I confess to having heard nary a note of Bon Iver music before last week (except for one track off the amazing Dark Was the Night compilation, which if you're a fan of BI, you should run out and buy post-haste). Then last Friday I fell across For Emma, Forever Ago on Lala and was mesmerized and began regretting not having bought a ticket for the show before it sold out (literally within a few weeks after it was announced -- something that's becoming more and more rare these days). Well, my regret turned around as I got on "the list" and joined the throngs Saturday night at The Slowdown. It didn't seem like a crush mob when I entered the club; but I was still unable to get to my usual perch near the stage-left exit doors because of crowd density. I was forced to watch most of the show from the balcony (see blurry photo).

My take on Bon Iver is that he sounds like laid-back Jim James (or Yim Yames as he's known these days) thanks to the high falsetto and the overall winsome-folk style of music. The difference comes from Bon Iver's melodies, which are just prettier and popper than JJ's. Despite being known as a quiet performer, I went ahead and bought a pair of the 50-cent earplugs sold at the bar, and was glad I did. While there was plenty of quiet stuff, more often than not the band pushed the sound level to 8 or 9 (as opposed to 11), driven on one song by three drummers. Tribal? Not really.

As a casual fan, i thought the set was fine, if not a bit one-dimensional (and too short). Based on the overwhelming crowd response, however, I was definitely in the majority.

I still scratching my head as to why the Bon Iver show sold out so quickly. Yes, he's a stalwart presence on the CMJ charts, but he hasn't had the exposure of a Jim James or a Conor Oberst. I suspect I'm missing something…

* * *

There is no lack of hype around tonight's Phoenix show at The Slowdown, which sold out only in the past few weeks. Their new album, austerely called Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is pure pop fun, a jump-run of chiming keyboards and clean, quick back-beat rhythms that are as thoroughly inviting as an ocean beach stroll on sun-baked morning in Saint-Tropez. They've been hung with the "'80s synth-rock" label even though their sound is as thoroughly modern as anything on the CMJ charts. Tonight's openers, a Memphis/Sparta Tennessee four-piece called The Features, have been compared to The Kinks, E. Costello and the Elephant 6 contingent. Like I said, it's sold out, and starts at 8 p.m.

No tix? Check out Wye Oak at The Waiting Room with local indie supergroup Our Fox and Midwest Dilemma. $8, 9 p.m.

On the sched this week: Interviews with Amazing Baby and Lincoln Calling.

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

Some disappointing music news reached me while I was in Chicago this week...

Yesterday Tokyo Police Club announced that it had signed an exclusive U.S. recording deal with record label mom+pop, ending their relationship with Saddle Creek Records. "The band is currently recording its second full length album, with an expected release projected for early 2010," according to the band's PR folks, Nasty Little Man.

Mom+pop was formed in 2008 by Cliff Burnstein, Peter Mensch and Michael Goldstone, the press release said. Burnstein and Mensch are the owners of Qprime, "one of music's most respected management firms, with a roster featuring the likes of Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snow Patrol, Muse, Silversun Pickupsand The Mars Volta, among others." The record label's roster, however, is tiny and includes Josha Radin and An Horse.

Not surprisingly, Saddle Creek Records was not mentioned in the press release.

None of this made sense to me. Why did TPC jump ship? Did this have more to do with Qprime than mom+pop?

"The band wanted a label with the resources and willingness to put a large amount of money into a commercial radio campaign, and that's not something that we as label have traditionally bought into or were willing to do," said Saddle Creek label executive Jason Kulbel, who runs the label with Robb Nansel.

So this tiny mom+pop has the cash for something like that. or are other deep pockets involved? "I would assume that being backed by Qprime would mean they have some money to spend and experience in the commercial radio world," Kulbel said.

Conversely, I would assume that everyone at Saddle Creek is disappointed in what happened.

