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Home - 8 Days
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8 Days - |
May 13
Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s w/ Cameron McGill
Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St., 9 p.m., $8
884.5353, waitingroomlounge.com
Like Wes Anderson, the creator of the band’s namesake Margot from The Royal Tenenbaums, songwriter Richard Edwards creates hermetically sealed worlds that leak emotion through tiny cracks in their veneer. The difference is that Edwards litters his stories with quirky characters through songs rather than moving images. The band’s debut album, The Dust of Retreat, released more than a year ago, was an impressive collection of layered, folk-inspired pop/rock. The Indianapolis octet is finishing up a new album, so this show is a chance to get a sneak peek at its follow-up.
Lindsay Trapnell |
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May 2
Voodoo Organist w/ Bazooka Shootout
O’Leavers, 1322 S. Saddle Creek Rd., 9:30 p.m., $5
voodooorganist.com
If Tom Waits had a crush on Elvira and created a new sound to impress her it would be Voodoo Organist. Scott Wexton’s vocals are reminiscent of both Waits and Nick Cave, his Hammond organ, adorned with skulls, sounding simultaneously churchy and demonic with an underlying bluesy bent. Formerly a one-man act, he continues to tour nonstop, now with Robin Kennon (Devil Drums) spreading the “gospel of salvation through sin.” VO kicks out a powerful sound that devilishly rollicks between genres and styles. I think Elvira would totally get with that.
Sarah Wengert |
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April 26
Omaha Scooter Club Ride-Along
Old Dundee Hardware parking lot
50th and Underwood, 11 a.m., FREE
omahascooterclub.com
What’s the baddest gang on the streets of the big O? It’s the Omaha Scooter Club gangsters! This rowdy group of roustabouts is planning to putt-putt-putt around Omaha, swinging around Eppley before heading to the Old Market for a quick bite at Sam & Louie’s (bring your own pizza money). This would be a great chance to get to know what is, in all honesty, most likely the kindest group of bikers you’re ever going to run into. Get some fresh air, enjoy the scenery, chomp on some pizza, and join the OSC’s ongoing quest to make 35 mph the new 65.
Neil Sandhoefner |
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8 Days - |
April 17
Ladyfinger/Dance Me Pregnant 7-inch Split Release
w/ Her Mischief
Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St., 9 p.m., $7
onepercentproductions.com
Ah, the split 7-inch … It was once an institution among Omaha and Lincoln acts. While Speed Nebraska! does an excellent job of keeping the form alive, you don’t see the number you did 10 or 15 years ago. It enabled a label to reach out to fans of one band and say, “Hey, you should check these guys out, too.” It was a testament to the fraternal bonds between two bands. No Dancing Records, out of Belfast, Northern Ireland, keeps the torch burning with the release of a split 7-inch (The Orange) from Ladyfinger and Dance Me Pregnant. Both bands will play the release, making you nostalgic for the 7-inch before rocking you right into the present.
Jesse Stanek |
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8 Days - |
April 13
Malpais w/ Son Ambulance and Landing on the Moon
Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St., 9 p.m.
$7, myspace.com/malpaisband
Malpais, not even a year on the map, has covered a lot of ground in its infancy. Opening for the likes of Cursive, Say Anything and Blue October would be enough bragging rights for many groups, but Malpais seems ready to blaze its own trails. With an album just completed at ARC and a handful of Eastern dates this April, Greg Loftis’ latest musical incarnation has a sound ranging from gentle to brisk with an ultimately airy quality even at its harder moments. All in all, the sound has a pop backbone, a folk set of lungs and an indie heart. Son Ambulance (fresh off dropping the comma) and Landing on the Moon open.
Sarah Wengert
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April 3-5, 10-13
Aristophanes’ Lysistrata: A Woman’s Translation
Lincoln’s Enid Miller Theatre (NWU) 51st and Huntington,
7:30 p.m., $10, $7.50 students/seniors; $5 kids under 5
nebraskawesleyan.edu, 402.465.2384
Remember five years ago, when there was a “slam dunk case” of Saddam having WMDs, and the liberated Iraqis would welcome us with flowers? Those were the days. But some didn’t believe the hype, and so staged The Lysistrata Project, the largest theater activism project for peace ever undertaken. The classic Greek comedy, in which women keep their feuding husbands in check by withholding sex, enjoys a revival every time the war drums begin to beat. A real-life version occurred in 2006 in a town in Colombia, when a group of gangsters’ wives and girlfriends declared a sex strike to force their partners to disarm.
