It's impossible to not be entertained by Greg Dulli and his band, the Twilight Singers. He is the consummate entertainer. Like the last time he was here back in '03, Dulli came on stage dressed all in black, along with the rest of his band. He looked like a cocky middle-aged John Belushi, guitar over his shoulder, cigarette in hand (In fact, the entire band smoked throughout the set, making Sokol Underground smell like the old days that were only a few weeks ago). But despite having the same swagger, Dulli seemed a little off last night. Maybe it's the fact that Omaha is one of only two cities that didn't sell out on this tour (drawing only around 200 last night -- what happened, people?). Or maybe Dulli is just getting older. If he was on fire three years ago, last night he was only smoldering. His voice had that same Afghan Whigs snarl, but lacked that little bit of oomph needed to hit the high notes.

He opened with "Teenage Wristband" off the first Twilight Singers full-length, Blackberry Belle, a collection which Dulli drew heavily from last night, and with good reason. While his new one, Powder Burns, has its moments, Dulli could make a living just playing the tracks off Blackberry, which has aged into a modern-day classic. After four or five songs, I began to wonder if Mark Lanegan was still on the tour. Then out of nowhere he appeared, entering from back stage looking like a cross between a straight-haired, goateed Will Ferrell and Frankenstein, striking a pose with one hand on the microphone, the other firmly grasping the mic stand, eyes clamped closed, barely moving. They tore right into their cover of Massive Attack's "Live With Me" and I couldn't take my eyes off Lanegan, who looked like some sort of ghost-zombie-statue, chewing a piece of gum between numbers. After three songs, he exited the stage and didn't reemerge until the encore, when he came back for two more.

Lanegan may have been a highlight, but really, this was Dulli's show, and as the set wore on, he only got better. Unlike the last time, Dulli kept the stage patter to a minimum, telling the crowd to forget it was Monday night. "It's Saturday night at Sokol Underground," he said, lifting a cup of something in a toast (where was that bottle of Maker's Mark he had three years ago?). Like any good showman, he figured out a way to work a Husker reference into his between-song patter. As he went around the stage introducing the band, he introduced himself with, "I'm Lawrence Phillips… and I'm gonna rape you!" Laughter ensued (by me and Dulli, anyway). Another memorable comment came when he introduced "Martin Eden," one of the more frightening drug songs you'll ever hear. "The last time I was here three years ago, I introduced this song talking about Elliott Smith," he said. "After that show, I bought some cocaine from a girl named Kristen. Kristen's not here anymore. Let's sing this one for her."

The set lasted over an hour, and much to chagrin of a few fans, didn't include any Afghan Whigs songs. After the last song of the encore, Dulli lifted up his cup of whatever to salute the crowd, and said in a cautionary tone while looking at his drink, "Be careful." He then stepped off stage and walked directly out of Sokol with a girl on his arm, presumably headed to Council Bluffs… I hung out until well past 1 but never saw Lanegan leave. The show may not have been as good as '03, but it was still one of the better shows of '06.

Sokol is ground-zero tonight for shows both upstairs and underground. The auditorium is reserved for Guster, which starts at 8 p.m. with a rare opening set by Trippin Balls, a surprise act that you may recognize if you can get past their costumes. I promised new Guster guy Joe Pisapia that I wouldn't say anymore. You'll have to find out who they are for yourselves. Tickets are still available for $20.50.

Meanwhile downstairs, it's the return of Now It's Overhead. On their records, NIO is a floating, dreamy, mid-tempo stroll through the trees. All that changes when they step out of the studio and onto the stage. With their atmospheric music stripped down and raw, Andy LeMaster and Co. turn into a rock band, roaring and angry and utterly convincing. Opening band Summerbirds in the Cellar combines dance rhythms with Cure-style drone guitars and intricate, repeated riffs that pull songs out with extended, jammy endings that you don't want to stop. Also on the ticket is Coyote Bones. $8, 9 p.m.

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Oct. 30 -- The Twilight Singers featuring Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan w/ The Stars of Track and Field & Jeff Klein, Sokol Underground, 9 p.m. $15. -- The perfect rock instrument, Greg Dulli's voice can make you cower or cry or stand up straight right alongside him, testifying to love both good and bad, a dark love that Dulli has seen and wants you to see with him. For this tour, the former Afghan Whigs frontman is teamed with Mark Lanegan, the growling, gut-punching genius behind Screaming Trees. Together, they've released a five-song EP called A Stitch in Time with former Whigs Joseph Arthur and Rick McCollum that includes a brazen, nasty cover of Massive Attack's "Live With Me." The last time Dulli was in town (Nov. 6, 2003), his nearly two-hour set wound up being on everyone's best-of list. Expect nothing less.

When I showed up last night at O'Leaver's, Black Squirrels had just already begun their set of fun, laid-back, folky acoustic songs, the kind that would sound perfect played on a ukulele. Pleasant and unobtrusive, it's stuff that your mom would love. I'm surprised these guys haven't played at Mick's yet. The crowd was clearly there to see them, cheering for an encore, which the trio gratefully provided. Ten minutes after they were done, half the crowd of family and friends left. Looks like the poor Pomonas got Omaha'd.

Then to my surprise, while the Pomonas were setting up, I glanced up at the TV and saw that Tilly and the Wall were going to be on Letterman. I had no idea that they were scheduled for last night's show. A small group gathered around the TV while the O'Leaver's soundman wired up a microphone to broadcast the program's sound over the bar's PA. The Letterman stage featured the three Tilly girls all standing on plywood platforms like Barbie dolls, as if all three were going to tap dance instead of just Jamie. It's hard to say how good or bad it sounded. They played "Bad Education" from the new album, which was probably the wrong choice (but which of their songs would have been the right choice?). Actually, it did sound bad, but everyone sounds bad on Letterman. Jamie, Kianna and Neely looked flashy and theatrical. The guy next to me asked if they were Prince's latest project. "Who are they supposed to be? Vanity 6?" They did sort of come off as a label creation, like a quirky, indie version of The Dixie Chicks. Nick White was hidden on stage, and it wasn't until about halfway through that the cameras panned away from all the tight close-ups of the tap shoes and hips to reveal Derek Pressnall off to stage right playing guitar and singing. No idea who the bass player was, apparently someone new to the band. If you missed it, I'm sure someone will put it on YouTube eventually. Getting on Letterman is quite an accomplishment, and you gotta believe it'll result in moving at least an additional 5,000 units.

After all that, on came The Pomonas, playing their usual brand of Lawrence-sounding indie rock (I know, I know, what the hell does "Lawrence-sounding" mean... there's something about KC/Lawrence indie bands of this vein that reminds me of all those mid-'90s bands from down there that I used to dig). It was a fun, sloppy set enjoyed by the few who remained.

