by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s the first Friday of April and that means Benson First Friday (#BFF). If you’ve driven down Maple Street over the past few days you already know the entire length of Downtown Benson is coned for road construction. The city is replacing the old metal curb ramps with new ramps, and decided to do it during the district’s busiest day of the month both for car and foot traffic. Coincidence? 

Anyway, the parking situation is essentially the same, just drive around the cones and construction equipment. 

ADDENDUM: The city has cleared the cones! Proceed with confidence…

BFF highlights local artists in galleries and other businesses up and down Maple Street tonight. Among them is the opening at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple Street, with feature artist Karen Linder. Drop by, say hi, grab a beer/wine and check it out. The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. See you there.

As part of BFF, The Sydney in Benson is hosting Pasadena duo System Exclusive along with Madison Wisconsin electronic artist Carrellee and Omaha’s Jeff in Leather and Specter Poetics. $12, 9 p.m. 

Saturday is noise rock day in Benson.

Starting in the afternoon (3 p.m.) and running into Saturday night is ClüsterFüst 2, a metal/noise concert at The Waiting Room with 15 bands, headlined by local heroes BIB and including acts Ex Lover, Cult Play, Prolapse (Dave Goldberg metal odyssey) and Nowhere, among others. “15 bands playing 15-minute sets.” All for $15, with proceeds going to Youth Emergency Services Omaha. More info and full lineup, here.  

Also Saturday night, Omaha double-bass noise-core band Violenteer headlines a four-band bill at Reverb Lounge. Word on the street is Violenteer has a new album coming out soon, with recorded tracks already in the can. Maybe we’ll get some of the new stuff Saturday. Joining them are Leafblower, Radical Sabbatical and Aircraft Grade. This show is sort of being held in conjunction with ClüsterFüst 2 in that entrance is only $5 with a Waiting Room wristband – smart marketing! Otherwise, entrance is $10. Starts at 8:30.

Also Saturday night, there’s a three-band bill at fabulous O’Leaver’s with Jar, Box Eats Miah and Pretty Beige. Box Eats Miah is sort of emo-ish? Not sure on the others. This one starts at 9 and is absolutely free. 

Sunday night Tommy Prine headlines at Reverb Lounge, and yes, he is the son of legendary singer/songwriter John Prine. They call his music “alt country,” but it leans more toward the Americana spectrum (though there’s plenty of twang on his latest LP, This Far South (Thirty Tigers)). In fact, if you squint your eyes it sometimes sounds like Mystic Valley Band music. Opening for Prine is Kiely Connell. $22, 8 p.m., and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it sells out the smallish Reverb. 

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Petfest is this Saturday behind Petshop Gallery in Benson, 2725 No. 62nd St. If you thought last year’s was a cornucopia of the best local talent, you’re in for even more this year. We’re talking two stages, one right next to the other, hosting bands playing 30-minute sets. If you don’t like what you’re hearing, go take a piss, grab a bite or a drink, and when you come back a different act will be performing (or a dope drag queen). 

We’re talking 20 bands starting at 2 p.m. with Ojai and wrapping up at 10:35 p.m. with BIB (followed by DJ Scherritaivo). I don’t know every act, but here are the ones I do know:

Head of Femur – Fronted by guitarist/vocalist Matt Focht with contributions by a plethora of local heroes, the band plays gorgeous indie that falls somewhere between folk rock and prog. 

Little Brazil – Sometime in the last 20-odd years they elevated to the status of “local legends.” Founded by singer/songwriter/guitarist Landon Hedges and bassist/vocalist Danny Maxwell, the band was — and is — a staple of the Omaha indie music scene thanks to their punk-meets-emo rock histrionics. 

Mike Schlesinger – Acoustic singer/songwriter has the best voice of any performer from ’round these parts, playing sad folk indie songs guaranteed to break your heart. 

Thirst Things First – Lincoln band of uniformed musical miscreants is a cross between Devo and Uranium Club with a complicated backstory about a computer gone mad. DO NOT MISS.

