Civic plays tonight at Slowdown, Jr.

by Tim McMahan,Lazy-i.com

Another busy weekend for shows. Here’s where you need to be if you’re ready to rock…

Tonight at Slowdown Jr. Melbourne proto-punk band Civic headlines. Their latest, Taken by Force, was release this past February by ATO Records. Big riffs, precise guitar interplay, snarling Stooges vibe, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen a new touring act just straight-out rock, and these guys bring the fire. Also on the bill is our own power-rock trio, Bad Bad Men, which (in my humble opinion) is a perfect fit for this gig. Bliss opens the show at 8 p.m. $20, front room so get tix if you can.

Competing directly with this Civic show is Bad Religion at The Admiral. Greg Graffin, and the boys have been doing it since the early ‘80s, defining the Epitaph sound and paving the way for acts like Green Day and Offspring, who “acquired” their sound and ran with it. No doubt this show will steal much of Civic’s ticket-buying thunder (Imagine if both bands were on the same bill…). Adding to the show’s fire power at The Admiral is Dwarves, who bring their own unique punk energy. Speed of Light opens at 7:30. $45.

Your Saturday activities start early with Farnam Fest in the Blackstone District, or should I say pre-Farnam Fest activities as Ground Floor Guitar is hosting its first in-store performance ramping up to Farnam Fest. Omaha singer/songwriter/sensation Mike Schlesinger performs in the shop followed by the C&W stomping of Lightning Stills (Craig Fort and his band of punk cowboys). This gig begins at 2 p.m. and is free, though you may want to buy a guitar while you’re in the shop, which is located at 4009 Farnam Street, just west of Noli’s. 

Then comes Farnam Fest ’23 kicking off at 4 p.m. I’m not sure where they’re going to have the stage set up this year, though it’s probably somewhere along 40th and Farnam. The line-up is pretty solid with some of Omaha’s best:

• – Bad Self Portraits
• – David Nance Band
• – M34N STR33T
• – The Real Zebos
• – BIB

$10 at the door.

David Nance is one busy dude, because he’s also playing at Pageturners Saturday night with DJ Trolli and The Mighty Vitamins. 8 p.m., no cover but $10 donation is suggested. I’m now told this show has been cancelled (see comments).

Nance and friends will also be backing Rosali at Grapefruit Records Saturday night. The singer/songwriter (who just played at Pageturners herself a couple weeks ago) is playing in the Old Market record store with Chicago indie singer/songwriter Fran, a.k.a. Maria Jacobson, whose latest, Leaving (2023, Fire Talk) is a real beaut.  7 p.m., $10.

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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The long wait is over this Saturday as The Admiral — f.k.a. Sokol Auditorium — finally opens its doors, and for Bright Eyes no less. This, after months of “construction delays” have forced at least a dozen shows to be rescheduled or moved to other venues. I have to believe the 1% guys (and the Mammoth folks and other investors) are relieved to finally be open for business.

So, strange story about Saturday night’s Bright Eyes show — earlier this week I announced that it was sold out, because it was marked “sold out” on the 1% website and on the etix site. Then suddenly a day or so ago, it’s no longer sold out. No idea what the deal was.

I also noticed that both Saturday and Sunday nights are “Masks required unless eating or drinking” shows, as well as No Vax No Entry. Maybe it was on there before and I didn’t notice it. So if you’re going this weekend, be vaxed or get tested and be able to prove it, and bring your mask (though for the life of me, I have no idea how they’ll enforce the mask mandate — just wear one anyway). Tickets are $45 or $75 for “Premiere Balcony” seats. I’m told the balcony is completely renovated, and the original plans were to have a separate bar in the balcony. Hurray for the Riff Raff kicks things off at 8 p.m.

OK, so what about tonight (Friday)?

Digital Leather is playing tonight at The Sydney as part of Drag Night at The Sydney. There’s two listings for this show — one says it’s an amateur drag night (Hit ‘em w/yr catwalk), and the other is DL’s listing (+ drag night), which says they go on at 11. $5. Grab your wig and heels and come on down.

Also tonight, the Slowdown is back at it after harvesting (millions?) of CWS dollars the past couple weekends. Well, the tents are gone and the bands are back. Tonight it’s LA alt-rock band Liily with Catcher and our very own Infinite Video. $18, 8 p.m.

Over at The Berkley, 1901 Leavenworth St., new local four-piece Indian Caves (Dan Krueger, Joe Ranne, Kyle Moeller and Leslie Wells) headlines tonight with Saltwater Sanctuary and ol’ favorites Midwest Dilemma (acoustic). $5. 8 p.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) there’s a sort of “secret show” at fabulous O’Leaver’s. The listing says Secret Serenade w/Cookie Mug. No idea who these bands really are, but the show is free so the only thing you’re risking is your time. Plus, it’s nearly impossible to have anything but a good time at O’Leaver’s. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Finally, Pageturners Lounge is hosing a folk-poet quartet called The Snarlin Yarns Saturday night. Opening is one of Omaha’s best kept music secrets, Mike Schlesinger. This is a free show and it starts at 8 p.m.

