Ceremony at The Sweatshop Gallery, July 11, 2015. The band plays at Reverb Lounge tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You’ve got a decision to make this evening between two very good shows.

Down at Slowdown Jr., Charleston, S.C. singer/songwriter SUSTO performs. The band, fronted by Justin Osborne who sings like the second coming of Jackson Browne, cancelled when last scheduled to play at Slowdown Jr. back in February 2017. Back then he was supporting his killer full-length & I’m Fine Today. His new album, Ever Since I Lost My Mind (2019, Rounder), is just as sweet. Check out the tracks below. Opening at 8 p.m. is singer/songwriter Molly Parden. $18.

Meanwhile, over at Reverb Lounge it’s the return of Ceremony. The band’s 2015 performance at Sweatshop Gallery is one of my all-time favorites. It was probably 100 degrees outside on that July evening and 120 degrees inside the packed garage performance space where Ross Farrar and company turned it up another 20 degrees with their dark, heavy post punk.

No doubt it’ll be much more chill (temperature and otherwise) inside Reverb Lounge for tonight’s Ceremony show, but likely no less entertaining. The under card is a humdinger: punk bands Jocko and No Thanks. This is a veritable rock festival! for a mere $15. Starts at 8 p.m.

You can’t go wrong with either show. Having seen Ceremony and No Thanks twice already, I’ll see you down at Slowdown…

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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.

The Lupines at O’Leaver’s Nov. 9, 2019.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Lupines rolled out a new direction to their sound last Saturday night at O’Leaver’s. In fact, they literally rolled it out — a giant upright piano, that is. If you’ve been there before you’ve likely leaned/sat on the behemoth, which usually sits next to the exit to the beer garden. The band grunted it across the floor to the stage area for their set, and then spent a good 10 minutes (or more?) trying to get it properly miked up. Who knew that old-fashioned upright pianos could create so much feedback?

Lupines frontman John Ziegler set down his guitar to twinkle the ivories on a new set of songs that sported a honky-tonk country flair, a bit of blues and folk and rock. The first couple tunes were eight or nine minutes long but seemed to roll on forever thanks to endlessly repeating verses. Ziegler pounded the keys like a modern-day Leon Russell, ending each line with a bluesy flourish, while guitarist Mike Friedman pulled back his usual jittery, frenetic Lupines’ style to something more relaxed and refined, a la David Lindley.

It all came together on the final two songs of the set — one short one, the other, an epic closer wherein Ziegler maneuvered from the piano bench, through the tangle of microphone stands and cords to pick up his Gibson and battle Friedman with guitar riffs.

I’d heard a few weeks ago that Ziegler was going to play piano for this set, so I prepared myself to finally hear one of my all-time favorite Lupines songs — “Hasn’t Failed Me Yet” — a tune I’d been told had never been played live because of its piano-based arrangement. Now there were no excuses. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as the band only played brand new material. My quest to hear that epic song continues…

Unexplained Death at O’Leaver’s Nov. 9, 2019.

Matt Whipkey and his crew in the form of poli-punk band Unexplained Death didn’t make it to the O’Leaver’s “stage” until well after midnight, ripping through songs off their just-released self-titled cassette.

Always prolific, Whipkey used the occasion to debut a couple more new songs, one of them an angry, fast number built on a golden guitar riff that I’d love to hear again. If this project’s goal was to pull Whipkey away from the Americana format that he’s known for, it’s succeeding. As I’ve said before, Unexplained Death isn’t so much a punk bands as a punk-influenced rock band with a political message ripe for our time. But it won’t be deemed a true success until someone wearing a MAGA hat attacks Whipkey on stage during a performance, ending in arrests by all involved, and the headline MAGA DUDE CHARGED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER AT UNEXPLAINED DEATH SCENE!!!

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The last time Boston indie rock act Pile played in Omaha it was aboard the River City Star in the summer of 2017. They’ll be on firmer ground when they headline Slowdown Jr. tonight, on tour in support of Green and Gray (2019, Exploding in Sound), album that scored a mighty 7.9 on the Pitchfork scale.

The touring opener is mathy Chicago rockers Stuck. While Omaha’s very own No Thanks kicks things off at 8 p.m. This is a good one, and it’s only $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.

Deerhoof at The Waiting Room, June 25, 2010. The band plays a sold out show tonight at the grand opening of Low End at the Bemis.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight is the debut of Low End, the new venue that is opening in the space that used to be Bemis Underground.

And the band chosen to kick things off is none other than Deerhoof. The concert is a joint production between Bemis and the Maha organization and has been sold out for quite some time, so unless you have tickets you’ll have to wait until one of the Low End’s future free concerts to check out the new digs. The concert starts at 9:30.

Also tonight, the long-awaited debut of Unexplained Death, the poli-punk rock project by Matt Whipkey. I’ve been told that Matt will be spending the afternoon ironing his mohawk for this special occasion. Or should I say “occasions” as Matt will first be hosting a listening party for the new Unexplained Death cassette release at Hi Fi House at 5:30, with music beginning at 6:30. That one’s free.

