by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The weekend is finally here, so let’s review…

It’s the first Friday of the month, and that means Benson First Friday. Local artists will be showing their wares in art openings up and down Maple Street tonight, including at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple Street, where we’re hosting the 2024 Dragon Invitational Open House featuring the works of a whopping 25 artists. Full list of participating artists is right here. I currently am busy this morning baking cookies for this event (Chinese Almond Cookies, Classic Toll House). The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Drop by, have a glass of wine (or whine) and say hello. See you there. 

It’s also Bandcamp Friday, which means it’s the best time to purchase music from your favorite artists as today Bandcamp is waving all fees and passing your hard-earned rubles directly to the bands. So whether it’s the Violenteer debut or the latest from Simon Joyner or this groovy new track from Max Holmquist’s Dream Ghoul, now is the time to buy and download.

And, though not a ska fan (except for The Specials, of course), there’s a three-band ska show happening tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s. They’re calling it “A Plastic Holiday Special,” featuring Omaha skacore band Plastic Presidents, Minneapolis ska/punk/jazz fusion act Runaway Ricochet and Omaha ska/rocksteady act The Bishops. It’s free and has a published 8 p.m. start time. Wear a checkered neck tie and your top-siders!

Saturday night is the big Violenteer EP release show at Reverb Lounge. I wrote about the album here. The four-band bill also includes Dance Me Pregnant, Lodgings and Bad Bad Men. It’ll be a crowded room fer shure. $12, 8 p.m. start time.

Meanwhile, just down the street at The Sydney, Dave Goldberg’s new(ish) metal band Prolapse is headlining a show with Blood Tower and GLOW. $10, 9 p.m. (Sydney Time).

That brings us to Sunday and Simon Joyner’s album release show for Coyote Butterfly. As mentioned in yesterday’s write-up, this will likely be the only time the album is performed in its entirety. It’s also a seated show, so get there early to both get good seats and hear opener Megan Siebe. This early show (6:30 p.m. start time) could be a gut-wrencher. $15. PS: The Waiting Room will be featuring an NA-only special menu. All the profits from the tickets will be donated to the Arch Alumni Association, a non-profit organization whose mission is supporting former members of the Arch Halfway House.

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

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Turnstile Friday night at the 2023 Maha Music Festival.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The folks behind the Maha Music Festival released attendance numbers yesterday, showing a slight increase over last year’s numbers. Last weekend, “more than 12,000 people helped Maha Festival say goodbye to its longtime home” at Aksarben Village.

That’s a little over a 4% increase over 2023’s Maha Festival attendance. The increase was due to a sizable jump in Friday night attendance – 4,900 people were on hand last Friday night when Turnstile headlined vs. 4,100 on Friday night last year for Car Seat Headrest. Saturday attendance of 7,100 for headliner Big Thief was a drop from the 7,400 in attendance on Saturday last year for Beach House. 

These numbers include more than 800 volunteers. Maha also said a quarter of attendees traveled from out of state this year.  As info, Maha drew 6,400 in 2021 for their one-day, Covid-shorted festival. 

The festival is currently conducting an attendee survey, which you can take here as they begin to do it all over again for the two-day festival to be held down at the Riverfront next year, July 26 and 27, 2024.

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OK, so what about this weekend?

Tonight it’s all about Benson, where Benson First Friday (#BFF) will be in full effect. Maple Street will be alive with art as businesses throughout the district feature new openings by local artists. If you’re out and about, drop in at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple St. (right next to Au Courant) where artist Michael Trenhaile opens his show entitled “Hoodlums, Thieves and Dead People & Other Events.” He’s brought his guitar and amp, so expect a couple tunes as well. The show runs from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight. See you there.

Also tonight, The Sydney in Benson celebrates BFF with a red hot show headlined by Bug Heaven with Lodgings and Breakers. $10, 9 p.m. 

Saturday, get a sneak peak at Falconwood Park prior to Outlandia by attending GRRRL Camp, a one-day festival featuring 16 female-fronted alt rock and hip hop acts and performers including Boulder’s The Velveteers, Omaha acts Ione and Ebba Rose, and Lincoln’s Freakabout. All gender identifications are invited (that means dudes, too). This is kind of like FemmeFest from years gone by, only it’s held at a camp grounds. It starts at 1 p.m. and tickets are $45. More info here.

