Is this the album cover of the new Better Oblivion Community Center album?
That “secret” Conor Oberst/Phoebe Bridgers project — mysteriously named Better Oblivion Community Center — is the musical guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert tonight and will also appear on CBS This Morning Saturday on Jan. 26 as part of the show’s “Saturday Sessions.”
This according to Brooklyn Vegan, which added that CBS This Morning anchor Anthony Mason tweeted what appears to be the album cover last week. And a YouTube video tweeted by Oberst today indicates the new project will be announcing tour dates next week.
Tune in tonight to see who else is in the project.
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Dayton self-proclaimed jam band The Werks plays tonight at The Waiting Room. The band plays a throwback style of ‘70s prog rock mixed with funk elements and (at times) reggae beats — translated: They’re a jam band, right down to encouraging taping of shows a la The Grateful Dead. Omaha jam band Slow Stoics opens at 8 p.m.; $15.
Last week Tim Kiefer, the man behind Widmest Productions production company, which booked shows throughout Benson, at O’Leaver’s and at other venues, announced Widmest was ending after three years of operations.
“We loved doing this, but all good things must come to an end and as professionals in our late 40s with young kids, we just couldn’t give Widmest the attention it needed – and the bands and venues we work with deserve nothing but our utmost attention,” Kiefer said.
Among the acts Widmest booked are Christopher the Conquered, Clarence Tilton, Bud Bronson & The Good Timers and Cracker.
“We were able to work with one of our favorite artists for our first show, Grant Hart (in May 2015),” Kiefer said. “We had a great weekend getting to know him and the events were great. Grant was everything he was cracked up to be: generous, a bit odd, curmudgeonly, funny and genuine. It was awesome.”
Another highlight was releasing Bazile Mills’ 2015 EP Where We Are. “We’re proud of the record and being a part of the entire process was a great experience,” he said. “We didn’t really think through distribution, which was a pretty big miss, but we’re whole in the end and we have the record as proof of our efforts.
“It is cliche, but the best part truly was meeting a ton of really great people,” he added. “We learned a lot about how difficult it is to make a living in this industry (We weren’t trying to make our living through Widmest, thank God!) and how hard the artists work to try and make it. Thankfully, there are so many great musicians willing to throw their hats in the ring. In the end, we remain huge fans of a wide range of artists and we look forward to going back to just enjoying the fruits of others’ labors!”
Are there any local promoters left outside of One Percent Productions that book indie shows in Omaha?
Within the past month, Conor Oberst and Team Love have been connected to a viral promotion for Better Oblivion Community Center, which may or may not be the name of a new music project. Brooklyn Vegan reported that BOCC may be connected to a collaborative project involving Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers, who already have a history of working together.
I guess we’ll have to wait until next Wednesday, Jan. 23, to find out. That’s the date of BOCC’s “launch party” according to the message that plays when you call the number on the brochure…
Back in olden days of yore, artists released 45s of their latest songs, and if they were good (or if certain people got paid) those songs got played on the radio and became hit singles. After releasing a few singles, the record company would compile those singles into an album. Great idea.
Then in the mid-’60s acts like The Beatles and The Beach Boys started releasing full albums of new material and the so-called “album era” began. The advent of online digital technology has eroded the album concept, at least with popular music. Nowadays, kids download or stream the songs they want, and place them into playlists with other singles.
It’s a shift that, in some ways, could help artists, especially up-and-coming acts who in the past assumed they had to wait and release an entire album before they started playing new songs or tour. I like the idea of bands, especially local bands, releasing two- or three-song singles every few months. It gives me a reason to go see them again and again rather than seeing the same band play the same material for a full year between albums, choosing to hold back on the new stuff until they get into the studio again.
(How many times have I heard “Wait ’til you hear our new stuff,” or “We have another whole album written,” and then been told I have to wait until the music is recorded, only for the band to never get around to releasing it because they don’t have the cash or time to get an entire album put together?)
All of that is a long way of saying it’s nice to see an artist like Conor Oberst release a new two-song single, which he did last night. “No One Changes” b/w “The Rockaways” is available for pre-order from Oberst’s bandcamp page as a 7-inch or can be streamed for free or downloaded for a fee right now. Vinyl singles give fans something they can collect, or they can wait and see if the songs will be included on a future album, just like they did it in the old days.
It’s also nice to hear a couple new songs dropped into his set the next time Conor rolls into town, which right now is Nov. 17, opening for John Prine at The Orpheum. Get your tix now.
