The cover photo of the Omaha Weekly-Reader from March 5, 20114. Photo by Bill Sitzmann

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we go back in time, here’s this week’s Lazy-i Podcast: Matthew Sweet speaks; Simon Joyner, Icky Blossoms, Shy Boys, J Fernandez and Bloodcow and what’s happening this weekend. Fun!

This being Throw Back Thursday, a blast from the past… or maybe a doused blast.

This cover story for The Omaha Weekly-Reader about The Carsinogents came out March 5, 2003, and highlighted the band’s then just-released full-length on Speed Nebraska, Ole! This was just a few weeks after the notorious Feb. 20, 2003, tragedy where pyrotechnics used during a Great White concert sparked a fire at a club in West Warwick, Rhode Island, killing 100 and injuring 230.

Of course back then, one highlight of Carsinogents’ shows was their novel use of fire, with a member of the band often blowing flames from his mouth. Rhode Island changed all that. As guitarist Vig Brooks said in the article: “Locally, I don’t care that it’s over. On the road, I wish we could still do it. One of the worst bands of the ’80s f***ed us.”

Sure enough, the flames were doused at their March 8, 2003, CD release party at Sokol Underground. Here’s the review of that show, which would end up being a warm-up before the band went on tour with Cursive .

Live Review: The Carsinogents at Sokol Underground
From Lazy-i, March 9, 2003

Sokol Underground, March 8, 2003.

In the end, they didn’t need the flames.

I guess you could look at this almost as an epilogue to my current feature on the Carsinogents. What would the band do after being forced by Great White to give up the key theatrical element of their live show — the flame-blowing routine?

At the risk of sounding cliché, the band brought a different kind of fireworks to the Sokol Underground last night (yikes, I can’t believe I wrote that). I’ve seen these guys at least a half-dozen times — all of the past shows included the usual fire-breathing hi-jinx. Last night’s non-flame show was easily their best all-out performance. And no one seemed to miss the fire.

The set started with the video projector and pre-show music (Remember the day when all bands played about five minutes of music before their set, just to get people in the mood? The preshow music was a signal to finish your conversation, get a beer and get up to the stage. I miss those days). The recorded music was of the mariachi variety — Mexican trumpets and orchestra — while on a large sheet draped over a pole with duct tape a video was projected of a bull fight, interspersed with a shot of the band’s old flaming-skull tiki.

The flames were replaced with plenty of smoke from a fog machine. There was so much smoke, I turned to the guy next to me and asked if it was part of the act… shades of Rhode Island still fresh in my mind. I glanced up sheepishly at the exit signs. In addition to the smoke, the stage was set with red floor lights and side spot lights, as well as a lighted keyboard placard with the band’s logo blaring white.

Then on stage came the band. Anyone who’s seen the Carsinogents knows that lead singer, Dave Electro, is a natural showman, a true tripped-out troubadour with footwork that would make Elvis blush. When Dave wasn’t behind the keyboard, he was in front of the stage swinging his vintage microphone, belting a riff on guitar, doing some sort of weird shuffle that reminded me of gospel minister lost in the jubilation at a revival meeting.

The set list was a blend of old stuff, songs off the new CD and a couple I hadn’t heard before. The band’s sound indeed has evolved from ‘horror-billy’ to straight-out hard rock. I don’t know what kind of a match they’ll be with Cursive, whose songs are angular punk with introspective vocals. What will the emo kids think when they see Electro standing atop his organ while the rest of the band crashes along with knuckle-busting powerchords? Regardless, last night’s crowd of around 300 ate it up. I noticed those who were standing in front of or near the speaker stack were pushed to center stage by night’s end. It was indeed loud. I felt sorry for anyone stupid enough to not have earplugs. There’s nothing tough or cool about tinnitus.

