It was sad yesterday seeing all the photos float past my Facebook feed of people’s favorite times at The Barley Street Tavern. The hole-in-the-wall Benson bar that also acted as a live venue closed its doors yesterday, soon to be taken over by new owners with a different vision.

I didn’t realize how many shows I’d been to at BST show until I did a quick search on Lazy-i and the memories came rolling back. Here are just a few of the bands that I’ve seen at BST: Well Aimed Arrows, Fizzle Like a Flood, Solid Goldberg, Touch People, The Sky Drops, Eli Mardock, Calm Fur, The Gardenheads, Dead Wave, The Whipkey Three, The Lupines, Relax, It’s Science, Our Fox, Con Dios, Brad Hoshaw, Domestica, Wagon Blasters, Bloodcow, Cowboy Indian Bear, Super Ghost, Gramps, Kyle Harvey, Answer Team, No Blood Orphan, Blue Bird, Reagan and the Rayguns and many, many more.

The Barley Street was one of the most relaxed music venues in Omaha, about as unpretentious as it gets, though still weird enough to be part of Benson (and that’s a good thing). It will be missed…

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Not much happening this weekend (what else is new?), though I’m reminded by Kevin Coffey that The Verve Pipe is playing at The Orpheum Theater Saturday night. Kevin’s got an interview with Verve Pipe’s Brian Van Der Ark over at his new Pops and Hisses blog. Check it out here.

They’re marketing this as a “socially distant” show. Little known fact: The Verve Pipe held the first socially distant show 20 years ago in Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska. At least it was from an audience-size perspective. You can read about it right here. The Ft. Calhoun Jaycees are probably still paying off the debt from that one…

Have a great weekend.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily (if there’s news) 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.