Dereck Higgins – The one and only, his music spans every genre though lately the focus is on electronic dance and ambient (dare I say, jazz?). Who knows what he’ll bring to the show Saturday. 

Cat Piss — The post-punk trio is carrying on a rock tradition with roots that run deep in Omaha’s early ’90s golden age of indie, but for a whole new generation. 

Pagan Athletes – Noise-rock brothers Griffin and Nathan Wolf make a jittery, noisy racket that will fray your nerves… in a good way. 

Universe Contest – The Lincoln band is massive in size and sound, like having our very own version of Modest Mouse (but back when Modest Mouse was good). 

The Machete Archive – Another classic Lincoln indie noise-rock band from back in the day, known for its guitar and bass histrionics, they’ve only improved with age. Epic. 

BIB – They’re saving the hardest, fastest, punkest for last. BIB are redefining hardcore without losing sight of their roots. This is the real thing. 

And there’s more, most of which I’ve never heard before, but no doubt all worth checking out. 

Get in all day for just $30 dollars in advance (with no additional charges!) or $40 day of show. Plus art, a cash bar, and you’re supporting the non-profit Benson First Friday crew. Here’s the lineup, on two stages:

• 2:00 – OJAI
• 2:25 – Pagan Athletes
• 2:50 – Dereck Higgins
• 3:15 – XID
• 3:40 – Mike Schlesinger
• 4:05 – Specter Poetics
• 4:30 – Living Conditions
• 4:55 – Thirst Things First
• 5:25 – Little Brazil
• 5:55 – Cat Piss
• 6:30 – Nowhere
• 6:50 – Head of Femur
• 7:20 – The Machete Archive
• 7:50 – Face
• 8:20 – Child of Night
• 8:50 – Universe Contest
• 9:25 – Jeff in Leather
• 10:00 – Chew
• 10:35 – BIB
• 11:00 – DJ Scherritaivo

More info, tickets, schedule and other good stuff at the Petfest webpage, right here. See you there.

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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

OK, a handful of new tracks from local artists or old friends with local connections have caught my ear recently. A quick run-down.

Lost in the background of Cursive’s upcoming tour for Domestica is a new track by David Knudson of Minus the Bear and Botch fame that features Cursive frontman Tim Kasher on vocals. “No Ways No Means” comes from Knudson’s new EP, Undo/Redo, which comes out this Friday. Mr. Kasher has never been in finer voice on a track that is absolutely scorching. 

Two Omaha legends – Denver Dalley (Desaparicidos) and Clark Baechle (The Faint) — have a new project called Weak Nights, that will soon be releasing material. But until then, the duo have penned a track with Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World called “Place Your Debts,” that just came out. In addition to having a great hook, the clever lyrics bend in on themselves in a clever way. Check it out. 

I just told you about two new ambient instrumental releases from former Omaha songster Kyle Harvey under his new moniker, When Light. Well, Kyle’s released yet another one, called The Shape of Time. Get lost in the aural waves of pleasure…

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There’s a sneaky good show happening tonight at Reverb, totally under the radar….

Los Angeles melodic hardcore band Militarie Gun just got off the road opening for Saint Vitus and have a new album, All Roads Lead to the Gun (2022, Loma Vista). Heavy, hard and fast, no doubt there will be some moshing going on. Opening is Hattiesburg, Mississippi-based art-punk band MSPAINT and local hardcore legends BIB, plus two more openers – Public Opinion and Trucha. A five-band bill for $15. Starts at 7:30. 

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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

This month’s column in The Reader is about changes in my music-listening habits and a modest proposal for a different way to compensate musicians similar to how we pay to go to movies. You can read it here or in print (I know you can pick them up at Hy-vee and La Casa). 

While the price to download music is about the same as it was when the iTunes store opened more than 20 years ago (Jan. 9, 2001, according to the Google), the price for movie tickets has steadily increased. I paid $12 each for tickets to see a movie at Alamo this past weekend. Movie tickets averaged around $5 back in 2001.

Tickets to see bands have only slightly increased over the past 20 years, and the now old-fashioned $5 local shows are around $7 or $8; low-end touring indie acts start at around $10 to $12 for tickets. So you can still see live music for less than it costs to go to a movie. 

