to regularly. Todd Grant shows are always unpredictable, and I suspect this one will be as well. 9 p.m., absolutely free.

Meanwhile, down at Slowdown, it’s Dischord Records band Antelope with The Stay Awake and Bring Back the Guns. Antelope carries on the Washington D.C. punk tradition, sounding like Fugazi meets pre-dance Rapture. The Stay Awake are one of Omaha’s best math/punk bands. Only $5, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

The last few times that I’ve seen Domestica play — whether at O’Leaver’s or The Waiting Room or wherever — I was a tad disappointed in the volume level. Among the things Mercy Rule was known for back in the old days was Jon Taylor’s hugely loud, all-encompassing guitar sound — massive yet tuneful, and never painful (as long as you took the proper precautions, which Slowdown now sells over by the photo booth for 50 cents a pair). Taylor told me during our recent interview that he’d decided to tone the guitar down with this new band, that it wasn’t necessary to prove his guitar might by turning it to 11. So while past Domestica shows have been great, there was always something missing. Well, it wasn’t missing Saturday night at Slowdown. I can’t remember Taylor’s guitar ever sounding that loud. It was freaking crazy LOUD, beautifully LOUD. During the set, a local guitar pro walked up and said, “I’ve never heard anything like this before. It’s loud and I’m wearing earplugs.” Was this insane volume necessary for Domestica to work? No, but it sure was fun.

Heck, you knew the whole night was going to be a fun when at 9 p.m. the Slowdown grunts pulled back the dividers to reveal a stage adorned in checkered flags, a Hot Wheels track and a sign that said, Welcome Racing Fans. The show started at around 9:45 with The Monroes. I’ve never heard a Gary Dean Davis-fronted band on such a large stage with such a large sound system. The result was as expected — big and loud and sonically perfect. You felt every nuanced Lincoln Dickison guitar chord, every Gary Dean grunt and Tulis bass note. The most impressive difference, however, was Jesse Render’s drums. In small rooms like O’Leaver’s, Jesse can get buried and lost. For the first time, I could really feel his drumming and got a new appreciation for just how good he is. It was the best sounding Monroes set I’ve ever heard, but I have to admit that as pristine as it was, I would still prefer to see these guys at O’Leaver’s or The Niner or any other of the city’s smaller stages. It’s a band that deserves a room where the crowd is standing right in front of them rather than seated somewhere beyond the shiny dance floor.

After The Monroes finished their set, the races began — bracketed double-elimination Hot Wheels action. The double-lane track was draped from a table in front of the stage all the way across Slowdown’s dance floor. The heated action was accented by a record played over the sound system consisting of race track noises. Sweet!

Ideal Cleaners took the stage after the first round of heats. Again, the Slowdown sound system allowed you to hear parts of songs that are missed at O’Leaver’s or Sokol Underground. The band blew through a selection of tunes off Muchacho!, their just-released Speed! Nebraska full-length, before leaving the stage and resuming the Hot Wheel races.

Those races were still under way when Domestica began its set. Sound guy Dan Brennan certainly earned his pay Saturday night. With the first song, Taylor’s guitar was absolutely huge, so huge that you couldn’t hear vocalist Heidi Ore’s sweet-angel voice — and that’s a big problem. Brennan, however, was on it, and by the third song, Heidi was brought higher in the mix, her gossamer soprano cutting through Taylor’s low-slung guitar growl. This was how Domestica’s music should always be heard — big, mean, muscular. Here’s to Taylor never turning it down, no matter where he plays.

I was told by Slowdown’s owners that the bar originally wanted the show performed in Slowdown Jr., the small front-room stage, but that the bands insisted on the big stage and were willing to pay for it. In the end, it was the right decision if only to hear this music on such a mighty sound system. The final numbers were 106 paid at $6 a head, which was more than enough to cover facility costs and give the bands some cash to take home.

It’s been a busy November for Speed! Nebraska Records. This Thursday, Speed! band The Third Men will host their CD release show at The Waiting Room for their new full-length, Boost. It’s another must-see show…

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—