Tonight's big show is Jolie Holland and Dave Dondero at Mick's. Someone told me last night that ticket sales have been brisk, and I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually sold out. $15, 9 p.m.

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

It's a busy, busy Friday night with ton of shows going on. Here's the rundown:

Tonight at Shea Riley's, Members of the Press are celebrating their CD release show, made doubly special as it will be one of the final MOTP performances before frontman Randy Cotton moves to the Portland area. He says he fell in love with the PNW (that's Pacific Northwest for you Midwestern types) after visiting his girlfriend there on a monthly basis. "I have been out here before on tour, but I never got to spend much time in Portland, until recently. I feel like there is a lot of opportunity for me in the area, so I'm gonna check it out for a while," Cotton said. "As soon as I get settled in, my brother Barry (other bassist in MOTP) is going to spend some time out here. If he likes it, he will most likely move here, too." As part of this special night, there will be a short set by Cotton and Mike Saklar's old band, Ravine. And on top of that, Saklar's new band, No Blood Orphan will play a set. And if that weren't enough, there will be a set by Killdozer tribute band Shoeshine Boys. The $10 cover will get you a copy of MOTP's new CD. Cotton is encouraging costuming. Do what you feel is right. 9:30, $10, Shea's, 320 So. 72nd St.

Also tonight, it's time to welcome back the The Pomonas at O'Leaver's. The Lawrence indie dudes will likely be unveiling some new material from an upcoming album. Also on the O'Leaver's dance card are The Black Squirrels and irresistible Omaha folkie Bill Latham a.k.a. Bill Donuts. $5, 9:30 p.m. No mention of costumes this time. Good.

Also tonight, two Benson-area folk-rock shows, starting with new band Hyannis at The Foundry in Benson (60th Ave and Maple, to be precise). 8 p.m. and FREE. Also in Benson, singer-songwriters Kyle Harvey and The Scott Severin Band are at The Barley Street Tavern, just 1/2 block south of 62nd and Maple. That one's at 9 p.m. and also is FREE.

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

This really is a Lazy-i exclusive, and when I use the word "exclusive," I mean unlike most of the interviews seen here, this one won't appear in The Reader. It doesn't mean that no one else in the Omaha community printed an interview with Guster. In fact, the reason this won't appear in The Reader is because the interview was "called" by another writer weeks and weeks before I asked for the story. Instead of walking away, I still wanted to see what the men from Guster have been up to since the last time I interviewed them (here). And as a tip o' the hat to the power of online webzines, the band's publicist and the band agreed to do an interview with good ol' Lazy-i. So here it is. Enjoy it, and also go to the One Percent Productions website and buy a pair of tickets to the Halloween night Guster concert at Sokol Underground. I know that a majority of Lazy-I Omaha readers will likely be downstairs at the Underground that same night, where Now It's Overhead will be playing with Summerbirds in the Cellar & Coyote Bones. I don't blame them. But if you're a Guster fan and never been to a Guster concert, you'd be well-served to make your way upstairs that night (NIO was just here a few months ago, anyway). And, gosh, when was the last time you got to rub elbows with a more westerly-leaning Omaha crowd?

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

Column 98 -- The Temple of Simon
What does genius sound like?

It was 10:30 on Sunday night. The Tigers had just got their last out, balancing the series at one game apiece. And the last thing I wanted to do was drive all the way downtown and pay $5 to stand in a smoke-filled club for two hours to be jostled and bumped and told to get out of the way. I had to work the next day, ferchrissake. And I was bone tired. And dammit, it was cold outside.

But this was a Simon Joyner show, and you always have to think twice before deciding to go or not to go to see Simon. The occasion was the "CD release party" for his new album at The Goofy Foot Lodge, and I couldn't miss it. Simon really is a genius in our midst, but here's the deal:

In last week's issue of The Reader, there's a terrific feature written by Jesse Stanek about Simon and his new album. If you haven't read it, it's still online at The Reader website. Find it. Jesse did an impeccable job capturing what went into the new record. But there's one point that Jesse kinda sorta failed to mention whilst calling the new record "poignant" and "nothing short of spectacular." And it's an important point. See, you can tell people how much of a genius Simon is, how brilliant and brave and true every word of his lyrics are, you can place every brick you can find and carefully build your temple to Simon Joyner, but at the end of the day, when you take one of his records and play it for your ma or pa or Joe Lunchbucket who lives out in West Omaha Wonderbreadland, the reaction will always be pretty much the same: "Who in the hell is this guy, and where'd he learn to sing?"

To forget to mention that Simon's voice is an acquired taste is like forgetting to mention that little detail about steak tartar. When the plate arrives, there's going to be some explaining to do. If you're honest, you can't not explain that Simon's voice can be -- and often is -- painfully off-kilter. You can either get by that little fact, or you never will.

Case in point, whilst standing next to a local musician at one of Joyner's last O'leaver's shows -- a musician who has always admired Joyner's music -- we listened as Simon climbed one of his quivering-Dylan-drunken-man-stumbling arpeggios, wondering if he'd make it to the top, and the musician turned to me and smiled and said, "I don't get it. The guy cannot sing." I told him -- firmly but gently and half-joking -- "You're not listening. You can't hear the genius with that smile on your face. Simon's trying to tell you something, about his life, about your life, and you're going to miss it if you keep concentrating on the fact that he's completely out of tune."

Simon disciple Conor Oberst has a similar style. You can play his early works for just about anyone out-of-the-know and you'll get the same "braying sheep" comments about his voice. I realize it's sacrilege to say that in this day when Conor has been thrust on stage with Stipe and Springsteen and Emmylou, but folks, his early genius was heard in the voice of a bleating, fuzzy farm animal. Joe Sixpack who works down at the Kum and Go doesn't get it. And never will.

But here's the rub: I provide the above confession whilst rubbing the red marks on my knees after kneeling at the temple of Simon Joyner most of my music-loving life. I'm one of those devotees, those followers, and have been since back in the day when Simon was a local teenage heart-throb that caused the little girls to rush the stage, their hearts a-swoon (I've seen it, at The Howard St. Tavern circa 1994).

I have listened to almost everything Joyner has recorded, starting with his cassette-only release, Umbilical Chords, to his masterpiece The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll to the droll, tiring Heaven's Gate to the twangy rapture of The Lousy Dance, and now, to his second high-water mark, the just-released ensemble record with his band, the Fallen Men called Skeleton Blues. And in all of it, I've always found something that was impossible to forget. But I had to get past his voice first. It wasn't easy, but I did it. And you can, too. You've done it before, for Dylan and Petty and even Conor. You've seen beyond the awkward croon and found the genius that touched your lives. Joyner's music can do that, too. But you can't hear it if you don't listen.