Also tomorrow night (Saturday), The Sydney in Benson has Moon 17 with Jeff in Leather and XID. $10, 9 p.m. 

And Saturday night at fabulous O’Leaver’s, Las Cruxes is among the bands celebrating Silas Poppy’s birthday. Joining them are Tiananmen Squares and The Content. 9 p.m., no cover listed.

And finally, it’s Bandcamp Friday again. If you’ve been mulling over buying some new music (or some old music), Bandcamp is waiving their fees today so all proceeds will go to the artist. Among those celebrating is Simon Joyner, who is releasing a new vinyl-only LP, This Is Where the Ocean Begins, a collection of old singles reinterpreted by Fred Lonberg Holm, Michael Krassner and Joyner as a trio, limited to 230 copies, with money generated used to help cover travel costs for his fall tour. Check it out here.

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

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

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Welcome the the weekend. It all kicks off in Benson tonight with Benson First Friday, which in the coming months will become even more special (more on that mystery later). Get to Maple Street tonight and check out the art scattered throughout the shops.

The Sydney in Benson is celebrating BFF with a heavy-ass show headlined by Lincoln’s FACE, Omaha scream-metal band Living Conditions and Jack McLaughlin’s synth-powered project, Specter Poetics. $10, 9 p.m.

Saturday night, Dead Letters, the new project by Koly Walter, Brian Byrd (both of Well Aimed Arrows) and Mark Johnson (Places We Slept), is celebrating the release of their new album, Songs from Center, at The Sydney. The album art is a photo of The Center Shopping Center, Omaha’s first shopping mall and once home to The Sky Lanes and where I went to see Santa Claus once upon a time. Walter says The Center is a block away from the band’s practice space/studio. The band released a second song from the album in Spotify (but alas, not in Bandcamp, where you can pre-order digital album, here.

Opening for Dead Letters is Head of Femur. Koly said his old band, legendary ‘90s act The Protoculture, used to play with Head of Femur frontman Matt Focht’s former band, Opium Taylor, back in the day. Kicking things off at 8 p.m. is Lincoln act The Obscurants (Eric Maly of Slow Pioneers). $10.

Sunday night, Saddle Creek Records act Palm plays at Reverb Lounge. Signed to the label this past July, Palm is a Philadelphia-based four-piece that’s been together for a decade. Their last LP was released in 2018 on boutique label Carpark Records. Their rep is for playing inventive art-rock, and they live up to it on Nicks and Grazes (2022, Saddle Creek). Lots o’ progressive / dissonant moments on this album, very similar experience to listening to label-mate Voice of the Beehive’s last album, a band who’s live set earlier this year at The Slowdown was stellar. Like VOB, will Palm bring a different approach to their live set? We’ll have to see. The Reader has a fresh Q&A with Palm (by Chris Bowling!), which you can read here.

Opening is Brooklyn duo Water from Your Eyes (Nate Amos of This is Lorelei and Rachel Brown), who’s last studio album was 2021’s Structure (Wharf Cat Records) $18, 8 p.m.

Lest I forget, today is also a Bandcamp Friday — if you buy your albums today from Bandcamp, the service will pass along its fees directly to the bands/artists (and some labels are following suit), so it’s the best time to buy new music, like that new Dead Letters album!

As for shows, that’s all I got. If I missed yours, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There’s a shit-ton to get to, so let’s get to it…

Tonight Bug Heaven headlines a Bug Symposium production at The Sydney in Benson, where it’s also Benson First Friday (that means art shows throughout our little city in the city). Crabrangucci also is on the bill. $10, 9 p.m.