Like tonight at The Waiting Room where Soul Glo headlines. The Philly hardcore punk act is an indie music darling. Their latest album, Diaspora Problems (2022, Epitaph/Secret Voice) is a Pitchfork “Best New Music” pick scoring an 8.5 on the Pitchfork meter (from PF tastemaker Ian Cohen, no less, a consummate Saddle Creek hater). Local hardcore superstars BIB opens the show along with Fire Sign and Pulse. It’s worth $10 just to see BIB. 8 p.m., bring your hard-toe boots.

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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

I’m known by some for my predictions. Here’s one for you: This time next year, Thick Paint will be in Austin performing at South By Southwest. That is, if they ever get around to recording and releasing a proper album.

Rumors have been bandied about for years about which record label this band will end up on (one hot take had Saddle Creek Records in the mix). Yet, here we are so many years into their existence and still no formal label release, though there was a digital self-release that came out in 2019 that doesn’t sound anything like they do today.

Thick Paint just released a two-song single last Friday, “Zaddy Mountain” b/w “Infographic Rain” (linked below this review), that does sound like the band I heard last night at a packed Reverb Lounge. While there were a lot of vintage references heard in their music, no modern band sounds quite like them.

These days Thick Paint has a distinctively proggy style that’s a throwback to early ’80s Robert Fripp-fueled King Crimson, complete with repetitive, asymmetric, layered guitar lines that are both percussive and trance-inducing. At the same time, there’s a weird combination of traditional ‘70s rock structures mixed with avant-garde, almost Beefheart-ian sounds. Add Graham Ulicny’s unique, high-end vocal delivery that ranges somewhere between Geddy Lee and Supertramp’s Rick Davies (and at other times, seemingly channeling Infidels-era Dylan on the more traditional stuff) and you’ve got something special.

That’s a lot to take in, but it all works. And if the music was released on an album, I’d buy it. But it isn’t, and who knows when it will ever be. One assumes those two new tracks are part of a larger session, recorded at Enamel Studios here in Omaha and mixed at world-famous Chase Park Transduction in Athens, GA, by former Reptar member Ryan Engleberger (Reptar is Ulicny’s old band, too). Some record label needs to get the horn with these folks and sign them so my prediction will come true.

By the way, the scheduled show opener, And How, was a no show, which we figured out after waiting 20 minutes for their set to start. Super disappointing. I stuck around for a couple Masonjixx songs, but had to go to work early this morning, so…

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It’s St. Patrick’s Day and what could be more traditionally Irish than to go to The Sydney in Benson tonight for hardcore punk band BIB. The band is kicking off a lengthy tour that eventually will take them to a date playing the world-famous St. Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. But you can see them here tonight for a mere $10. Glow opens at 10 p.m. No doubt green beer will be served.

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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

I’ll admit it right now: I don’t know Jon Cobb. So I reached out to my pal Brad Smith of Almost Music, who told me Mr. Cobb is a member of such notable local punk acts as Bib, Suzi-Q, Dilute and one-man act Ruby Block.

“He’s also one of the kindest, sweetest people I know,” Brad said, and let’s face it, we all know Brad is one helluva judge of character.

According to the One Percent website, Cobb also works at Reverb and The Waiting Room, so, if like me you don’t know who he is, chances are you’ve still crossed paths with him if you’re a music fan.

The reason I’m telling you this is because tonight there’s a benefit for Jon Cobb at The Waiting Room. Cobb has been in and out of the hospital and unable to work. All proceeds from this show will go toward helping pay his personal and medical expenses.

The all-star line-up for tonight’s benefit: Crease, Death Cow, Nathan Ma & the Rosettes, Effluvium, Jocko, Cult Play and Plack Blague. The fun starts at 8 p.m., entry is $10.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Among the year-end lists (or list of lists) I pay attention to is the annual Matador Records’ “Orgy of Self Congratulations,” wherein Matador artists and associates lay out what music and performances were their favorites in the past year. Matador co-founder Gerard Cosloy always ends the blog with his lists, and among his favorite recordings in 2016 was David Nance’s More Than Enough (Badabing Records). Is it a big deal? Probably not, but it is to me because I’ve always respected Cosloy’s taste in music, back to his days at Homestead Records. Check out Cosloy’s full list (and the rest of Matadors’ listings) right here.

