Tony Molina at Sweatshop Gallery, July 11, 2015. Molina plays at O’Leaver’s Sunday night.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Crazy weekend backloaded with a very busy Sunday night line-up. We’ll get there.

First, tonight is the annual Memorial Park Concert, this year featuring Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul and Chris Isaak — a step up over the usual thread-bare ’70s heritage acts booked in the past. I’m not a Little Steven fan (the only song I know by him is the cheesy “I’m not gonna play Sun City” MTV song) and I only know two Isaak songs, so like most folks, I’ll be there for the fireworks. Have fun. Stay off my lawn.

Getting out of my neighborhood after the annual fiasco can be a challenge, but if I’m able, there’s a couple shows tonight.

At The Brothers Lounge, No Thanks plays with KC punkers Red Kate and opener The Natural States. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at fabulous O’Leaver’s there’s a songwriters’ showcase with Those Far Out Arrow’s Ben Keelan-White, Hussies’ Tom Bartolmei, Andy Holmes and Mark Johnson. $5, 10 p.m.

Saturday night is looking mighty thin from an indie perspective. If you know something, say something.

Then comes Sunday night and four shows/events.

The first is the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony being held at the Ramada Inn at 3321 So. 72nd St. Among the dozen inductees is legendary bassist Dereck Higgins (Digital Sex, R.A.F., a million other projects). Nine inductees will be performing at the program, which starts at 4 p.m. Tickets are $20.

The Sydney in Benson is hosting a couple nationally touring dark-synth acts Sunday night headlined by Columbus, Ohio, act Child of Night and Brooklyn’s Shanghai Beach. Omaha legend Solid Goldberg (Why isn’t Dave in the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame?) and Lowercase Tres also are on the bill. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, O’Leaver’s has a heavy-duty line-up Sunday evening for an early show that starts at 6 p.m. The headliner is Young Guv, the project of Fucked Up guitarist Ben Cook. Cook plays power-pop summer-of-love psych rock, gorgeous and catchy. Also on the bill is Slumberland Records label mate Tony Molina. Add to that Nathan Ma, Dross and opener Putter & Co. and you have a veritable mini-festival for a mere $7.

Finally, with the College World Series finally over, The Slowdown is back hosting rock shows again. Sunday night they have Grapetooth in the front room, a pop project with Chris Bailoni and Twin Peaks’ Clay Frankel. Their 2018 debut was released on Polyvinyl. Also on the bill are James Swanberg and Jessica Hottman’s Sun Cycles. $16, 8 p.m.

And that’s all I got. If I misssed 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.

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.