Pro-Magnum at O’Leaver’s, March 9, 2013. The band celebrates the release of a new 7-inch tonight at O’Leaver’s.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Following up on yesterday’s blog entry about the demolition of the Omaha Civic Auditorium, it brings up the question: Why doesn’t Omaha get arena shows like it used to, or at least any good arena shows?

In fact, the term “Nomaha” has become a thing lately — the word signifies another fantastic tour that has been announced with no Omaha date, i.e., Nomaha. In the old days, back in the ’70s and ’80s, Omaha was known as a rock town and was a recognized tour stop for most arena-rock tours. Styx, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Yes, Boston all those classic rock bands they now play on Z-92 played at the Civic Auditorium. There’s a reason why Grand Funk name-checked Omaha in “We’re an American Band.”

When was the last time you saw a good concert at CenturyLink? The most recent arena rock show that comes to mind was that Ozzy Osborne tour kick-off. No one plays CenturyLink except shiny, crappy children’s acts like Bieber and Taylor Swift, pick-up truck country stars or has-been legacy acts. If you want to see a “larger-drawing” quality modern rock band, you’re very likely going to have to drive to Kansas City, Denver or Minneapolis because they rarely stop in Omaha any more.

Part of it is a change in rock music styles — music just ain’t the same as it was 30 years ago and probably never will be again. That said, there are plenty of arena acts still out there I’d like to see. Off the top of my head: LCD Sound System, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Beck, Tame Impala, add your favorite to the list. A quick check shows that through the balance of the year CenturyLink has two concerts scheduled: Jimmy Buffett and Def Leppard. That’s it.

So why, when it comes to arena shows, has Omaha become fly-over (or drive-by) country? I haven’t a clue. Could it be that MECA doesn’t know what its doing? Could it be the cost and/or hassle associated with CenturyLink? Could it be the prominence of the festival circuit cuts down on available dates? Could it be that Omaha simply can’t draw a crowd large enough to justify booking these high-dollar ticket acts?

Look, we’re lucky we get the small- and mid-sized indie shows we do get, thanks to 1% Productions and Perpetual Nerves. And some larger shows do make it to Stir Cove and Sumter. I guess I’m just nostalgic about the old Civic Auditorium days…

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Speaking of arena-quality rock bands, tonight an act that would have been right at home at the Civic Auditorium is taking the stage at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Of course I’m talking about Pro-Magnum, who tonight celebrates the release of their new single, “Desinfectar” b/w “Black Iron Tongue” (which you can hear and buy digitally right here). Also on the bill is Des Moines psych-metal band Druids (described as being influenced by metal behemoths such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Mastodon). Local doom rockers Super Moon opens. $5, 9:30 p.m. Pick up  the vinyl while you can.

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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

This week’s column in The Reader is last week’s blog entry about the Civic Auditorium and The CLink, with some slight modifications. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here.

Not much else is going on news-wise as everyone (myself included) gets ready for SXSW. We’ll be seeing a few bands play through Omaha on their way to Austin. I’ll post those gigs before they happen.

Speaking of gigs, there’s yet another Johnny Cash Tribute night, this time being held at The Barley Street Tavern tonight. You can see the full line-up here. The ring of fire gets lit at 9 p.m. and the cover is $5.

Also tonight, Omaha C&W band The Electroliners opens for 24 Hour Cardlock at Slowdown Jr. Also on the bill are Vago and Banana Shadow. $5, 9 p.m.

Finally, it’s the next installment in Film Streams’ Hitchcock 9 Silents in Concert Repertory Series featuring the silent films of Alfred Hitchcock brought to life sonically by live musicians. Tonight it’s the 1927 film Easy Virtue featuring live music by Ben Brodin. Tickets are $12 general; $10 students and $8 for Film Streams members. The curtain rises at 7 p.m. Find out more here.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The inside of the Omaha Civic Auditorium.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I am perhaps singularly alone in my disdain for MECA and the City of Omaha for first mothballing the Civic Auditorium from hosting any large concerts and now “selling” it. My disdain is (admittedly) a product of personal nostalgia, as well as loathing for The CenturyLink Center.

Yes, I saw a lot of concerts at the Civic during the heyday of “festival seating,” back when you showed up with your general admission ticket and chanted “Open the Fucking Doors! Open the Fucking Doors!” for 20 minutes while waiting to get in.

Concerts attended include the usual ’80s arena monsters — Styx, Kansas, The Cars, Journey, Van Halen and on and on. The concert experience as a whole was much funner back then. After they did open those fucking doors, you’d run in, get your seat and watch the madness going on down below. Yes, the floor, that concrete slab where people sat in circles and smoked dope as a fleet of multi-colored Frisbees glided through the smokehaze over their heads. Everyone was loaded because everyone snuck booze in. The hour leading up to the concert was as much fun as the concert itself.

But then came the concert. Say what you will about the run-down condition of the Civic and the fact that MECA and the city “let it go” after they built the great while elephant called The CLink, but I can’t remember ever having a bad seat during a concert there, no matter how far up I sat or how far back. With a capacity of only around 9,000, the Civic simply wasn’t that big, though it seemed mammoth at the time. The sound quality, well, it’s exactly what you expected from an arena show — loud as hell.

Skip this if you’ve heard this one before, but I’ve been to three concerts at The CLink — Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen and The Who — all were miserable experiences both in sight and sound quality. I did have the privledge of seeing Neil Young from one of the CLink’s corporate boxes, but even that was a detached experience. I’ve had seats on the floor, on the side, in the back, no matter where I sat the sightlines sucked. The facility’s layout is simply flawed for concert-going.

Even sporting events are a drag at The CLink, at least compared to seeing them at the Civic, where it felt like you were at an E*V*E*N*T rather than an event. UNO hockey — hands down a more exciting experience at The Civic than The CLink. My caveat here: I haven’t been to a Creighton Basketball game at CLink, which I’m told is rather exciting, and I never will since I loathe Creigton’s athletic programs.

As the Civic sat empty in the distance these past few years, I couldn’t help but wonder what we were missing. Surely there is a plethora of concerts not big enough to book at CLinck but the right size for a 9,000-seat arena. When I read that the Civic “has not kept pace in booking events” (as if the structure could book itself) and that it posted a loss of $197,000 last year I wonder whose fault that was. Maybe if MECA had actually tried to book the facility they might have made some money. But they don’t want to pull attention away from their white elephant, which sits across the street from that other white elephant of a baseball park that only gets used three weeks a year.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people who shake their fist at the sky every time an old building gets sold and torn down. If the business is losing money and the building isn’t “historical” then the owner has a right to sell it to someone who thinks they can do better in their space. Venice Inn is a good  example — if you loved the place so much, you should have eaten there more often.  I ate there a couple times a year, and I’ll miss it and its salad bar, but I can’t blame the family for getting out while the getting’s good.

Ah well, maybe it’s time for the Civic to go, too. UNO is building a new right-sized arena for its hockey and there’s always the Ralston Arena if someone can figure out a way to book it. And besides, the bands I listen to these days don’t play in arenas, and probably never will… When the wrecking ball finally comes I’ll say thanks for the memories, Civic as it joins Aksarben Coliseum and Racetrac, Peony Park and the Indian Hills Theater in that great old-fashioned Omaha up in the sky…

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.