No, the flames weren’t missed. As a matter of fact, the boys can now also confidently leave the film projector at home — in the end it didn’t add much to the staging. The lights and smoke and rock and roll moves are enough to entertain. But the real moment of truth came during the encore, when the band rolled out their signature finale that traditionally includes the flame-stunt. Like always, during the last part of the song, Dave seamlessly switched places with drummer Eldon Vampola. But instead of Eldon grabbing a torch and spitting Bacardi all over the place, he strapped on Dave’s guitar and punched out guitar riffs while the rest of the band bashed around stage. After Eldon switched back to his drum set, Dave stretched out his arms across the duct-taped sheet, strolled up to the keyboard, climbed atop and stood there playing the song’s final chords.

When he climbed down, that was it — the end of an era for the band and a beginning of a new one. The final word about The Carsinogents: I don’t know if they’ll ever break out of this one-horse town. Sure, they’ve got four Texas dates with Cursive including a gig at Emo’s in Austin. But the end of the story won’t be written until we find out if they ever get a full-blown tour of their own, up either coast or for three or four weeks throughout the Midwest. And then follow-up with a return tour, because everyone knows the first time out is small and, if you’ve made an impression, the second time is huge. This band — both in terms of its music and stage show — would impress any crowd. The only thing holding them back is them.

We’re all still waiting for that Carsinogents reunion. Something tells me we’re going to be waiting for a long, long time…

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Tonight at 6 at Urban Outfitters in the Slowdown complex it’s free beer, free pizza and free music featuring Gramps, the hot new combo fronted by Love Drunk impresario Django Greenblatt-Seay. Also performing is DJ Kethro. More info here.

Than later tonight at PS Collective, Jackson Mississippi band Young Valley headlines a bill that includes super talented singer-songwriters Nick Carl, Tarvis Sing (Township and Range) and Omaha’s original folk-explosion, Midwest Dilemma. This one’s early, too. 7 p.m. and $5. More info 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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Since there’s nothing to report, how about a little “Throw Back Thursday” action? With Lincoln Exposed going strong tonight and for the next couple of nights, here’s a chestnut from 2003 about “A Situation,” the Lincoln-based indie-music co-op that spawned five year’s worth of compilation CDs, and some might say inspired today’s local music festivals (like Lincoln Exposed) and Hear Nebraska.

Dealing with ‘A Situation’
Lazy-i – Feb. 5, 2003

A few of the bands involved in A Situation in 2002.

A handful of Lincoln bands are joining forces to raise the profile of local music, share resources and work together to make a name for themselves.

Called “A Situation,” the idea was born out of frustration from bands that had hit the same glass ceiling, not knowing what to do next. They’d done their local gigs; a few had recorded their own CDs, but a future of continually playing the same clubs over and over while hocking CDRs seemed pointless.

Pulling together was a logical next step, said Malcom Miles, bassists for the Post-Trendies, one of five bands involved in the project.

“This is about efficiency and resources,” Miles said. “We are trying to be more effective at doing the things musicians want to do, which is record and release music, play live shows and tour, and have fun doing it. Having the support of a larger group makes some of these things easier to do.”

He said any single band can put out a CD, but doing a compilation and pulling together the recording resources is easier and cheaper. Then there’s touring. “None of us have toured extensively,” he said. “If one of the bands adopted a city and built a following there, they could take the other bands along. Sharing club contacts is just going to make it easier for each band to set up a tour.”

Bands involved in A Situation in 2002.

Miles gave a rather sophisticated take on the meaning behind the confab’s name, saying “a situation” refers to a late-’60s movement by French intellectuals and artists working around the idea of society being a spectacle that they wanted to live outside of.

But that was followed by a more reasonable explanation. “We also didn’t know what we were doing,” he said. “We’re not a label or a collective or a commune. We’re a situation of bands working together.”

Five Lincoln bands currently are caught up in this situation:

— Crush the Clown, a power trio that sports a tight, angular punk sound;
— Joe Buck — consisting of the irrepressible Dan Jenkins, the force behind the now-defunct power-alt-country outfit Drive-by Honky;
— The Honey Hush — a 5-piece that includes former members of Black Dahlias, Starboy and Bronco;
— Junior Mighty — the duo of Lori Allison (the Millions) and Brian McCue (The Black Dahlias).

