by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Benson Beerfest

Be aware that Benson Beerfest is happening tomorrow. The area around Krug Park, The Waiting Room and Jake’s will be crowded with fun-loving, beer-gargling drunks. There are a few details about the event at bensonbeerfest.com, but not much other than the price: $30 Adv/$35 Day of Event. That gets you (apparently) all the beer you can drink? What else is involved in this event, I do not know.

Moving on…

Tonight, Hudson NY band Last Good Tooth (Team Love Records, you remember them) plays at O’Leaver’s (and could very well be opening). The band plays jangling Americana acoustic folk rock much in the same vein as Matt Ward. We’re talking guitar, drum, bass and fiddles. Check out some LGT sounds below. Also on the bill is Olympia, WA band Malaikat dan Singa (K Records / Pine Cone Alley). They call their sound “trance-punk outfit featuring bass clarinet, guitars, multiple drummers and his trademark wild vocals.” Headlining is our very own Touch People (Darren Keen). $5, 9:30 p.m.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/84123665″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Also tonight (Friday) Omaha rock band Witness Tree celebrates the release of its self-released EP Breathe In at Slowdown Jr. with Bullet Proof Hearts, Two Drag Club and Thunder Power. $7. 9 p.m.

The band has asked for a review of the EP, despite the fact that Lazy-i’s focus is indie music and Witness Tree — while without a record label — is anything but an indie band. Their sound borders on last-decade alt-radio rock that leans heavy on the pop side. Lots o’ big riffs, radio-friendly vocals and lyrics like “You could be my miracle tonight” and “You’re a bullet from a gun / You’re the fire from the heat” and “Ready or not, here I come.” You get the picture. Their songs emulate the kind of music I remember from the early ’80s, the kind of fun-time high school rock that Z-92 used to play. They’re not plowing new ground, in fact their soil is a couple generations old, and I can’t imagine they want it any other way. Harmless fun.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship headlines at The Sydney with opener bands Des Moines’ Fetal Pig and The Brigadiers. $5, 9 p.m.

Over at The Waiting Room, Satchel Grande is playing as part of Beerfest along with Touch People. It’s $7, but $5 with your Beerfest wristband. 9 p.m.

Finally, Sunday night — or should I say Sunday afternoon — Simon Joyner and the Ghosts, So-So Sailors and curry sausages are on the O’Leaver’s menu. as part of the Sunday Social Club. Food (from The French Bulldog) starts at 2 p.m., music starts at 5 p.m. $5

Also Sunday night, Dead Oceans Records indie dream-pop band Night Beds plays at Slowdown Jr. No opener is listed. $10, 9 p.m.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/85464505″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Did I miss anything? Put it in the comments section. Have a good weekend.

ADDENDUM!!!

Someone e-mailed with “WTF, no love for Baths/Houses?”

I completely forgot about that show, which is happening at The Waiting Room Sunday night. Houses’ new album, A Quiet Darkness (Downtown Records) is a dark and seething as anything by The National but with more modern rhythms. Gloomy, but very good indeed. Baths is Will Wiesenfeld of [Post-Foetus] and Geotic fame. His latest, Obsidian, was released on the Anti-Con label. Also on the bill is EDM guy D33j, also on Anti-Con. Tix are $10 Adv./$12 DOS. Show starts at 9.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Anonymous American perform The Replacements at Slowdown Jr., Nov. 30, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We’ll get to the above photo in a sec, but first…

A tradition at The Reader, the writing staff has put its collective head(s) together and developed the annual “Top 20” bands list, followed by the “Next 15,” a designation that can be interpreted any way you wish. Some might say that these are the writers’ favorite bands; others might say these are the bands that made the biggest impact in 2011. I would say the list is a combination of both. No one said anything about these being the “best” local bands in 2011.

So if you pick up a fresh copy of The Reader, you’ll see the Top 20 list along with brief descriptions of each band, a limited discography and personnel. What you won’t see is the Next 15 because for reasons unbeknownst to everyone involved The Reader didn’t print them. But fear not faithful reader, because I have both lists below. Before I get to them, the usual caveat: This list is purely for fun and, of course, means nothing. It should mean nothing to those who are on or not on the list. That said, I know being excluded can sting (last year or the year before, Dan McCarthy did a playful riff on not being on the list that ran throughout an entire set at The Waiting Room. Needless to say, I’ve always included Dan on my list…).