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Got those post-election blues? Look, we didn’t get everything we wanted, but we got some of what we needed, right?
Well either celebrate and/or drink your troubles away tonight at Pageturners Lounge where NYC act Poppies (w/ Noah from Navy Gang) plays with headliner Nathan Ma. Putter & Co. open at 9, and this one’s free.
Fisherman’s Blues, Chad Leahy, 12″ x 12″ oil on board. Based on The Waterboys’ song. See all 12 song interpretations tonight at The Little Gallery. #BFF
Pre-election weekend. We’re all tense. Let’s relax with some music and art before we head to the polls.
Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Mountain Man, a project I hadn’t heard of until I saw the listing on the One Percent website. It’s a trio of women who sing a cappella or with acoustic guitar, lots of harmonies and a hint of Appalachia. Among the trio is Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath. Their latest album, Magic Ship, was released on Nonesuch in September and garnered a 7.6 in Pitchfork. Durham, NC act The Dead Tongues opens at 9 p.m. $22.
In case you’ve forgotten, it’s Benson First Friday (#BFF).
As always, I implore you to drop by our gallery, The Little Gallery, located in the east bay of the Masonic Lodge Building at 5901 Maple St. This month’s featured artists are Chad Leahy and Jennifer Solberg.
Solberg has created amazing homemade books you have to see to believe. Leahy has created 12 oil paintings inspired by 12 songs that have impacted his life. It’s kind of like one of those Facebook list posts, where you have to name 12 songs you can’t live without, but done up in oil paints. Here’s his visual playlist:
Down in a Hole – Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
Square Room – Cowboy Junkies
Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd
Cynthia Mask – Robyn Hitchcock
Fisherman’s Blues – The Waterboys
Lips Like Sugar – Echo and the Bunnymen
Etcetera Whatever – Over the Rhine
River on Fire – Adam Again
End of the Maze – CLOSENESS
Lullaby – The Cure
Cuts You Up – Peter Murphy
Nothing Compares 2 U – Chris Cornell
See how Chad interpreted each song on canvas, from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight. It’s free and we’ll have Pacifico and treats on hand. See you there.
As per usual, The Sydney is in BFF mode with a show featuring Black Jonny Quest, Hussies, Sweats and Dorsia. $5, 10 p.m.
Also tonight, Darren Keen (The Show Is the Rainbow) returns to fabulous O’Leaver’s opening for DAD. Articulate also is on the bill. $7, 10 p.m.
The weekend’s big show is Those Far Out Arrows’ album release show at The Brothers Saturday night, which you read about here. Opening is Tyrone Storm and Rusty Lord. $5, 9 p.m.
Good ol’ O’Leaver’s has CatBeret Saturday (Caturday?) night. The Morbs and Heather Horst open. $5, 10 p.m.
Then comes Sunday’s big Get Out the Vote gig with Conor Oberst at The B Bar, the club located under Barrett’s Castle at 4330 Leavenworth. Kara Eastman for Congress is putting on this show, which also features MiWi La Lupa and Edem Soul Music. The rally runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and suggested donation is $20.
And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.
Apologies for not mentioning last night’s get-out-the-vote program at The Sydney (something came up). From what I’ve read in social media, it sounds like it went over well, though I’m told there were some notable no-shows by politicians.
There’s another voter rally coming up, this time at The B. Bar, 4330 Leavenworth St. (the old Castle Barrett), and Conor Oberst will be among the performers. It’s a couple days before the election, Nov. 4. Also on the bill are Miwi La Lupa and Edem Soul Music according to Kevin’s article in the OWH.
The event is sponsored by Kara Eastman, who is running against Don “Frying Pan” Bacon (I don’t know if that’s his real nick-name; I only know him from his frying pan ads. Is that a wrought-iron skillet, Mr. Bacon?).
Elections are 19 days away, people.
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Dark. Majestic. Metal. Omaha 4-piece rock band Pro Magnum released a new 3-song 7-inch opus earlier this month designed to fry your head off.
The band consists of Alex Kinnerk, guitar; John Laughlin, guitar; Pat Oakes, drums and frontman John Vredenburg on bass and vocals. Recorded and mixed by Ben Brodin at the world-famous ARC Studios, the 7-inch also features eye-burning artwork by Devin Ferguson.
This is some heavy shit, but its crazy melodic. If you’re a Maiden/Priest devotee, you’re in luck. Get your copy of “Knight Speed” b/w “Easy to Sin” at Max Trax Records.
