by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Sydney in Benson recently started to rev up its show calendar. They have rock shows every night this weekend, starting tonight with modern-day grunge band Museum of Light, straight from Seattle. If you were into the heavy grunge sound of the ‘90s, you’re in for a treat. Opening is our very own Healer, who brings the heavy on its own sonic terms. $10, 9 p.m. 

Then tomorrow night (Saturday) at The Sydney, long-time Omaha rock band Vago celebrates both an album release show and their “final” show (according to the Sydney website). Singer/songwriter Jeremy Mercy open at 8 p.m. $10. 

Meanwhile, across town at fabulous O’Leaver’s, Iowa City singer/songwriter Samuel Locke Ward headlines Saturday night. SLW has a long and storied career that includes performances with and alongside such acts as Violent Femmes, Mike Watt, Jad Fair, Joe Jack Talcum and local hero Simon Joyner. SLW released 2023’s Happy Hearts, a collaboration with Jad Fair, released on Kill Rock Stars. Opening this show is the debut of A/C Drips, a new local combo that includes Sean Pratt and Megan Siebe. This one is FREE and starts at 9 p.m. 

Finally Sunday night, Aussie punkers The Chats headlines in The Slowdown’s main room. Hailing from Sunshine Coast, the trio of Eamon Sandwith, Matt Boggis and Josh Hardy sound clearly influenced by the likes of Iggy Pop, Buzzcocks, The Ramones, you know the drill. The band records on their own Bargain Bin Records, which is actually a boutique label under the Universal umbrella, which explain why they get a half million monthly listeners on Spotify. Their latest is 2022’s Get Fucked (how very punk indeed). 

Also on the bill is Brooklyn’s Dirty Fences, whose last full-length was 2017’s Goodbye Love (Greenway Records). Influences: Redd Kross, The MC5 and Johnny Thunders, their new stuff sounds more rock than punk. Opening the fun at 7 p.m. (early show!) is Charlotte, NC’s Paint Fumes. Their latest, 2023’s Real Romance, was released on Dig! Records. All this for a mere $30. Can you think of a better way to spend your Sunday night?

One last show: The Sydney is rounding out its weekend with a metal show featuring Cali noise band CNTS. Omaha noisemakers Nowhere and Oregon’s The Kronkmen also are on the bill. 9 p.m. $10.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

After Conor Oberst wrapped up his bi-coastal “Conor and friends” residencies speculation began as to what’s next for Mr. Oberst. His musical output used to run in cycles between Bright Eyes, solo work, Desaparecidos and other projects (Monsters of Folk, Better Oblivion Community Center, etc.). Well, a couple clues sprung up in the past few days. 

First, there was a casting call on the official Bright Eyes Instagram account for volunteers to appear in a Bright Eyes video, apparently to be shot in or around Omaha on May 23 and 23. The posted graphic included three sets of dice and faux casino lights, which leads one to believe they’ll be shooting it somewhere over on the boats (our local slang for the Council Bluffs casinos). 

You had to be 19 or older (or with a legal guardian) and also sign an NDA. Well, as quickly as the offer went up, the offer was closed due to having received enough “entries.” Of course, people speculated that this is a pre-cursor to a new Bright Eyes release, but I suspect it may have something to do with a rerelease of older material. Time will tell.

And then this past Tuesday a press release went out announcing the release of a 15th anniversary reissue of the Monsters of Folk debut album. Monsters of Folk consisted of Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis. 

First released in 2009, the rerelease includes the original 15-song album joined by five additional studio tracks from a previously unreleased 2012 session featuring “Fifth Monster” Will Johnson (Centro-matic).

From the press release: “Those five tracks – which include ‘Disappeared’ and the moody folk epic, ‘Museum Guard’ – were initially meant to accompany a dystopic sci-fi film based on a screenplay penned by Oberst, a project that was eventually shelved.”

A dystopic sci-fi film written by Conor? I would have loved to have seen that. And they could have shot it over on the boats and saved money on building dystopian-looking sets. 

The album drops June 14 on ATO Records and can be preordered here. Check out the Springsteen-esque newly release track, “Disappeared,” below. 