Both acts are on the line-up for the 2022 Petfest, happening Aug. 13 behind Petshop Gallery in Benson. This year’s headliners are Chicago electronic/industrial duo HIDE (Dais Records) and Amulets. The full line-up:

HIDE
Amulets
Cat Piss
Universe Contest
Ghost Foot
Nowhere
Bug Heaven
Better Friends
Thirst Things First
Mike Schlesinger
Problems
Aly Peeler
No Thanks
Dave Nance Band
Glow
Ruby Block
Jenny Haniver
Marcey Yates
Crabrangucci
Erawq

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: It’s the best local-band lineup of any Nebraska festival. Tickets are $30 advance/$35 DOS, and are available right now.

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Speaking of strong local line-ups, tomorrow night is one of the best: Jim Schroeder will celebrate the release of the vinyl version of his new album, Mesa Buoy, at a concert at Holy Family Community Center, 1714 Izard St. Joining him and his band are Megan Siebe, who’s also celebrating the release of her new album, and Dan McCarthy. It’s a free show and starts at 7 p.m.

Also Saturday night, We Were Promised Jetpacks returns to Omaha, this time to The Waiting Room, with Weakened Friends. 8 p.m., $16.

And then Sunday night is the big Sasami show at Reverb. This is a return engagement, as she kicked ass at Reverb back in April 2019. Since then, she’s really changed up her sound and style. Her new album, Squeeze (2022, Domino) goes from one extreme to another. Jigsaw Youth opens at 8 p.m. $15.

And lest we forget, it’s Bandcamp Friday, wherein the fine folks at Bandcamp waive their fees for all sales made through their website, and some record labels also are following suit. Bandcamp Fridays are becoming an important release date for indie bands, who use it to drop new singles or pre-sale album notices.

Among them are Simon Joyner, who this morning announced his new album, Songs from a Stolen Guitar, comes out May 20 on Grapefruit Records (a label he owns and operates). The all-star support includes Megan Siebe, viola, backing vocals; David Nance, lead guitars, backing vocals; Michael Krassner, guitar, piano; Max Knouse, guitar; Sunshine Joyner, guitar, vocal; Ryan Jewell, drums, percussion; Wil Hendricks, bass guitar, and Ben Brodin, Wurlitzer, B3, vibraphone. Check out a couple of the songs and preorder here.

Singer/songwriter/rocker Mitch Gettman’s new single, “Goldie” is over 11 minutes long and keeps you grooving the whole time. It’s the first track off a yet-to-be-announced new album and features Paul Jensen on bass, Nate Van Fleet on drums (he also co-engineered the track with Jeremy Gerrett, who mixed/mastered), and mind-blowing sax solo by Skye Junginger. Check it out below.

Little Brazil has released yet another new track off their forthcoming album, Just Leave, out June 3 but available for preorder from Max Trax Records website.

Tim Kasher dropped a new song (and video) fro his new album, Middling Age, which comes out April 15 on 15 Passenger (pre-order here). “Forever of the Living Dead” features Laura Jane Grace and Jeff Rosenstock. Check it.

And Dereck Higgins (of Digital Sex and Chemicals) has a new EP out today called Personal Power. Buy the download here, and check out a track below.

That’s all I got. If I missed your show (or your album release) put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There’s no argument about it, tonight’s Cursive show at The Waiting Room is the biggest indie show to happen since last summer’s Maha Festival. It’s also the only indie show going on this weekend.

And it’s a loaded show. Eric in Outerspace kicks things off at 8 p.m. By themselves I’d be recommending this show. But in the center slot is legendary Lawrence, Kansas, band Vitreous Humor (who I wrote about here – catch up!). Fans of ‘90s post punk take note; this is a once-and-done sort of performance.

Finally, Cursive takes the stage (probably at 10). The band has been on tour with Thursday, Jeremy Enigk and The Appleseed Cast, slated to play Denver tomorrow, so Tim Kasher and Co. edged this show in before the next leg. With no new music (their last release was 2019’s Get Fixed) expect a night of greatest hits, kicked off with “The Martyr,” if their show Tuesday night at Gabe’s in Iowa City is any indication (Here’s that setlist via setlist.fm).

OK, so the show is $20 and as of this writing is not sold out and I have yet to see any “low ticket warnings” from One Percent Productions. Doesn’t mean it won’t sell out before you get there, so you might want to eat the additional $5.69 fees and get your ticket online. This just SOLD OUT.