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The first song from the upcoming Those Far Out Arrows album, Part Time Lizards (2018, High Dive Records), dropped Oct. 10. The track “Be Alright” is “an acknowledgment of the fact that not everything will work out the way you intended, but in the end works just fine; it’s all up to you,” said band member Evan Keelan White in this New Noise article.
The Arrows are in the middle of a lengthy U.S. tour, playing tonight in Lafayette on their way back to Omaha for a gig at O’Leaver’s Oct. 25. You can pre-order the new album, which comes out Nov. 2, from the High Dive Bandcamp page.
Singer/songwriter Jeremy Mercy plays at The Barley Street Tavern tonight with Ian Lund. 9 p.m. and free!
Jenny Eliscu, one of the primary hosts at Sirius XMU and a Rolling Stone contributing editor, has a podcast in iTune, and the latest episode/entry (not sure what you call it in podcast speak?) is an interview with Conor Oberst conducted back in March. Conor takes Eliscu for a stroll down memory lane, recapping his very early days, including his first recordings, his work with Commander Venus and the origins of Bright Eyes and (presumably) Lumberjack/Saddle Creek Records.
It’s interesting stuff, especially the talk about early Grass Records artists, that label, and Conor’s relationship with Grass Records’ owner Alan Meltzer. Toward the end of the interview Oberst describes how Meltzer let him out of a multi-record contract with Grass when Commander Venus broke up, apparently because Conor reminded Meltzer of his son, who had recently passed away. Imagine if Meltzer hadn’t let Oberst out of that deal and Bright Eyes wound up on Wind Up, alongside Creed. Would there have even been a Saddle Creek Records?
Decemberists are returning to The Holland Center tonight. I saw them on the Holland stage back in 2011 and it was a good time, or as good a time as you can have in the rather sterile confines of The Holland. Canadians Kacy and Clayton (New West Records) open at 7:30. Tix are still available for $50-$60.
Meanwhile, over at Reverb Lounge Portland act Sunbathe headlines. The band is headed by Maggie Morris, formerly of Genders and Youth, and includes members of Typhoon. I’m sure those bands are all well known… in Portland. Just like openers Bokr Tov and Sean Pratt and the Sweats are well known in our little burg. $10, 8 p.m.
Sarasota band Pleasures plays tonight at The Sydney in Benson. In a review of their 2016 O’Leaver’s show I said, “The music dripped in a haze of buzzing distortion cut through by a top-notch rhythm section that kept things grounded and rocking.” Tonight’s show is supposedly in 3-D and glasses will be provided (unless it’s some sort of cruel joke). Opening is Universe Contest and red-hot Omaha band Jason Steady and the Soft Ponies. $5, 10 p.m.
A few more notes on last weekend’s Maha Music Festival, but first…
I apologize for yesterday’s review, which was rife with tacos — whoops, I meant TYPOS. No excuse except that the 2,700 words were written in one long jag Sunday night, and I don’t have an editor. I fixed what I found. Reread at your leisure. Also check out The Reader‘s coverage of the big show…
Onward…
Rachel Grace, who is handling Maha’s publicity, reported the following attendance numbers:
Friday: 6,500
Saturday: 7,800
“That makes Saturday among the most well-attended single days to date,” she said. But is it biggest one-day in Maha history? Apparently, no.
Last year’s one-day event came in at just over 8,500 in attendance. I don’t have the numbers, but 2016 (Passion Pit) was a down year. On the other hand 2015 (Modest Was) was officially a “sell out” year, but that only means 6,000 tickets were sold; which doesn’t equate to overall attendance.
I’ve asked Rachel for more data.
That said, 2018 will go down as the most attended Maha Festival ever with 14,300 total attendees over both days. Did their Friday night experiment work? Will it be repeated? We’ll have to wait and see.
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New music Tuesday…
Mitch Gettman, Some Purgatory (2018, bandcamp)
Mitch Gettman has a new album coming out Sept. 15 titled Some Purgatory. The LP is available for pre-order now via Bandcamp and iTunes. The first single, “No One on Your Side,” dropped last week.
I have to assume the album artwork (a shot looking toward downtown Omaha along Dodge St.), combined with the album title, is a comment on our fair city?
BTW, Gettman tells me he moved to Denver a couple months ago with his girlfriend, but he’ll be back for Farnam Fest Sept. 15.
