by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A couple weeks ago, the folks at MAHA announced on their Facebook page that they’ve booked Stinson Park at Aksarben Village for the 2012 MAHA Music Festival, scheduled for Aug. 11. In addition to that, MAHA organizer Tre Brashear said they’ve already started sorting through the bands they’d like to book for the festival.

“We’ve got a tentative list started (always subject to change),” Brashear said, adding that the promoter will begin contacting the bands’  agents later this month. “(We’re) going to tell them, ‘Hey, we’d like to have you, so please let us know when you’re ready to start lining up your summer schedule.’ (We) want to get our interest established earlier than January, which is when we’ve started the last two years. Doesn’t mean we’ll be able to afford everyone on our wish list, but don’t know pricing or availability until you ask.”

Among the bands on their wish list: Death Cab for Cutie, Feist, Regina Spektor and Wilco, who would be the ultimate get. There are a lot of Wilco fans ’round these parts, and competition to get the band is going to be fierce.

Brashear said using Stinson Park again in 2012 was an “easy decision” because fan response to the venue was so overwhelmingly positive. I agree with them. Stinson Park is hands-down a better venue than Lewis & Clark Landing for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which are its central location and overall comfort — I’d much rather sit in grass than sit on pavement.

* * *
From Andrew Rossiter at Org Music:

“I came across your post about Capgun Coup signing to Org Music. It’s absolutely true, and we couldn’t be more excited to have them. Details about the new album release are still being confirmed, but it will definitely be out in 2012, and it’s fantastic. We haven’t posted anything official on our website, as we’re in the process of building a new one, which should be up in the next 3-4 weeks.”

Org’s signing of Capgun Coup is indeed a coup for a label that already counts 400 Blows among the bands on its roster.

Check out Capgun’s new video for “Claire Doesn’t Care” at YouTube.

* * *

Tonight at The Slowdown They Might Be Giants takes the stage with opener Gold Motel. The band is celebrating the release of its new 18-song album Join Us, and their 30th year of performances. $23, 8 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The weather was perfect. The bands were awesome. And the crowd was… well, it could have been bigger.

The final “official” head count, according to MAHA Music Festival organizer Tre Brashear, was 4,000, “slightly down from last year.”

A disappointment, and yet, by all other accounts, this year’s MAHA, held last Saturday at Stinson Park in Aksarben Village, was a success, certainly from a fan perspective. I realized this about 15 minutes into Guided By Voices’ set, standing in a crowd of T-shirts and sunscreen and Coors Lites snuggled in red Kum & Go koozies, the sun just peeking over the western horizon after a long day of warm light, slight breezes, temperatures in the upper 70s — a perfect day weather-wise. By all accounts, by everyone I spoke with, MAHA was flawless. The bands and the stages and the sound were fantastic. You could not have asked for anything more… except, of course, for more people.

The review: In addition to Guided By Voices, which flawlessly tore through a set of their finest (“14 Cheerleader Coldfront,”  “I Am a Scientist” “Hot Freaks,” “The Official Ironmen Rally Song,” you know, the classics), the other main stage standout was — strangely, unexpectedly — J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. Seated with an acoustic guitar on his lap, looking like a worried Mr. Natural in nerd glasses, long gray hair blowing in the afternoon breeze, Mascis leaned forward and played a blistering set that drew from his solo work and D. Jr. catalog, highlighting his intricate, ornate, gorgeous guitar work. His voice, a craggy, weary, heart-broken moan, sang of personal yearning while his guitar didn’t gently weep, but soared. Undeniably beautiful, but at the same time, desperate and utterly depressing. By mid-set, it was actually bringing me down.

Mascis was quite a contrast to what came right before it — So-So Sailors on the “second stage,” located to the left (south) of the main stage and sounding somewhat better, thanks to an easing of volume and the natural earth barrier behind it. You could argue that the main stage sounded slightly overblown, overdriven, just plain too loud. By the end of the evening my voice was ragged from having to scream to talk to the person standing right next to me (no matter where I stood in the Stinson compound).

So-So Sailors was the second stage’s highlight, along with Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, which has people asking if they’re the best unsigned band in Nebraska. The other local stage highlight was Lincoln instrumental prog act Machete Archive, a band perfectly suited to cover Rush’s 2112 if only one of them knew how to sing. OEA talent show winner The Big Deep and Lincoln electronic dance/groove act Somasphere rounded out the “little acts.”

Des Moines’ The Envy Corps launched the “big acts” on the main stage shortly after 1 p.m. to a smallish crowd that was still 10-fold larger than the typical early afternoon crowd at last month’s multi-million dollar Red Sky Festival. The Reverend Horton Heat followed with an omnibus career-spanning set of indie rockabilly. Local superstars Cursive, featuring original drummer Clint Schnase, was the most bombastic (and loudest) of the day. To me, it was worth thirty bucks just to hear them do “The Martyr.” So-called “headliner” Matisyahu’s electronic reggae rap closed out the evening to a dwindling crowd (despite the half-priced beers).

