by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Des Moines 80/35 Music Festival announced its final line-up for its July 2-3 event. Overall, it’s a pretty strong collection, however some of the best main stage acts have come through Omaha within the last six months. Among them Titus Andronicus, Okkervil River, Of Montreal, and Girl Talk. Other than Handsome Furs, I didn’t recognize most of their “second stage” acts. And two Omaha regulars — Poison Control Center and The Envy Corp — are closing out their local stage. Tix are $60 for a two-day, $35 for a one-day, $40 DOS. More info at 80-35.com.

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Fizzle Like a Flood is back. Doug Kabourek’s signature project made a splash a decade ago with the amazing landmark concept album Golden Sand and the Grandstand (You can still read about that project online here). After a few more albums, Fizzle disappeared. Kabourek has played some solo shows since and has a new rock band called At Land. And now The Fizzle is back, opening for Grant Hart June 30 at The Waiting Room. Will he unveil new material? Will he play songs from Golden Sands? We’ll just have to wait and see. Fizzle Like a Flood also is playing July 9 at The Sydney as part of the OEAA Summer Showcase.

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The MAHA / Hear Nebraska Showcase is tonight at The Waiting Room. This is first of three such showcases where a local band selected to play on the MAHA local stage during the festival Aug. 13 (location still unknown) has been charged with curating — i.e., selecting the opening bands. MAHA Selection Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship picked noise-punk act Ketchup and Mustard Gas and hot new indie rockers New Lungs, led by Little Brazil’s Danny Maxwell.

BTW, you can read an interview with D-Max here, wherein the author compares me with Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars, a strange comparison as Palpatine is first and foremost the source of all evil in the universe. Actually, some bands might say that’s pretty close to the mark. I replied to the author saying that I narcissistically preferred to be compared to Khal Drogo, which fell flat because he obviously doesn’t watch (or hasn’t read) Game of Thrones. Anyway, read the Q&A with Danny here and go to the show tonight at the Waiting Room. There’s no cover, the show starts early, at 8 p.m.

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Tomorrow: The Story of The Shanks.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.