by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Didn’t get tickets to tonight’s Faint concert at The Waiting Room before it sold out weeks ago? Me, neither. Tickets were available at Stubhub.com for just north of $200 per ticket yesterday. 

Why wasn’t this concert held at The Admiral, Astro or any other venue larger than The Waiting Room? It’s tough to say. Both Admiral and Astro are available tonight. I’m guessing it was a joint decision by the band and the booker – 1% Productions – but still, it’s a head-scratcher. In the past, The Faint have played capacity shows at Sokol Auditorium – now called The Admiral – and based on the quick sell out, would have had not problem filling the old South Omaha ballroom again. Plack Blague and Jeff in Leather open tonight’s show at 8 p.m.

So, out of luck? Well, don’t fret. There are other things going on while all your friends are at The Faint concert. Among them is a concert just around the corner at Reverb Lounge headlined by California-based singer/songwriter Marlon Funaki. His dreamy style of guitar-driven indie pop appears to be entirely self-released, and despite not having record-label suport still has nearly a million monthly Spotify listeners. Is it the power of TikTok? I don’t know because I don’t have TikTok. Omaha newcomer Sand opens this show at 8 p.m.   $17.

Also tonight, Omaha’s indie folk orchestra, Midwest Dilemma, headlines at Slowdown’s front room. Joining them are Justin Bloss and Matt Cox. $12, 7 p.m. 

Back to tonight’s sold-out Faint concert… 

It’s surprising how the show sold out so quickly considering their tour isn’t supporting new music, but reissues of albums that came out literally decades ago. Here’s the setlist for their March 31 show at The Taft Theatre in Cincinnati, which they no doubt will replicate on stage tonight. It’s a well-balanced selection that includes songs from throughout their post-Media career, including a few nice dives into the under-appreciated 2019 album, Egowerks. 

I’ve heard and seen all these songs performed before (in some cases, over a dozen times). What will the band pull out of their hats to make this different than past shows? Likely nothing, as The Faint is one of those established acts that can continue to tour on the strength of their old material ad infinitum. I

The band isn’t not alone. Bright Eyes and Cursive — the other two jewels in the Nebraska/Saddle Creek triple crown of indie superstars — could also rest on their laurels and tour just playing past “hits,” but instead both bands continue to write, record and preform new music. 

They’re even finding ways to reinvent it. 

This past Monday, the bands released a “mash-up” track that combines BE’s “Lover I Don’t Have to Love” and Cursive’s “The Recluse.” The cleverly produced “Recluse I Don’t Have to Love” has been written about in just about every online publication that covers indie music. 

From the write-up included on the track’s Bandcamp page: 

“Best bud Carly (spouse to Cursive’s Matt Maginn) pointed out the musical hook and libertine similarities between (‘Lover I Don’t Have to Love’’s) lyrics, and ‘The Recluse’ by her husband’s band. For years it was an inside joke – ‘should we make a mashup, just for fun?’  And on the eve of Bright Eyes’ North American tour with Cursive, the Kash-up mashup dream has become a reality.  And it weirdly works.  Carly was right.”

The track is available from both Bright Eyes’ and Cursive’s bandcamp pages and judging by the “supported by” tiles, they’ve sold a shit-ton of copies. All profits from the song will benefit the Poison Oak Project, Bright Eyes’ 501C3 non-profit dedicated to advancing equity for LGBTQ+ people, with a particular focus on supporting the trans community.

One has to wonder if they’ll try to perform the mash-up when the two bands play April 27 at The Astro. I think if they do, it should happen during Cursive’s set, as of the two tracks, “The Recluse” has the upper hand with around 16 million plays in Spotify vs. “Lover’s” 12 million. And besides, all Conor would have to do is walk out and sing it.  By the way, you may want to buy your tickets to that one now before it also sells out…

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Ambitious fans of the band Cursive who attended both nights of their two-night stand at The Waiting Room this weekend were rewarded with two very different sets.