Overall, a great day in the park for any indie music fan. Still, “from an ‘economic’ perspective, the day was just OK,” Brashear said. “We had good ticket numbers, but we found that people didn’t stay for the whole day, which hurt our food/beverage/merch sales. People came just for RHH, or just for Cursive and GBV, or just for Matisyahu.” The “coming and going” is likely a symptom of MAHA not being a true “festival” — a multi-day event where people have to commit (due to traveling and camping) to stay for the duration. For MAHA to expand to something like that next year (and yes, there will be a “next year”) the festival will need to find a “presenting sponsor,” which it lacked this year.

Maybe the day’s biggest winner was Stinson Park. “The fans LOVED it,” Brashear said, “but (we’re) not sure what Aksarben Village thinks about us.” He said more volunteers were needed for after-show clean-up. “We had too much mess left over when the Farmer’s Market started the next morning.”

Then there’s Aksarben Cinema, who I’d been told was livid after discovering during last month’s Playing With Fire concert, also held at Stinson, that they had some sound “leakage” problems that caused Harry Potter fans to experience Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings from their theater seats. The buzz Saturday was that the theater, which is the central village draw, was going to put its foot down for future festivals.

During Matisyahu’s set, I walked over to the theater and chatted with the kind gentleman stationed at the ticket-tearing gate and asked if they’d had any noise complaints. He said a couple patrons mentioned something, but that was about it. He suggested I find out for myself. “The auditoriums closest to the park are probably 5 and 6,” he said. “Pop in and see.”

So I did. The Smurfs movie was playing in No. 5. I stretched my eardrums as much as I could, and thought I heard something, maybe a low rumble, but I couldn’t be certain. No. 6 was seating for Harry Potter. Pre-movie commercials and music were playing. Again, I heard nothing. Matisyahu wasn’t “Cursive loud,” but they were certainly earplug loud.

Instead of fighting it, the theater needs to figure out a way to tie into MAHA, that is if it’s held in the park next year. If it were up to the fans I spoke with, it would be. They all said they preferred Stinson’s cool grass lawn to the sun-baked concrete slab of Lewis & Clark Landing. But for MAHA to grow into a real multi-day festival, it’ll need to find some place even bigger and better than both those locations.

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Look for a comprehensive review of Saturday’s MAHA Music Festival tomorrow. It’ll also be featured in this week’s column. For now, here are some images from the show, held at Stinson Park, Aksarben Village.

More to come.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr., it’s Grandfather with Lightning Bug and Family Picnic. Though unsigned, Brooklyn’s Grandfather has been getting a lot of press lately, including listed in SPIN’s “10 Must Hear Artists at Brooklyn’s Northside Festival, 2011,” as well as being name checked by the legendary Steve Albini in a GQ article. Says Albini: “There was a band that came into the studio a while back called Grandfather. They were an art-rock band that organized the funding of their record through Kickstarter. They were really well rehearsed and came into the studio and knocked the record out in a couple of days… That’s the kind of nimble, efficient behavior that was previously impossible when there was a corporate structure involved. It gives me confidence other bands will figure it out.” $6, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

In a way, it all comes down to the weather.

Well, that and the bands, of course. And the ticket price. Look, we know the venue’s going to work out, right?

I’m talking about the third annual MAHA Music Festival, which runs this Saturday afternoon and into the evening at Stinson Park in Aksarben Village. In addition to a solid lineup, it looks like MAHA will have something else that no other festival has had this year — fantastic weather. They’re talking sunny and 80 degrees. It should be so nice, in fact, that the MAHA folks won’t have the convenient excuse that Red Sky / MECA had for the embarrassing crowds at their afternoon endurance-test day sessions. I’ve avoided talking about Red Sky because, well, what’s the point? No one has access to their day-pass ticket sales numbers, which must have totaled fewer than 100. Can you imagine anyone buying a three-day second-stage pass to Red Sky? Whether they’re willing to admit it or not, MECA knows it has a problem. At the core of any festival is selling multi-day tickets/passes; without that, you’re merely hosting a series of unrelated evening concerts, not a festival.

But when it comes defining a festival, MAHA isn’t without criticism –a one-afternoon/evening concert event does not a festival make. Until they spread MAHA out to two or three days, I’m hesitant to call it a true festival, either. The organizers know this. There are plans/hopes to expand MAHA to multiple days…some day. Right now, they just want to get through Saturday with a decent-sized crowd to cover costs and so their vendors can make some money — something that Red Sky’s day vendors weren’t able to do.

Today is the last day to buy MAHA tickets at the $30 price point. You can buy them online, right here. Tomorrow, the price goes up to $35 per ticket, but even at that price this concert is a bargain (especially considering parking is free (yet another perk over Red Sky)).