Went to a couple shows this past weekend. Last night's Simon Joyner gig down at Goofy Foot Lodge was the better of the two. Plans call for providing a little more detail and a review of Joyner's new album in this week's column, online Wednesday or Thursday. Look for it. Opening act The Miracles of God, who has opened for Simon on a few other occasions, sounded completely different to me, in a good way -- like a hybrid of punk and beer-bottle rock, the kind of punk you might hear in a truck stop driving east of Chicago. Dirty and loud. They played a couple shows with Outlaw Con Bandana leading up to this gig (who I missed last night, thanks to the Cardinals). Outlaw apparently had some van troubles on this short tour, troubles as in getting T-boned somewhere around Iowa City. I'm told their van was totaled. I assume no one was hurt or they wouldn't have played last night. Joyner, incidentally, declared them his current favorite local band during his set -- quite an honor (if you ask me).

The Goofy Foot continues to be one of the cooler bars in Omaha that still doesn't make you feel out of place, even if you're wearing a Ft. Calhoun Pioneers hoodie and a stocking cap (it was cold last night). Their pseudo stage is still somewhat lacking -- actually, it's more of an anti-stage as you seem to be looking down at the band rather than up to them -- but their sound system is more than adequate for the room. It does have a similar "standing in the way" problem that The 49'r has -- if you're not at a table or up at the pool tables, you're probably in someone's way. Oh well. They have the cheapest Rolling Rock in town, incidentally. More on Simon Wednesday (or Thursday).

I didn't get a good enough feel at Saturday night's Titanmoon/Davan show at O'Leaver's to give a real review (I was chatting with someone in the back during most of the set). Titanmoon was fun, poppy rock, and durn good. Davan was quirky and didn't hold my attention. Neither band was a good fit opening for the thunder of Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship, which pounded the place to rubble. Perhaps the bands are friends or the touring bands were just thrown on the night's bill? No idea.

Tonight at Sokol Underground, Detroit's Electric Six with Aberdeen City and The Blue Van. I'm listening to Electric Six's "I Buy the Drugs" right now -- sounds like a throwback to early '80s FM radio rock a la Jack Black, lots of keyboards and guitar and a big, bad chorus. Could be fun. Niz wrote about Aberdeen City here in the OWH this weekend -- their guitarist has Omaha ties, apparently, and Steve Lillywhite likes 'am. $12, 9 p.m.

Here's this week's Slowdown photo. As always, click the thumbnail to enlarge. The cranes have been busy, but it's getting colder out there, folks. Can they get it buttoned down before the heavy stuff moves in?

Post 'em here.>

Here's what we got for the weekend, folks:

It starts tonight with The Willowz and The Terminals at O'Leaver's. Hopefully more people will show up this time for The Willowz than when they came through here last August. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow night is another one at O'Leaver's, starting with Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship and Electric Needle Room. Dallas' Titanmoon is an indie disco rock band. Sounds pretty fun, judging by their myspace page. Headliner Davan is weirdness from Lawrence. A lot of music for $5, 9:30 p.m.

Finally, Sunday, the long-awaited CD release party for Simon Joyner and the Fallen Men's new CD, Skeleton Blues, at The Goofy Foot Lodge. Look for a full review of the CD online here sometime this weekend. Also playing are Outlaw Con Bandana and The Miracles of God. $6, 9 p.m.

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

Column 97: YouTubed
Videos are relevant all over again.

Overheard while out and about last weekend, talk of the new Ladyfinger (NE) video, the one featuring a slouched and beaten Matt Bowen -- local legend and music hustler, former member of too many bands to list -- pushing a broom in his role as a school janitor. I had to see it. But where?

Music videos have been around for what seems like forever, but they've never been a serious endeavor for local indie bands. What's the point? You could spend thousands of dollars and hours making a video that ultimately will never be seen by anyone but your family and friends. MTV? Who do you think you are? A-Ha?

YouTube has changed all of that. Located at www.youtube.com, the website is one of technology's ultimate time wasters right along with Madden '07 and the Blackberry. Go there now and you'll find linked off the homepage videos like "Sweet Tired Cat" -- 27 seconds of a cat falling asleep, and "Chad Vader," a 6-minute video that imagines Darth Vader as a grocery clerk at "Empire Market." Funny? Well, sort of.

You'll also find that aforementioned video of Ladyfinger's "Too Cool for School" in all its cheesy glory. In fact, you'll find just about any music video that you can remember seeing on MTV. Robert Plant's "Big Log" circa 1983? It's there. The A-Ha classic "Take on Me"? Of course. Cursive's "Dorothy at Forty"? Yup, right along with every other video made by Saddle Creek artists, including The Faint's "Agenda Suicide," arguably the best music video ever produced by a local band.

Saddle Creek Records exec Robb Nansel likes YouTube. "It seems like a great way to get some additional exposure that bands may not have had access to before," he said, adding that the website's crappy Flash-based video technology is so poor that it won't impact the label's video sales. "But we have never viewed the music videos that we make as a revenue stream. We think of them as promotional materials for our bands, so the more people that see the videos, the better."

Greg Edds, guitarist for local rock band Little Brazil, couldn't agree more. Edds emailed me a link to their video for "Stretching Skin," which captures the band playing in a well-lit practice space. He said the video has been viewed more than 1,300 times since it was uploaded to YouTube in September.

"(YouTube) definitely allows us and other bands to reach a world market without touring to those lengths," he said. "It's another avenue for bands to try something new… and free, creatively."

But even more prolific than band-made music videos is live footage captured by fans -- thousands of hours of it. You cannot go to a rock show these days without seeing those kids and their tiny palm-corders, capturing a performance that will be uploaded to YouTube the next morning.

The footage is clearly a breach of various copyright laws, but Nansel doesn't seem to mind. "I think technically, people should ask permission," he said, "but we have never asked anyone to take anything down."

Those amateur indie-rock videographers certainly came in handy last Friday night for Saddle Creek band Two Gallants. Over the weekend, a number of outraged Houstonites emailed me to recount how Two Gallants were busted by the HPD during a performance at club Walter's on Washington. They told stories of police brutality that bordered on Gestapo tactics, of people being thrown to the ground and 14-year-olds being "tazed." However, the only mainstream coverage of the event, by Houston ABC affiliate KTRK, seemed to counter their claims, stating band members attacked the officer, who efficiently restored order. Who to believe? In the "old days," most would rely on the ABC account.

But within hours of the confrontation, videos of the incident wound up on YouTube, capturing the frantic melee as it happened. One video clearly shows a cop taking down a band member on stage and calling for back-up. Another appears to capture a patron being pushed by the cop to the floor. Since they went online Saturday, the videos have been viewed more than 80,000 times. And that KTRK report has been updated, no longer stating the band attacked the cop.

