by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The last we heard about the mammoth (no pun intended) indoor-outdoor music venue planned for La Vista’s City Centre was a story in the Omaha World-Herald back in February. That story said the La Vista City Council gave the go ahead to negotiate contracts. City Ventures developer Chris Erickson said in the article crews were slated to break ground this past spring.

Well, we’re now at the end of summer and still no ground breaking or any other news. So what’s happening with the project? City of La Vista Community Relations Coordinator Mitch Beaumont gave a brief update.

“The platting process has begun on this project, with design review and permitting to come next,” Beaumont said. “The developers are hoping to begin grading and footings in late fall.”

Marc Leibowitz of 1% Productions, the company partnering on the project with Kansas’ Mammoth Live and City Ventures, confirmed Beaumont’s comments, saying the project is moving forward.

No question that once completed, the project, which will be located near 84th and Harrison streets, will be an entertainment game changer. Check out Kevin Coffey and Hailey Konnath’s overview of the project from a June 2018 OWH article.

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The Jim Schroeder Sextet, a project headed by one of the area’s most talented rock guitarists (David Nance Group, UUVVWWZ), is headlining a show tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Joining them is New Haven rocker Stefan Christensen (who opened for Stef Chura last night at Reverb) and Lincoln band Leaves Brown. $7, 9 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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Jack White’s headed to Baxter Arena…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ll tell you right up front — I’m not a big Jack White or White Stripes fan. Just never really dug their music, though I get the attraction. They’re sort of a mainstream garage rock act; to me, White always sounded like he was aping Led Zeppelin (though nowhere near as much as Greta Van Fleet).

What’s interesting about today’s announcement that White has been booked to play Omaha April 23 is where the show is being held: Baxter Arena. I think the Baxter has hosted music in the past, but nothing like this.

I personally love Baxter Arena. The facility is right-sized, perfect for the UNO hockey program and a huge upgrade to the craptacular CenturyLink Center — one of the worst places I’ve seen a rock concert (Fleetwood Mac, Springsteen, The Who, three strikes you’re out). I wondered when it opened if Baxter could become a viable alternative to the old Civic Auditorium and CB’s Mid-America Center for bigly concerts like this. Baxter has a capacity of 7,898, according to Wiki (Vs. CenturyLink’s massive 17, 560 capacity). It’s in a great location, a modern facility with great sight lines. But I have no idea how a rock band will sound in there.

This brings up the recent news of a possible new venue in La Vista run by the guys who run One Percent Productions and KC’s Mammoth Inc.

From the OWH article:

“The hope would be for the indoor club to seat about 2,000 and the amphitheater to seat about 4,500. While there are other indoor venues that seat around that many people, there are no other places in the area that pair that size of an indoor space with a sizable outdoor amphitheater. Also, many existing venues of that size in town are hard to get acts into because they book up so fast,...”

The proposed amphitheater would seat around 4,500, according to the article, which also said the new venue would allow Omaha to compete for shows it hasn’t been able to compete for in the past, like “Lauryn Hill, Arcade Fire, David Byrne and LCD Soundsystem — all artists that have skipped Omaha at some point because there wasn’t a venue that met their needs…”

While Arcade Fire has been reportedly playing to half-full arenas, you would still think a 2,000-capacity venue would be way too small. Same goes for LCD Soundsystem. David Byrne played at the Holland Center back in 2008, and didn’t sell it out (which to me, seems a more likely reason for passing over Omaha this time ’round).

Regardless, the La Vista project is exciting news and could provide another venue for the kind of acts booked at the 3,500-capacity Stir Cove. That is, if it happens. The article said the indoor club is estimated to cost about $15 million, and would be privately funded by the booking companies and another investor, while the amphitheater would be funded by the City of La Vista, and “La Vista spokesman Mitch Beaumont said the city hasn’t committed to anything yet and has no cost estimate for an amphitheater.” Hmmm….

I’m sure all parties involved will be keeping an eye on how well the Jack White show sells (or doesn’t sell)…

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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.