Here’s the schedule:

Noon: Gates Open
12:30 — The Big Deep
1:10 — The Envy Corp
2:00 — The Machete Archive
2:40 — The Reverend Horton Heat
3:50 — The So-So Sailors
4:30 — J Mascis
5:25 — Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship
6:00 — Cursive
7:15 — Somasphere
8:00 — Guided By Voices
9:30 — Matisyahu
11 — Show’s Over

The organizers have asked to pass on this warning to anyone attending: There will be no re-entry allowed after 4:30. If you leave the park after that time, you can’t come back in. “(We) want people to stay and hear the locals, not just go in and out for the nationals,” said MAHA organizer Tre Brashear. Other than those who live in nearby condos, I’m not sure where people would go anyway, especially with all the beer and food available right there in the park. Regardless, heed the warning.

And buy a ticket. Buy it right now, while you’re thinking of it. Go.

* * *

What about the rest of the weekend?

Tonight New Lungs (Little Brazil bass player Danny Maxwell’s other band) is headlining a gig at O’Leaver’s with Birthday Suits and Solid Goldberg (Dave Goldberg of Box Elders/Carsinogents fame). Fantastic show. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight, Landing on the Moon (Little Brazil drummer Oliver Morgan’s other band) is on the lineup of what’s being billed as a “pre-MAHA show” at Mojo Smokehouse with Midwest Dilemma and Snake Island. $8, 10 p.m.

Finally, the Barley Street Tavern is hosting the Nebraska Pop Festival tonight and tomorrow; with the festival wrapping up Sunday afternoon at The Side Door Lounge. More info and band lineup at the NPF website.

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Column 336: All Systems Go for MAHA

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

When the first band takes the stage at this year’s MAHA Music Festival (at exactly 12:30 p.m. this Saturday), event organizers can take pride in knowing they’ve pulled together a program that not only tops last year’s event, but also establishes itself as the area’s premiere indie music festival.

Lord knows, it wasn’t easy. Along the way, their difficult path was filled with unexpected turns, frustrating indecisiveness, and last-minute demands. And though everything is in place just days before show time, as is the case with any outdoor festival its success is far from guaranteed — even the best-made plans mean nothing in the face of monsoon rains.

But why even consider such a bleak possibility?

Regardless of the weather, they’ve got a lot to be proud of. Saturday’s MAHA concert will mark the third-to-last appearance ever of Guided By Voices , as well as a reunion of the original Cursive lineup (with powerhouse Clint Schnase on drums) and a rare Midwestern festival appearance by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. It’s going to be a veritable smorgasbord of classic indie rock.

On the downside: You won’t see a single female musician on stage the entire afternoon. Not one. It’s a fact that MAHA organizer Tre Brashear said couldn’t be avoided, despite all of their efforts.

“Realistically, I think it shows how in demand female performers are,” he said of the scheduling challenge. “We made several offers (to female-fronted bands) because we think it’s important, but just couldn’t get it done. Looking back, the time we ‘lost’ waiting for commitments that didn’t happen impacted our ability to secure female artists, because those female artists were committing to other shows during that time.”

In fact, Brashear said dealing with indecisive bands was the hardest part of piecing together this year’s program. “We received several tentative commitments that ended up backing out,” he said.

In the end, he was more than satisfied with the final lineup, so much so that this year MAHA marketed beyond the city limits. “We have advertised more nationally,” Brashear said. “Also, our street team work has been much more regional, with people at the 80/35 Festival, Pitchfork, Lollapalooza and Kanrocksas.”

But despite the extra marketing, ticket sales are “pretty comparable” to last year at this time, he said. “Although this is also when we see a surge, after people have seen the weather forecast and know that they have no other conflicts that weekend.”

Brashear said ticket sales comprise roughly half of MAHA’s revenue, with sponsors filling in the other half. “We don’t have a set number of tickets that we have to (sell) to keep doing MAHA, but sales do matter in terms of showing that this whole effort is ‘worth it,'” he said.

Keep in mind that MAHA is the product of a nonprofit organization — it isn’t designed to make money. The goal always has been to fill a void in the local music calendar for an indie rock festival. However, organizers don’t want to lose money, either.

“Since we started doing this, much has changed,” Brashear said. “There’s Kansrocksas, Red Sky, indie shows at Stir, increased success by 1% (Productions). Heck, even Hullabaloo (held last week at River West Park) is meeting a need for ‘camping and music,’ Given all that, ticket sales matter because they show that people like our event and think it is different than what is out there. Positive comments in social media are nice, but people ‘vote’ with their money.”

They also vote with sponsorships. MAHA continues to attract support from some of the area’s largest companies, including TD Ameritrade (main stage sponsor), Kum & Go (local stage sponsor) and Weitz Funds. This year Whole Foods joined the project as a sponsor, vendor, even filling the bands’ riders.

That extra help will come in handy, as the seemingly unending Missouri River floods forced the event from its former home at Lewis & Clark Landing to Stinson Park at Aksarben Village. Despite the benefit of Stinson’s fixed stage, the move from the Landing will mean higher costs for things like fencing, generators and overnight labor (everything has to be cleared out by Sunday morning, in time for the weekly Farmer’s Market).