In addition to playing (only) four songs from the new album, Devourer, (including personal fave “Dark Star,”), Saturday night’s 19-song set spanned the full Cursive catalog, reaching back to their ’97 album Such Blinding Starts for Starving Eyes (“Downhill Racers”), through 2018’s Vitriola (a sublime rendition of “It’s Gonna Hurt”) as well as the usual hits (“The Martyr,” “Dorothy at Forty,” “From the Hips”). 

If you didn’t hear your favorite Saturday night, you might have heard it Friday night, when the band switched things up and played hits “Staying Alive,” “Sink to the Beat” and “The Lament of Pretty Baby,” among others. In all, the band performed 30 different songs over two nights, and still left off some favorites (“The Casualty,” “Big Bang,” “Remorse” (my personal favorite, anyway)). 

I’m not surprised frontman Tim Kasher can remember all the words to all those songs; however, I can’t understand how drummer Pat Oakes remembered every fill, flourish and slight rhythm change, especially since he’s relatively new to the band. Ah, but Oakes — like most of us in the audience — grew up listening to Cursive. Still… that’s a heavy lift, and Oakes was a standout Saturday night. 

So was cellist Megan Siebe, who provided vocals whether the songs called for them or not, singing along throughout the entire set with eyes firmly shut, head a blur hidden beneath her long hair that hung down over her strings. If Kasher is the busiest person in show business (He just sold a feature film that he wrote and directed), Siebe is the second busiest as a full-time member of Neva Dinova (fantastic new album!) as well as writing and recording her own material. 

Cursive veterans Matt Maginn and Ted Stevens remain the band’s bedrock (Ted was in fine voice and had me wondering about the next Mayday performance). Versatile Patrick Newbery seamlessly switched between trumpet and keyboards all night, and killed, as per usual.

At the heart of it all was the ageless Kasher, who put his soul into every song whether howling out a classic like “The Martyr” or a new one like “Botch Job.” He, along with this band, hasn’t lost a step in all the years I’ve been watching them – and it’s been a lot of years.

Stephen Pedersen and his band, Criteria, also has been at it for a long time. Despite an impressive catalog of songs that stretches back more than 20 years (Debut album En Garde was released in 2003), the band has their eyes firmly focused on the future, as evidenced by having played seven new, unreleased songs when they opened for Cursive Saturday night.

Each song sounded like classic Criteria, many of them swinging on an iconic 3/4 or 6/8 waltz time that forced listeners to sway to the beat as if balancing on a ship’s deck in rough waters. The new songs are love-inspired anthems, with lines like “My head / your heart,” “You make me whole”  and “Stay, at least today.”  Pedersen’s songs of devotions were quite a contrast to Kasher’s angst-filled midlife confessions. 

When Criteria finished auditioning the new material, they switched back to an older number that, quite frankly, felt stodgy and flat in comparison. Ah, but the energy returned by the time they got to perennial crowd-pleaser and (let’s face it, theme song) “Prevent the World,” which sounded much like it did the first time I heard them sing it nearly 20 years ago. 

So what will become of this new Criteria material? One assumes it’ll be recorded and released, but by which record label? Cursive, whose new album was released by Run for Cover Records, seems to have walked away from the label they run – 15 Passenger Records – who released Criteria’s last LP. Could a return to Saddle Creek be in the making for Criteria? The Creek could be so lucky…

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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

A common questions being bandied about by indie music fans this weekend: Which Cursive show are you going to?

Omaha legends Cursive are playing two shows – tonight and tomorrow night — at The Waiting Room in support of their new album, Devourer (2024, Run for Cover), which is (imho) their best album since 2009’s Mama, I’m Swollen. Full review here. 

Playing both nights are tour mates, Philly post-punk band Gladie, whose last full-length, Don’t Know What You’re in Until You’re Out, was released in 2022 on Plum Records. The four-piece is led by ex-Cayetana member Augusta Koch and includes Pat Conaboy (ex-Spirit of the Beehive). Definitely worth getting there early.

