Lincoln Calling starts tonight…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s frickin’ year 16 for Lincoln Calling, can you believe it?

The annual festival officially kicked off yesterday, but the main spate of shows begins tonight. The festival boasts 80+ bands in eight venues over four days. You can see the entire schedule at lincolncalling.com. This year’s line-up is heavy on the hip-hop/pop/DJ culture, with only a smattering of indie rock compared to last year’s stellar line-up.

From an indie perspective, all the fun tonight is at The Bourbon Theater, where headliner Soccer Mommy plays at 11:30. Fronted by Nashville native Sophie Allison, the crew released its debut, Clean, last year, which placed it front and center among a cloud of indie singer-songwriters like Saddle Creek’s Hop Along, Stef Chura, Big Thief, etc.

Interestingly, today Allison released a new song and 7-inch single, “Lucy,” via Loma Vista Recordings. Check it below, and expect to hear it tonight at the Bourbon. After this gig, she’ll be out on tour opening dates for Vampire Weekend and Wilco. Not bad.

The Bourbon gig kicks off at 7 p.m. with Fanclub, a kickly little indie-pop trio from Austin. They’re followed by Boston singer/songwriter Squirrel Flower, who sounds like the second coming of Mitski on her 2018 album Contact Sports (2000 Pigs Records). That’s followed by Samia, a New York singer/songwriter who’s been compared to Phoebe Bridgers (though she sounds more upbeat, imho). Samia is signed to Grand Jury Music. It all leads up to Soccer Mommy at 11:30.

Of course there also are bands at Duffy’s, Zoo Bar, Bodega’s and 1867 Bar, but I’d be hanging at the Bourbon if I was headed to Lincoln tonight.

So how much does it cost? Single day passes are $25. Three-day all-access passes are $50. VIP packages are $125. Full info at Lincolncalling.com.

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Today Cursive dropped yet another new single in YouTube, “Black Hole Town.” According to the page, the song will be released tomorrow on 15 Passenger Records. One assumes, digitally. This comes on the heels of the single “Barricades,” which was released Sept. 13. I’m not sure if these songs are part of a 7-inch release, maybe an EP or other upcoming record? Time will tell. Or I guess I can just ask them when they play O’Leaversfest Saturday night.

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.