Avishay Artsy |
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8 Days - |
April 2-3
Malcolm X Festival, The Ballot Box or the Bullet: Politics and Malcolm X
UNO, 6001 Dodge St.
Various programs w/ leading Malcolm X scholars, area students and artists,
Keynote Address (w/ national political strategist Donna Brazile), April 3
1 p.m. unomaha.edu/blst/malcolmx
554.2412
As a Barack Obama presidency draws closer to reality the dynamic of race and politics comes more into focus. The civil rights movement produced national black leaders in Malcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. whose tragic assassinations left their social justice visions unrealized. Jesse Jackson tried picking up their mantel in a most unlikely place, the mainstream political arena. He never gained enough broad support to be a serious challenger in the presidential race, or to change the national dialogue. Obama synthesizes the legacies of his predecessors in ways that unify rather than polarize. What would Malcolm think of the Obama phenomenon and the possibility of a black man being voted into the White House? By any means necessary, man.
Leo Adam Biga |
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March 23
A Celebration of Life: Tribute to Byron ‘Butch’ Berman
Cornhusker Hotel, 333 S. 13th St., Lincoln
4-10 p.m., bermanmusicfoundation.org
They say a man can be measured by the friends he keeps. Butch Berman leaves behind a wealth of friends in the Lincoln music community who will mourn his passing and celebrate his life March 23. Celebrated jazz singer Karrin Allyson headlines. Renowned KC sax man Ahmad Alaadeenan, locals Charlie Burton, Dave Fowler, Dave Boye, Ed Love, Dave Robel, John Carlini and surviving members of Berman’s last band, the Cronin Brothers, will also perform. Butch Berman was a part of the Lincoln music scene for more than 30 years, performing in bands including the Modds (Nebraska Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famers) the popular Megatones and Charlie Burton’s band, Rock Therapy. Berman also toured Europe as part of rockabilly legend Sleepy LaBeef’s band. A move to San Francisco in the ’80s introduced Berman to jazz and when he came home to Lincoln in the ’90s, he hosted jazz programming on Lincoln’s community radio station KZUM. He founded the Berman Music Foundation, sponsoring jazz concerts throughout the Midwest and supporting Lincoln’s Jazz in June concert series. Berman died at home on Jan. 31, after a four-month battle with brain cancer. His last gig was Dec. 30 with his band the Cronin Brothers at the Zoo Bar.
B.J. Huchtemann |
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8 Days - |
March 15
Secret Weapon
Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St., 9 p.m., $7
myspace.com/secretweaponrocks
Gather children of ’80s. It’s no secret that the musicians behind Secret Weapon have loads of talent and are involved in various original projects. But since 2005 Secret Weapon has satisfied the urge in us children of the brilliant, gaudy hodgepodge that was the 1980s to get down to the passionate, over-the-top, totally tubular tune-age that defined the era we came up in. Don your jelly shoes, tease and shellac your bangs, hop in the Delorean, give it the old “Nintendo blow” and channel wisdom from your Beta copy of The Goonies. Come be with your people, because it may be their time up there (2008), but it’s our time down at Slowdown.
Sarah Wengert |
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8 Days - |
March 11
The Chinese Stars
w/ Plack Blague and UUVVWWZ
Brothers Lounge, 3812 Farnam., 9 p.m., $5
They say there’s nothing new under the sun. But from the ashes of two bands Arab on Radar and Six Finger Satellite rose the flaming, churning, dance-punk, Phoenix bird that is The Chinese Stars. Out of Providence, R.I., Chinese Stars is known for experimentation and gusto that’s not even an option for most in the “play-it-safe” modern music world. Imagine if instead of merely pushing the envelope, a band folded that envelope into a “Chinese throwing star” and flung it at your heart. The impact made you want to dance. That’s The Chinese Stars.
Sarah Wengert |
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8 Days - |
Feb. 29
Chip Kidd
Bellevue University, 1000 Galvin Road S.
Bellevue, 7 p.m., $15, nebraska.aiga.org
What do dinosaurs, Batman and Cormac McCarthy have in common? No, it’s not the threat of extinction. It’s book cover designer Chip Kidd. From the iconic Jurrasic Park to DC Comics and McCarthy’s novel No Country For Old Men, Chip Kidd has covered them all. David Sedaris? Augusten Burroughs? He’s designed their covers, too. This guy could fill a library with books he has covered. He’ll tell Omahans how he does it. Kidd also has authored two novels, released a compilation book and fronts a rock band. Instead of judging a book by its cover, maybe we should judge a book by its coverer. Might give that comic book you’re toting around a tad more street cred.