Tonight (Friday), Little Brazil has the honors of opening the show. For Saturday night, that honor falls on Criteria, who I’m told will be trying out a handful of new songs during their set (along with their usual greatest hits). 

Both shows start at 8 p.m. and will run you $30. Neither has sold out as of this writing. Choose wisely, or better yet – go to both!

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Other than those Cursive shows, there ain’t a shit-ton going on tonight or tomorrow, though Saturday, Indiana alt-rock band Houndmouth plays Slowdown’s main room. They’re big festival draws (or so I’m told) and this one’s already sold out. 8 p.m. 

Ah, but Sunday night, Los Angeles band Color Green plays at Grapefruit Records. One of the band’s two core members – Noah Kohll – is a post-Omaha veteran of the Antiquarium/Almost Music/Grapefruit Records scene. They played a knockout gig at Reverb this past March.  

Opening for Color Green Sunday night is Simon Joyner, whose new band, Simon Joyner and The Bells, includes some very familiar names: James Maakstad, Sean Pratt, Margot Erlandson and Tanner Rogerson. 

Joyner’s new album, Coyote Butterfly, which drops Nov. 22, is his first collection of new material in two years. He’ll be playing a couple dates in Arizona and LA in November before he heads to Europe for a tour in 2025. Here’s a chance to get a sneak preview of the new album (and band). 7 p.m., $10. 

Also Sunday night, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy Is headlining at The Admiral with Elizabeth Moen. $40-$75. This is a seated show and starts at 7:30. 

One last show of note: Singer/songwriter Taylor Hollingsworth, who you might remember from Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, is in town recording the new Las Cruxes album at ARC. He’s taking some time away from the knobs to play a show Sunday night at Pageturners Lounge. Jack McLaughlin opens this FREE show at 8 p.m.

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

I began to lose touch with Tim Kasher and Cursive sometime after I Am Gemini came out in 2012 – a record I own on vinyl and have listened to only a few times and almost never all the way through – just a very difficult listen. Then came Vitriola in 2018 that included maybe my favorite Kasher-penned song of the past decade or so — the wholly ignored “Remorse,” that was never released as a single despite its jaw-dropping beauty. Then came Get Fixed in 2019, which I can’t remember having listened to (though I know I did). 

Within that same timeframe, The Good Life (another Kasher-penned project) released Everybody’s Coming Down (in 2015) and Kasher released three solo outings – Adult Film (2013) (with the infectious single “A Raincloud is a Raincloud”; No Resolution (2017), and most recently, Middling Age (2022), with the delectable “I Don’t Think About You.” 

Kasher also created a Patreon website, which I don’t subscribe to. He’s prolific, to say the least. But despite this, I’m not aware of any song from any of the above albums receiving airplay on Sirius XMU or any other national channel. Kasher has reached a point in his career where he can keep releasing albums year after year and his core fans will continue to buy them (or stream them) and show up when he rolls through town. 

Conversely – or whatever – Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes, who shared the national limelight with Kasher/Cursive and The Faint in the 2000s, continues to be heard on Sirius XMU with or without Phoebe Bridgers singing on the track. Is it a matter of fame or quality that drives XMU programmers to choose one over the other? I cannot say. 

So, to those Sirius XMU programmers – or maybe just Jenny Eliscu: Give Cursive’s latest album, Devourer, a chance, if only for the obvious pop songs, which I’ll get to in a minute. 

Devourer, which comes out Sept. 13 on the band’s new label, Run for Cover Records, is a throwback of sorts to the kind of records the band made 20 or so years ago, circa Happy Hollow, The Ugly Organ and, yes, Domestica. The band, which has now ballooned to seven members, while every bit as pounding and “angular” as you remember, has never sounded more properly structured, which is a stupid way of saying the songs are more focused, more compact, more self-contained vs. the too-often meandering complications of the past couple decades. 

That said, Devourer isn’t a “pop” album by any means. Cursive/Kasher albums are typically concept in nature, and this one is no exception. The core idea: Accept living with bitterness, dissolution and regret as you wallow in middle age, angry that all those wrong decisions you made along the way will now doom you to disappointment as your remaining years slip away. 

