by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

So much for the Red Sky Festival — or, more accurately, the Red Sky Concert Series… Kevin Coffey reported today that the MECA mind trust has given up on trying to book a fourth day for the so-called festival, which means it’ll take place July 18, 20 and 21 — Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. So for all of you music fans flying in for this mega event, you’ll just have to find something else to do on that empty Thursday night, like maybe going to the free Future of Maha Showcase at The Waiting Room for Lightning Bug, Millions Of Boys, and Snake Island!

I know it’s only Year 2 for the “festival,” but maybe it’s time that Meca think about dropping the Red Sky concept and focus instead on booking two or three (or more) stadium-filling concerts throughout the year rather than target a string of days (that aren’t even a string anymore). If they untether themselves from a festival concept and just look at booking available days at the ballpark one would think the odds would be better of booking stellar acts for a facility that (according to Wiki) has capacity for 24,000 people with the ability to expand to 35,000 spectators.

Or maybe they don’t care…

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Speaking of mammoth crowds, according (again) to the OWH, there were 70,000 people at Friday night’s Huey Lewis concert at Memorial Park, although most of them weren’t there for the anonymous opening bands. I caught the last three or four Huey Lewis songs as I waited for the fireworks to begin. The old boy still sounds pretty good for a 61-year-old. Sure, the top end has been shaved off of his range, but none of his songs really demand much range-wise to begin with. It’s as if ol’ Huey knew back in the ’80s that he was going to be doing this heading into his twilight years and that he better not record anything that would be too trying for withered vocal chords. Smart guy. Smarter still is having one of the better backing bands I’ve heard in a long time. No, the music isn’t terribly interesting, but it’s probably just what the doctor ordered for a free outdoor family event.

BTW, whatever happened to the city’s “youth concert series” that used to be held at Memorial? Was Feist the last one?

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Tonight at The Slowdown it’s the return of DeVotchKa with The So-So Sailors and Pony Wars. $15, early 8 p.m. start time.

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ADDENDUM: Oops. Forgot to mention that Brad Hoshaw and the 7 Deadlies is opening for Lucero tonight at TWR…. $17, 9 p.m. I have no idea who Lucero is, but Brad and his band is always worth checking out.

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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.

by Tim McMahan. Lazy-i.com

Poster Child Productions (a name that will always remind me of the classic Champaign Illinois band The Poster Children) is the name of Jeremy Buckley’s new music promotion company. We all know Jeremy as the guy who puts together the Lincoln Calling and the Omaha Invasion festivals every year.

Anyway, according to their website: “Poster Child Productions is a promotions company based out of Lincoln, Nebraska, with a focus on providing quality live music events at venues across the state. While the company name is new, its staff brings more than a decade of booking experience at more than 20 venues across Lincoln and Omaha. Our goal is to bring quality national talent to Nebraska and pair those bands with the amazing local roster of musicians performing live music across the state.”

Sounds impressive. And to think it all started way back in 2004 with Lincoln Calling. For this year’s Lincoln Calling festival, which is Oct. 11-15, Buckley is trying something completely different — he’s inviting any and all bands to apply to be part of the festival.

“I’m hoping to eliminate a lot of that back and forth by asking bands to fill out a quick application if they want to be considered for this year’s fest,” he said. “As always, bands will receive some sort of pay, which will be negotiated separately for each band and showcase. Of course applying doesn’t equal automatic acceptance, but it will help me keep track of interested bands while compiling contact info, bios, press pics, etc. for once it’s time to promote the event.”

The application is located online here: http://lincolncalling.com/registration.php

Meanwhile, this coming weekend is the second annual Omaha Invasion Festival, an idea that Jeremy admits was born out of a suggestion made on this here website.  This year, Duffy’s and the Bourbon Theater will host the event. Tickets are $6 per night or $10 for a two-day pass that gets you into both clubs. Here’s the schedule:

Thursday – April 14th – Duffy’s Tavern

08:40 – 09:20PM – Kyle Harvey

09:40 – 10:20PM – Lonely Estates

10:40 – 11:20PM – Down With The Ship

11:40 – 12:20AM – All Young Girls Are Machine Guns

12:40 – 01:20AM – Midwest Dilemma

Thursday – April 14th – Bourbon Theatre (Rye Room)

08:20 – 09:00PM – Underwater Dream Machine (Bret Vovk)

09:20 – 10:00PM – Vago

10:20 – 11:00PM – Dim Light

11:20 – 12:00AM – Conchance

12:20 – 01:00AM – Matt Cox

Friday – April 15th – Duffy’s Tavern

08:40 – 09:20PM – Hello From Ghost Valley

09:40 – 10:20PM – The End In Red

10:40 – 11:20PM – Flight Metaphor

11:40 – 12:20AM – Lepers

12:40 – 01:20AM – Blue Bird

Friday – April 15th – Bourbon Theatre (Rye Room)

08:20 – 09:00PM – Cordial Spew

09:20 – 10:00PM – Witness Tree

10:20 – 11:00PM – Mitch Gettman Band

11:20 – 12:00AM – Honey & Darling

12:20 – 01:00AM – Answer Team

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Finally, it appears that our friends at MECA have finally plugged in redskyfestival.com, Red Sky’s official website. There’s nothing there that we didn’t already know, but it clearly won’t be long now until they make their big announcement (maybe this weekend?). Wonder how many of the predictions/rumors in my Red Sky Festival column, posted in March, will come true?

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Tomorrow: The New Pornographers

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.