Helping them figure out how to pull it off was last month’s Playing With Fire concert that featured Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings — an event that also had been moved from Lewis & Clark Landing to Stinson Park. By watching PWF, Brashear and his team not only saw how their event could look and sound, they saw ways to improve on PWF’s event design.

“We learned that you need to work to integrate the east side of the area so it doesn’t get ‘forgotten’ with all the activity on the north and west ends,” Brashear said. “We also learned that the park is so big that you need to have a satellite beer/drink stand.”

As a result, MAHA is moving the entrance and the drink ticket windows to the northeast corner of the park, on Mercy Street, forcing patrons to walk past the vendors, which this year includes Mangia Italiana, Parthenon and eCreamery. Featured nonprofit organizations, such as Omaha Girls Rock, Joslyn Art Museum and Omaha Public Library, will see their tents located on the park’s east end to improve foot traffic in that area.

“As for the satellite drink stand, we’ll have one located along the south side, in addition to the primary tent on Mercy Street,” Brashear said. Refreshments will include Lucky Bucket Lager and IPA, PBR, Coors Light, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, three kinds of premade mixed drinks, and for you teetotalers, Pepsi products, Red Bull, iced tea and bottled water.

Sounds like they got it all covered. Even Accuweather is predicting 82 and sunny. Will it be a record year for MAHA? Buy a ticket and find out.

* * *

That ol boy Tim Kasher is awful busy these days. He and his cohorts in Cursive are working on a new record and will be playing the MAHA Music Festival Saturday night. At the same time, he’s promoting a new EP, Bigamy: More Songs From The Monogamy Sessions, with a free in-store performance at the brand-spanking new Saddle Creek Shop (located in the Slowdown compound) this evening at 7 p.m. (where you’ll be able to pick up your copy of the EP five days before anyone else).

Omaha World-Herald‘s Kevin Coffey has a super-keen Q&A with TK about his ongoing projects as well as a new Good Life album, right here.

And if that weren’t enough, Kasher also is going to be a guest on Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know, which tapes live this Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Holland Performing Arts Center. You can listen to the program live on KIOS 91.5 FM, Omaha’s NPR affiliate. If you’ve never listened to the show, it’s mostly Feldman chatting with the audience, a couple call-in current events quizzes, witty banter with his traveling band and, for the road version of the show, interviews with local celebs — in this case Kasher. I don’t know if TK will be performing as part of this gig, but based on how Feldman has presented past guests, it’s unlikely. Tickets are available to the taping for $25 to $25 at ticketomaha.com.

* * *

The next annual (what is this, seventh annual?) Lincoln Calling Festival initial lineup was announced last night. The event, which is held in bars throughout downtown Lincoln, will be held Oct. 11-15.

Festival organizer (and unofficial mayor of Lincoln) Jeremy Buckley said he had to throttle back this year’s lineup after losing Scion as a sponsor (due to the tsunami in Japan). The full lineup is available on the event’s Facebook page, right here, but highlights include Icky Blossoms, Conduits, Little Brazil, Talking Mountain and Ideal Cleaners. More info to come.

* * *

Much to do tonight.

At O’Leaver’s, The Lepers headline a show with Snake Island and a band called Digger (one assumes, named after a certain foot fungus mascot). $5, 9:30 p.m.

Down at Slowdown in the big room it’s industrial pioneers KMFDM along with Army of the Universe, 16 Volt and Human Factors Lab. $25 and an early 8 p.m. start. Bring your earplugs.

And finally, Bluebird is playing on the newly christened Mojo Smokehouse stage (actually, I don’t even know if they have a stage or not, they do have pretty good sliders) located in Aksarben Village (right next to the movie theater). With Chicago’s Machinegun Mojo; 10 p.m., $5.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

When the Guided By Voices reunion tour was announced in June 2010, Matador Records deemed the band’s configuration “the Classic Lineup.” Even the GBV logo was reworked in the same colors and font as Coca-Cola, another American classic.

It was the perfect moniker for a lineup that drove GBV’s mid-’90s golden era — frontman/singer/songwriter Robert Pollard, guitarist Mitch Mitchell, drummer Kevin Fennell, bassist Greg Demos, and Pollard’s partner in crime, guitarist Tobin Sprout, who penned such GBV classics as “Awful Bliss,” “Atom Eyes” and “It’s Like Soul Man.”

For the uninitiated, a quick GBV career summary: It started when grade school teacher Pollard got together with friends from a number of local Dayton bands and jammed in his garage. From 1986 through 1993 the band put out seven recordings, none of which caught the ear of anyone outside southern Ohio.

After ’93’s Vampire on Titus was released on Scat Records, music insiders began figuring it out. Following a series of New York shows, the band began to attract an interesting group of fans, including The Breeders, Thurston Moore, Peter Buck, Peter Wolf, Ray Davies and the Beastie Boys.