And, finally, Miles’ own Post-Trendies. Called The Trendies in their first incarnation that included Matt Silcock (Head of Femur, Opium Taylor and a handful of other notable bands), when Silcock moved to Chicago in 2001, the band changed its name to the Post-Trendies and stayed a four-piece.

“We make a joke on our Web site (http://geocities.com/grothescene/) that none of the bands in ‘a situation’ sound alike,” Miles said. “This isn’t an exclusive thing. We’ve talked to other bands, including bands from Omaha. Our main goal is to raise awareness of local music, that’s the priority.”

So how is it different than starting a record label? Miles said the comparisons have been drawn, but that the ‘label’ label doesn’t really apply. “We love the fact that what we’re doing is undefined,” he said. “We looked at Saddle Creek and Sub Pop as models of similar efforts that have been successful. Both of those labels did great things to help their bands out. But our main focus is promoting the local scene. We’re not doing anything that costs a lot of money. This is something that any group of bands could pull together.”

The first project out of the gate is producing a compilation CD with contributions from all five bands, each contributing two songs. The tracks are being recorded at Crush the Clown guitarist Nick Westra’s home studio. The group’s “launch party” Saturday, Feb. 8, 2002, at Duffy’s in Lincoln, is a fund-raiser to pull together cash to cover the CD’s production costs. A similar group show is planned for Omaha some time in April.

Once completed, the bands will sell copies of the CD at their individual shows. “We hope that this starts a cycle and keeps moving forward,” Miles said. “If we play enough shows and continue to sell CDs, we would get enough back to put together a second compilation.

“Most local bands don’t have any sort of notion of becoming Britney Spears or The Backstreet Boys. Most of us would like to make music a lifetime job. You sort of make the best music you can, and just see how it goes.”

So how did it go? Malcom Miles provided an update this morning via Facebook: “We did one compilation a year for five years running (2004-2008). The short story is two things happened simultaneously – one was CD sales dropped each year we did it and so it wasn’t fiscally viable; the second thing is I ran out of steam as the coordinator of the project.”

In some ways A Situation was a precursor to things like Hear Nebraska and Lincoln Calling/Exposed. Miles says he feels a kinship to those modern-day efforts.

“Absolutely – We came out of the Broadside Cassettes and Linoma CDs and passed the torch on to Hear Nebraska, and all the local music festivals,” he said. “Bands have much more ability to share their music digitally now, but I still like the historical artifact of a record or CD or cassette. I’m glad Hear Nebraska has continued to put out compilations as well as doing streaming / video.”

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

With nothing going on newswise and nothing going on tonight, and this being Throwback Thursday, I figured might as well dig into the ol’ Lazy-i vault and pull out something from around this time in 2002. I found this interview with Owen (a.k.a. Mike Kinsella) that was posted Nov. 19, 2002, but more entertaining was the review of the Owen show the article was written to support. I remember the night as if it were yesterday…

So lean back and enjoy this disturbing stroll down memory lane. Who knows, maybe you were there that night…

Owen / Sound of Rails
Nov. 25, 2002
The 49’r

Owen at The 49’r, Nov. 25, 2002.

Last night’s Owen show at The 49’r has to be a new low in terms of rude Omaha crowds. I’ve heard about how loud the chatter was at the recent Cowboy Junkies show at The Music Box. That couldn’t have come anywhere close to what happened last night.

The evening’s festivities began with an ear-piercingly loud set by Omaha’s Sound of Rails, a three-piece indie-art instrumental outfit in the Pele / Euphone / Sea and Cake / Tortoise style. They were so loud that you couldn’t really talk to the person standing next to you, which is to be expected from their style of post-punk rock. Not exactly a complimentary opening act for what was about to follow.