By the way Big Thief, Saddle Creek’s biggest roster addition, also made it onto three other Matador folks’ lists. Big Thief has had a big year. Someone needs to bring them back to Omaha…

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Speaking of David Nance, Hear Nebraska announced the line-up of its 6th Annual Take Cover concert at The Waiting Room Jan. 28. This is a fundraiser where performers cover a song by another Nebraska artist and play one of their own songs to boot.

Among the participants this time is the aforementioned David Nance. Other standout acts include See Through Dresses, Mint Wad Willy and Thick Paint. More info and full line-up here.

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Nebraska band Bib has captured its share of national attention this year. Noisey did a Q&A with the band upon the release of their demos 7-inch and 5-song EP Pop on Deranged Records and ETT in Europe. They also received a brief write-up in Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll; and, of course, hit the road on tour. And they’re capping off the year with a gig at fabulous O’Leaver’s tonight.

Conny Franko, who’s had a pretty good 2016 in his own right, also is on the bill along with the super-talented Jim Schroeder (UUVVWWZ). Subtropics headline. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Lincoln’s Bien Fang (self-proclaimed grunge-pop band featuring Rachel Tomlinson Dick, Nathaniel Luginbill and Katherine Courtney Morrow) opens for Hottman Sisters at The Waiting Room. Scott Nohrenberg kicks things off at 8. $7.

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Finally, if you missed it yesterday (and many of you did), enter to win a copy of the Lazy-i Best of 2016 comp CD. The collection includes my favorite indie tunes I’ve come across throughout last year as part of my tireless work as a music critic for Lazy-i. Among those represented: Car Seat Heardrest, Sam Evian, Whitney, Big Thief, Father John Misty, A Tribe Called Quest and lots more. The full track listing is here. Entering to win a copy couldn’t be easier, either: 1. Send an email with your mailing address to tim.mcmahan@gmail.com, or 2) Write a comment on one of my Lazy-i related posts in Facebook, or 3) Retweet a Lazy-i tweet. You also can enter by sending me a direct message in Facebook or Twitter. Hurry, contest deadline is midnight Jan. 9.

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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 © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

On this Throwback Thursday, from Lazy-i, Sept. 25, 2006. Can you believe it’s been 10 years?

Finally, after months of sitting dormant, serious work has begun again on the Slowdown compound. I was surprised to see steel beginning to go up last week from my office window and felt compelled to take a few snappies as I drove by the property yesterday afternoon (see above photo). If the 24-Hour Fitness on 77th and Cass is any indication, once the steel arrives it’s only a matter of weeks before the whole damn thing is framed and walls become enclosed, and before you know it, they’ll be working on the interior. I’m hearing from various sources that one of the retail bays is now spoken for by a coffee shop, though the folks at Slowdown deny that any tenant has signed a lease. At first blush, a coffee shop seems like an ill fit for an indie music venue, offices and film house, until you realize that there will be a couple hotels right across the street (to the north, which I suspect at the rate they’re going up, will be open for business before the first band takes the Slowdown stage). I’ll continue to take pics as construction progresses. — Lazy-i, Sept. 25, 2006

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A quick note in case you have noticed it (and why would you?): In the last week or so, The Reader launched a new website design at thereader.com. This one actually makes sense, especially if you’re reading it on your phone. In addition to being easier to read, the site is responsive, which means it looks just as good on your phone as your tablet as your desktop. Take a look.

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A couple hot ones tonight…

At The Brothers Lounge, KC heavy stone band Chasm headlines with metal dudes Super Moon and one of the area’s most talked about noise-punk bands — Bib. Come see what all the hype is about. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, UK punk legends The Vibrators headline at Lookout Lounge. The full docket includes Tiananmen Squares, Buggy Lewis and The Rabbit Grenades. $8, 8 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.