Minus the Bear’s farewell tour rolls through The Waiting Room Sunday night.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First out of the gate is tonight’s show at Reverb Lounge featuring David Nance Band and Closeness. You read about David yesterday (here). Pitchfork gave his new album a 7.7 this morning. Come out and see what the fuss is all about. Closeness, the post-wave duo of Todd and Orenda Fink, open the show at 9 p.m. And it’s only $8.

Plus, looking at all my calendars, emails, etc. the Nance/Closeness show is the only thing happening tonight.

Tomorrow night Brad Hoshaw is playing an in-store at Homer’s in the Old Market (remember when in-stores were a regular thing?). The gig celebrates the 20th anniversary and cassette reissue of Brad’s first album Invisible Man. The fun starts at 11 a.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) Reverb is hosting a local indie singer/songwriter show with Bed Rest, Lincoln’s House Vacations and Jacob James Wilton. $5, 8 p.m.

Then comes Sunday and two hot shows.

First on the list is Minus the Bear at The Waiting Room. This is being marketed as their “farewell tour.” From their website: “These final shows are a celebration for the community of fans who gave us so much through years of dedication. We’ll be digging deep in the MTB catalogue and we are honored for the opportunity to play our hearts out for you one last time.”

MTB has counted Omaha as a regular tour stop for as long as I can remember. I think the first time I saw them was when they played with These Arms Are Snakes, The Velvet Teen and Race for Titles at Sokol Underground back in 2003.

Anyway, Saturday night Caspian opens for MTB at 8 p.m. $25 Adv/$30 DOS.

Also Saturday night, newcomer Your Smith plays at Reverb Lounge. Your Smith used to be Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps. She used to sound like jangly indie, now she sounds like Sheryl Crow. That said, I can’t help but dig her single “Bad Habit.” LA act BAUM opens at 8 p.m. $10 Adv/$12 DOS.

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.

Thick Paint at Slowdown Jr., March 30, 2018. The band plays tonight at Brothers Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Faint yesterday posted they’re playing the Cloak & Dagger show at LA’s State Theatre Nov. 10. DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) — the so-called  “godfathers of techno,” the pioneers of EBM and the forefathers of electropunk — are the headliners.

Also on the bill are She Wants Revenge, HEALTH, Boy Harsher, Tamaryn, BOAN and Black Mare.

When was the last time The Faint played anywhere? Good to see that they’re still alive and kicking. Someone should organize a “warm up” show for them before they head west…

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Speaking of old school musicians, Bill Hoover of The Darktown House Band and The Short Timers is perhaps better known these days as a fine artist/painter. I hope to some day be able to afford one of his masterpieces.

Well, tonight you can catch Bill as a thespian when he performs in a new play by his bro, Joe Hoover, called Amends. The show is directed by Nils Haaland and also features Joseph Patrick.

The play’s world premier is tonight at The B Side of Benson Theater, 6058 Maple St. (right next door to Virtuoso Pizza). Performances also will be held tomorrow and Friday at B Side. Showtime is 7 p.m. For more information.

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Did you see Minus the Bear is calling it quits? Their Oct. 14 show at The Waiting Room is part of their Farewell Tour. More info at Stereogum.

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I’m listening to the last Thick Paint track released on their Bandcamp page. When are we going to get some new stuff from these folks — and even more importantly, who’s releasing it? You can ask the band yourself tonight when they headline at Brothers Lounge. Joining them is Santa Ana band Media Jeweler and Rogue Moon. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Pageturner Lounge continues its summer concert series with BiB and KC’s Mentira. 9 p.m. and the usual free!

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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.

Cursive at The Slowdown, Oct. 28, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Last night’s Cursive show at The Slowdown was the tightest, strongest set I’ve seen the band play. I credit weeks and weeks and weeks on the road (with more weeks to come). Has Cursive ever toured an album this hard? Probably. Is it paying off? I honestly don’t know. From all the reviews I’ve seen online, they’ve consistently drawn sizable crowds, like last night’s, which wasn’t a sell out but must have been darn close. I have no idea how well I Am Gemini has sold. In this Spotify era, no one (especially indie bands) has any expectations about record sales.

The band (performing as a five-piece) went on stage at around 9 p.m. and proceeded to jump right into their set, stringing song after song reaching back to Domestica and including a couple off the new record. When I Am Gemini came out at the beginning of the year, I had slight doubts that it would fit in with the rest of the Cursive oeuvre. Those doubts were erased last night, as the band seamlessly slipped in tunes “This House Alive” and “The Sun and Moon” among classics like “The Radiator Hums” and “Art Is Hard” as if they were just two more greatest hits. I couldn’t help but think how broad Cursive’s catalog has become. Kasher’s prolific songwriting is ominous, with seven full lengths to choose from spanning over a 15-year career (not to mention all those Cursive EPs and singles, along with four more LPs as The Good Life and his recent solo material).

Since their set was an opener for Minus the Bear, they kept it to a tight 45 minutes, closing out with “Dorothy at Forty,” and then abruptly leaving the stage — no encore. Even Kasher’s between-song patter was kept to a minimum, leaving only room to tell the audience to keep Nebraska’s Democratic spot alive next week. And, he confessed that he was a “Mother’s Milk guy.” Unfortunately no one from the RHCP was there to appreciate the comment.

I stuck around for only a handful of Minus the Bear songs. They sounded slightly more mainstream (and accessible) then I remember them being all those years ago. I feared they might get “Omaha’d” last night, but that clearly wasn’t the case.

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Speaking of songwriting, Kasher talks about the process in this rather interesting Q&A at playbackstl.com. Check it out.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Athens band The Whigs (ATO Records). Opening is local guys Lonely Estates. $10 (a steal!), 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at Slowdown Jr., it’s Polyvinyl Records band Stagnant Pools with Kite Pilot. $8 (cheap!), 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.