by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As you already know if you were going, the Gary Numan show slated for tonight at The Waiting Room is postponed.

I checked out the website for First Avenue — the famous venue in Minneapolis (you remember Purple Rain) to see if they had any details since Numan postponed his show there last night. But no more details than we have already from our 1% site — it’ll be rescheduled, hold onto your ticket, etc. Someone from 1% posted that someone on Team Numan is sick, and I heard that he lost his voice performing two nights ago in Chicago (no idea if that’s true).

I made the mistake of clicking on First Avenue’s calendar of upcoming events. First Avenue not only books the iconic club but also its 7th St. Entry stage, Palace Theatre, The Fitzgerald Theater, Fine Line and Turf Club. All are listed on the calendar.

There literally is at least one indie show, and in many cases multiple indie rock shows, every night of the week. Every touring indie band you can think of shows up on that calendar. Don’t look unless you want to get very depressed at what’s passing us by down here in NOmaha.

But as I’ve said before: If Omaha got all their shows — great shows every night of the week — there’s no way I could attend them and remain employed. Or alive. The good news is that with the addition of Admiral, Astro, Steelhouse and whatever else is on the horizon we don’t know about, our calendars will begin to look a lot more like First Avenue’s.

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Tickets to the Outlandia Festival go on sale tomorrow. Here’s a prediction: Single-day VIP tickets for Friday night (headlined by The National) will sell out almost immediately. In fact, all the VIP tickets will go fast. The price is right at $199 for one-day VIPs and $340 for 2-day VIPs. In addition to getting your own viewing area, your own bar and (maybe most important of all) your own bathrooms, VIP tickets come with free parking.

In fact, VIP tickets are the smart way to go for the Maha Festival as well. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Friday) at 10 a.m.

One last prediction: Friday Outlandia GA tickets will sell out quicker than Saturday GA tickets.

One area of confusion that arose concerning Outlandia: The Omaha World-Herald yesterday published this article about the festivals. From the article: “At 160 acres, the land adjacent to Falconwood Park was ideal for the new festival, Leibowitz said, because it is large enough to accommodate a large number of attendees.” The land adjacent? I thought Outlandia was being held at Falconwood Park. This makes me wonder where exactly the festival is taking place if it’s “adjacent to” Falconwood Park. More to come….

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One last thing, Maha Festival band Sudan Archives have a new track out that made it on the Spotify All New Indie playlist called “Home Maker.” It’s a Pitchfork “Best New Track” selection as well. Check it out below. Just a little service to help out those folks who are saying “who are these bands playing at Maha this year…”

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.

Gary Numan at The Slowdown, Sept. 27, 2018.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Recent Gary Numan recordings, specifically Savage (Songs from a Broken World) (2017, BMG), have been compared to recordings by Nine Inch Nails, a band who has cited Numan as an influence. While there’s no mistaking the similarity in the preponderance of deep beats, synths and power chords, recent NIN albums rarely have contained songs as tuneful as Numan’s recent stuff, and certainly Trent Reznor doesn’t hold a candle vocally to Numan, who, on these recordings (made when he was in his late 50s), sounds as good or better than he did in Tubeway Army.

I mention this because last night’s Gary Numan show at The Slowdown was heavy with the new stuff, which sounded like Middle Eastern-influenced NIN albeit with a greater reliance on Numan’s cold-steel synth sound.  Numan, looking more like a dude in his late 30s than a guy who just turned 60, performed really elegant modern dance throughout the set, interpreting every chord and drop beat like a ballet dancer in Desert Storm trooper boots, all a part of the band’s ragged matched costuming that made them resemble extras from Mad Max: Fury Road.

Right out of the gate Numan and his band sounded great, maybe a bit too great. When he started singing I immediately wondered if he was lip-syncing. The vocals simply sounded too rounded and perfect to be live, especially with the calisthenics Numan was performing. It didn’t even look like he was holding the microphone up to his mouth, though the vocals coming out of the stacks were spot-on perfect. And, strangely, he never spoke to the audience between songs (at least while I was listening).

I’m not a sound tech and I haven’t talked to the band so I have no idea what exactly was going on. I know all the band members wore in-ear monitors; and while everyone had microphones, it sure didn’t look like they were singing most of the time. In fact, the band sounded absolutely perfect throughout the set. I’m not sure this means they were performing with a backing track or what (though I’m sure the soundguy knows).