Then later, Whipkey will be giving his band the ultimate acid test by debuting at what is arguably Omaha’s punkiest punk bar, The Brothers Lounge.  The Broke Loose opens at 10 p.m. $5.

Also tonight, Omaha garage-rock originals Those Far Out Arrows are headlining at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Joining them are Anthony Worden & the Illiterati, and Sean Pratt. $5, 10 p.m.

Meanwhile, cross town at the infamous Midtown Art Supply space at 2578 Harney St. there’s a four-band show featuring maybe the hottest Omaha punk band currently running, No Thanks, along with Jocko, Death Cow and Histrionic. $5, 8 p.m.

One other show worth mentioning happening tonight is The Travelling Mercies playing at The Down Under Lounge. Joining them are Project Constellation and Michael Trenhaile. This one’s free and starts at 9:30.

Than we get to Saturday. The Husker game is at 2:30, so there’s no excuse for the lack of shows. The only thing I’m aware of is the Big Al free music fest at O’Leaver’s starting at 9 (a canned-food contribution is recommended for entry).

Am I missing something? 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.

No Thanks at O’Leaver’s, Aug. 2, 2019.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

No Thanks is a four-piece punk band with a tight rhythm section, an ingenious guitarist and a frontman who knows how to keep a crowd’s attention. Their Facebook bio lists them as Castro Turf, yelling/antics; Ruby Roux, bassist; The Lost Boy, drummist, and Kick Banán, guitarist. The only clue I have to their real identities is that someone told me Mr. Turf is actually a direct relative to former Omaha Mayor Gene Leahy.

Shirtless in tight black pants and black lipstick, Turf/Leahy’s spaz-rock preening conjured comparisons to The Cramps’ Lux Interior, nervously/feverishly pacing back and forth in front of the band for the first half of the set; spending the second half immersed in the humanity that crowded the stage. His voice, a classic post-punk bark – there’s nary a note to be sung, and only a few words were audibly legible.

If you want to know the words, well, go to their Bandcamp page where the band’s 2018 LP, The Trial, can be downloaded/listened to. It’s good, but it in no way resembles the live performance Friday night, which was gritty and hot as you’d expect from any late, well-attended O’Leaver’s show.

I dug around and found the Omaha Magazine story about the band, which came with an identity key: Guitarist Kick Banán is Mike Huber, Turf/Leahy is Brendan Leahy; Ruby Roux is Camille Stout and The Lost Boy is Gabe Cohen. While Leahy is this band’s center of attention, it’s Huber’s guitar that makes it rock with a dark, angular majesty, drilled forward by Stout’s very physical bass skills.

One patron compared their sound to Dischord bands, which I kind of get, though the bands from Dischord that immediately come to mind (Jawbox, Faraquet) have frontmen who actually sing. I was reminded more of acts like Uranium Club, Nots, Diät, Marbled Eye, acts with throbbing, eclectic post-punk sounds that are as much about rhythm as melody. And while musically the band provides the bedrock, it’s Leahy’s intense performance that is mesmerizing.

I was told these guys were pissed because they didn’t make it into my Reader Top 20 list. I find it hard to believe. I can’t imagine they’d give two shits that some old guy left them off a list that has zero relevance with anyone. The fact is, I hadn’t heard the band at the time the list was written (as I said in The Reader, those were the favorites of the bands I’d heard). They would make my list now. They stand out among the handful of new Nebraska acts making a mark on a scene that seems to be fading before our very eyes.

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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.

No Thanks plays at O’Leaver’s tonight…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Welcome to the weekend. Busy Friday, not so busy Saturday…

Dross headlines a show tonight at The Sydney with Oklahoma City indie band Foxburrows (check ’em out below) and my favorite DJ Tyrone Storm. $5, 10 p.m.

BTW, it’s #BFF — Benson First Friday. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by The Little Gallery at 5901 Maple (the east bay of the Masonic Lodge Building) and check out the opening for Shawnequa Linder. Her show is called “Remixing: An Experimental Portrait Series,” and it’s a head trip… literally. We’re there from 6 to 9 p.m. Come by, say hi.

Over at fabulous O’Leaver’s, Omaha punk rockers No Thanks headlines. The four-piece is heading out on tour and will not be taking any prisoners. Hussies open at 10 p.m. $5.

Also tonight, The Brothers is hosting a post-hardcore show headlined by Minneapolis act Scaphe. Also on the bill are Houma, Adult Whisperer and the incomparable Solid Goldberg. $5, 9 p.m.

It’s looking mighty thin on Saturday…

O’Leaver’s has a hardcore show with Come Out Fighting, Red Kate, Bitch Dust and Scab Ghouls. $7, 9 p.m.

Sunday Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit are playing on Military Ave. in Benson as part of the Waiting Room Outdoors series. John Moreland opens at 7 p.m. $40.

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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Dilute at Pet Shop Gallery Dec. 9, 2017. They return to Pet Shop Saturday night.

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.