When I arrived at The Slowdown last night at around 9:15 I discovered that there was a third, unannounced band on the bill, added as an opener. I have no idea who they were, other than they weren't from around here (Bear Country would have been a terrific opener, btw). So my hopes for an early evening were quickly dashed. Ah well, it only meant that I would be skipping Jenny Lewis' set altogether as I had an early wake-up call this morning. I've seen Lewis in her various configurations at least a dozen times, so I knew I wasn't missing anything I hadn't already seen before. The band I came to see was Deer Tick anyway, who didn't get on stage until around 11. I was surprised at the number of covers they played, considering they have two albums-worth of material to select from. The covers included a weak version of John Mellencamp's "I Fight Authority," which I could have done without. The highlight was a duet with Liz Isenberg on "Friday XIII," which I had told frontman John McCauley during our interview was my favorite song off their new album Born on Flag Day. He had told me that it was unlikely that they'd be playing it in Omaha since he doesn't do it without Isenberg, and she wasn't coming along. Well, there she was. From stage McCauley also apologized for his voice, saying he was just getting over a cold. He sounded just fine to me. As fun as the band was last night, I have to think they'll be even more fun to watch tonight in Lincoln when they play in the intimate confines of Box Awesome with UUVVWWZ and Manny Coon. Here's a really fuzzy action photo.

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Speaking of Lincoln, The Lincoln Journal Star published its story on this weekend's Lincoln Invasion festival in Benson. Check it out here.

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I have been told by at least three different people not to miss tonight's show at O'Leaver's featuring Portland band Vanishing Kids. The music I've heard on their Myspace page is lush, trippy, brash, post-punk, and pretty darn good, too. The show's line-up includes Honey and Darling and Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship. $5, 9:30 p.m.

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