And that’s all I got for this long July 4 weekend. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a bang-up time.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The last time Bandcamp waved its cut on all online shares for a day it resulted in $4.3 million in music and merch sales. It also resulted in some pretty sloooow Bandcamp server speeds.

Well, Bandcamp is doing it again today, waving its “revenue share” on all shares at its website today until midnight PDT. In addition, 150 artists and record labels are offering donations and special merchandise (check out the list). It’s kind of like Records Store Day but for online music sales. Among the labels taking part is Saddle Creek Records, which is giving 100 percent of revenue from generated sales to artists.

Actually, most of the good indie labels are participating this way, including Matador, Merge, Captured Tracks, Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and more.

With that in mind, here are a few recordings to check out (and buy!):

Big Nope, the new project from See Through Dresses’ drummer Nate Van Fleet, today released the 3-song Back to You EP. Recorded and mixed by Ben Brodin with contributions from Nick Costa and Charlie Finnigan, this is the best Big Nope release yet. Buy here.

Last month’s Live at The Sydney live stream will be remembered as one of the few bright spots from this COVID misery we’re currently suffering, and now you can relive it after the pandemic has subsided, thanks to today’s release of Mike Schlesinger – Live at The Sydney. The six-song EP is one of the best live sets I’ve heard in a long time. Buy here.

Speaking of live sets, Simon Joyner today released Simon Joyner & The Bingo Trappers Oct. 21st 2012, an 11-song LP that features Joyner favorites like “The Only Living Boy in Omaha,” “Three Well-Aimed Arrows” and “Christine,” along with a couple Bingo Trappers covers. Buy here. Also check out Joyner’s Bandcamp merch page that includes a new T-shirt designed by urban folkie Jeffrey Lewis, with all profits today going to Food Bank of the Heartland and MusiCares Foundation.

Seminal ‘90s punk band Poster Children today released a live recording from their 1992 Cabaret Metro show. It’s a scorcher. Buy here.

Finally, released today is a vintage track from Lincoln band The Golden Age, called “Home is a Hotel,” recorded in the first half of the 2000s. The band featured Rob Hawkins on guitar/vocals with Tim Jensen, Alisa Heinzman and Ian Aeillo. Ah, where are they now? Buy here.

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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Technically and artistically, what Ian Aiello and his team pulled off last Friday night at The Sydney will stand as the benchmark by which live streamed performances will be judged, and I don’t mean just local ones.

Multiple cameras, pristine audio and two fine performances in an empty bar in Benson, except for the crew that made it all work, last week’s Social Resonance Vol. 1 represents what can be done with the technology that will be spoon-feeding us live musical performances at least for the next two or three months while COVID does its thing.

You, of course, can see for yourself via this link, which will take you to the performance’s recording hosted in YouTube. Ian said about 250 watched live at any one time and a total of around 450 people viewed the live stream. Since its broadcast, the recording has had just under 1,200 views. Not bad.

Rebecca Lowry with an electric guitar (the last time I saw her perform she held a ukulele) belted out a number of songs a la Bonnie Raitt, while Mike Schlesinger, wearing a John Denver T-shirt, preferred to use an old acoustic guitar for his set of low-slung heart-breakers. Schlesinger is a Nebraska treasure who deserves to be discovered by this great, big COVID-infected world.

The stream defined the phrase “intimate performance.” With multiple cameras and perfect sound, there was utterly nowhere for these two to hide as every breath, every note was stream-ified. Guts. Confidence.

Despite its “Vol. 1” title, Ian said this was a one-shot — there will be no Vol. 2, which is a shame considering Vol. 1’s success. It truly was appointment viewing and gave us all somewhere to meet on a Friday night, even if it was just in front of our computers.

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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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Think about all the rock shows we had to choose from just a year ago from this week. Phoebe and Conor’s Better Oblivion Community Center was playing a sold out show at The Slowdown; Wild Powwers was playing at O’Leaver’s, Black Moth Super Rainbow was at The Waiting Room as was The Nadas, ADULT. was at Slowdown Jr., and a slew of local bands including Gerald Lee Jr., Minne Lussa, The Natural States and Death Cow were playing clubs all over town.

This weekend all we got is a bunch of live streams and our record collections to keep us going. Look, this COVID thing isn’t going to last forever, right?

Well, one thing to look forward to is happening tonight in your living room. Social Resonance is a live streaming project coming at you tonight at 9:30 from a closed-up Sydney in Benson. Produced by Ian Aeillo with the help of some local technical wiz kid, the show will include performances from singer / songwriters Rebecca Lowry and Mike Schlesinger and probably a few other surprises.