Then in ’94, the year of Kurt Cobain’s death and the beginning of the end for grunge, along came Bee Thousand, GBV’s homemade opus that positioned the band as indie rock legends. Pollard and Sprout had an uncanny ability to write short, sweet pop songs with hooks that you couldn’t get out of your head. Sprout’s 4-track recordings ushered in what would come to be known as the “low-fi” craze. Suddenly, for better or worse, hiss-filled CDs that sounded like they were recorded for about $10 in someone’s basement “studio” were all the rage among indie bands. Sounding good meant sounding bad.

During this era, the classic lineup would make some of GBV’s most famous recordings, including Propeller, Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes and Under the Bushes Under the Stars.

But all good things come to an end, right? GBV split up in ’06. Pollard went on to a solo career. So did Sprout, who was also nurturing a fine art career and a family. And that, it seemed, was the end of the GBV story.

Until this reunion, but even that has to end sometime. The band’s appearance at the MAHA Music Festival this Saturday at Stinson Park will mark the third-to-last show of this reunion tour.

We caught up with Tobin Sprout to find out what happens next:

Guided by Voices' Tobin Sprout, circa 2010.

How did the “Classic Lineup” happen? What convinced the band to get together for these shows?

Tobin Sprout: Matador asked us to reunite for their 21st Anniversary show in Vegas (2010).  After that was announced we were getting offers from all over the country to play, so we ended up doing a 21-city tour.  Then added New Year’s and other weekend shows.  We have four more shows to do ending in September, about a year from the time we started the reunion. It was sort of the plan to put it to rest after a year.

What’s it been like playing with Bob and the rest of the band again?

It’s been good; everyone is having a great time, picking up where we left off.

What have been the best and worst parts about this tour?

The best part is playing in GBV again, I never thought for any reason it would happen.  But Matador gave us an opening and we just have gone with the flow.  It has been great to be with the band and see the fans again.

Flying is the worst part. It never really used to bother me, but now it does, not really for the danger because it’s safer than driving, or even the high up in the air part, just the checking in, waiting, waiting, checking, sitting in a very small area. Maybe I’m becoming claustrophobic.

Guided by Voices, Bee Thousand (Matador, 1994)

Have you ever talked about writing and recording new GBV material?

Yes, we have talked about it, and you never know it could happen. The reunion happened.

Within the past three or four years, there has been a revival of garage bands, and certainly a lot of these up-and-comers have been influenced by GBV. The GBV set was singled out as one of the best at the Pitchfork Music Festival. What’s it like knowing that your music is having an impact on a different generation?

Glad to hear Pitchfork said it was one of the best. It was considered by NP (defund them) R, as one of the worst shows in Seattle.  If we help carry and pass the torch, that’s great. It’s all about the songs. There are people in every generation that seem to get that.

How has being in a band changed since the early ’90s?

Cell phones, laptops, e-mail have made touring seem a lot easier — being able to stay in touch with home and not have to deal with finding a phone (that works), phone cards, etc. I can always be reached now.

What advice would you give those just starting out?

I would say if this is what you want to do, write songs, and write songs.  Then go on tour and play them, and don’t sign anything until you have your lawyer look at it.

Guided by Voices at Sokol Underground, April 8, 2000.

What are you going to do after the tour ends? Are you working on any solo material or with another band?

I’ll be working on my art, music and painting.  Bob and I might do an art show together; right now it’s being called “The Big Hat And Toy Show.” No date has been set, and I will also need time to get more work together.  (I’m) also writing more on my book, Elliott — April and Elliott, the story continues.

Your paintings are amazing. Will you now refocus your efforts on your fine art?

Thanks, I never really lose focus.  I still manage to paint and write between shows, and I’m always making notes, and sketching ideas in my head on tour.

Will GBV ever reform again for another tour?

I don’t know.  Maybe

Finally, what should we expect from GBV when we see you at the MAHA Festival?

The Big Hat And (Amazing) Rock Show, for all the great Omaha and visiting GBV fans, and fans to come.

Guided by Voices plays with Cursive, J Mascis, Matisyahu, The Rev. Horton Heat and The Envy Corps at the MAHA Music Festival, Saturday, Aug. 13, at Stinson Park in Aksarben Village, 67th & West Center Rd. Gates open at noon. Tickets are $30; $35 DOS. For more information, go to mahamusicfestival.com.