Kasher is the king of self-revelatory navel-gazing, and whether he denies it or not, you have to believe the bitterness in these songs were born of personal experience. That, or he’s the king of make believe. 

The album jumps out of the gate with a trio of hard-rocking bummers. “Botch Job” and “Up and Away” underscore a life wasted, whereas “The Avalanche of Our Demise” bemoans mankind’s perceived apathy toward impending catastrophe – whether from climate change or (from Kasher’s West Coast vantage point) an inevitable earthquake that drops California into the sea. “At the beginning of the end / Will you run and hide / Or sleep in?” It’s a message that may resonate more clearly with a Z Generation stuck with the task of fixing the rest of the alphabet’s mistakes… or suffering for them.

The follow-up track, “Imposturing,” acknowledges that Kasher (and you) might be getting tired of the complaints, but hey, it’s a living: “No one wants to listen to sins / Regurgitated on colored wax again / You played your best cards / When you were young and insolent.” I’m not so sure.

Sonically, those four are the hardest rocking of the batch thanks to Matt Maginn’s bass work, which drives this record. Kasher and Ted Stevens’ guitars are gritty and angular as you’ve come to expect, but for my money, it’s Patrick Newbery’s synths and Megan Siebe’s cello that put this album in Ugly Organ territory, adding sharp shards of color to Cursive’s dark-toned doom-swing. 

Which brings us to those pop numbers I mentioned earlier.  

“Dead End Days” is a hand-clapper, with Ted sharing vocals with Tim and Newbery providing a soaring synth glide-path. “Dark Star” swings with a funky synth line, a Clint Schnase-powered dance beat and Siebe’s sinewy cello, while Kasher imagines he’s the snake in the garden. That cello surprises throughout the album’s second half. On “What Do We Do Now” Newbery’s synth line combines with cello and his own trumpet to allow you to imagine Jon Brion playing within Cursive’s usual thunderous syncopation.

The only downside is Kasher’s dark-cloud downer message, which can get overwhelming especially when matched with an overdose of angst and frustration that bleeds into overkill on tracks like “What the Fuck” and “The Age of Impotence.” OK, you’re disappointed, we get it.  Even when he’s trying to resolve it, like on album closer “The Loss,” he overshadows a line like “The nightmare is over” with the ender “Death is all it costs / What a brutal, devastating price.”  Spoken like a fellow born-again atheist.

See the album performed live when Cursive plays at The Waiting Room Oct. 18 and 19.

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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

Cursive dropped a new video yesterday for the song “Botch Job,” a track off their upcoming album, Devourer, which comes out Sept. 13 on Run for Cover Records. Local boy Tony Bonacci was the cinematographer for the video, directed by Travis Stevens. Jim Johnson (of 1% and The Admiral Theater) and Django Greenblatt-Seay (of Love Drunk fame) also are listed in the video’s credits. 

This song and the entire album is a return to old-school Cursive and I would love to see the band play the entire record in order during their upcoming shows at The Waiting Room Oct. 18 (w/Little Brazil) and 19 (w/Criteria). Gladie also opens both shows.

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Also thought I’d mention that Cursive’s former record label, Saddle Creek Records, just announced that it’s reissuing on vinyl Eric Bachmann’s solo album, To the Races, on Aug. 9. The album was originally released in August 2006 and was one of my faves that year. Bachmann mentioned the reissue at his recent Ming Toy Gallery concert, but said to keep it secret until the label announcement (I’m not sure why). Preorder here.

BTW, we’ve got another concert coming up at Ming Toy Gallery in September. More info on that one soon…

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Speaking of Saddle Creek reissues, our hometown label also announced it’s rereleasing on vinyl two classic albums by The Faint – 2008’s Fasciinatiion (originally released on the band’s blank.wav imprint) and 2014’s Doom Abuse (originally released by SQE Music). The drop date is Aug. 16. This brings all of The Faint’s releases back into the Saddle Creek fold. Order your copies 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

It’s been awhile since we heard from Cursive. Their last album was 2019’s Get Fixed, released on their very own 15 Passenger Records label. Then, out of the blue yesterday, stories began popping up on the usual indie rags (Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Under the Radar, Treble, etc.) announcing Cursive will be releasing their new album, Devourer, Sept. 13 on long-running indie label Run for Cover Records.