After their set ended, Owen, a.k.a. Mike Kinsella, took a seat and began strumming his acoustic guitar. Though the sound guy did as good a job as anyone could in those conditions, Kinsella’s quiet set was blanketed under the ocean of crowd noise — not chatter, not idle talking — out and out yelling, laughing, that sort of thing.

There was Kinsella, head down, looking at his shoes, playing some amazing guitar and singing his broken-hearted songs amidst a sea of noise akin to a college football crowd (it was no coincidence that the 49’rs/Eagles game was playing on a TV over the bar). I had a feeling this might happen (note the question about handling crowd noise in my Owen interview), especially having heard how inattentive the crowd is at the Niner’s acoustic nights.

It took about six songs before Kinsella began to crack. “Would you please be quiet?” he asked. Nothing. Someone yelled “No.”

“Who’s talking?” he asked while idly strumming his guitar. Someone in the crowd yelled “Me!”

“I’ll give you a dollar if you stop talking,” he said as he noodled absentmindedly. The crowd, however, continued to rumble. “If you be quiet I’ll sing you a song about my ex-girlfriend.” No response, no acknowledgment that he even said anything. No matter. Kinsella started playing “The Ghost of What Should Have Been,” but it was hopeless.

That was probably the breaking point. Kinsella gave up and began a night of covers that eventually turned into a karaoke free for all. He asked the crowd if they liked Bon Jovi. Whoops all around, clapping. He fiddled around until he found the chords to “Wanted Dead or Alive” and everyone went nuts, eventually singing along with him during the chorus. Kinsella had raised the white flag. What choice did he have?

I don’t know if that broke the tension or not. I can vouch that he was smiling and laughing at times from the stage, though I don’t know if he was laughing with or at the crowd. Regardless, the noise didn’t dissipate at all. “You guys like Oasis?” More whoops. Kinsella asked for someone from the crowd to come up and sing, and sure enough, up came Race for Titles’ drummer Matt Bowen along with a couple other people. Kinsella took one look at Bowen and began playing “Disarm” by Smashing Pumpkins. Someone else handled the vocal chores.

For the next 20 minutes or so, Kinsella accompanied 1) Bowen and company singing Oasis’ “Wonderwall,”, 2) Bowen doing an admirable Thom Yorke impression on “Fake Plastic Trees,” 3) Matt Whipkey singing Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” (which, by the way, he dedicated to Timmymac). The medley ended with someone singing Jane’s Addiction’s “Jane Said.” And that was it, Kinsella put his guitar away.

Was it a disaster? Probably for any Owen fans who might have come to hear Kinsella play a quiet, introspective set of his own music. That wasn’t going to happen last night.

* * *

Back to the present. I don’t know if Kinsella has played in Omaha since, though he’s still very active. According to Wikipedia: “In 2013, Kinsella released two EPs with his latest project, Their / They’re / There, featuring Evan Weiss of Into it. Over it. and Matthew Frank of Loose Lips Sink Ships.” Wiki goes on to say that Mike Kinsella continues to play with Joan of Arc, though I don’t think he was playing with them when the band played at O’Leaver’s Sept. 18, 2013…

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

With nothing newsworthy happening — and this being “Throwback Thursday” — let’s dip back into the Lazy-i wayback machine to Sept. 1, 2005, and an interview with The 49’r’s Mark Samuelson shortly after word leaked that his bar would be cutting back on live music. Mark tells us why and gives us a brief Omaha music history listen at the same time…

The 49’r Takes Five — Sept. 1, 2005
You can’t stop the music at the midtown tavern.

The iconic sign for The 49’r…

Within the past few years, The 49’r has established itself as one of the city’s more important music venues, hosting a few national acts but mostly concentrating on providing a stage for up-and-coming local bands. It’s arguably the best place to see snarling, hard-ass rock and punk from bands like The Monroes, Anonymous American and Race for Titles.

So when word leaked out a few weeks ago that The Niner was cutting back on live music, it came as a disappointment both to the bands and the fans of those white-knuckle acts.

