Peter Murphy will perform at The Waiting Room this Saturday night.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The CWS is winding down. Been to a game yet? Me neither. It’s not so much that I don’t want to go as much as I don’t have tickets, don’t have patience, don’t see a need to tolerate the heat, especially when I can watch it from the comfort of my air conditioned living room. But even then, I have a hard time rooting for schools I have no allegiance to. Heck, I don’t even root for the Huskers, being the proud UNO alum that I am. Why would I root for Cal Irvine or Ole Miss?

Anyway, the CWS winds down this weekend, culminating with championship games next Monday and Tuesday (and possibly Wednesday). In the heart of the madness Saturday night The Slowdown is hosting one of the more interesting local rock shows of the first half of the year. Criteria returns. Rumor is they’re recording a new record. Who knows when it will ever be released, but I suspect they’ll be playing a few songs off it Saturday night. Opening is Lincoln band Universe Contest. The free show starts at 9 p.m. Hopefully by then, the CWS game will have ended and the fans will have headed back to wherever they came from. As mentioned earlier this week, Slowdown proprietor Jason Kulbel insists that street parking is no problem during the CWS. I will test his theory Saturday night.

Also Saturday night, Peter Murphy plays at The Waiting Room. I saw Murphy at SXSW back in 2009, and though he looked old and tired during the performance, he still had the same grotto growl he was known for in the ’90s and as a member of Bauhaus. If you feel like a stroll down memory lane, read my “Goth to God” Murphy interview from 2002, written in support of a Ranch Bowl gig that never happened (Murph apparently took one look at the bowling alley, got back into his tour bus/van and left without performing). Opening is Austin band Ringo Deathstarr. $22 Adv. / $25 DOS. Starts at 9.

Did you noticed I skipped over Friday night?  Only show of note is The Big Deep at The Barley Street Tavern w/ Dear Rabbit and intrepid singer/songwriter Nick Carl a.k.a. Kicky Von Narl, a.k.a. Nicky Carla. $5, 9 p.m.

Now let’s really confuse things and go back to Saturday night, which is when The Filter Kings headline at The Barley Street (the Barley’s been the place to be lately). Opening is South Sioux City roots rocker Mat D and the Profane Saints. $5, 9 p.m.

Finally Sunday our ol’ pal O’Leaver’s is hosting its “Sunday Social,” this time featuring the “2014 Primitive Poodlez Tour” headlined by a couple touring Oakland garage bands — Pookie and the Poodlez (Burger Records) and Primitive Hearts (FDH Records). Kicking things off is the always cool Solid Goldberg. This is an early 5 p.m. show, and will be going on at the same time as USA v. Portugal in the World Cup. I’m told TVs will be tuned to the match. $5.

That’s what I got. If I missed anything, put it in the comments section. Have a good 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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.