by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

I’ve been trying to get my arms around the One Omaha Festival, which kicked off last night at a number of downtown Omaha locations, including the Capitol District Plaza. The festival is a conglomeration of mostly local artists from different genres, with about 10 national acts thrown into the mix.

Among them is the band Night Moves, who is listed as the headliner for the festival’s programming tonight at The Waiting Room. The Minneapolis band, whose last EP was released on Domino Records, played Reverb Lounge in the fall of 2022 (and before that, at The Waiting Room waaay back in 2013). They even did a Ten Questions interview in 2022, which you can read here. Their sound reminded me of bands like Ambrosia, Gary Wright, 10cc and Jackson Browne – FM ’70s soft rock made for slow dancing. Kevin McClure Band, Jocelyn and Public Figure open for Night Moves tonight (Friday) at The Waiting Room starting at 6:30. 

Access to the show is part of a $30 Friday-only festival package that also gets you into Reverb, The B. Bar, Shakedown Street and the Benson Market Stage, which I assume is the outdoor stage on Military Ave. as well as Bullmoose and Secret Park – two bars I’m unfamiliar with. 

The One Omaha Festival concludes Saturday night in Benson with shows at The Waiting Room, Reverb, Shakedown Street, The Sydney and the Benson Market Stage. Omaha Latin-punk mavericks Las Cruxes headlines the Sydney bill. Tickets for Saturday’s festival events are $44.  Tickets are available online here.  

The festival is being produced by Hook n Sync, who has a website but the best place to to find festival schedules is on the Hook n Sync Facebook page. 

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You may have noticed The Sydney isn’t part of tonight’s One Omaha festivities. That’s because Madison, Wisconsin post-punk band Whippets are headlining there tonight (Friday). Whippets frontman Bobby Hussy, formerly of The Hussy, was a staple of the Omaha/O’Leaver’s post-punk scene back in the day. Hussy now runs No Coast Records, who released Whippets debut EP in 2022.  Also on tonight’s bill are The Poly Mall Cops, Cupholder and Cat Piss (or so it says on The Sydney’s website). $12, 9 p.m. (but probably starts at 10).

And finally…

The band Wedding, who plays at fabulous O’Leaver’s Saturday night, is a newish local project by singer/songwriter/artist Anne Schulte. The band released a 5-song EP in 2022 called Dream Car, which you can find on Spotify along with 2023 single “Bright as a Star,” which was recorded with Nate Van Fleet, Ben Brodin and Michael Frederickson – dreamy. Tom Bartolomei and Trey Moody open this free show at 8 p.m. 

And that’s all I got. With the College World Series going strong, I’ll be doing my level best to stay out of downtown this weekend… or for the next two weeks! That sound you hear as you pass The Slowdown on the way to the stadium is the warm buzz of the venue’s money-counting machines as they bring in their annual harvest…

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Last night at Reverb I saw something I’ve maybe never seen at that club before — couples dancing during the performance. And for good reason.

Night Moves played a modern version of smooth FM ‘70s rock tailor-made for slow dancing. In fact, I can’t think of a better indie band to play at a high school or college homecoming if the goal is to finally make a move and ask that special someone to dance. During their set three couples did the classic arms-wrapped-around-her-shoulders slow sway. It was groovy.

The gig was the first show of their tour, no doubt in support of their just-released 4-song EP The Redaction (2022, Domino). The mid-tempo, guitar-powered rockers also featured frontman John Pelant switching over to synths on a few numbers. That Beach House vibe I picked up on the last time was long gone. Night Moves’ music has more aggressive and interesting rhythms, super-cool soaring lead guitar fills and (early in the set) full-band harmonies.

I kept thinking of music I grew up hearing on the FM, bands like Ambrosia, Gary Wright, 10cc and Jackson Browne. I don’t know if that’s cool, but I like it. Pelant has one of the best voices I’ve heard on stage in a long time, although a somewhat muddled mix made his lyrics (mostly) indecipherable. Killer track “Feel Another Day” off the EP is the perfect song for a slow skate (naturally followed by Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” or 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love”). While the band’s recordings are good, they don’t come close to their live performance.

The crowd of around 60 was surprisingly large for a Tuesday night (and a show that received zero promotion). When the band finished their set, the crowd just stood there, waiting for them to come back out, as if they didn’t know what to do to earn an encore. And sure enough after a few minutes, the lights and house music came up and the disappointed crowd slowly walked away.