Nicole Blauw |
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8 Days - |
Feb. 22
Say Anything w/ Landing on the Moon, Malpais
Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St., 8 p.m., $13 ADV/$15 DOS,
onepercentproductions.com
Indie music with a little extra heart will swell inside Slowdown. The show’s big name is Say Anything, an L.A.-based band whose albums 2004’s …Is a Real Boy and last fall’s In Defense of the Genre have garnered considerable attention. If nothing else, the band’s moniker makes you want to pull a Cusack and bravely offer your lady a boom-box serenade. Also playing are locals Landing on the Moon, an ambitious quintet with a unique and honest sound, and Malpais, a triple-dipping band that’s sort of indie, sort of rock, sort of ambient and fronted by the stellar Greg Loftis.
Neil Sandhoefner |
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8 Days - |
Feb. 18
Bon Jovi, Daughtry
Qwest Center, 455 N. 10th, 7:30 p.m.
$53-$101.50, qwestcenteromaha.com
I had a housewarming party some years back at which my roommate put Slippery When Wet on the turntable, promptly clearing out the party. Perhaps this was a coincidence, but if not, I’d like to say to all of you hipster deserters that it is not cool to be too cool for Bon Jovi. This Monday the opposite effect will take place, on a much larger scale, when fans flock to the Qwest to hear Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway tour. After that party clears out, Jon and I will ride off into the night on his steel horse where we will live (on a prayer) happily ever after.
Sarah Wengert |
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8 Days - |
Big Love in the Big O … Drumroll to VDAY
Ode to an Ex art exhibit, Espana Gallery, Feb. 7, 7-10 p.m.,
Omaha Pug Club Meet-up, Luxe Pet Boutique, Shops of Legacy, Feb. 9, noon
Lauritzen Gardens dinner, Feb. 14, 6-9 p.m., limited seating, reservations at 402.346.4002,
Henry Doorly Zoo dinner, Feb. 14, 5:30-9 p.m., $85 per couple, reservations at 738-2038,
Mojo’s Blue Valentine, Goofyfoot, Feb. 14, 9:30 p.m., Mojo’s set at 11 p.m.
Whether obsessing over an ex-lover, using your cute pug as a hook-up magnet, splurging on expensive dinner for two or waxing the romantic blues, this Valentine’s Day has it all. Start with the Ode to an Ex group exhibition at Espana in Benson. That should get your compulsions going. Then there’s the Omaha Pug Clubs Pre-Valentine’s Day Meet-up on Feb. 9. Not sure if this is a meet-up for owners or their pets. It could be a real wag-the-dog experience. For something oh-so-traditional and “isn’t-it-romantic?,” there’s Lauritzen Gardens’ gourmet dinner on VDay, complete with candlelit tables, a roaring fireplace and scented flowers. This wallet-buster is strictly for impressions. A more economical romantic night out is the Henry Doorly Zoo’s annual Couples Dinner. This offers the Scott Aquarium as an exotic backdrop and the Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom Pavilion as a dessert setting, plus an IMAX movie that should get your jungle fever on. If love is most definitely not in the air you can always sulk the night away at Mojo’s Blue Valentine Party at the Goofyfoot Lounge, where Omaha’s own mystic will cover Tom Waits downers and other such anthems for the sad-hearted.
Leo Adam Biga |
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8 Days - |
Feb. 1-2
Natalie MacMaster
Feb. 1: Lied Center, 12th and R, Lincoln, 7:30 p.m., $13-$36, 402.472.4700.
Feb 2: Holland Center, 13th and Douglas, 8 p.m., $19-30, 402.345.0606
When Scottish settlers first reached Nova Scotia, they were packing fiddles. Generations later, an area of Nova Scotia known as Cape Breton bred its own style of fiddle music, aptly dubbed “Cape Breton style.” Of this genre, Natalie MacMaster is top tier. She fuses traditional Cape Breton, Celtic, jazz and even American bluegrass. Her music is known for its toe-tapping, soulful, staccato rhythms. MacMaster is so profound with the fiddle she has received several musical honors in Canada, including an honorary doctorate from Niagara University as well as being named to the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honor. Let’s just say if MacMaster was in Georgia, and the devil went down … well, you know how that would turn out.