Boston’s Run for Cover has been around since 2004 when it was founded by then 17-year-old Jeff Casazza, whose early releases included LPs by Tigers Jaw and The Wonder Years, among others. These days, Run for Cover’s roster includes such indie heavy-hitters as Horse Jumper of Love, Runnner, Young Guv, Sun June and Rival Schools, with past artists including Alex G, Pinegrove, Nothing and Pity Sex. 

It’s a curious move to go from your own, sort-of established record label to another mid-sized label, especially when Cursive’s original mid-sized label, Saddle Creek Records, likely would have welcomed them back with open arms, but I’m sure there’s lots more to that story… 

After a prolific few years of new signings (Feeble Little Horse, Palm, Indigo De Souza), Saddle Creek has slowed its output, having only released a handful of singles this year along a new LP by Young Jesus and reissues of The Faint’s Doom Abuse and a couple old Land of Talk EPs. Who’s handling A&R at Saddle Creek after Amber Carew left the label in May 2022?

Ah, but I digress from the topic at hand…

According to the Stereogum article, most of which was likely taken from a press release (which I didn’t receive – COME ON, CURSIVE!), the 13 tracks on Devourer were culled from 69 (?) songs written by Cursive frontman Tim Kasher for the album. Kasher said the album’s title has to do with his “devouring” of art, music, film and literature, which he then digests, followed by outputting his own unique version, which isn’t the most flattering metaphor for what we’ll be hearing on the new album.

Actually, we got the first scent of Kasher’s creative excretions yesterday when the band/label released the video for the first single, “Up and Away,” directed by Brea Grant, a veteran director who’s appeared on episodes of Friday Night Lights and Dexter, and directed 2022’s 12 Hour Shift, according to IMDB. Check out the video below. 

According to Northern Transmissions, the band now weighs in at a hefty 7 members. “We seem to be collecting band members over the years,” Kasher said in the article. Beyond the core trio of Kasher, bassist Matt Maginn, and guitarist/vocalist Ted Stevens, the band includes keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Newbery; cellist Megan Siebe; and recording/touring drummer Pat Oakes and founding drummer Clint Schnase.

But maybe the biggest news of all is that Cursive will launch its 2024 U.S. tour right here in Omaha with two dates at The Waiting Room Oct. 18 (with Little Brazil) and 19 (with Criteria). Also on the bill both nights will be Cursive tourmates Gladie, a Philly 5-piece whose last release was 2023’s Purple Year EP (Plum Records). 

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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

The Astro Amphitheater in La Vista is still being constructed but that isn’t stopping it from announcing the first slate of shows for its new live performance complex located at 8302 City Center Drive in beautiful La Vista. 

The facility’s details you already know: 2,400-capacity 52,000-square-foot indoor theater (The Astro) attached to an outdoor grass amphitheater that can host 5,500 attendees (The Astro Amphitheater). Mammoth, Inc., out of Kansas City and 1% Productions manage the facility’s bookings. If you follow them on the socials or their new website, you’ve already heard who will be among the first bands playing at the Astro:

• Aug. 30 — Rick Springfield, The Hooters, Paul Young and Tommy Tutone, outdoors
• Sept. 16 — Beth Hart, inside
• Sept. 21 — Ancient Aliens Live, inside
• Sept. 23 — Goo Goo Dolls and Fitz & the Tantrums, outdoors
• Sept. 24 — Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, inside
• Sept. 30 — The Gaslight Anthem, inside
• Oct. 5 — Dropkick Murphys, The Interrupters and Jesse Ahern, outdoors

Carmen Stalker from Mammoth said the Astro will “have a wide range of musical genres, including rock, alt rock, country, bluegrass, and more.” I’m trying to line up an interview with whomever will be the facility’s primary booker for a story similar to what I wrote about Steelhouse, here. 