In the end, the videos don't capture how the scuffle began -- that'll be for a Houston court to determine (talk about your return engagements). As of Tuesday morning, the story had been covered by more than a dozen online news outlets, including Rolling Stone.com -- many include links to the YouTube footage. You simply cannot buy publicity like that. And for a band that's known in the indie music world for their song about spending a night in a "Las Cruces Jail," they can now add a line about a real night in a Houston jail. Hopefully someone captured it on video.

Who would have thought Two Gallants getting busted in Houston last Friday night would become such a big deal? It's a story that just isn't going to die. The Houston Chronicle today follows with a lengthy feature headlined, "Melee Could Put the Hurt on Houston's Music Scene," with the underline "Brawl between HPD, band draws national notice, may keep acts away, fans say." The story (here) says that Houston already has a bad rep among touring bands, and that the Two Gallants debacle is only going to make it worse. "Managers are trying to give their bands a chance in Houston. But there's absolutely nothing we can say to help our case to get bands into town when they're being attacked by cops. Whatever the official report is, there's no excuse for it," said local promoter Ryan Chavez, who booked the show. Two Gallants would be crazy to skip Houston now. Imagine the press coverage they'd receive, both locally and nationally, upon their return. The show would be huge. If they really want to make a statement about what happened, the best way to do it is from a Houston stage.

Doesn't sound like that will happen though, based on the band's interview with Pitchfork that went online yesterday afternoon (here). Adam Stephens' and Tyson Vogel's account of the situation is disturbing, painting a picture of a man-mountain strolling through the crowd brandishing a Taser like a cattle prod. "He was really focused on this one kid, who was really young," said Vogel in the article. "I think he was 14 years old. He kept Tasing him over and over again. The kid started having convulsions or something. It's so crazy. You can kill somebody with one of those things." If true, that's pretty creepy. The funniest line of the story comes from Stephens: "That guy was huge, and we're skinny little indie rocker kids. It's not like we go to the gym, and we definitely couldn't take this guy on in any way. He was a big dude and he was on top of us, pretty much had us down." So now the band is considering taking legal action, which would be a mistake. Says Vogel, "This is about a larger truth. We're not trying to get something else out of it. We just want what's right." Good luck with that one.

Tonight at Sokol Underground, Thunderbirds Are Now! roll into town in support of their new album, Make History on Frenchkiss Records, a standard-issue indie rock album. With Rescue and Tie These Hands, $8, 9 p.m. Meanwhile, over at O'Leaver's, it's Mike Tulis' Rock Movie Night featuring the documentary We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen. Movie details are here. The film rolls at 9:30 and it's FREE.

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

A follow-up to the Two Gallants' drama. Just about every music outlet on the web has covered the incident, including Rollingstone.com and, of course, Pitchfork. And there are tons of blogs covering the fracas, including this one. Also as a result of the rigmarole, Thursday's Lazy-i column will focus on YouTube and will mention the incident. Again, could Saddle Creek and Two Gallants ask for better (or at least, more) publicity, even if it costs the band some more jail time and/or fines? Guess that's up to the band to decide...

Tonight at Sokol Underground Bonnie Prince Billy along with Dapose's Vverevvolf Grehv. Who remembers the last time Will Oldham came to town? I do. It was back in August 2001 at The Music Box. Simon Joyner opened the show, and Pinetop Seven did an amazing set. Oldham stumbled on stage last along with has band of very strange musicians. They created about 30 minutes of droning noise that featured Oldham mumbling words incoherently while some spook stood at the front of the stage and stared at the crowd (that appeared to be his only job, to be the official goon). Not one of the best shows of 2001, not by a long shot. But hey, that was five years ago. I'm sure things have gotten better for Oldham by then. He's certainly turned out to be a helluva an actor (Junebug, Old Joy, etc.). And his new album, The Letting Go, has been getting raves. $15, 9 p.m. If you prefer to dance instead, drop in at O'Leaver's for Chromatics, who's playing tonight with Glass Candy and Eagle's Blood. $5, 9:30 p.m.

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

I received a number of emails over the weekend from outraged Houstonites who were there Friday night when Two Gallants got busted during a performance at Walter's on Washington. Walter's calls itself "the neighborhood bar that is also the best new live music venue in Houston." Supposedly a few of those neighbors weren't so happy with the noise level Friday night and called the cops. By the accounts I've received, what ensued was a police action that borders on Gestapo.

One member of the crowd, Lazy-i reader William G.K. Zhang, says it went down like this: "A policeman came into the venue and immediately got on stage. The policeman then started to confront Adam and after a short while, threw him down on the stage. The policeman then got up and immediately called for backup. The policeman also started thrashing around and destroying musical equipment. Afterwards, members from the crowd and the opening bands started confronting the police officer. The police officer then proceeded to harass and taze members of the crowd, including one 14-year old teenager. Adam then ran out of the venue and disappeared into the streets. Tyson was handcuffed and peacefully entered the police car. Soon, helicopters and police cars flooded into the venue parking lot. Arrests were made of members of the opening bands and dissenting crowd members."

The local ABC affiliate filed this report, which originally stated the band attacked the cop. Ah, but the power of portable digital video cameras proved that those initial reports were, to say the least, questionable, and story has since been updated. Take a look a couple different videos of the incident on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxKQb03A0bw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40x2KghHX_A

Ugly. I ran into Saddle Creek's Robb Nansel yesterday, who confirmed that the incident did indeed go down, and that Adam and Tyson didn't get out of Houston till the next day, then booked it to Austin for their gig at Emo's. Zhang said that among the casualties in the fray was Langhorne Slim's 90-year-old bass, which got broken when the cop pushed a crowd member into it. Now there are reports that the neighbors never complained about the noise. And let's be honest, isn't it odd for a cop to storm the stage and try to take a guitar away from the musician? If you want the sound cut, you go to the sound board and start unplugging things. Strange, strange business. It'll be even stranger when the Two Gallants make their return visit to Houston -- to appear in court.

The Houston Chronicle weighs in with this account, where an HPD spokesman calls the policeman's behavior "commendable."

Zhang's full account is now on the Two Gallants Wikipedia entry.

There's another account on a witness's myspace page:

And more comments at the Two Gallants forum.

Expect this story to be covered in all the usual music media over the next few days. Could Two Gallants ask for better publicity? Congratulations, Saddle Creek. And thanks to those who wrote in (Emily, William, John) to give me a head's up.

* * *

There was a nice crowd at the Chin Up Chin Up show Saturday night at O'Leaver's to hear a nice set from a nice indie 5-piece that plays nice, mid-tempo indie rock. I like Chin Up, but the set was less than riveting. To their credit, they got better as the set wore on, peaking with the final two songs.