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Tonight West Coast Americana band Mapache plays at Reverb Lounge. More Malibu sunset music for sure. This is being promo-ed as “An Evening with Mapache” which I guess means no opener. $15, 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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Minneapolis indie band Night Moves has been knocking around since 2010, dropping their first full length, Colored Emotions, in 2012 on Domino records. From the Domino Records website: “Founded by guitarist/lead vocalist John Pelant and bassist Micky Alfano, and later joined by Mark Hanson and Chuck Murlowski, the Minneapolis outfit Night Moves meld the sounds of classic rock with Americana, creating irresistible hooky cosmic sludge with a Nashville twang.”

I’m not sure where the “twang” comes in. Rather, Night Moves sounds like a psych-rock version of Beach House, with dense, guitar-driven melodies countered by Pelant’s dreamy, wayward croon that bears no resemblance whatsoever to Bob Seger.

The band is on the road supporting their recent EP, The Redaction. I caught up with them and gave them the Ten Questions treatment. Here’s what they had to say.

1. What is your favorite album?
Night Moves: Willis Alan Ramsey by Willis Alan Ramsey

2. What is your least favorite song?
“I’m Bugged At My Old Man” by The Beach Boys

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?
“Band” assumes you’re with other people, so from that lens I guess it would have to be the funny times us psychos share together. The “sillies” as they say.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?
Driving

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?
Wine 

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?
Cleveland – feels like we could move there and get jobs.

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?
Manitowoc, WI — gear issues, sound issues, personal headspace/comfort problems… my whole family was there, too, which added to the conundrum. Also, there was a man in a white zoot suit and a buzz cut dancing solo right in front of us the whole time #RockinRicky unsure whether or not this helped or further hindered our success.

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?
We all have side gigs, bartending, serving, delivery type jobs.

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?
I’d like to design/make fishing lures.  I would hate to drive a bus or work at H&R Block.

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska?
One time we played “Colored Emotions” in the pitch black at Reverb Lounge. We told the sound guy to turn off all the lights. Everything. It was special.

Night Moves plays with Free Music Oct. 4 at Reverb Lounge. Tickets are $18; showtime is 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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Only got time to tell you about a couple shows tonight…

Over at Slowdown Jr. it’s Sheer Mag, one of the funner new bands out there, with a sound that combines indie with ’70s-style rock ‘n’ roll, fueled by firecracker lead singer Tina Halladay. Cincinnati trash-pop trio Tweens (Frenchkiss Records) opens along with our very one DROSS and one of Omaha’s hardest, Bib. That’s a lot of rock ‘n’ roll for $15. Starts at 8.

Also tonight… Domino Records act Night Moves’ new album, Can You Really Find Me, is a dreamy indie folk-rock album with some Big Star influence. The Minneapolis duo of Micky Alfano and John Pelant count Todd Rundgren and Neil Young among their influences. The music has a modern indie yacht-rock vibe a la Tame Impala, soothing, warm melodies shot through fog-covered lenses. Catch them tonight at Reverb Lounge. Steady Wells opens at 8. $14.

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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

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. Behind her a band that consisted of two drummers and a bass player named Chris Bierden, who carried the burden of melody on his back.

As such, Poliça, who played at The Waiting Room Tuesday night to a medium-sized crowd (125?), relied more on rhythm than melody. Leaneagh also added her own sounds via a small electronics panel that housed synth samples and effects, but it was her voice at the center of it all, a cooing tone at times layered by technology. The set held a gorgeous, sexy vibe, like a deep-night strut laced with shot-gun echo, with Leaneagh leading the way through the pitch-black tunnel, holding your hand.

My only gripe — the delay in her vocals made it impossible to understand what she was singing, which likely wasn’t a problem for those already familiar with Poliça’s songs. I’m only now discovering them, so the set held a bit more mystery.

Opening act Night Moves had a Beach House thing going on, especially from vocalist John Pelant, but musically it would be hard to confuse the two bands. Beach House’s music is more ethereal compared to Night Moves’ more rooted psych rock sound. The band was at its best when Pelant was given room to lean back on his guitar and open up late verses with floating solos. Laid-back indie at it’s finest.

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Kevin Coffey has a feature in today’s Omaha World-Herald that partially outlines the financial structure of the Maha Music Festival. The only thing missing is the dollar signs, though Kev did get them to cough up that year one cost $250k. The money involved is, indeed, substantial. We’re lucky to have these four talented entrepreneurs willing to take the risk. Watch for the big stage announcement this Sunday night.

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In this week’s column, with all the bad shit going down these days, should we just avoid the news? And who else gets bummed out by NPR? The story is in this week’s issue of The Reader or read it online right here.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.