Story originally published in The Reader Aug. 10, 2011. Copyright © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

* * *

So here’s the deal: While plugging away at a history project of my own, I got lost in the catacombs of old articles and blog entries that make up 13+ years of Lazy-i.com. Narcissistic? I suppose. It dawned on me that no matter what history is written, there will always be things that fall between the tracks that should be remembered. And that’s where “The Lazy-i Vault” comes in, a new blog feature online once a week, usually Tuesday or Wednesday, that takes readers back to something that happened in Omaha/Nebraska indie rock history, as reported in Lazy-i. It could be a news item, it could be a show review, it could be an interview. It’ll be followed by a brief “so what happened”-style update. It’ll usually be just a brief snapshot taken from the past, like this one:

From Lazy-i Vault, Aug. 10, 2000: The Carsinogents will be trotting out a new bass player when they open for the all-girl band, The Pindowns, this Saturday, Aug. 12, 2000, at The 49’r. Vocalist Dave Goldberg said Marc Phillips will be taking over for Mike Ivers, who recently left the band. The Carsinogents also will be playing a show at The Ranch Bowl Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000, with the Young Hasselhoffs and The Cuterthans.

Goldberg said the band has completed recording a 5-song EP at Rainbow, produced by Dan Brennan of Red Menace fame. “We’re currently sending it to various labels and people with connections,” Goldberg said. “Ideally, someone will pick it up and put it out. We’re very eager to tour.” FYI, for those who are on the fence as to whether to hit that 49’r show, Goldberg said The Pindowns perform in Catholic school girl outfits and have played a party for cinematic hero Ron Jeremy.

Back to the present: I don’t know if I made it to either of those shows, but I’m sure they were ones for the ages. Carsinogents never did much touring before the band split up a few years later. Goldberg got more than his share of roadwork as a member of Box Elders. You can catch his new joint, Solid Goldberg, Friday night at O’Leaver’s.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr. it’s Dntel (James Scott “Jimmy” Tamborello of Figurine and Postal Service fame) along with One AM Radio and Geotic (Will Wiesenfeld of Baths). According to One AM’s publicist, “all three acts remixed each other, Will has played on The One AM Radio’s latest LP, and Jimmy and Hrishikesh (of The One AM Radio) go way back after meeting through the dublab community up in LA.” Expect to see more than just three guys sweating behind a bank of electronic equipment. Probably. $10, 9 p.m.

* * *

Tomorrow: The final word from MAHA before MAHA…

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

 

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I don’t know what more to say about Digital Leather that I haven’t already said. The band continues to be one of my favorites, not only in Omaha, but anywhere. Last night at the MAHA/Hear Nebraska Showcase at The Slowdown, DL sported the same three-piece configuration they had at O’Leaver’s in May: John Vredenburg on bass, Jeff Lambelet on drums, and guitarist/vocalist Shawn Foree in the lead — a lean, mean trio burning brightly through their set as if they had nothing to lose.

Yeah, I loved the old synth-driven version of Digital Leather (One person asked me last night, “Where’s the digital part?”), but I dig the raw energy of this stripped down version almost as much. Foree is an electric, muscular frontman, Vredenburg is a chaotic, spitting punk madman, and Lambelet is out of control, driving his kick drum to the edge of the stage with every song, knocking cymbals off the tee for audience members to run on stage and fix (touching moments indeed). Imagine how these guys would have sounded sandwiched between J. Mascis and Guided By Voices at the MAHA Music Festival. Oh well, maybe next year, that is if they’re available. By then they’ll have a new record out on Absolutely Kosher and will likely be on an unending national/international tour, well on their way to becoming great big rock stars.

So-So Sailors had no problem following DL. The line-up included Ben Brodin on keys, replacing (for the evening) a busy Dan McCarthy, and doing a fine job. I’m so used to hearing S-SS’s set that each song is like an old friend, familiar and comfortable, as if their record came out a year ago when in fact it hasn’t been released yet. Imagine how “familiar” we’re going to be with these songs a year from now when they’re still playing them, supporting their debut release… Something tells me I won’t mind, although I’m already dying to hear some new material.

Speaking of comfortable bands, Fortnight continues to refine its Midwestern indie-rock sound, reaching out the furthest on their last song. I’d like to see these folks push their sound even further.

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Tonight, more MAHA star power as The Envy Corps play at The Waiting Room with Conduits and Tangent Arc. $8, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at O’Leaver’s tonight it’s Cloven Path, Blyeth and Flesh Eat Skin Disease. The usual 9:30 start, the usual $5.

At Barley St. tonight, Lonely Estates plays with Blue Rosa. 9 p.m. $5.

Talking Mountain continues to bombard Omaha with its spazz-aholic, smoke-choking, laser-blinded pop goodness at O’Leavers Saturday night, along with Mammoth Life. 9:30, $5.

Sunday is the biggest show of the weekend: Cold Cave with Astra and Touch People (the indescribable Darren Keen) at The Waiting Room. $10 now, $12 DOS. 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You may or may not know this, but Lazy-i has a comment feature. It’s located right at the end of each day’s post. You simply click on the “Comment” link and voila, you’ve got a space to espouse your own opinions about whatever it is I’ve been talking about.

Some of you made good use of that comment feature on yesterday’s blog entry, specifically commenting on the news that local band The Big Deep won the “popular vote” at last weekend’s OEAA Summer Showcase, and as a result, was named to open the MAHA Music Festival on Aug. 13. Some were not pleased; one person, OEAA Board Member MarQ Manner, rushed to defend MAHA’s process. You can read all the comments right here.