Tonight at O'Leaver's, Oakland-based indie heavy-metal trio Totimoshi takes the stage with Omaha's own Lepers. $5, 9:30 p.m.

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

Maybe 65 people were at Sokol Underground last night to see Protoculture play the best set I've ever heard them play. If you were around the stage, you saw the hi-jinx between the crowd and band, that at one point forced them to start a song over. Kooky. Great sound, though, and always fun to watch (though they didn't play their Kite Pilot cover as drummer Koly Walter has promised.).

STNNNG had a tougher time. Halfway through their set, something went amiss with one of the guitar amps. It killed the momentum the band had gathered up to that point with their brand of hard-edged post-punk. Frontman Chris Besinger was in his usual bizarre form, looking like a dwarfish sex deviant straight out of Times Square circa 1971. With his scream-bark, leather gloves and piercing eyes, he looked like a homicidal street lunatic ranting at an imaginary friend, pointing and grimacing and storming around the stage. Meanwhile, a small moshpit formed up front, consisting of five or six young guys stomping around elbowing each other. Whatever happened to the slam-dance culture? STNNNG’s new songs are bleak, intense and filthy, at times creating an intense groove with Besinger playing the role of punk shaman. And man, it was loud.

Tonight at O’Leaver's, Chin Up Chin Up, with Skull Fight and Electric Needle Room. $5, 9:30 p.m.

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Friday the 13th. Pretty scary. Is it safe to go out tonight? Well, if you do, there's a great show down at Sokol Underground: STNNNG, The Protoculture, Bombardment Society and The Stay Awake all for just $8. I'm told that The Protoculture will be rolling out a new cover of a Kite Pilot song this evening. And if you haven't seen Bombardment with new bass player Lincoln Dickison (The Monroes), well, you're in for a treat.

If for some reason you've gone crazy and you don't feel like driving downtown, Mark Mallman is "scheduled" to open a show at O'Leaver's with Pendrakes and Jon Yeager Band. Ironically, I mentioned Mallman's show to Chris Besinger of STNNNG, and he said if these two shows were going on simultaneously in Minneapolis, Mallman's show would be the one to sell out. Please Note: Mallman's O'Leaver' show is not listed on his tour page. He was scheduled to play in Fargo last night and in Albuquerque tomorrow. The show's promoter hasn't been able to reach him to confirm tonight's show, so caveat emptor on this one.

If you survive Friday the 13th, you may not be so lucky on the 14th, what with Skull Fight!, Chin Up Chin Up, and Electric Needle Room playing at O'Leaver's. CUCU just released the long player This Harness Can't Ride Anything on Suicide Squeeze. Skull Fight! is the new Cuterthans, but tougher, angrier, maybe not as smarter, but angrier (sort of). Electric Needle Room is one of the guys featured in my Joslyn column from a few weeks ago. I believe this will be his O'Leaver's debut. Will he be great? Will he suck? Find out for $5.

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A bit of Saddle Creek-related news to pass on: In an interview with Billboard (they're getting all the scoops lately), Cursive's Tim Kasher said that the band is writing a new album's worth of music with the intention of hitting the studio in January for a fall release. Kasher also continues to work on his screenplay titled, "Help Wanted Nights." Ain't looking so good for us Good Life fans, as Kasher is unsure when he'll return to that band. Read the whole story here. If you're wondering how Cursive is doing on the road, here's a colorful review of their show in Philly, that starts with "A man has found his way onto the stage of the Starlight Ballroom and he is very, very drunk." and ends with "A smile deep across his face, Kasher thanks everyone post-sing-a-long, bending over and hugging the front row. His sincerity probably only half due to his drinking." Glug-glug-glug...

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Column 96: What's the Point?
The trouble with lists.

The core problem with creating a special "music issue" of The Reader that includes a "list" of the 20 "best bands" in the Omaha/Lincoln area is obvious. You're forced to answer the question: "What's the point?" Why place bands in a pecking order based on the (hopefully, though unlikely) well-informed opinion of a group of faceless critics who feel compelled to tell the public what is good and what isn't?

The argument against such a list gets down to one undeniable fact: When it comes to art, competition sucks. It serves no purpose. It makes friends enemies. It creates pride, envy and doubt in the heart of the artists. It discourages as much as it encourages new art, new ideas, risk-taking.

And yet, "best of" lists and the endless string of award shows have become an acknowledged method of recognizing art and music in our culture, even though the determination of what's good and what isn't ultimately rests solely in the eyes and ears of the beholder. You can tell me a thousand times that something is great or something sucks, but in the end, I'll decide for myself (Unless, of course, I'm a sheep).

So why do it? Why make a list of the best and a list of runners-up (and, by default, a list of those that didn't make the lists)? The most obvious reason: Because it's fun. It's controversial. And most importantly, because people love their lists and awards. They need to have their opinions validated, to affirm that they, indeed, have "good taste." So I guess it all comes down to ego, and doesn't ego fuel all art? Perhaps, perhaps…

What I can tell you with extreme confidence is that no matter how Editor Andy and the rest of the staff cut it, the list will piss people off. Hell, I don't even like the list. Where's Mal Madrigal and Outlaw Con Bandana? Where's Brimstone Howl? WHERE THE HELL IS THE MONROES?

But let's start with the obvious complaint: Of the top 20 "best bands" 40 percent of them are Saddle Creek Records artists -- Neva Dinova, Tilly and the Wall, Cursive, Criteria, Bright Eyes, The Faint, Ladyfinger and The Good Life. The discussion whether to include Saddle Creek bands was -- to say the least -- heated. The core arguments against it: They're not local bands, they're national bands that happen to live in Omaha. They've already "made it." They're mentioned constantly in the national press, why do they need any more recognition? Aren't they all millionaires? Hell, they rarely even play in Omaha. And so on.

But to not include Saddle Creek artists would have made the list more pointless than it already is. Cursive and Bright Eyes and The Faint are Omaha bands -- they live here, they interact with other local musicians, they go to local shows, they drink booze at O'Leaver's and Sokol and The Brothers like the rest of us. They love Omaha or else they would have moved away a long, long time ago. But the most obvious argument: They're the sole reason the Omaha music scene is recognized east of the Missouri River and west of Elkhorn.

Yeah, they're successful, and they don't need any more pats on the back. And I can pretty much promise you that the one-sheet included with Bright Eyes' next release will not include the accolade, "Named one of Omaha's top-20 bands of 2006 by The Reader." But one-sheets for Anonymous American and Prospect Avenue and Jazzwholes might. How valuable is it for those bands to be on the same list as Saddle Creek acts in terms of just capturing the attention of an out-of-town club owner or small indie label?