Nothing on the 1% site or the Facebook event page indicates that this is a No Vax No Entry show, however, Douglas County continues to be under a mask mandate, so mask up. If I go, I’ll be the guy in the blue N95 and the parka skulking near the stage trying to get a photo.

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Since you’ll be in Benson anyway tonight, you might as well take advantage of Benson First Friday, wherein shops and restaurants along Maple Street will be displaying local art. Here’s the rundown.

As part of BFF, The Sydney is hosting a show with Nowhere and Teeth. 10 p.m., no price listed, but probably $10.

Also tonight, Slowdown Jr. has Infinite Video, Topher Booth and Ebba Rose. $10, 8 p.m.

And lest I forget, it’s Bandcamp Friday, which means you can purchase digital downloads of all our favorite indie music today and Bandcamp (and most of the labels) will waive their cut of the proceeds – which means the artists get the whole pie. Look, you’ll need to take advantage of this now that you’ve dropped Spotify because of the Joe Rogan scandal.

As for the rest of the weekend, tomorrow night punk-rock cover band The Damones is playing at The Waiting Room. $10, 8 p.m.

And that’s it. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Mask up and have a great weekend. Here’s hoping The Covid spike is nearly behind us.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Hey there, here’s that column I mentioned last week about not updating my blog in so long and how it will live forever (or at least until I don’t). It’s published in the May issue of The Reader, and online here. Go read it!

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It’s an anomaly similar to the perfect aligning of stars in the sky — both Benson First Friday and Blackstone Second Saturday are this weekend.

BFF you know about. BSS is a new art effort in Blackstone where galleries host openings. To celebrate, The Little Gallery Blackstone (formerly in Benson) is hosting Weird Therapy – a collection of 130 small ink-on-paper works by Brion Poloncic.

Local punk rock fans with a sense of history will remember Poloncic from his work the bands Tomato a Day and seminal Grass Records act Cactus Nerve Thang. Poloncic’s art is as mind-blowing as his music.

The show runs from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday at The Little Gallery Blackstone, 144 So. 39th St. (inside The Mansion just north of Night Owl). The event is free, distance controlled, and wear a mask! Free beer! Come by and say hello.

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In music news, Tim Kasher of Cursive and The Good Life launched a new Patreon called Home Phone. The archive project is a mix of new songs under the Home Phone moniker: “Short, catchy, to-the-point jams – unreleased songs I’ve written for Cursive / The Good Life / solo material that never saw any light of any day,” Kasher said of the project.

The online subscription service costs $6 a month (or $5 a month with annual subscription). The Patreon site will also include live streams, and if this goes the way of other Patreons I’ve seen have, Kasher will be doing all kinds of outlandish things online in no time. Check it out at https://www.patreon.com/timkasher

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In other Kasher news, there’s a massively long video interview with Tim by Bringing It Backwards – the online interview show of American Songwriter magazine. The nearly hour-long interview delves deep into the history of Kasher’s music, Cursive, Saddle Creek Records and more. Check it below.

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Azure Ray has dropped yet another track from their forthcoming album, Remedy, out in June on Flower Moon Records. This one has a good beat, you can dance it, check it out.

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Simon Joyner’s new record store in the Old Market, Grapefruit, is slated to open today at 11 a.m. The shop, located at 1125 Jackson St., Suite 5, will sell new and used records, and the space will also be the world headquarters of Joyner’s Grapefruit Records label.

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And lest I forget, it’s the first Friday of the month which means Bandcamp Friday – that day when Bandcamp waives fees on its download sales. Go to Bandcamp and buy some stuff!

That’s all I got. Have a great weekend!

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Tonight’s Journey tribute show (Recaptured) at Slowdown is the club’s first indoor show in 385 days. And as you might have guessed, the rules have changed since their last show.

Guest and staff are required to wear masks when entering and moving around the club. A mask is recommended but not required if you’re seated at a table. See all the COVID rules here.