A Monsters of Folk tour to accompany this release would be pretty cool. So would new MofF material. Ah, but I’d still rather see that sci-fi movie. Come on, Conor!…

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight, LA-based indie band Local Natives headlines at The Admiral. They’ve been around nearly 20 years recording first for FrenchKiss and now for Loma Vista Records (since 2016). Who remembers their sold-out show at The Waiting Room in 2010? Were they going to be the next Arcade Fire? Not quite, but they haven’t done bad for themselves. Uwade, just in town last June opening for Fleet Foxes at Steelhouse Omaha, opens tonight at 8 p.m. $40.

Speaking of shows, One Percent Productions just announced the return of punk band X to The Waiting Room July 7, which got me thinking about the rest of the upcoming touring indie calendar. Here’s what I got through the summer months. Who am I missing?

• May 14 – Local Natives @ The Admiral
• May 18 – Samuel Locke Ward @ O’Leaver’s
• May 19 – The Chats @ The Slowdown
• May 22 – Social Distortion @ The Astro
• May 26 – Facet @ Reveb Lounge
• May 27 – Eric Bachmann @ Ming Toy Gallery
• May 27 – Flooding at Reverb Lounge
• May 30 – Wednesday @ The Slowdown
• June 4 – Cloud Nothings @ Reverb
• June 5 – Dead Horses @ Reverb
• June 9 – Lucinda Williams @ The Admiral
• June 10 – The Mars Volta @ The Admiral
• June 25 – French Cassettes @ The Slowdown
• July 7 – X @ The Waiting Room
• July 8 – The Baseball Project @ The Waiting Room
• July 15 – Etran de L’Air @ The Waiting Room
• July 19-20 – Grrrl Camp @ Falconwood
• July 31 – SNÕÕPER @ Reverb
• Aug. 3 – Orville Peck @ The Admiral
• Aug. 7 – Cults @ The Waiting Room
• Aug. 9-10 – Outlandia Music Festival @ Falconwood
• Sept. 12 – Soft Kill @ The Slowdown
• Sept. 21 – Built to Spill @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 1 – Jungle @ The Astro
• Oct. 5 – Fontaines D.C. @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 17 – Superchunk @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 26 – Porches @ Reverb

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Hey it’s been awhile since we did the Lazy-i Ten Question survey, but it’s back!

Horse Jumper of Love is the name of a Boston indie rock trio came out of the box clearly influenced by ‘90s shoegaze acts like My Bloody Valentine. The band released its debut self-titled album in 2016 on Gawk Records but was quickly signed to sturdy mid-tier indie label Run For Cover Records for the 2019 follow-up, So Divine.

Their last full-length, Heartbreak Rules (2023, Run for Cover), was a shift toward more traditional indie, complete with acoustic guitars and pedal steel. Pitchfork gave the record a 7.1 rating, saying “At the band’s live shows, audience members sway side-to-side, caught in a state of hypnosis; Horse Jumper of Love cast a similar ambiance here.”

Judge Pitchfork’s accuracy this Sunday night when Horse Jumper of Love headlines at The Sydney in Benson. This show was originally slated for DIY space The Blindspot but (I guess) was moved (as it’s listed on The Sydney calendar page). 

We gave the band the ol’ Ten Questions treatment and here’s what they had to say:

1. What is your favorite album?

Horse Jumper of Love: Old Ramon – Red House Painters

2. What is your least favorite song?

That song that goes “Because I’m Happy” by Pharrell

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Going around, doing things, meeting new people, staying busy, having an outlet, eating

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

Being judged by the audience

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Chamomile tea, knocks me out every time 

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?

Dublin Ireland and Glasgow Scotland. Nice People!

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

Any city where there is a merch-cut narc at the venue. It breaks our spirits!

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

No. We’ve worked many service jobs. We’ve been Pizza men, dog walkers, temps, construction workers, prep chefs, dishwashers, sold plasma etc

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

I’d like to be a gardener, mail man, or a mechanic. I’d hate to be a test subject or a yuppie 

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

There once was a ghost in Omaha 
He rode on an old beat up Yamaha 
With bugs in his head 
He loved being dead 
and his favorite song was Van Halen’s “Panama”

Horse Jumper of Love Plays with The Dirts and Western Haikus Sunday, May 12, at The Sydney in Benson. Showtime is 8 p.m., $15.