Look, there's no way The Reader was going to completely satisfy anyone with this list. And from that standpoint, it's a failure before it was ever printed. But will it get people thinking, arguing, debating the music scene, defending their favorite band, discussing the merits of another, discovering a new band that they never heard before? Perhaps, perhaps…

So don't get mad. Relax. It's all in good fun. You already know that your favorite band is good, whether the idiots at The Reader know it or not. And maybe next year those asswipes will remember The Monroes and Mal Madrigal and everyone else that didn't make the list. But somehow, I doubt it.

Had enough of those guitar-and-drum acts? You know, The White Stripes, The Black Dice, Two Gallants, and on and on? How 'bout an organ-and-drum duo? Now there's a new twist. The Benevento-Russo Duo are just that. Organist Marco Benevento and drummer Joe Russo can go from loungy jazzy interludes to all-out cacophonous rock anthems in no time flat. The duo started out playing a weekly residency at The Knitting factory in NYC, and have since played everywhere from the Fuji Rockfest in Japan to SXSW to Bonnaroo. How did a Wurlitzer ever get so cool? $10, 9 p.m.

On how all cities have both a good music scene and a crappy music scene: "You can't have a good scene without a crappy scene, they feed off each other. Sometimes when you're on tour you just end up in the crappy scene, which is usually the people who are willing to give out their shows. About a week afterward, you heard from someone from that town who says, 'Oh, you really should have played with this band or at this club.'"

On chicks at shows: "There aren't any. If we were all gay guys, that would be awesome, because there's not a whole lot of babes at our shows."

On the fact their their new record is a "concept album": "It turned into a concept album accidentally, a concept that doesn't make sense. It's kind of about things and people or animals that are two conflicting things at the same time. It's not like one of those weird, unwieldy Pete Townsend or Pink Floyd concepts. I don't want people to think we're Tool or the Mars Volta."

On text messaging during shows: "We opened a show for a friend of ours and it was a much different crowd than we're used to. There was this dude up front texting on his phone, three or four rows back. I just wanted to get that phone and throw it against the wall. We're a loud, crazy, out-of-control band and you're sending a text message? NO TEXTING!"

On owning his first house in Minneapolis: "It's weird. You end up at weird times of the day thinking 'I own this house? I'm in my kitchen. I own all this crap.'"

On Prince: "He's still very much in the mindset in Minneapolis. Prince was at one of our shows, but when I say he was at one of our shows, it was more like he ended up at 7th St. Entrance after we finished playing." He went on to say Grant Hart is another local legend that still hangs out around town. "You see him all the time."

I don't know how to lead this -- I've been waiting for this show for a decade and finally, here it was. I was halfway afraid that no one would show up, this being Omaha, and this band being somewhat unknown due to the city's lack of a college radio station. But my city didn't disappoint me, and lo and behold, the Underground was sold out, packed with people that were, for the first time in recent memory, closer to my age than what you'd find at a typical indie show. Lots of old guys in graying ponytails, lots of middle-aged couples out for a wild night, and yes, also lots of young, urban indie fans paying homage to these legends, though overall, a completely different audience than, say, at a typical Creek show.

It was nice to see the entire band sitting behind the merch table while opening act, Why?, played their set of middle-of-the-road indie pop sung by a guy who sounded like John Flansburgh from They Might be Giants. Ira, looking like a cross between SNL's Chris Parnell and monologist Eric Bogosian, even sold me my YLT T-shirt ($11, cheap!).

What to say about the show? Two hours, three encores, selections from throughout their catalog. Don't ask me the songs' names, because I don't know them. There were a couple from the new record, including "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind," and "Mr. Tough." A throbbing version of "Big Day Coming," an ironically appropriate (if only because North Korea was probably preparing to test their first nuke at the time), revelatory take on "Nuclear War" (I didn't realize that James McNew sung the lead), and a couple long, droning jams that were 20 minutes of throbbing organ and shrieking feedback guitar. Between it all were interspersed a few quiet songs featuring Georgia on vocals sounding like Nico, including encore "Tom Courtenay."

This band is forever compared to Velvet Underground, and for good reason. Ira has the same, flat monotone voice as Lou Reed, Georgia vocally resembles Nico, and some of their music is reminiscent of VU's live recordings, but really, no one sounds like YLT to me. Their style is all over the board, from raging indie jams to urban, falsetto R&B to quiet, acoustic ballads. For someone of diminutive size, Georgia Hubley was a monster behind the drum kit, joined at times on a second drum set by McNew, who also manned keyboards when he wasn't on bass. The bass, incidentally, was numbingly loud. The set started tolerable; but after a few songs, I put in my earplugs, and by the end, the earplugs weren't enough, especially from the front of the house. I don't know how people standing next to me by the stack who didn't have earplugs could take the noise level.

Among Ira's between-song snappy patter: He acknowledged that last night was the first time YLT had ever been in Nebraska (though he admitted that he lied to one of the local journalists (who? wasn't me) by telling him/her that they played in Lincoln before). He took a shot at the Omaha World-Herald when he introduced a Ramones cover: "I read in your paper -- in one of the few articles that wasn't about your football team -- that today is Johnny Ramone's birthday." He asked the audience if they had any questions. Someone asked if the band would ever return to Omaha. "Well, we haven't left yet," Ira said, then added. "It's too early to say." Chances are, after last night's show, they'll probably return, but it could take another 20 years. For me, a top-five show of the year.

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The Brothers doesn't do shows very often. Hardly at all, actually. The reason is simple: Tré, who runs the place, doesn't need to. Drop in at The Brothers on any given Friday or Saturday night at around 10. Try to find a table. It's always packed on weekends just on the strength of its service (You're not going to have to wait for a beer), its rep (The Brothers is where bands go to get drunk when they're not playing gigs), and its jukebox (punk and heavy indie and Omaha music from back in the day). So Tré doesn't need bands to get butts in seats. But every once in a while, he sees an opportunity to put on a show that's close to his heart, and last night was one of them. My point being: The Brothers ain't exactly designed for live shows. Yet last night, the bands sounded better there than I've heard them anywhere else.

Take Ideal Cleaners. I saw them a few months ago at the Speed! Nebraska showcase at Sokol Underground, and they were good, they were fine. Last night they sounded like a different band. Listening to the trio rip through a set of bruising, welt-rising punk, I said to myself. "Okay, I get it." I hadn't really gotten it before, but last night they sounded ripped and raw, easily pushing the weight over their heads for a personal best. Ideal Cleaners sounded better than I've ever heard them sound. Better than they sound on record. Stripped down to sonic essentials, their songs bled bright red, and now I think I know what I've been missing. I have a feeling they come off just as straight-forward at Duffy's, where I've never seen them play. So look, I don't know a thing about sound engineering, but I can point to the fact that it was just their amps, the small PA and the bar's low ceiling and wonder if that resulted in the dynamic tension. Simpler is better, almost always.