Like Steelhouse, it may be too early to say what kind of bands The Astro will book, though if this initial lineup is any indication, I have a feeling they might be after the same sort of bands that Stir Cove traditionally has booked. Stir is handled by Live Nation, and the last show I attended there was Beck way back in September 2017. Time will tell. 

By the way, Astro has yet to announce its “grand opening” festivities. You’d think, like Steelhouse, who sort of seems to be among their chief competition, they’ll want to start off with a bang, like their sold out Killers show. Hold onto your hats.

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Speaking of sold out shows, tonight at The Waiting Room its Cursive performing Domestica in its entirety. Hard to believe that album came out 23 years ago. If the show follows the same set list the band played last weekend in Dallas and Austin, expect the performance to be broken into four parts, with an initial set of three songs, followed by Domestica, then a set of five songs followed by an encore. That’s a long-ass show.

Opening is Neva Dinova, which appears to consist of members of Cursive joining Jake Bellows, but this being Omaha, anything could happen. This one’s been sold out for a long time – even your poor, lowly scribe didn’t manage to get a ticket. If you’re going, the fun starts at 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First off, I thought The Hard Times only published Onion-like parody articles about the indie and punk lifestyle. Then last week these two article showed up, both well written, though their content (and opinions) were a bit sketchy. 

The first was “Every Bright Eyes Album Ranked.” At the bottom is A Collection of Songs Written… the collection of very early Bright Eyes tracks, many written and recorded when Conor was in middle school (or younger), and they sound that way. I can’t quibble with this opinion. The collection was for completists only.

At the top of the list: 2000’s Fevers and Mirrors. Says writer Corey Montgomery, “If anyone ever tells you this album isn’t the best one, politely tell them to eat shit and die. Just be sure to turn around before they see the single tear running down your cheek.” So yeah, maybe this article was a joke after all, though Corey certainly has listened to these records before. 

Of course his ranking is wrong, imho. He has Lifted… listed in the six hole, saying it “feels overcooked and desperate to please.” In fact, along with I’m Wide Away It’s Morning, ranked No. 2, will stand as Bright Eyes’ magnum opus(es).

A few days later, Mr. Montgomery ranked “every Cursive album” and while he got No. 9 correct (2012’s I Am Gemini is, uh, a difficult listen), he ranked 2007’s Happy Hollow No. 1, and with a straight face said “Not enough can be said about this record’s accidental timelessness.” While I can get behind this pick — Happy Hollow is a great record — everyone knows The Ugly Organ is the top classic, followed closely by Domestica, which most others would place in the first spot. 

If you’ve never heard Domestica performed live, btw, you’ll get a chance May 16 at The Waiting Room — that is if you have a ticket. The show sold out a long time ago. 

The Hard Times can be pretty freakin’ funny (Check out “Uh Oh! I Butt Dialed Conor Oberst and Now It’s the First Track on His New Album”), but I kind of dig this content, too. There’s room for both, Hard Times! Now where’s your ranking for 3very album by The Faint?

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One of my all time favorite albums is Damien Jurado’s 1999 album Rehearsals for Departure. I think I lucked into it via a random CD promo mailing sent by his label back in the day and for the longest time, the song “Ohio” made it onto my mix tapes. 

Jurado’s latest album, Sometimes You Hurt the Ones You Hate, is pretty good, too. I’m sure you’ll hear songs off this one as well as “Ohio” (which is typically his set-opener) tonight when he plays at Reverb. Opening is Portland singer/songwriter Chris Pureka. $20, 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Feb. 13, 2023 – After weeks of speculation, Omaha Performing Arts this morning announced that The Killers will have the honor of playing Steehouse Omaha’s inaugural show May 12. It’s quite a catch for the 3,000-capacity standing-only venue. 