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So what else is going on this weekend?

Well, tonight amazing 2000s-era dance rock act CSS is doing a DJ set at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Who remembers “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above” or “Music is My Hot, Hot Sex”? Sure, we all do. This is bound to be an all night dance party, especially with WERDISBOND providing the opening DJ set. Buying advance tickets ($15) is highly recommended. Show starts at 8 p.m. 

Sunday night is a log-jam of shows.

There’s the aforementioned Horse Jumper of Love show at The Sydney.

Meanwhile, down at The Slowdown, jazz great Kamasi Washington returns to the main room. Surprised this hasn’t sold out yet. $37, 8 p.m. 

Also Sunday afternoon, PROBLEMS (a.k.a. Darren Keen) is celebrating the release of Enter the Annals, out today on The Record Machine records. Joining him on the bill are Flesh Produce, Geno Beach and DJ Beetlebitch. This one starts at 2 p.m. – a matinee! — and is $15.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

So that’s the concert announcement – Eric Bachmann will perform at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple St., on May 27, Memorial Day. Tickets are on sale here only (and will not be available at the door). 

There’s a story behind this show.

Bachmann is on an Undertow Tour. Undertow helps artists book nationwide tours performed in fans’ living rooms. They’ve been doing it since 2009 with artists including Will Johnson, Damian Jurado, Owen, Lady Lamb, even Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. 

It works like this: Fans offer their living rooms for the performance and Undertow handles ticket sales and promotion. Typically, except for a zip code the house’s location isn’t revealed until a ticket is purchased “to protect privacy.”

Anyway, last year an Undertow show was hosted in a local brewery’s “tasting room.” I didn’t know Undertow allowed shows in anything but living rooms, and thought “Well, gosh, we could host Undertow shows at our Benson art gallery.” 

I sent the gallery’s specifics to Undertow, and here we are. 

Bachmann is something of an indie legend. In the early ‘90s he fronted the seminal indie rock band Archers of Loaf, whose albums include 1993’s Icky Mettle and ’95’s Vee Vee, both released on Alias but later rereleased, along with the rest of the Archers of Loaf catalog, on Merge Records. 

In 2000, following Archers’ break up, Bachmann formed Crooked Fingers backed by a rotating cast of musicians. WARM Records released the first couple albums — the same label that released Azure Ray’s first couple albums, which, btw, also featured guest appearances by Bachmann. Merge has released most of Crooked Fingers’ catalog.

While all that was happening, Bachmann recorded solo records, including 2006’s To the Races, released on our very own Saddle Creek Records. (Interestingly, Saddle Creek Records used to house its offices in the gallery space where this concert is being held, years before the label moved to its current No-Do location.)

Most recently, Bachmann has toured with a reunited Archers of Loaf. The band released its first full-length in 25 years, Reason in Decline, in 2022. 

And now Bachmann is on another solo tour, which will bring him to Omaha and to our gallery.

We’re pretty excited about hosting this, our first show ever. If it works out, we’re hoping to host more Undertow shows. This is an intimate performance – only 40 tickets will be available (and it looks like 14 have already sold). Tickets are $25, and only available via online purchase here. Doors at 7:15, the show begins at 8 p.m. with no opening act. 

I’ll write more about this show and why we’re doing shows at the gallery as we get closer to the concert date. I’m also trying to swing an interview with Bachmann for a Lazy-i blog entry. In the meantime, buy a ticket before they’re gone!

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Look for a special show announcement later this week, probably on Thursday. The mystery artist is a former frontman to a couple notable indie acts, and sax player. Keep watching Lazy-i for details.

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Speaking of former indie frontmen, tonight at The Waiting Room, Ty Segall headlines. You’d have to go way back in his career to discover he was in the band Epsilons. Segall is better known for his solo work, which began with his self-titled studio album, released back in 2008 on Jon Dwyer’s Castle Face Records (and on cassette on Burger Records).  

Segall and Dwyer (who fronts Coachwhips and Thee Oh Sees) have a lot in common sonically; Segall’s first solo record had the same raw, psych guitar sound, complete with Segall’s Dwyer-like megaphone vocals. 