It’s streaming via YouTube from this link: https://youtu.be/xPa5hWnBKkQ If you click on the link in the YouTube app you can send it to your SmartTV, which Ian implores you do for maximum viewing pleasure. If you don’t have a SmartTV (or a TV) just watch it below:

I plan on sitting back with an ice cold Rolling Rock and some of my favorite take-out and enjoying the whole show in my living room. I’d love it if performers and venues were able to do more of these kind of scheduled streamed rock shows, at least until things get back to normal…

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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

 

 

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Been pretty quiet the last couple days.

Only bit of news is that last week David Nance Group announced it has a new 7-inch out on Jack White’s Third Man Records. Says the press release: “‘Meanwhile’ is 4 minutes of post-everything rock n roll death race to the bottom of the sea of tape hiss and Wiper-ian broken space riffage. Backed with the honky tonk punk stance of ‘Credit Line”s 2019 debt wite-out anthem, this is an essential 2-sider for everyone who ever stared in their dad’s closet at his faded denim jacket and DREAMED.”

Check it below and order your copy from thirdmanstore.com.

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Every time Mike Schlesinger books a gig it reminds me of his sweet Live at O’Leaver’s set from 2015. The shining moments from that recording are Schlesinger’s heart-breaker “Coolie Trade” and his cover of Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio.” I don’t know anything about Schlesinger other than this recording. He always plays first on a bill, which means I always miss him. He’s playing first again tonight at The Sydney for a show that includes Philly ambient duo All Boy/All Girl and Omaha’s own Hussies. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Chicago post-punk band Dendrons headlines at Reverb Lounge. This is the first night on a national tour that runs through August. There’s not a helluva lot online from these guys, but with such a large tour I have to believe they’ve worked up an album’s worth of material. Joining them is the keyboard/drum madness of Pagan Athletes, and two bands new on my radar: Roman Constantino and Baby Sledge. $7, 8 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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

January is a cold, black hole. Thankfully this is the last weekend before we crawl out of it.

Shows…

Tonight a couple bands that usually play at places like O’Leaver’s and Brothers Lounge are taking the stage at Reverb: Sean Pratt & The Sweats and Mike Schlesinger. $7, 8 p.m.

Also tonight, local punkers No Thanks celebrate the release of their album, The Trial, tonight at OutrSpaces, 528 So. 24th St. Screaming Plastic and Death Cow kick it off at 9 p.m. $10 donation.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) there’s a big five-band bill at Pet Shop (old Sweastshop) with Jocelyn (who just signed to BMG Records), Conny Franko w/Kethro, Loud Minority, Dilute and ROA. $6, 9 p.m.

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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The last time: “Pixie-ish Channy Leaneagh looked like a young Mia Farrow (back when Farrow was married to Sinatra, circa Rosemary’s Baby) doing a jerky genie ballet, her tiny hands casting quirky spells on the mesmerized crowd, with a voice like a Twin Cities’ version of Bjork of Sinead.”

Poliça return to The Waiting Room tonight. Their latest album, United Crushers (Mom + Pop, 2016), is enjoying a 72/100 score at Album of the Year, though Pitchfork gave it a tepid 6.6 rating. LA band Clara-Nova opens. $15, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Noah Sterba band plays a live gig at fabulous O’Leavers. Mike Schlesinger opens. The fun starts at 9.

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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 © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

In this month’s Over the Edge column in The Reader, an extended review of The Mynabirds’ new album, Lovers Know, which was released last month on Saddle Creek Records.

The record is a rather massive step forward for Laura Burhenn and her band, tackling subject matter that might have added meaning to folks familiar with the local music scene. Or as I said in the review:

“….the true meaning behind the record might have been too damn hard for Burhenn to talk about. It only takes one spin of Lovers Know to realize that it’s a devastating portrait of a broken heart — one of the best breakup records since Joni Mitchell’s Blue.”

Read the whole review here. Buy the record here. Stream it here. Then get tickets to tomorrow night’s show at The Slowdown. It’s only $10 and High Up opens.

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It’s a super-busy night for a Tuesday.

LA skate/surf punk band FIDLAR headlines tonight at The Waiting Room. The band comes through after playing the main stages at both Reading and Leeds festivals this year. Their new record, Too, was released Sept. 4 via Mom+Pop Records. Dune Rats open. $15, 9 p.m.

Mike Schlesinger returns to tonight to fabulous O’Leaver’s. He has some of the most listened to tracks on the Live at O’Leaver’s website. Check them out below. Also on the bill are Sam Martin and CJ Mills. $5, 9:30 p.m.

And finally, Lighthouse and The Whaler headlines at Slowdown Jr. tonight. The band’s new album, Mont Royal (Roll Call Records) was produced by Marcus Paquin (Local Natives, Stars, Arcade Fire). Opening is Born Cages and State Disco. 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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.