I’ve avoided the fray on all this, except for Friday’s blog entry where I once again kicked a dead horse over the lack of signed local bands participating in the OEA showcase. Chatting this weekend with three bands that turned down offers to play the showcase, it came down to this: 1) It wasn’t a paying gig. They all said they’ve played benefits before, but didn’t consider the OEAA’s award banquet to be a “charity”; 2) A couple bands said they didn’t “fit in” with the rest of the OEAA bands — interpret that any way you want, and 3) All understood that by playing the OEAA showcase they could win a slot to play at the MAHA Music Festival (which they’d all love to do), but knew that they had absolutely no chance of winning the “contest” (and they were absolutely right). There was also considerable loathing of the idea of bands “battling” each other. Actually, I don’t know anyone who likes the battle of the bands concept, other than Manner and the bars who put on such events and probably The Big Deep and, of course, the MAHA organizers, and MECA and the Red Sky people.

OEAA organizers could solve the problem of not being able to attract “signed” local bands to their showcase. They could name one “headliner” per night per venue, and pay them. An unrealistic suggestion I suppose, but all three bands said they would have played the showcase for a few hundred bucks — a small fee to pay for credibility. So would all the other bands who agreed to play for free cry foul? Maybe. Maybe not. Without such a system, however, OEAA leaves out a huge segment of the Omaha music community, and defines itself as a purely amateur event.

As for the comments about MAHA’s selection of The Big Deep, well, you can’t hate on the band for winning. That said, the commenter named “Mike” made an excellent point. “I doubt that the fans that came out to (the OEA Showcase) to see The Big Deep are going to shell out $30 to see them at Maha, and Indreama fans wouldn’t have shelled out $30 just for Indreama (or whoever… just wanted a name of a band for an example), but the Indreama fan is more likely to have a ticket and might show up earlier, buying more food, more beer and being seen by show sponsors…” So true.

Don’t agree? Add a comment…

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Tonight at The Waiting Room one of Omaha’s most beloved (and talented) singer/songwriters, Brad Hoshaw, and his band The Seven Deadlies opens for Portland folk duo Blind Pilot. $10, 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

 

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Yesterday’s blog post that talked about Playing With Fire’s move to Aksarben Village now also applies to the MAHA Music Festival. MAHA organizers announced yesterday afternoon that they’re following PWF’s lead and moving to Stinson Park / Aksarben Village for their Aug. 13 event.

There is a major difference between these two events, however. Playing With Fire is a free concert. The MAHA Music Festival is a $30 ticket. How does MAHA keep freeloaders from just watching and listening from the sidelines? That was one of the questions posed to MAHA Festival organizer Tre Brashear.  And here are his answers:

The view from the fixed stage at Stinson Park / Aksarben Village.

Lazy-i: I assume there will be a fence that surrounds the Stinson Park compound? Will it circle just the park area?

Brashear: Yes, we will have an 8- foot-high privacy fence (i.e., can’t see through) that will encircle the entirety of the park (including Center St. and Papio Creek sides).  However, we will expand fence to include Mercy St. between Aksarben Dr. and 67th St. so that that portion of the street will be part of the MAHA grounds.

How will you be able to keep freeloaders from simply watching/listening to the concert from outside the fence?

First and foremost, we’ve tried to keep our ticket price low enough that people can afford to attend.  After all, part of the festival experience comes from being in the crowd, feeling the energy, dancing with your friends, etc., so standing around listening will never be as good as being there.  Also, given our nonprofit status, we are hopeful that people will “want” to actually buy a ticket in order to be supportive and help us grow the event in future years.

That said, we are realists and know that people will always look for a chance to take advantage, but we’ve spent enough time at the site and evaluating the sight lines that we feel comfortable that the 8-foot fence will prevent anyone from being able to watch the show without paying.  As for listening, we can’t prevent that.  However, people who are content merely to listen probably weren’t going to buy a ticket anyway.

Will you be able to block off Mercy St. for the event? Where do you intend to set up vendors?

Yes, Mercy St. will be fenced in and included as part of the festival grounds between Aksarben Dr. and 67th St.  Part of the street will be used for our production activities and the other part will house some of our vendor and sponsor tents.

Have you brokered deals for parking either at UNO or in the parking garages?

We have access to the entire parking garage immediately to the east of the park as well as an open area to the northeast, so we will have enough parking for everyone within two blocks of the festival.  Also, the fact that Aksarben Village is both on a bike trail and within walking distance for many of our fans will cut down on some of our parking needs.

Is there a forced noise ordinance to deal with? A concert cut-off time?

There is no noise ordinance specifically.  Only specific requirement is that we be done by 11 p.m., which would be the same anywhere we went within city limits, so that is when the show will end.