Fourteen studio albums followed. Through the years Segall refined his sound, vacilating between raw, gutteral noise and more nuanced glam, but always staying on the garage-psych-rock path. 2012’s Twins (Drag City Records) was the first time I heard Segall’s music as his band headlined a show at Sokol Underground with Digital Leather and Ex-Cult.  From the review of that show:

Well, Segall never quite reached Jack White level, but he’s persevered. Two years later he headlined in Omaha again, this time at The Waiting Room touring in support of Manipulator (Drag City). Then Segall and his band, Fuzz, rolled through town in 2022, playing The Slowdown with a then lesser-known David Nance Band. This time he was supporting III (In the Red Records), an album that honed his garage sound and replaced it with something that more closely resembled ‘70s heavy metal a la Montrose or Rainbow. 

Tonight Segall returns to The Waiting Room supporting his latest, Three Bells (2024, Drag City), which, for my money, is the most mature-sounding album of his career. The record features a variety of guitar styles, combining acoustic with electric, always showcasing the full gamut of Segall’s amazing talent. He’s put away the megaphone as well, providing an unfettered, unfuzzed look at his rather groovy voice. 

Opening tonight’s show for Segall is SF freak-rock duo Sharpie Smile, f.k.a. Kamikaze Palm Tree. 8 p.m., $26. 

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The big deal going on this weekend is, of course, Lincoln Calling. I’ll get to that in a sec. First, the reason why I won’t be at LC this weekend….

Tonight is the first Friday of May, which means it’s Benson First Friday (#BFF). That’s the day of the month when venues and art galleries up and down Maple Street open their doors to local artists and their wares.

And that includes Ming Toy Gallery, where tonight we have an opening for Marvel comics artist and Lincoln native Bob Hall. Throughout his career, Hall drew some of the most iconic superheroes of the ’70s, ‘80s and ’90s, including The Avengers, Spider-man, The Champions, Dr. Doom, as well DC hero Batman and many more. We’re featuring Hall’s comic art – including many original, full-page comic book panels. The opening tonight runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple St. Come by, say hi, see some heroes and have a beer.  

BTW, you can read all about Bob in my first-ever story for Flatwater Free Press, published this past Wednesday. Click here and give it a read.  T

And in case you didn’t know, Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. Joining in the celebration is Legend Comics and Coffee, located right next door to Ming Toy, where Bob Hall will be on hand doing drawings and signing stuff. Ming Toy will be open all day tomorrow, too, in support of Free Comic Book Day. 

Back to the music…

As part of BFF, The Sydney in Benson is hosting a show that features the return of progressive jazz ensemble Chemicals, whose members include bassist Dereck Higgins. Joining them tonight is Agronómo and Heavier Than Air. $10, 9 p.m. 

Now, onto Lincoln Calling. You can read my recap about this year’s LC line-up here. The festival’s full schedule, as well as ticket info, is available at Lincolncalling.com. So if I did go to LC tonight, I’d be checking out Cherry Glazerr, The Dirts, David Nance and Mowed Sound and PROBLEMS. Lincoln Calling’s Saturday highlights (to me, anyway) are Friko, Water from Your Eyes, Dip Tet, Bad Bad Men and Ritual Device.

By the way, if you missed it, here’s my review of last night’s Ritual Device show at Reverb. If you can’t make it down to Lincoln this weekend, you’ll have another chance to see Ritual Device tonight at Reverb Lounge with Bad Bad Men and Gerald Lee Jr. 

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s night one of the Ritual Device reunion tour.

Tim Moss and company (read all about them here) are kicking things off tonight at Reverb Lounge. Tonight’s openers are Pagan Athletes (the Wolf brothers) and noise-punk band Nowhere. 

Tomorrow night (Friday), Ritual Device returns to Reverb with Bad Bad Men (the power trio of Omaha legends Chris Siebken on drums, RD’s Jerry Hug on bass and frontman/guitarist John Wolf) and Filter Kings’ frontman Gerald Lee Jr. 

Both Reverb shows have a $20 cover and 8 p.m. start time. These may sell out, so get your tickets early via the One Percent Productions website.