While it’s still too early to predict who they’ll book in the future, The Killers provides some pretty solid clues as the type of acts OPA thinks it needs to “bring young people downtown.” While still a big draw, The Killers were arguably at the height of their powers in the early- to mid-2000s, nearly 20 years ago. The band definitely hits a sweet spot for older music goers. It’ll be interesting to see how well the show sells with those under 30 (or under 20).

If you extrapolate The Killers across a music horizon, “similar” alt-rock bands that could fit in this category would include Franz Ferdinand, Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs, The Libertines, Razorlight, The Bravery, Keane – all acts along with The Killers that are not my cup of tea (as the late, great Dave Sink used to say). I have no doubt Live Nation, who is booking Steelhouse, will also announce, shall we say, “more contemporary” acts in the future. 

The primary question from fans of modern indie music: Is Steelhouse/Live Nation willing to book acts that draw in the 300 (or less) range along with big draws like those mentioned above? Is there a way to comfortably host up-and-coming acts that draw smaller audiences without Steelhouse feeling like an empty blimp hangar? If not, I suspect we’ll be seeing a long list of “alt rock” bands booked at the venue. Time will tell….

I’ll be happy if they can book six quality indie shows a year that I’d buy tickets for. Anything more would be gravy. 

A couple other noteworthy shows announced today: Goo Goo Dolls and Fitz and the Tantrums have been announced to play Sept. 23 at The Astro Theater / amphitheater / venue being constructed at 8302 City Centre Drive in La Vista. Mammoth Inc. out of KC will book this new venue, which has been in the works for years. Based on this show, something tells me their booking will be in line with what Stir Cove has historically booked in the past. 

And our old friends Cursive will be performing their seminal album, Domestica, May 16 at The Waiting Room with none other than Neva Dinova opening the show. Tix on sale tomorrow! 

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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

Cursive’s Domestica was reissued by the band’s label, 15 Passenger Records, earlier this year; now the band is hitting the road playing the album in its entirety. The record turned 20 in 2020, so better late than never, right? 

Unfortunately, so far this is a NOmaha tour, as Omaha is not among the 20 cities the band will be visiting throughout December. But waitaminit… the tour doesn’t list anything after Dec. 21 and we all know what the X-mas holiday could bring us… Come on, Santa, we want to hear the “The Casualty” played on an Omaha stage…

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Those who came to last month’s Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies gig at Benson Theater were treated to a couple great covers of songs by Omaha ex-pat Kyle Harvey. 

Kyle is now living somewhere up in the Colorado Rockies. He’s a mountain man; a wandering poet, as good with a long-iron rifle as he is with a Bowie knife. But it turns out, Kyle is also good at creating electronic ambient music. 

In fact, Kyle has released two albums of lush soundscapes — Distances and Disjecta Membra. Both are available on Bandcamp. 

About Disjecta Membra: “Scattered fragments recorded to 4-track cassette in my garage during the COVID lockdown of 2020. We had moved into a new house and everything felt completely strange. I didn’t have any sort of DAW for recording digitally at the time, so I set up my Tascam 4-track in the garage and made dozens of recordings. This EP, Disjecta membra, is a peek into that time.”

Check out the links below and consider buying a copy (BTW, Bandcamp Friday is just the day after tomorrow). And if you’re missing Kyle’s lyrics, check out his recently published book of poetry, Cosmographies (2022, Cuneiform Press). 

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Two hot shows going on tonight…

Top of my list is the smaller of the two — Illuminati Hotties at Reverb Lounge. The LA indie band is on the road touring their 2021 album Let Me Do One More (Hopeless Records), which garnered a solid 8.0 rating from Pitchfork. Reminds me of ‘90s girl-powered indie rock. Fun! Also on the bill are Tacoma indie band Enumclaw and LA band Guppy. $20, 8 p.m. Don’t sleep on this one – sometime tells me it could sell out…

Also tonight, North Welsh alt band The Joy Formidable headlines at The Waiting Room. You might remember them from the 2016 Maha Music Festival (and they’ve been through town a few times since). LA post-punk band Cuffed Up opens at 8 p.m. Surprisingly, this show also is $20. 

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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.