Lighting/PA-wise, what will you need to bring in to make it work?

From a music/lighting/performance standpoint, we are going to have bring in all the same equipment that we had to bring in at the Landing, so that’s not a big change.  However, we are upgrading our local stage from last year with better sound and lighting and inclusion of a roof and backdrop.

What’s the biggest challenge about making Stinson work for MAHA?

Besides the general need to encourage people to buy a ticket and not plan to freeload, we suspect our biggest challenge will come after the show is over because we have to have everything cleaned up and moved out before the Aksarben Village Farmer’s Market on Sunday morning.  We can do it (or we wouldn’t be there), but it’s certainly going to be a hassle and make for a long night.

With an expected crowd about half the size of PWF’s, MAHA probably won’t have to worry about getting everyone comfortably inside that 8-foot-high fence. In fact, MAHA will have the advantage of learning from whatever mistakes PWF makes at its show, which is just a week from Saturday.

Moving to Aksarben Village appears to be a home run for everyone involved, and some might consider it a sizable upgrade. Parking will be easier and cheaper, Aksarben Village businesses will be introduced to some new clientele, it just seems like the whole thing will have more of a festival, community atmosphere. The only apparent downside is freeloaders, but there won’t be a lot of room for them to roam around outside the compound. And like Brashear said (though more tactfully) those cheap bastards weren’t going to buy a ticket to the show anyway.

Speaking of which, have you bought your ticket yet? For just $30 you get Guided By Voices, Matisyahu, Cursive, J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), The Reverend Horton Heat and newcomers The Envy Corp along with So-So Sailors, The Machete Archive, Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, Somasphere and one more band TBD this weekend at the OEA Summer Showcase in Benson. Plus booze and food vendors galore. Find out more, get tickets or volunteer at the MAHA website.

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Tomorrow: An interview with Saddle Creek Record’s newest band, Big Harp.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

 

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Yesterday the fine folks who organize the MAHA Music Festival added their final band to the line-up, Ames, Iowa act The Envy Corps. The band recorded their new album, It Culls You, with venerable local knob twirler A.J. Mogis, and the result is something that sounds like a Midwestern version of Radiohead. Corps frontman Luke Pettipoole couldn’t sound more like Thom Yorke if he tried. When I commented as such, Pettipoole responded with, “Yeah, we were going for kind of a latter-day Radiohead meets HUM via Talk Talk kinda sound, nice to hear it kinda came through.” It did, Luke, it did. I like Radiohead, and I like this record, though I don’t know if it’s actually been released yet.

On a certain level, The Envy Corps is a natural fit for MAHA, though they have (nearly) zero ability to attract any new bodies to the festival who haven’t already been attracted by Guided By Voices or the rest of the line-up. Most people haven’t heard of them, though they briefly were on Mercury imprint Vertigo Records a few years ago. You could argue that, considering their following and the number of times they’ve played in Omaha, they actually belong on the local stage rather than on the headliners’ stage. On another level, the announcement is sort of a white flag that MAHA gave up on landing a true emerging artist that’s had a modicum of CMJ/national attention. Maybe they ran out of money; more likely they ran out of time.

With the final addition of Envy Corps, MAHA becomes an all-male revue. There will be no women on stage Aug. 13. What this says about either MAHA or the state of the indie music industry is anyone’s guess. I know that MAHA reached out to a number of female-led performers, but had no luck landing them for this festival. However, I do find it hard to believe that they couldn’t find one single female performer for either the national or local stage. Red Sky isn’t immune to this subtle form of sexism. It’s also going to be a sausage party, without a one woman scheduled to cross the main stage during the six-day festival (though it does have women represented in two side-stage bands, the unknown Kids These Days and the Natalie Merchant-less 10,000 Maniacs).

The above problem underscores the importance of organizations like Omaha Girls Rock. If you haven’t been following OGR, here’s a quick overview of what they do and why they’re doing it. And now you can help. OGR has an immediate need for equipment and instruments for use at their July camp. That means you can finally find a use for that drum set that’s sitting down in your basement with all those clothes stacked on top of it. Or that big amp in your office that’s always in the way. ORG needs all of it, along with guitars, mics, cables, PA, keyboards, anything you’re willing to loan or donate. If you can help out, shoot a quick email to elizawebbmusic@gmail.com and they’ll work with you to get that stuff off your hands.

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The fine feathered friends at Slo-Fi Records (i.e., the illustrious Kyle Harvey) is keeping busy with more summer releases. This time it’s singer/songwriter South of Lincoln a.k.a. Maxwell Beardsley Holmquist, whose new Slo-Fi release is being celebrated tonight at The Barley Street Tavern with Down With The Ship, Seattle act Archeology and the man himself, Mr. Kyle Harvey. Show starts at 9, and will run you $5. Definitely go and pick up a copy of the CD.

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So where’s that review of last weekend’s Shanks shows? You’re just gonna have to sit on your hands until tomorrow (or Thursday)…

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.