The new track by Conor Oberst, written (or released) in conjunction with the new movie Juliet, Naked, already is in the top-10 of Sirius XMU’s Download 15.
The song, an unreleased demo called “LAX,” is covered by Ethan Hawke in the film (btw, the book, by Nick Hornby, is pretty good; the film looks iffy…).
Of the two version, the Oberst demo blows away Hawke’s rock version, which actually, just blows. You be the judge.
Finally, Black Belt Eagle Scout, the latest signing to Saddle Creek Records, is dropping singles from their upcoming Creek debut, Mother of My Children (which is actually a re-release from tiny Good Cheer Records). The album drops Sept. 14. Black Belt Eagle Scout is the moniker of Portland-based songwriter Katherine Paul.
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Seminal ’00s indie band Pedro the Lion plays tonight at The Waiting Room. It’s been years since the band, headed by singer/songwriter David Bazan, has played together. Expect a more ferocious sound than what you usually get from a Bazan solo set. To get an idea what they’ll be playing, here’s the setlist from Pedro’s Aug. 18 show in Newport, KY. And before you go, read the July 2000 Lazy-i interview with Bazan, just for fun. Merge Records artist H.C. McEntire (front woman of band Mount Moriah) opens at 8 p.m. $20
Comments Off on Maha official attendance numbers; new music Tuesday (Black Belt Eagle Scout, Mitch Gettman, Oberst); Pedro the Lion, H.C. McEntire tonight…
On this Throwback Thursday (#TBT), from the blog 10 years ago:
Conor Oberst charts at No. 15, The Faint at No. 45… – Aug. 13, 2008 –
So how did Conor Oberst and The Faint do in their first week’s sales of their new albums? Here’s the skinny by way of Homer’s General Manager Mike Fratt:
Conor Oberst’s self-titled album sold 28,546 copies last week, plus 354 copies prior to street date for a total of 28,918 copies. That’s good enough for the album to chart at No. 15 on Billboard. Conor Oberst also was the No. 3 best-selling download on iTunes, moving 9,941 digital units.
The Faint’s Fasciinatiion sold 11,333 last week, plus 222 copies before street date for a total of 11,584 copies — good enough to claim the No. 45 position on the Billboard charts. Fasciinatiion also was the No. 15 best-selling download on iTunes, moving 3,250 digital units.
FYI, digital downloads are included in the overall total sales number. Thanks again to Mr. Fratt for the data. Overall, an impressive first week by both artists. I think you could see both albums continue to climb the charts, but especially Fasciinatiion, which has had less pre-release media attention, and is only now getting the notice it deserves.
And the original reviews from the Lazy-i posted a week later:
Conor Oberst, self-titled (2008, Merge)
Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst (2008, Merge) — It differs from Bright Eyes in its more minimal production, though it’s far from stripped down (just Mogis-less). Song wise, it’s not a stretch at all, though Oberst does seem more relaxed, even resolved to his stricken condition of being ordained the rambling “voice of his generation.” Call him that if you want to; he’s not listening. Unlike Lifted or Wide Awake, there’s no need to block off your afternoon or give it your undivided attention to enjoy it. Like he says on album opener “Cape Canaveral”: “There’s no worries, who’s got time?” No one, Conor, no one. And while there’s nothing as striking as, say, “Lua” or “Waste of Paint” or “I Must Belong Somewhere,” it has its moments of absolute clarity, including country stomper “I Don’t Want to Die (in the Hospital)” and rock anthem “Souled Out!!!” Oberst is too smart to do either. Rating: 4 stars.
The Faint, Fasciinatiion (2008, blank.wav)
The Faint, Faciinatiion (2008, blank .wav) — It’s no wonder that the album’s best song, “The Geeks Were Right,” also is the most straightforward and least dependent on technology to “make it sound different.” You see, I like frontman Todd Fink’s voice just the way it is. And with all of the electronic bleep-blooping going on elsewhere, Dapose’s opening guitar riff feels downright organic. But a straight-up rock band is not what the throngs of stylish, sweaty youth are looking for. Give them the robot-voiced dance machine with its dense bass and thump-thump-thump rhythms. They want to bounce, not think. What are they singing about? Who cares as long as there’s a thick-ass beat and plenty of strobes. Which makes me wonder what would happen if these guys stepped away from the synths, vocoders and effects pedals and picked up traditional instruments once again. They could be that great rock band we’ve all been waiting for, if they wanted to be. But they never will, not now, not when they don’t have to. With a slew of classics already in their quiver, it makes you wonder why they even bother making new CDs in the first place. Rating: 3 stars.
