Brad Hoshaw was in his usual fine form and The Whipkey Three cranked it up a few notches on Friday night in front of a hundred or so people at The Waiting Room. Hoshaw performed an acoustic set that included a few new songs (or at least ones that I haven't heard before). He said he's putting the finishing touches on his Seven Deadlies record -- Omaha waits with baited breath. Whipkey and Co. played for more than an hour (90 minutes?). The set included a handful of new songs, most of them heavier than the usual TW3 fodder. In fact, one song started with a reggae beat before evolving into something that sounded like it was off Zeppelin's later records.

I planned on seeing Reagan and The Rayguns Saturday night at Slowdown Jr., but stayed home in fear of icy roads. Poor me. I'll get another chance Jan. 19 when Reagan and the boys play at O'Leaver's.

* * *

Interesting story in the Sunday Omaha World-Herald about the economy's impact on local clubs (here). Nice reporting. My only quibble was that the Mick's portion of the story didn't mention that the bar has been for sale for a long, long time, well before the economy took a bath. In fact, maybe the oddest thing about Mick's recent sale is that he was able to find a buyer at what could be the worst time in history to invest in a new bar (or any new business, for that matter). The discussion about Slowdown now willing to take any band that they think can fill the venue (and not just indie bands) is old news. TWR always has had that business philosophy. Maybe the most interesting part of the story were comments from David Rezak, a Syracuse University professor, who said that small clubs were in a better position than large venues (like the Qwest Center) to thrive during economic downturns, thanks in part because their shows have lower ticket prices. Missing were comments from venue owners other than the Slowdown and TWR guys, but isn't that always the case?

* * *

In some rather unfortunate news, The Barley St. Tavern reportedly was held up at gunpoint Friday night. No one was hurt, but that makes two Benson bars held up in the past two weeks. It may be time for the Benson Business Association to put some money in a hat and hire off-duty cops to patrol the streets at night.

* * *

Tonight at PS Collective, it's Talking Mountain with Oui Bandits, Netherfriends and White Elephant Gift Exchange. 9 p.m., $5. It's arguably the best (if not the only) show of the week, until Friday's Girl Talk show. Go!

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--