Lambchop at Slowdown Jr., April 27, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Another “sit-down” show at Slowdown? This is becoming a habit. A couple weeks ago it was Cowboy Junkies in the big room. Friday night it was Lambchop in the front room for a crowd that looked to be around 100, maybe more, half of whom were seated on folding chairs set up in a space between the stage and pushed-back tables. Obviously it has something to do with either the laid-back music or the mature age of the crowd, or both. And in both cases, the chairs were oddly appropriate, especially since the people fronting both bands also spent the the evening seated.

So-So Sailors at Slowdown Jr., April 27, 2012.

For opening band So-So Sailors Friday night, it was seated frontman Chris Machmuller behind a keyboard, though Mach also stood with a guitar slung over his shoulder. Maybe it was the room’s dark ambiance but this was the most relaxed, most un-rushed set I’ve heard the Sailors play, and also the finest. No one was trying to blow the roof off of anything, instead Mach and his band of merry men provided subtle, complete interpretations of songs off their recently released EP along with a few new songs that will fill out an LP one of these days.

Next was Lambchop, and as expected, seated directly in the center of the stage was Omaha guitarist/musician Alex McManus, a Lambchop veteran back in the fold if only for one night. Judging by the smile on frontman Kurt Wagner’s face, he couldn’t have been more proud. Wagner lead the band seated with an acoustic guitar and his dry, folky mumble, backed by two keyboardists (one occasionally switching to guitar), bass and drums, and McManus adding tasty fills and leads on electric guitar.

Their sound was warm and subtle like sipping a glass of fine old scotch. There was no resemblance to “alt country” at all. In fact, their music has more in common with intimate club jazz, with Wagner’s mid-range voice bordering on rhythmic spoken word, though he showed his range at times. Some really beautiful stuff.

The band played for well over an hour and not only came back for the usual three-song encore but also for a couple more after that. Wagner said they were doing something out of the usual because he loves playing with McManus, who he called “his secret weapon.” A modest McManus merely smiled and waved without looking up at the crowd.

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It’s a sort of busy week for shows. Tomorrow night is The Drums at The Waiting Room; Dim Light and Snake Island at TWR Wednesday; and then The Pines Thursday night at Slowdown Jr. and Love Drunk’s tour fund raiser also Thursday night at The Sydney with Honeybee & Hers and Bazooka Shootout, and then Icky Blossoms returns to Slowdown Jr. on Friday (speaking of Icky, they just dropped their video for “Babes” this morning. Check it here). Get your shows in during the week, because the weekend ain’t looking good (so far).

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lambchop

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Because there’s so much going on and I’m afraid this one could fall through the cracks, here’s an early head’s up about tomorrow night’s Lambchop show at Slowdown Jr. To the best of my knowledge, this will be the first time the legendary band has played in Omaha. Centered around genius singer/songwriter Kurt Wagner (who Salon calls “The best songwriter working today”), Lambchop has been marketed as “Nashville’s most fucked up country band,” and is often grouped in the alt-country category for reasons that seem to ignore the band’s eclectic style. Lambchop’s latest, Mr. M. (Merge, 2012), is a rather subdued collection of songs dedicated to the late, great Vic Chesnutt.

Lambchop used to be a huge ensemble, but on this tour the band is performing as a five-piece, or at least they did when they played in Chicago Tuesday night for what was described in this review in the Chicago Tribune as a “full yet hushed” performance. Among the questions entering this show: Will Omahan Alex McManus join the band during their set?

McManus was a member of Lambchop and is credited with appearing on at least six of their albums, going back to 1998’s What Another Man Spills to 2008’s OH (Ohio). McManus’ musical history includes backing Vic Chesnutt from 1994 through 1998, which led to his Lambchop tour of duty. From a 2003 Lazy-i interview with McManus (still online here):

At the same time, McManus had met Kurt Wagner, the frontman for the Nashville-based ensemble Lambchop, a backporch orchestra that contained as many as 15 members playing a sort of avant-garde form of country music. Before long, McManus was also touring with Lambchop, which was building a sizable following throughout Europe. “It ballooned from there and I ended up amicably parting ways with Vic to play more with Lambchop,” McManus said.

His relationship with Wagner and the band continues today, having gone out 13 weeks in 2002 with Lambchop’s mini orchestra. “It’s a really challenging thing to work with Lambchop. You have to have a great deal of restraint to not step all over everyone. I can sit back in some songs and just listen and then make a peep or squawk, and then step out again. It’s fun to be able to know your little part is going to make a difference.”

McManus’ current band, the fantastic So-So Sailors, opens tomorrow night’s Lambchop show, and is doing it on the strength of some very good news: The Sailors announced Tuesday that their EP, Young Hearts, will be released in the UK/Ireland in June on No Dancing Records out of Belfast.

If you don’t have the $12 tickets to tomorrow night’s show, you should probably pick them up ASAP as this one is in Slowdown’s small room, though tomorrow is a hugely crowded night for shows, with Conduits at The Brothers, Lupines at O’Leaver’s, and Lights at The Waiting Room.

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KC band The Life and Times return to Omaha tonight, this time to The Waiting Room. The trio just released a new album, No One Loves You Like I Do, on SlimStyle Records. They’ll be touring with prog/metal band UME this summer. Opening tonight is Landing on the Moon and Lonely Estates. $8, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, fantastic Lincoln punk band Once a Pawn plays with Skyman and Escape the Fire at Slowdown Jr. $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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.