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Tonight at Lookout Lounge Portland doom-metal band Witch Mountain headlines. When it comes to the grind, they’ll have stiff competition from opener Ocean Black, Omaha’s stoner-rock satans. Super Moon is also on the bill. $12, 7 p.m.
This being Conor Oberst’s birthday (he’s 38 today, whoda thought?), and with nothing else going on, here’s a TBT item from Lazy-i from way back on Feb. 15, 2005. Back then, Bright Eyes national TV appearances were still very much a novelty, and YouTube didn’t exist to post the shows online the following day. If you wanted to watch them after-the-fact, you had to have a TiVo, which I just happened to own back in the day…
Anywhere, here’s the Lazy-i write-up the day after, written 13 years ago….
Bright Eyes on the Late Late Show… – Lazy-i, Feb. 15, 2005
I TiVo’d Bright Eyes on the Late Late Show last night. What happened to Craig Kilborn? He turned into an unfunny, geeky Irish guy in a bad suit. To be honest with you, I hated Kilborn’s snarky approach and was happy to see him go. But who is this guy? What the hell? I guess he’s kind of charming with his I-don’t-know-what-I’m-doing schtick. Especially when he’s talking about Bright Eyes:
“I’m a big fan of the Bright Eyes. The American kids look to me for their musical tastes, and I have to say, ‘Bright Eyes, that’s my tip for the tour.'” A lot of what Craig Ferguson says doesn’t make sense. He could be Scottish. His next comment confirmed it. He said Bright Eyes is really just Conor Oberst, and compared BE to Scottish band Aztec Camera, saying that band was basically just Roddy Frame. “There was no Aztecs or cameras or anything. So when he gets out here I’m going to ask ‘Are you Conor or Bright Eyes?'”
Before that, though, was Jane Seymour and the bastard responsible for writing that over-glorified piece of shit called Million Dollar Baby – not exactly A-list guests. If you don’t have TiVo, really, consider picking one up. Then: “Please welcome Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes!” They played “Road to Joy,” a good choice, though I’m sure it frightened a lot of people in the Heartland. Conor smashed a guitar, Nate Walcott smashed his trumpet (I’m not kidding). It was very noisy. The mix was pretty bad.
And then, lo and behold, Conor did his first sit-down interview after a performance. So are you Bright Eyes or Conor Oberst? “Mike Mogis is the other person in the band.” Was anyone hurt during the destruction? “Everyone’s fine, I think.” Are you okay for cash? “That was an extremely expensive guitar I smashed.” You rock. I love your work. I’m reading you’re the new Bob Dylan. Do you like that? “There’s worse things to be called. I don’t see it myself, personally.” Who else is an influence? (I think that’s what he asked. Ferguson mumbles a lot.) “Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, Simon Joyner.”
Conor was funny with his shy-guy stutter, but he looked like he couldn’t wait to get out of that leather chair. Next up is Leno on May 3. I doubt that Oberst will be doing any chatting afterward on that one. Oberst is playing three sold-out nights at The Orpheum while he’s in L.A.– Lazy-i, Feb. 15, 2005
Catching up on some news, fans of Saddle Creek Records band Sorry About Dresden take note that Eric Roehrig’s follow-up band, Erie Choir, has a new album out.
Some background: After a pair of self-released EP’s and a few lineup changes, Sit-n-Spin Records released Slighter Awake in 2006; 11 years later the follow up, Old Rigs, was released on Potluck Records last month.
The album is a solid collection of folk-rock reminiscent of classic Big Star. The lyrics are a reflection of the trials and tribulations of band life. According to the one-sheet: “In 2016, Roehrig and drummer James Hepler’s long-time Sorry About Dresden bandmate Matt Oberst passed away. While all the songs on Old Rigs were written prior to his death, the album’s meditation on friendship and loss serve in some small way as a tribute to their friend.”
LA singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers released a new video for the single “Would You Rather,” a duet with Conor Oberst that appears on her latest album, Stranger in the Alps (2017, Dead Oceans). Conor shows up in the video dressed in cowboy gear and does a weird hoe-down dance that’s oddly inappropriate considering the songs’ somewhat dark lyrics. Fun!
Bridgers was just featured last week in a glowing LA Times profile and is headed out on a massive world tour in February that brings her to fabulous O’Leaver’s April 7.
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