Cursive at O’Leaver’s, Dec. 20, 2013. The band returns for O’Leaversfest Saturday.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s the festival we’ve all been waiting for — O’Leaversfest! Three nights of headline-grabbing talent on O’Leaver’s pseudo-stage. Let’s run through all three days.

Day 1 – Tonight (Friday) – Chicago-based indie act Meat Wave headlines. The band has spent many a night opening for Cursive on that band’s recent tour. Opening tonight is our very own Pro-Magnum and Eric in Outerspace. There’s also a street/skate clothing pop-up store happening somewhere in the O’Leaver’s compound. $8. 10 p.m.

Day 2 – Saturday – The bosses will be in the house as Cursive headlines a show that, by the time you read this, is likely to be sold out (find out here). Every O’Leaver’s Cursive show is strangely unique, and no doubt this one will follow suit. Hot up-and-comers No Thanks open along with The Natural States. $10, 10 p.m.

Day 3 – Sunday – It’s a BBQ at The Club with an early 4 p.m. start time. Headlining is everyone’s favorite Omaha garage act Those Far Out Arrows. STATHI and Oquoa open (and is this a goodbye performance by a certain special drummer?). BBQ by Thunderbird Wines (no kidding). $7.

Now, let’s hope the weather cooperates!

Of course there’s another festival happening this weekend… in Lincoln.

The standout acts at tonight’s Lincoln Calling include See Through Dresses, Her Flyaway Manner, Bright Calm Blue, Universe Contest, Histrionic, The Mezcal Brothers and Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal. It’s a bounty of local talent.

The standouts Saturday at LC include Miwi La Lupa, Diplomats of Solid Sound, Meat Wave, Bogusman, Charly Bliss, Pleasures, Charlie Burton & Or What, The Millions, and Dereck Higgins.

Check out the full schedule and ticket info at lincolncalling.com.

A non-festival show of note is happening tonight at The Waiting Room where Cincinnati indie act WHY? headlines. Their latest, AOKOHIO, was released on Joyful Noise Recordings. Brooklyn’s Barrie opens at 8 p.m. $18.

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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lincoln Calling starts tonight…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s frickin’ year 16 for Lincoln Calling, can you believe it?

The annual festival officially kicked off yesterday, but the main spate of shows begins tonight. The festival boasts 80+ bands in eight venues over four days. You can see the entire schedule at lincolncalling.com. This year’s line-up is heavy on the hip-hop/pop/DJ culture, with only a smattering of indie rock compared to last year’s stellar line-up.

From an indie perspective, all the fun tonight is at The Bourbon Theater, where headliner Soccer Mommy plays at 11:30. Fronted by Nashville native Sophie Allison, the crew released its debut, Clean, last year, which placed it front and center among a cloud of indie singer-songwriters like Saddle Creek’s Hop Along, Stef Chura, Big Thief, etc.

Interestingly, today Allison released a new song and 7-inch single, “Lucy,” via Loma Vista Recordings. Check it below, and expect to hear it tonight at the Bourbon. After this gig, she’ll be out on tour opening dates for Vampire Weekend and Wilco. Not bad.

The Bourbon gig kicks off at 7 p.m. with Fanclub, a kickly little indie-pop trio from Austin. They’re followed by Boston singer/songwriter Squirrel Flower, who sounds like the second coming of Mitski on her 2018 album Contact Sports (2000 Pigs Records). That’s followed by Samia, a New York singer/songwriter who’s been compared to Phoebe Bridgers (though she sounds more upbeat, imho). Samia is signed to Grand Jury Music. It all leads up to Soccer Mommy at 11:30.

Of course there also are bands at Duffy’s, Zoo Bar, Bodega’s and 1867 Bar, but I’d be hanging at the Bourbon if I was headed to Lincoln tonight.

So how much does it cost? Single day passes are $25. Three-day all-access passes are $50. VIP packages are $125. Full info at Lincolncalling.com.

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Today Cursive dropped yet another new single in YouTube, “Black Hole Town.” According to the page, the song will be released tomorrow on 15 Passenger Records. One assumes, digitally. This comes on the heels of the single “Barricades,” which was released Sept. 13. I’m not sure if these songs are part of a 7-inch release, maybe an EP or other upcoming record? Time will tell. Or I guess I can just ask them when they play O’Leaversfest Saturday night.

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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.

Chase the Ghost at O’Leaver’s Feb. 9, 2019. The band plays tonight at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Well, here I was thinking I was going to get a respite from the army of lawn-chair-carrying cooler-dragging sloths who traverse through my neighborhood every year for the annual Memorial Park fireworks display. But apparently some anonymous, rich, good Samaritan (or company) has stepped up and funded this year’s display on June 28 after the usual cadre of sponsors backed out a few weeks ago.

I’ve heard one TV morning show declare: “This could be the biggest Memorial Park fireworks display ever!”

And, of course, there’s also a concert going on. Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul are the main event. That’s right, Silvio Dante and his band are going rip it up after opening sets by a cover band and a second unnamed “national act.”

There’s a lot of folks very excited about Little Steven, no doubt Springsteen fans, old-time music folks, etc. Good for them. I haven’t been to a Memorial Park concert since Benatar or Cheap Trick (can’t remember which played last), and will definitely stroll down to the park for this one. Looking at a recent Little Steven setlist, I don’t recognize any of the songs except for the anthem “Sun City,” which should make the oldsters in the crowd lose their shit. Still, it should be a fun time, and… there’s fireworks.

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Speaking of old-timey music, Lee Fields and the Expressions are headlining this year’s Lincoln Calling. Never heard of him? Neither had I. According to Wikipedia, “Elmer ‘Lee’ Fields is an American soul singer, sometimes nicknamed ‘Little LB’ for his physical and vocal resemblance to James Brown.”

Also in “big letters” on the Lincoln Calling 2019 website: Soccer Mommy (who played at Reverb last fall), TT The Artist (hip-hop), Charly Bliss (played Reverb the summers of 2016 and 2017), and Taylor McFerrin (son of Bobby McFerrin).

The standout in the next tier of acts is none other than Lincoln band Bright Calm Blue, who apparently are reuniting for this gig, along with Diplomats of Solid Sound (an O’Leaver’s regular). The tiny-letter bands of note include locals Thick Paint, Her Flyaway Manner, MiWi La Lupa and Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal. There’s a lot of names I don’t recognize on this list, so… research.

More bands to be announced, according to the Lincoln Calling website, where you can see the full list as of now. Lincoln Calling runs Sept. 18-22 in venues throughout downtown Lincoln.

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Missouri punk trio and local favorite Radkey returns to The Waiting Room tonight. You remember them from the 2014 Maha Music Festival. Chase the Ghost — the duo of Reagan Roeder and Brian Tait — opens at 8 p.m. $12.

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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.