This is in line with most other venues’ rules. One new one that I haven’t seen before at Slowdown: Re-entry is not permitted. This is a curious addition, and I’m not sure why it’s there. I have a feeling there will be a few other surprises as part of the post-COVID era…

Anyway, it’s a $15 general admission show, but you can also buy balcony seating at $25. A glance at the seating chart shows that most table seating is considered balcony seating, but there must be tables further back that are not “balcony”? Show starts at 8:30.

Not to be outdone, The Waiting Room has a Garth Brooks tribute show tonight that’s $15 and starts at 8:30 p.m.

That’s it for shows this weekend. We’re all still waiting for some indie local and national shows to return, but that’s a ways off. Get vaccinated. That might change the equation.

Speaking of vaccinations, my vaccination journey is outlined in my column in this month’s issue of The Reader. Find it. It’s not online yet.

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It’s another Bandcamp Friday, which means Bandcamp today is waving its fees taken from your download purchases from their website. Most labels are following suit.

For what to buy locally, I point you again to this article, that lists a ton of local stuff available on Bandcamp.

There are others who always have new merch, including Lightning Stills, Flight School, Simon Joyner, Problems, and Dereck Higgins. There needs to be a Nebraska online marketplace where one can easily find links to new music released by Nebraska artists.

Here’s some stuff I’ve been listening to that you should check out/buy today on Bandcamp Friday:

Parannoul, To See the Next Part of the Dream – This Korean-language shoe-gaze act got a rave write-up in Pitchfork and is indeed mesmerizing. You can’t understand what they’re singing, but when it comes to shoe-gaze, what else is new? Bandcamp link.

Cassandra Jenkins, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (Ba Da Bing!) – This is one of the break-out recordings of early 2021. Lead track “Michelangelo” is a heart breaker. Bandcamp link.

Wild Pink, A Billion Little Lights (Royal Mountain) – Gorgeous indie from NYC. As good as this sort of thing gets. Bandcamp link.

Kneeling in Piss. The Columbus, Ohio, band has a new EP coming out (not out yet) called Types of Cults that is like next-generation Parquet Courts. They’ve been around for awhile. A new favorite. Bandcamp link.

Mixtape for the Milky Way – The latest by Minneapolis’ Jeremy Messersmith is a sweet collection by one of the country’s best singer/songwriters. Bandcamp link.

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

So Bandcamp Friday (today) is the day in which you can purchase downloads via Bandcamp, and all the money goes to the artists because Bandcamp is waiving their cut. With that in mind, I pushed online my column in this month’s issue of The Reader. It’s a listing of 40 Nebraska recordings released during this, the Year of Our Covid 2020. Included in the story are links to all 40 recordings on Bandcamp, wherein you can buy, download and listen to the best our state has to offer.

You know, The Reader didn’t do a “music issue” this year, and as such, didn’t publish a Reader Top 20 (and the next whatever). This list of 40 releases is as good as it gets considering no one was out performing or touring this year. These artists threw their wares to the masses anyway, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to support their album releases with live shows.

With that in mind GO TO THE STORY NOW and check out the list, click through the links and download/buy some music and support local area artists while hearing some damn fine sounds. Another way to help the artists out is by sharing The Reader story on your social media channels so others can discover what we already know.

Couple more things…

Flight School is a musical project of studio engineer/musician/genius Ian Aeillo. Ian doesn’t like it when I call him a genius, he thinks I’m funnin’ him, no matter how many times I tell him I’m not. The guy just can’t take a compliment. Fact is, Ian was involved in a number of the 40 recordings I mentioned in my Reader column.

Anyway, this morning, Flight School dropped its latest digital full-length effort, This Will Get You There. It’s 21 songs Ian wrote for his favorite vocalists, none of which sing on any of the tracks, leaving you with just Ian’s fine instrumental music. I asked him to list the “favorite vocalists” on the Bandcamp page so we could try to guess who went with which song, but he wasn’t having it. Buy/download/listen here.

Also online today, Lightning Stills (a.k.a. Craig Fort and band) released his entire debut EP Sings His Songs, which wasn’t expected to drop for awhile, but this being Bandcamp Friday, he said ‘what the heck.’ Check out the recording here, buy and download!