Patricia Sindelar
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8 Days a Week - |
Jan. 25
Jalan Crossland Band w/ Matt Cox
P.S. Collective, 6056 Maple St., 8 p.m., $8, pscollective.com, jalancrossland.com
With a beautiful new CD of original acoustic blues called Folker’s Travels, Matt Cox is an Omaha musician who deserves to be heard. His sparkling and engaging work is at times reminiscent of Harry Manx, and he's rooted in the great American folk-blues traditions from the Delta to Dylan. Friday’s show at the P.S. Collective offers an intimate setting in which to catch Cox, with Wyoming artist Jalan Crossland, a player Cox is jazzed about. Cox says Crossland is a virtuoso on guitar and banjo, in a league with players like Kelly Joe Phelps and Leo Kottke. Critics praise Crossland’s alt/country music for his dazzling fingerpicking skills, “homespun charm” and “tales of hobos, tires, mobile homes, strippers, motorcycles, trucks, cars, vice presidents and methamphetamines.” Sounds like a night of pickin’, storytellin’ and drinkin’ out of mason jars. Pull up a chair and warm your soul.
B.J. Huchtemann |
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8 Days - |
Jan. 19
Bazooka Shootout w/ Ric Rhythm and the Revengers, The Pistol Brothers
Sokol Underground, 2234 S. 13th, 8 p.m., $8, myspace.com/bazookashootout
Every once in a while, bands come along that restore my hope in the Omaha music scene. Sokol Underground brings to the stage three of these bands, showcasing an array of genres. Besides having a kick-ass name, Bazooka Shootout adds to the collection of progressive bands popping up locally. Preaching its “Free Love, Free Guns” motto, my new favorite punk/big beat quartet Ric Rhythm and the Revengers will play alongside Shootout. The Pistol Brothers are also a new addition to my list with ’60s folk style and lead singer Robert Piskac’s Ben Gibbard-like voice adding to the coffee-shop sound. Pistol slinging brothers, revenge, and a battle of shoulder-launched missile weapons makes for a good Saturday night.
Chalis Bristol |
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8 Days - |
Jan. 16
The Reverend Horton Heat w/ Nashville Pussy
Sokol Auditorium, 8 p.m., $18 ADV./$20 DOS, onepercentproductions.com
It’s a double-barreled psychobilly freakout when The Reverend Horton Heat teams up with Nashville Pussy. Longtime fans speak of Jim Heath simply as The Rev., and he has been laying down his crazed, high-octane version of rockabilly juiced with country and punk for more than 20 years. With roots that range from Dick Dale, Carl Perkins and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins to The Cramps, The Rev. and his men tear it up with an in-your-face sound that has converted a serious and devoted cult of rockers and greasers. Nashville Pussy has been around for 10 years and even been nominated for a Grammy for what the KC Pitch called “Southern-flavored, AC/DC-inspired raunch [that] is all about cussing, booze, nudity and brawling.” The Southern band’s latest disc is the delicately titled Get Some (Spitfire Records). Expect a raw and raucous revival when this souped-up, stripped-down rock show gets its groove on at Sokol.
B.J. Huchtemann |
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8 Days - |
Jan. 3
Omaha Entertainment Awards
Holland Performing Arts Center, 13th and Douglas, 7 p.m., $15-$50, 402.345.0606, oea-awards.com
For the second year, Omaha makes like New York City or L.A. with its very own awards show, complete with fashion-plated nominees, awkward acceptance speeches, live performances and occasional goofs or gaffes. It’s all broadcast live on Cox Channel 120, thus lending this mutual masturbatory affair an added voyeuristic dimension. Awards are given in the visual arts, performing arts and live music. Individual and group performances and achievements are recognized. Two special awards Patron of the Year and Lifetime Achievement will be presented. As ego-stroking trips go, it’s a lot of fun and the sheer variety of talents on display is impressive. The show is further evidence of Omaha’s burgeoning creative class.
Leo Adam Biga |
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8 Days - |
Dec. 29
The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash w/ The Filter Kings
The Waiting Room, 9 p.m., $10, onepercentproductions.com
If you can’t get warm from that Christmas sweater Grandma knitted, then The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash are sure to fire you up this winter. These guys are as legitimate as they come. The Man in Black himself approved their moniker and their sound, which falls in somewhere before Cash found Jesus and after he found drugs. There isn’t a better way to recover from your booze-soaked uncles and office parties than spending a booze-soaked evening with the boys in black. Call them alt-country, call them rockabilly or even revivalists, just don’t call them the “Boys Named Sue.”
Nicole Blauw |
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