by Chris Aponick

* Monday night’s Lucinda Williams concert was a luminous slow-burn from the alternative country/Americana trailblazer. Williams was backed by a stripped down trio, which she joined with on guitar during more than half the set. Williams unraveled tales of heartbreak from her early career paired with gracefully wise odes to late-life love that’s marked her past two releases, in front of a packed crowd at The Slowdown, 729 North 14th St., a crowd that was at least 15 years older than the average Slowdown crowd. Williams rewarded the stalwarts who stayed with a set that strayed past the two-hour mark and really hit its stride with “Real Live Bleeding Fingers” an hour into the set. * You probably won’t need ear plugs when J. Mascis takes the stage for this year’s MAHA Music Festival. When he plugs in to play with his main act, Dinosaur Jr., the decibels reach into the red. But his latest Sub-Pop Records release “Several Shades of Why” casts his songwriting in a gentler, acoustic light. Jim Heath and his psychobilly brethren in the Rev. Horton Heat will also be out on the Lewis and Clark Landing in downtown Omaha for the event. So, that means MAHA just might need to stock up on gin and vermouth for the inevitable liquor run that will occur after the Rev. plays “Martini Time.” Event organizers also announced local stage acts Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship, The Machete Archive and The So-So Sailors. Each band will host a free showcase with bands that they pick prior to MAHA. For more information on these showcases, check TheReader.com. * Here’s a last-minute note from B.J. Huchtemann, The Reader’s blues columnist: Award-winning Canadian roots artist Suzie Vinnick has a last-minute show booked for The Side Door Lounge, 3530 Leavenworth St., Wednesday, May 25, 8 p.m. Vinnick is “a perennial nominee” and six-time winner of the Canadian Maple Blues awards. She is touring behind her latest and fourth solo effort Me ‘n’ Mabel and has won a Juno award nomination for her previous folk-blues work. There is no admission charge for the show but donations are encouraged to help Vinnick with her road travel expenses. Vinnick has appeared in Omaha previously with Les Grandes Dames duBlues featuring Dawn Tyler Watson. See SuzieVinnick.com for more.

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