Rumor and conjecture did abound. Had The 49’r reached the end of the live music business cycle? A cycle that goes something like this: A bar suffers from a lull in business. A few bands that hang around the place ask if they can play some gigs there, and the owner figures why not, it could help drum up some business. More bands are booked and crowds grow like kudzu. Before long, folks start coming out just because they dig the bar, the staff and its jukebox, and before you know it, the live music becomes a nuisance for the regulars who just want to drink in peace. Seeing an opportunity to cut costs, the venue puts an end to the stage show.

That theory, in this case, is only partially correct, says Mark Samuelson, owner of The 49’r. During the height of his nightclub business, Samuelson ran four successful Omaha bars simultaneously: The Partners on 42nd and F, the legendary Howard St. Tavern in the Old Market, its “upstairs bar” called The White Rabbit, and the good ol’ 49’r at 49th & Dodge.

Today only The Niner remains, which Samuelson still operates along with his other businesses, Aksarben Fixture and Supply, an ATM business, and some real estate ventures. The degree in which he operates The Niner, however, has changed. Samuelson says he’s somewhat removed from the bar’s day-to-day operations.

“I listen to my help,” he said when asked about the shift in the venue’s live music policy. “I think we got over-saturated, and every band wanted to play here. The staff was hearing that we were doing a little too much music. Now we’re only choosing the best bands that really draw people.”

He pointed out that The Niner’s live music policy differs from the way the Howard St. was run. Back then, Samuelson said he started booking new music acts because blues was such a tough sell. And it didn’t take long for the club to become a national tour stop for tomorrow’s superstars.

“We had the Smashing Pumpkins come in for a $140 guarantee and two vegetarian pizzas,” he said. “It’s crazy to think about that today.”

Unlike the Howard St, The 49’r doesn’t offer guarantees. Instead, bands take home whatever cover charge they can generate. “So if you’re just playing for the door, it doesn’t make sense for the big bands to come here,” he said.

There are exceptions, however, such as when the staff wanted to bring in New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain. “If they have a good idea, I just stay out of the way,” Samuelson said. So far, it’s worked well.

But if anything, The 49r’s biggest draw is its location in the heart of Dundee, or as their matchbooks used to say: “In the middle of everything and no place to park.”

“We’re not in the middle anymore. We’re downtown,” Samuelson said, laughing. “We’re so busy because we have so many people who live close to here. The .08 (drinking) law is really hurting a lot of clubs. No one wants to risk it.”

Better to tie one on at The Niner and safely stumble home then to get behind the wheel of a car.

So does the bar’s already-packed weekends without bands spell the end for The Niner’s live music? Hardly. In fact, Samuelson said the venue will get back into the swing of things later this fall. “It’s gonna pick back up,” he said. “I anticipate doing more than just a couple of shows a month like we’re doing now.”

And really, how could he ever stop? For it was at The 49’r back in the early ’70s that a 15-year-old Samuelson’s own band, Hat Trick, had its first gig. Ironically, the band’s second gig would be at The Howard St. Tavern. — Sept. 1, 2005.

* * *

Well, we all know what happened next. The 49’r would get sold to CVS in 2010, but the actual deal would get tied up by Ben Gray in the Omaha City Council. Then, for reasons that are still unclear, Gray would change his vote and the walls came tumbling down. Hard to believe it’s been five years. I think about The Niner every time I drive past that CVS on Dodge Street, or see Ben Gray at some public function or on TV….

* * *

OK, a couple shows worth mentioning tonight.

Over at The Waiting Room it’s Zammuto, featuring Nick Zammuto, a co-founder of classic indie band Books. Zammuto has a new album, Anchor, on Temporary Residence. Opening is Dosh (Anticon, Graveface Records). $12 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Caravat, featuring David Ozinga and Teal Gardner of UUVVWWZ, headlines a show at fabulous O’Leaver’s with Laughing Eye Weeping Eye and L. Eugene Methe. $5, 9 p.m.

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In this week’s column, Pt. 2 on my Lumo Lift experiment. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or 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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.