And for one day only (today), Simon Joyner is making available for download at Bandcamp Ten Songs (Home Demos for 2021 Album). These are demos recorded on his phone over the past few months that he’ll use as reference while working on songs, but the sound quality is hella good (certainly better than those early Sing Eunichs! recordings!). Go, buy, download here.

That’s it. If you’re going out, wear a mask (as if I had to tell you that!). Have a great weekend!

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily (if there’s news) 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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

It’s the first Friday of the month, and that means it’s not only Benson First Friday, it’s also another Bandcamp Friday.

By now you know the shtick — Bandcamp is waiving its fees all day and passing revenues onto the artists (many labels are following suit, including our very own Saddle Creek Records). So it’s a good time to download those albums you’ve been streaming on all the various and sundry services, like the new PUP EP, that Sufjan Stevens LP, the new Tomberlin EP, the new No Joy, just a ton of stuff. Despite COVID-19 and lack of touring, it’s been a decent year for new music.

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Benson First Friday is happening tonight (Here’s the list of openings), but alas there appears to be no music-related events associated with it. Benson is a hot zone for COVID (check the map) in a time when the virus is peaking in Douglas County. If you’re checking out art tonight, make sure you wear a mask in the galleries and art spaces.

And speaking of art spaces, The Little Gallery, which has been in Benson for more than five years, is moving to The Blackstone District. The new location is inside The Mansion at Blackstone, 144 S. 39th Street (just east of Night Owl). But don’t go trotting over there just yet as it ain’t open. I’ll let you know when it is…

That’s all I got. If I missed your show or music release, drop me a line or put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend fellow blue-dotters…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily (if there’s news) 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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

It’s another Bandcamp Friday wherein the online music store passes along its profits to the artist, meaning your buck goes further to support your favorite bands in These Days of Covid.

So are you looking for something to buy on Bandcamp today? Look no further than Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, Volume 2, a 77-track compilation made up entirely of previously unreleased recordings from some of the most important names in music today. The album features never-before-heard new songs, covers, remixes, live versions and unreleased demos, and will be available for 24 hours today only, exclusively via Bandcamp.

Among the indie artists represented are Bright Eyes, Jenny Lewis, Perfume Genius, Arcade Fire, Bob Mould Band, Faye Webster, Charly Bliss, Guided By Voices and tons more. Cost is $20.20 (or more) and 100% of the net proceeds from the album’s sales will go to Voting Rights Lab, a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization that brings state advocacy, policy, and legislative expertise to secure, protect, and defend the voting rights of all Americans.

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The first Friday of the month has snuck up on us and with it comes Benson First Friday (#BFF). There are a few art openings happening in Benson, not the least of which is the one at The Little Gallery, 5901 Maple St. “Ramble,” by Lori Elliott-Bartle, features paintings and handmade prints inspired by the prairie. The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight. Slap on a mask and come on by.

Also opening tonight in Benson — or I should say Grand Opening — is the new improved Reverb Lounge. You read about the improvements here, now check them out yourself. Lowercase Tres will DJ from 8 to midnight. It’s free but you have to wear a mask! If you want to see a live band on the new Reverb stage, Norfolk band The Begats plays Reverb tomorrow night (Saturday) at 9 for $5.

Also happening this weekend…

The Slowdown concludes its outdoor concert series hosted in partnership with the Maha Festival folks tomorrow night. Cover band Pet Rock was originally scheduled to play tonight but cancelled due to someone in the band getting COVID. Saturday’s show is the prime jewel in this concert series, featuring Masonjixx, And How, Cameron Logsdon, Angi Sada, Those Far Out Arrows and J. Crum, all for just $18.

The same rules apply as before — you’ll be cordoned off into a cattle-fenced 10 x 10 area where you’ll have to stay unless getting drinks. Masks are a must, except when in your veal-fattening pen. Bring a lawn chair unless you want to sit on the concrete. Smaller 2- and 3-person spaces also will be available. Read all the rules here. The show starts at 3 p.m. in the afternoon.

Also going on tonight and tomorrow is the virtual version of Lincoln Calling. The all-streamed event is free but they’re looking for your support. Find out more including the schedule at lincolncalling.com.

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

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily (if there’s news) 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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.