Friday night's Maria Taylor show at The Waiting Room wasn't quite a sell-out but looked pretty darn close. I caught the last two or three hoe-down-inspired tunes by Whispertown 2000 -- a six-piece that included Taylor. Everyone in the band had amazing heads of dark-brown hair -- maybe they should change their names to The Brunettes (Oops, that name's already taken). Taylor and her band came on at around 11 and sounded their usual spot-on selves, playing a nice selection of old songs and new stuff off Ladyluck. Here's a pic from the show.

The running gag throughout the set was Craig Reier's wedding the following day in Lincoln. The keyboardist played the show in a formal suit, apparently coming to the club right after a rehearsal dinner. Many offers were made to buy him a shot to help him get through the next day, but Reier wisely stayed away from the hard stuff. The celebratory tone carried over throughout the evening, with the Taylor's band and members of Whispertown joining for a raucous cover of "Song Beneath the Song" to close out the set.

I didn't know if I was going to catch any of Big Al's "Free Music Festival" last weekend, but ended up down at the Saddle Creek Bar for at least an hour both nights. There was about 60 people on hand both evenings (not including band members) -- not bad. Al did his usual, fun-loving heavy-metal set that included such "classics" as "It's War, You Die," and a new song about people who text and Twitter with their cell phones. In fact, on stage on night one, Al directed that song right at me, saying, "TMac is probably twittering a review of this show right now." He was right (Follow my Twitter feed here). Half of the fun of Al's stage presence (and songs like "Oregano") is his carnival-barker personality behind the microphone. So while I still don't understand why he didn't charge at least $5 (or $3 or $2) for the show, I've got to hand it to him for pulling it off.

* * *

There's an extensive interview with Tim Kasher that was posted today on A.V. Club (right here) that covers everything from his past band break-ups, to listening to old Cursive albums (specifically The Storms of Early Summer), to the status of his Help Wanted Nights -- the script, not the album, the production of which appears to be in limbo. Check it out.

* * *

Tonight, it's the whiskey swagger of Dim Light at O'Leaver's with Drakes Hotel and Junius. $5, 9:30 p.m.

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