It carried on into The Monroes' set. Has Lincoln Dickison ever played better? No. He was in his own special world last night. The hand-spiders (as Chris and Jamie from Ladyfinger describe his playing style) were running wild on the fretboard, crawling impossibly where other hand spiders rarely climb. Jon Taylor marveled to my left while unpacking T-shirts: "How does he do that?" and later from stage "He must have three hands." He does it by being the best punk/rock guitarist in Omaha. Lincoln was just plain filthy last night, right down to the riff that powered the band's cover of Husker Du's "Divide and Conquer" (you know the one). And again, the sound mix was enormous.

So here's where it gets weird. Mercy Rule was a band that was notorious for being one of the loudest acts in the Omaha/Lincoln circuit. Guitarist Jon Taylor didn't just like it loud, he wanted to hurt you. Earplugs weren't optional, they were required for your personal long-term health. So when Domestica took over The Brothers' pseudo-stage, I was expecting to be blown completely away. In fact, the band sounded muted and muddy compared to The Cleaners and The Monroes. Certainly it wasn't as loud as either of those bands. Disappointing? At first, yes. Anyone who's ever heard Heidi Ore sing knows that it can be a challenge for her just to be heard over the din. And despite the lowering of the amps, her voice still was lost during the first few songs. Ah, but as the set wore on, my ears adjusted to the mix and everything came into better focus.

There are obvious similarities between Domestica and Mercy Rule songs, and that's part of the charm. No one plays riffs quite like Taylor or has a similar tone. There is a layered, fluid quality to his sound that resonates through his constant, chopping chords. Jon's guitar always seems to rise to the level of Heidi's pure, honest, unaffected vocals. So yeah, the band sounds like Mercy Rule, in musicianship and in song structure -- those big, chiming anthems that drop down halfway through, leaving Heidi singing alone while Jon plays a simple pinging line that moments later will roar again. Boz Hicks drumming is completely different than Ron Albertson's. It's more spare, simpler, more narrow, less likely to get in the way, not nearly as colorful, but right for this style. It's going to take some getting used to because it ain't Albertson, who's precise fills and ballistic remarks are tough to forget.

As their set went on, they got stronger. Heidi's voice got more comfortable and fuller and familiar with the style. Anyone who's ever heard her voice before loves it. It's hearing it for the first time that can be startling. Though at times lost in the mix, she hasn't lost an ounce of what any Mercy Rule fan has always loved. Welcome back. That said, Domestica could pick up where Mercy Rule left off, if the band wanted to. But I don't know if that's what the want. For now, they just want to play together, rock out with their friends and enjoy making music. And that's all right with me, as long as I can listen.

Tonight, Yo La Tengo at Sokol Underground. If the One Percent site is up-to-date (and it almost always is) then tickets are still available. Do yourself a favor and get down there tonight and see this legendary band. Considering that they've never played here before, chances are pretty good you may never ever get another chance.

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This marks one of the best weekends of shows in quite a while, but before I get to that, a couple points of clarification brought to my attention via the Webboard and other devices (See, people really do use my webboard, mainly to complain, but that's okay, too). First, concerning Commander Venus, one of the former members of the band pointed out that I had the line-up wrong. Yes, while the lineup listed in yesterday's blog entry was technically correct (for one tour), the folks who actually played on The Uneventful Vacation were Conor Oberst, Robb Nansel, Tim Kasher (of Cursive/The Good Life) and Matt Bowen, who's been in a number of important bands, including The Faint. Matt also pointed out that Oberst was 17, not 14, during the CV days (He only looked like he was 14, apparently. He looks like he's 17 now).

A couple people also pointed out my error in stating that The Dundee Dell no longer serves food. In reality, it's the "old Dundee Dell" on Dodge St. that closed its kitchen, not the Dell on Underwood, which is the one that actually has the famous fish and chips. I've excised the error from yesterday's blog entry. Apologies all around.

Moving on.

As I was saying, this could be one of the strongest weekends for shows in recent history. It starts Saturday night with two very hot shows:

First, Orenda Fink is playing a concert at The Healing Arts Center in the Old Market (at 1216 Howard to be precise), which, by the way, is a great place to see a show. Proceeds will benefit Filmstreams, the two-screen nonprofit indie movie house that's going in as part of the Slowdown project (read about it here). Fink's back-up band will consist of Adrianne Verhoeven, Dan McCarthy (McCarthy Trenching), and Corey Broman (ex-Statistics, ex-Kite Pilot). Suggested "donation" to get in is $25. The evening begins with an 8 p.m. cocktail hour (beer and root beer provided by Upstream Brewery, food and sangria provided by La Buvette). You'll want to get there early, because space is limited.

Afterward (or after the game), truck on over to The Brothers for the debut of Domestica -- Heidi Ore and Jon Taylor of Mercy Rule and Boz Hicks of Her Flyaway Manner. The show will be a veritable Speed! Nebraska showcase, with openers Ideal Cleaners and The Monroes. 9:30, $5.

And then, Sunday, the show I've been waiting for (we've all been waiting for, right?) for almost a decade: Yo La Tengo at Sokol Underground. Tickets are still available from onepercentproductions.com for $15. Don't miss this important show.

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

Column 95: The Smell of Rock
Is smoking part of rock 'n' roll?

Before we move forward, we must understand and agree on this one conceit: Smoking holds no value in a human being's life. None. It is not essential for your continued existence. In fact, it's unquestionably destructive. It shaves the very essence of life away from the individuals that imbibe in its behavior.

Anyone who smokes cigarettes knows this, and has known it from the first puff. Just like those who drink bottle after bottle of beer and/or wine know that their lives are in no way being enhanced by the activity. There is no argument for drinking alcohol, especially when the endeavor taken to excess results in inebriation, loss of reasonable judgment and motor skills, and a painful hangover. Anyone who drinks knows this, and has known it from their first under-age beer.

To say that second-hand smoke is more dangerous than the secondhand effects of a drunk smashing into your car is to ignore the fact that more people are killed driving than by almost any other activity, and that a huge number of those deaths are the result of drunken driving.

That said, smoking and drinking are a part of rock and roll right along with sex and drugs. Always have been. Always will be? Who knows, but probably, in some form or another, regardless of any awkwardly developed citywide ban that says it's okay to smoke in some bars but not in others.

Part of the experience of going to rock shows for as long as I can remember has been going home afterward and stripping off my tar and nicotine-soaked clothing so as not to contaminate the sheets before passing out, then picking up my t-shirt in the morning and smelling the previous night's stench. Now that's rock and roll. And it's going to become a thing of the past, eventually.