So without further ado, below is The Reader‘s Top 20 and Next 15:

Top 20
Tim Kasher
Bright Eyes
All Young Girls Are Machine Guns
Darren Keen/The Show Is the Rainbow/etc.
Simon Joyner
Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship
Digital Leather
Magic Slim
Emphatic
Skypiper
Conduits
Brad Cordle Band
Matt Cox
Kris Lager Band
Mynabirds
Brent Crampton
Somasphere
Yuppies
Depressed Buttons
McCarthy Trenching

Next 15
Travelling’ Mercies
Rock Paper Dynamite
Mitch Gettman
Millions of Boys
Lil Slim
Eli Mardock
Answer Team
Icky Blossoms
So-So Sailors
Voodoo Method
Back When
Machete Archive
Funk Trek
Baby Tears
Conchance
DJ Kobrakyle

And now, in the name of full disclosure, here is the Lazy-i Top 20 / Next 15 (i.e., my initial list submitted The Reader):

Top 20

Bright Eyes
Conduits
So-So Sailors
Icky Blossoms
Darren Keen
McCarthy Trenching
Simon Joyner
Tim Kasher
Digital Leather
Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship
Skypiper
It’s True
Brent Crampton
Yuppies
Mynabirds
Eli Mardock
Gus & Call
Matt Cox Band
Ideal Cleaners
Little Brazil

Next 15

Con Dios
Fizzle Like a Flood
InDreama
Watching the Train Wreck
Peace of Shit
AYGAMG
Tilly and the Wall
Honeybee & Hers
Thunder Power
Baby Tears
Depressed Buttons
Millions of Boys
Satchel Grande
The Answer Team
Capgun Coup

*  * *

So who won last night’s Replacement challenge at Slowdown? I’m happy to say that it was a tie. As expected, Anonymous American came out of the gate with guns a-blazing, ending their set with a sweet cover of “Left of the Dial” Then on came Witness Tree. I’ve never seen these guys before, and dug what I heard (though I have no idea what their actual music sounds like). Travelling Mercies’ two songs were muddled and off-kilter. A post on Facebook this morning indicated last night’s performance may have been their last show ever. Opener Aaron Parker gets the Guts of Steel Award for his two solo acoustic numbers. It takes cajones the size of melons to go on stage first after a 123-minute tribute to The Replacements and play covers alone in front of a room filled with die-hard Replacements fans. Unfortunately, Peace of Shit and Well Aimed Arrows were no shows.

As for the film: I was sort of dreading having to sit through more than two hours of talking-head interviews by people I (mostly) didn’t know (The movie contains no music or footage of The Replacements). I was afraid I wasn’t going make it to the end. But director Gorman Borchard’s editing style kept things moving right along. The film hit its sweet spot about 60 minutes in when we started getting more detailed info about the band’s history from those who were there. Unfortunately, a series of “fan” interviews brought the film to a crawl toward the end, including an in-depth interview with some guy who grew up isolated on a farm who developed an almost cult-like love for the band’s music. So much time was spent on this guy that it took away from the film’s real focus — the band. If I were Borchard I’d cut all the fan interviews and trim the film to around 90 minutes. If he wants to land a distributor, he’s going to have to make about 30 minutes of cuts anyway.

By the way, nice crowd, at least 100.

* * *

There’s one band on my Top 20 list that you won’t find among The Readers‘ 35 — Gus & Call. Those other editors at the newspaper who mocked my inclusion will shrivel at their oversight this time next year, when Gus & Call are the “special musical guest” on Saturday Night Live. Or tonight, when Gus & Call celebrates the release of their debut album, Wait ‘Til the Weather Breaks, at The Slowdown.

The event also marks the first week of Gus & Call’s month-long residency at Slowdown. Joining them tonight are InDreama and Honeybee & Hers. Tickets are $5, but tonight if you pay $20 you get admission to all five G&C residency shows in December and a copy of the new CD.

Also tonight, ’80s punk legends The Queers are playing at The Waiting Room with Knockout, North of Grand, Cordial Spew and DSM5. 8:30 p.m., $13.

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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.