by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Unless you’re living completely off the grid (which means you’re not reading this, either) you already know today is Omaha Gives day. So if you have the jack to spare, spare a little to your favorite local 501(c)(3) charity.

In year’s past I’ve hyped Hear Nebraska as a charity that gives back big to the local music scene. And while HN still exists, if you want to support it you need to give your money to its umbrella organization, Rabble Mill (click here to do so). HN has a number of upcoming events, not the least of which is Beer Nebraska Aug. 4.

Other charities to consider:

Omaha Girls Rock
Maha Music Festival
Film Streams
Benson Theatre
Benson First Friday

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Poster Children is a punk band out of Champaign, Illinois, that’s been around since the late ’80s. They really hit their stride in the mid-’90s with records released on Sire and Warner Bros., around the same time as Nebraska’s golden age bands began to venture out into the world, bands like Mercy Rule, Frontier Trust, Mousetrap, etc.

PC sort of went away after 2004’s No More Songs About Sleep and Fire, but if you were on their mailing list, you got updates here and there. Poster Children never died.

Now they’re back with Grand Bargain!, released last Friday on Lotuspool Records. What does 14 years do between releases? I guess it only makes you stronger, as this record absolutely rocks with an intensity reminiscent of those mid-’90s golden years but with a message solidly grounded in today’s politics. As evidence, check out the first single which is also the title track.

As I was listening to the new album on the way to work this morning I got this idea of somehow getting the band to come to Omaha for the “Better Than Ever Festival.” The line-up would be Poster Children with Domestica (ex-Mercy Rule), Wagon Blasters (ex-Frontier Trust), Bad Bad Men (ex-Cellophane Ceiling/Ritual Device), Simon Joyner and the Ghosts and anyone else from the ’90s who is still kicking, such as Bunnygrunt, Fugazi, Superchunk, GBV, Belly, etc… Maha could host this one day before their annual Festival, wouldn’t that be a kick in the head?

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Let’s put wishful thinking aside for a moment and tune into what’s really happening tonight, which is The Golden Pelicans at fabulous O’Leaver’s.

The Orlando punk band is known for their hard punk stance, as proven by Disciples of Blood, their last album released in 2017 by Goner Records. This is a stacked show with David Nance Band and Rusty Lord opening. $6, 9 p.m. Should be a sweaty good time…

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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.