No one knows this more than the people who make a living performing in the smoke dens, but even among them, there is no agreement that the smoking ban is good or necessary.

Take Matt Whipkey, lead singer/guitarist of Anonymous American (Who, by the way, will be releasing a new album by the end of the year). Whipkey's down with the smoking ban. "In terms of my personal dexterity, you smell better after you get done," he said of playing gigs in smoke-free bars. "When playing out of state or at smoke-free places like The Zoo Bar (in Lincoln), I'm not absolutely disgusting afterward."

Whipkey says the smoking ban might even bring more people to gigs, people who have avoided going to shows because they can't stand the smoke. "Times are changing," he said. "You can't do it in Minneapolis, Lawrence, New York, Madison, California or Lincoln. I assume you can't do it in most cities. It's just how it goes."

And then there's Dave Goldberg, guitarist/keyboardist/drummer/vocalist of The Terminals (Who, by the way, have a new record coming out on Cleveland's Dead Beat Records). "It's like taking the smut out of Time's Square," he said of the ban. "I'm against it. Rock and roll is supposed to be bad for you. Smoking has been a part of it since its inception. And this is coming from a non-smoker."

Forget about the sanitized confines of a smoke-free lounge. A punk from back in the day, Goldberg prefers the grime. "I'm partial to a seedy atmosphere, and smoking is definitely part of it," he said. "I've gone to blues clubs for years now, and it seems to go hand-in-hand. Smoky rock clubs -- it's almost like that's how it should be."

Unlike Whipkey, Goldberg thinks the ban will have a negative impact on audiences. "In Lincoln, you noticed the effects immediately," he said of the Capitol City's ban, which has been around for almost a year. "Duffy's, for example, has a beer garden, and a lot of times a band will be playing to a partially full or worse-sized audience on account of everyone being outside smoking."

The one thing Whipkey and Goldberg do agree on: Playing in smoky bars has never impacted their performance quality, or so they think. "Part of my vocal style is the accumulation of secondhand smoke caked on my lungs over the years," Whipkey said. "Maybe now I'll sound like a choir boy." Let's hope not.

Goldberg, who just finished touring the country as drummer for theater-rock legend Thor, has played in both smoke and smoke-free environments. "I've never noticed a difference," he said, "but I spent a lot of time in smoky bars, perhaps I'm used to it."

So who's right? Smoking is indefensible. Banning it in clubs like Sokol Underground will only save lives and keep my clothes and hair smelling better after a night of noise. But you know what? I'm still going to miss it.

Just posted online, an interesting little interview with Yo La Tengo's James McNew (read it here). James talks about how the band makes records, his relationship with mates Ira and Georgia, and coming to Omaha for the first time. Almost the whole interview is there and in The Reader (I think), though this online version also talks about the making of the soundtrack to the movie Old Joy, which hasn't played in Omaha yet, and considering how this city handles independent film, probably never will.

The show is Sunday night, and as far as I can tell, isn't sold out, which is both unfortunate and not surprising. Yo La Tengo is a music fans' band and is beloved by a core group of people who likely have been following indie music all their lives. So while the band is making some of the best music of their careers, it's going unnoticed by most people around Omaha, mainly because we don't have a real college radio station that plays college music. But then again, we never have and look at the scene we've managed to create? We're also lucky to have a promotion company like Marc and Jim at One Percent Productions, who are willing to take on a show like this knowing full well that it's a gamble, but doing it anyway because they love the band. So get out there and buy a ticket to what promises to be one of the best shows of 2006.

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

Every Monday look for an updated photo of the Slowdown construction site online here (click here to enlarge). It's not that I'm obsessed with the project; the fact is that it's just a few blocks away from my office so taking a snappy once a week is no problem. Will they get the building enclosed by the time the snow flies? Keep watching and see.

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I wound up not going to any shows this weekend, which means I missed Little Brazil on Saturday and Jenny Lewis on Sunday. Anyone who was at either show, feel free to chime in with a review on the webboard.

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Domestica, the new band featuring Heidi Ore and Jon Taylor of Mercy Rule and Boz Hicks of Her Flyaway Manner, will be making their Omaha debut next Saturday night at The Brothers.

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I bought my tickets to Dec. 7 Who concert, which I guess makes me a dick, or so it would seem from every local music guy I've mentioned the concert to. "Why in hell would you want to see The Who? It's not even the original line-up! Those guys shouldn't be allowed to perform -- they're too old! As an indie music fan, I'm surprised you're going -- The Who are sell outs..." And so on.

Look, I hate arena shows as much as the next guy that hates arena shows -- you're a mile away from the stage, the sound is always always always bad, and you're surrounded by a crowd that consists of middle-aged bikers, soccer moms, Husker fans and generally, people who don't like music and are trying to relive some unfortunate moment of their youth. I generally avoid arena shows, but The Who, well, that's different. They were punk before punk, New Wave before New Wave. This band of snotty British outsiders somehow was allowed inside simply on the strength of their music, which, from album-to-album always seemed to stray off the beaten path. Sure, half the band is dead, but half the band is alive, too. And they're coming to Omaha -- something I never thought I'd see or hear. So I got my tickets -- in advance, as a member of the fan club. I probably shouldn't have hurried -- glancing at their schedule, only their Nov. 24 Atlantic City show is sold out. I doubt the Qwest gig will sell out, either, even with The Pretenders opening (most people have told me they're more excited about seeing Chrissie and Co.). And as ridiculous as it sounds, I'll try to bag an interview with the band via The Reader -- it'll never happen. The Who doesn't need alternative newspapers to get the word out. They never have. But can you imagine what a gas it would be to talk to Townshend or Daltrey?

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Finally, this rather humorous article on Yahoo! reports that Zune, the new soon-to-fail Microsoft competitor to the iPod is shipping with pre-loaded music so that consumers will have something to listen to when they take the player out of the box. Another mp3 player, SanDisk, will load more than 32 hours worth of music on their players -- all done under the guise of giving the consumer something for free! So all of us who use mp3 players in our cars to avoid the schlock that gets played on the radio these days will now be forced to delete the schlock from the players before they begin playing them. It's like freeware -- for your ears! I can't imagine a more annoying marketing ploy. A better idea may have been for giving away 30 free songs that users could download from the product-specific service (Rhapsody for SanDisck, for example). Ah, but then the labels would actually have to charge the hardware makers for something like that... Let's hope iPod doesn't follow their misguided lead...

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Look for a nice, long exclusive interview with Yo La Tengo here on Wednesday, and another take on Omaha's new no smoking regs in this Thursday's column...

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(Note to RSS readers, this post was delayed because Blogger was dead yesterday).