Ritual Devices closes out its reunion tour at Lincoln Calling Saturday night. More on Lincoln Calling in tomorrow’s blog.

I’ll be there tonight to hopefully catch and take home a pig ear! See you there…

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Conor Oberst closed out his residency at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom last Thursday with a large cadre of guest stars, including Desaparecidos’ Denver Dalley, which I’m sure had something to do with the band playing for four Desa songs during the show. I can’t tell from the videos if Ian McElroy also is on stage during these songs; the Brooklyn Vegan coverage doesn’t mention him. I fear this may be the closest we ever get to a Desaparecidos reunion, but you never know. Oberst sure looked like he was having a good time singing these old Desa tunes…

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Austin band Cherubs was part of that early-‘90s noise-punk movement that included acts like The Jesus Lizard and Steel Pole Bathtub and, yeah, Ritual Device. Just prior to the release of their ’94 studio album Heroin Man (Trance Syndicate), the band broke up. They reunited in 2014 and signed to Relapse Records, who released their most recent studio album, Immaculada High, in 2019. And tonight they’re playing at The Sydney in Benson. Joining them is Omaha’s own current-day noise-punk band, Violenteer, along with Moon Pussy. 9 p.m. $12. LOUD.

No doubt the Cherubs show is really drawing fans away from tonight’s Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit show at The Astro (j/k, obviously). Their latest studio album, Weathervanes, was released last year on Southeastern Records/Thirsty Tigers. Jobi Riccio opens at 7 p.m. $65-$125. 

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

UPDATE, NEVERMIND: I just discovered looking at the Pageturners page that this show is SOLD OUT. I didn’t know they were offering tickets… Here’s the preview anyway…

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For purely selfish reasons, I thought about not writing this preview of tonight’s Cindy Lee / Freak Heat Waves show at Pageturners Lounge. 

Lee’s new album, Diamond Jubilee, has been playing on repeat in my car and on my earbuds for the past couple weeks, after Lazy-i reader Jim DeRouchey pointed out how I forgot to list tonight’s show in my “look ahead” column. Jim included a link to Pitchfork’s review of the album, where it received both a “best new music” designation and a staggering 9.1 rating. I can’t remember the last time (if ever) Pitchfork rated a new-ish underground artist’s album above a 9.0.

So, I immediately went to Spotify to check out the album, but… it wasn’t there. It isn’t on Bandcamp or Apple Music or any other major streaming service, either. Instead, you can download the Diamond Jubliee’s two hours-worth of music from the artist’s geocities website (the cost is a suggested $30 donation via Paypal). I rarely agree with Pitchfork these days, but this time the hype was real. The album is a spacey collection of echoey folk-rock tunes that sound like they were recorded by The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson between Pet Sounds takes. 

Cindy Lee, a.k.a. Patrick Fiegel, is the former singer/guitarist for the band Women. While the rest of Women went on to form the band Preoccupations, Fiegel created Cindy Lee, and here we are.  You can listen to the Diamond Jubilee in its entirety at YouTube, below. I like this business model – keep the album off streaming services and make it available via download from your own servers! Let’s get artists paid again.

Anyway, why the reluctance to let you know about tonight’s show? Because it’s being held at tiny Pageturners Lounge. The last time I went to Pageturners to see a performance I never got in the door because there was nowhere to sit or stand to listen the band. I fear the same thing could happen tonight. Yes, I could get to Pageturners an hour early and scope out a table, but I got shit to do, damnit!

Seriously, congrats to Pageturners for getting this amazing show. In the current state of Omaha’s music scene – when the city’s many high-end venues are busy booking vanilla pop acts, stand-up comics, yee-haw cow pokes and has-beens freedom rockers whose last hit was 30 years ago — seeing quality touring indie bands has become an every-man-for-himself endeavor.

Opening for Cindy Lee tonight is fellow Canadians Freak Heat Waves, the duo of Steven Lind and Thomas Di Ninno, whose new album, Mondo Tempo, includes a guest vocal by Cindy Lee. The show starts at 8 p.m. and is free, though a donation is suggested. Look for the awkward dude crammed in the corner, trying to stay out of people’s way, bobbing his head to the beat… UPDATE: THIS IS SOLD 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.