Regardless, the sound was pristine and magnificent and the crowd didn’t seem to care a whit whether the performance was being “sweetened” or not, they were too ensconced in the light, movement and sound.  The tale of the tape came 10 songs in when the band performed “Cars,” an arrangement that was mostly faithful to the original, and Numan here seemed to be singing, or at least he sounded different than earlier in the set. He also was a lot less animated, pacing between the microphone and the back of the stage.

He lit right back into the new stuff afterward (you can see the full setlist from last night here), and continued with his elegant balletic moves, amazing and inspiring from a guy his age. It was a fun show no matter what was going on.

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Looks like it’s going to be cold, rainy weekend, which means there’s no excuse for not going to some shows.

Tonight, Tragic Jack plays a down at Slowdown Jr. The band has a new album, Glasshouse Town, coming out Oct. 12 on Silver Street Records. It’s not so much indie as straight-forward, traditional FM rock. Marty Amsler, the former member of The Millions who plays bass in Tragic Jack, gave me a copy of the record and said “this probably isn’t your thing.” It’s not, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t any good. Hey man, despite my indie music leanings, I grew up on FM rock and can tell quality when I hear it. Copies of the record will be available at tonight’s show, which also features openers Brad Hoshaw and Soul Ghost. $7, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, The Hottman Sisters are celebrating the release of a new EP, Louder, at The Waiting Room. Ruby Force and Kethro open at 9 p.m. $12.

Lodgings is a pretty awesome band consisting of Bryce Hotz, vocals; Jim Schroeder, guitars; David Ozinga, bass; Eric Ernst, drums. Their 2016 debut, which also features cellist Megan Siebe and Trumpeter Sean Lomax, is one of my recent faves. The band headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s Saturday night. Joining them in this stacked line-up are The Sun-Less Trio and The Wagon Blasters. 10 p.m., $5.

Finally, O’Leaver’s Sunday early-show series continues with House Vacations, CatBeret, the return of Omaha singer/songwriter Tom Bartolomei, and Lincoln’s Threesome Egos.

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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Black Belt Eagle Scout at Reverb Lounge Sept. 26, 2018.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’m more convinced after last night’s Black Belt Eagle Scout show at Reverb Lounge that the best way to get introduced to a new album is live on stage.

Prior to this show the only BBES tune off their new album Mother of My Children I’ve heard was “Soft Stud,” which has gotten some spins on Sirius XMU. It was the first time for the rest of it, presented in a confined space like Reverb without distraction. I walked away wanting to hear most of it again.

I say “most of” because the set started rather flat and low-tempo, highlighting the quieter moments on the album. Very pretty, reminiscent to some degree of early Azure Ray or a K Records act. It wasn’t until halfway through the gig that the trio, fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Katherine Paul, began to take off. Paul turned up the guitar, stabbed the pedals and roared on a number of songs that would have made Neil Young proud.

Pushing everything forward was whomever was playing bass, an amazingly deft and creative bassist who augmented Paul’s work with her own intricate counter melodies.

Great stuff, enjoyed by a smallish crowd. I figured it would be packed what with the Saddle Creek connection, but there probably was only around 35 people in the room, which made for an intimate set.

Guerilla Toss at Reverb Lounge Sept. 26, 2018.

Things didn’t get rolling ’til almost 9:30, which limited my time spent with Guerilla Toss, a six-piece ensemble that sounded like a cross between Tom Tom Club and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Very arty, very progressive, very fun bouncy rock rife with twists and turns and big moments. Frontwoman Kassie Carlson has a soaring voice that cuts through everything going on around her. The only thing missing was a dancing crowd.

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The big show tonight is Gary Numan at The Slowdown. There’s been a simmering level of excitement since this one was announced months ago, but surprisingly it’s not sold out. For those pondering whether to go, here’s the setlist from Numan’s Cleveland show Sept. 23, which indicates that he didn’t roll out mega-hit “Cars” until about halfway though the show. If you’re like me, that’s the only Numan tune you know. Still, this one could be a lot of fun. LA art rock trio Nightmare Air opens at 8 p.m. $28.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.