"I can't say that we are not disappointed," Kulbel said. "You don't really start working with a band to only do one record. That said, we were well aware of the situation. It's not like we were blindsided or anything. We have been talking on and off for months, and when the band decided on a road to go down, we were made aware and they asked us if it was something we would be interested in doing."

The answer was no. Incidentally, Kulbel said Saddle Creek got nothing (no buy-out or whatever etc.) as a result of TPC going to mom+pop.

I find it all somewhat depressing. To some, TPC represented the next wave of powerhouse indie bands that would guide Saddle Creek into the next decade after the label lost two of its triple-crown acts -- The Faint (who left to start their own label) and Bright Eyes, who Conor Oberst announced would be sunsetted after a final album on Creek sometime in the future. Oberst's solo albums with Mystic Valley band are released on Merge Records, and the new album by the Monsters of Folk supergroup is being released on LA's Shangri-La Music, a label owned by millionaire/international playboy (I'm not kidding) Steve Bing, who I've been told offered Oberst & his compatriots a deal they simply could not refuse.

As far as major earners go, this leaves Creek with the ever-faithful Cursive/The Good Life and the upcoming Azure Ray album. And of course, their extensive back catalog, which is probably enough to sustain them as another generation discovers The Faint and Bright Eyes (and Cursive). Creek has the luxury of owning these musicians' best albums.

Still, it would be nice if even one of Saddle Creek's recently signed acts -- Old Canes, UUVVWWZ, Rural Alberta Advantage -- could ignite as brightly as TPC did right out of the gate. Only time will tell.

* * *

Here comes the weekend. Tonight at O'Leaver's, The Stay Awake headlines a show that also features Chambermaids and Baby Tears. $5, 9:30 p.m.

The Black Squirrels are celebrating their 3-year anniversary at The Sydney tonight with Lincoln Dickison and 24 Hour Cardlock.$5, 8 p.m.

And of course, Silversun Pickups is playing at Sokol Aud with Manchester Orchestra and Cage the Elephant. $25, 8 p.m.

Saturday night is the long-sold-out Bon Iver show at Slowdown with Megafaun. I only recently became a Bon Iver fan, after listening to the soothing-though-hookfilled For Emma, Forever Ago.

Also Saturday night, The Mezcal Brothers is playing at The Waiting Room with The Mercurys and JJ Willis Band. $7, 8 p.m.

And then Sunday night Capgun Coup is opening for Autolux (along with Mini Mansions). $10 9 p.m.

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

This is sort of an extension of last week's column about Homer's and buying CDs, etc. The shopping spree took place after I was notified that Homer's got those Feelies reissues in stock that I was looking for last week. Of course once you step into a record store for one thing, you rarely leave without a few others, which is why record stores will continue to be viable businesses, as long as they can keep what we're looking for in stock...

Column 238: Daydream Notion
It's never too late to play catch-up...

You've been writing about indie music for how long and you still have never heard Daydream Nation? How does that happen?

It's a good question, received this past weekend at a record store. And it wasn't the only time during that shopping trip that I was met with stunned indignation. I also received blank stares when I asked a couple fellow shoppers whether I should pick up copies of Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison, The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead and Rolling Stones' Some Girls, all albums that I've never heard, at least not in their entirety.

There is this perception that anyone who considers him/herself a music fan, let alone a rock critic, has heard every seminal album from beginning to end. But it's just not true. The only thing more disturbing and mystifying is that any rock critic would admit to it.

The reasons behind these blatant oversights (or over-heards?) on my part are logical if not flimsy. Let's take the obvious ones first.

You would have to have been raised in a Tibetan cave temple with earmuffs glued to your head to have never heard "Shattered," "Miss You," or god forbid, "Beast of Burden." All are -- and have been -- staples on FM rock radio stations since that classic Stones album was released in 1978. In fact, they've been played so often that it seemed like a waste of money to buy that album when I could hear its best songs (or so I thought) for free on Z-92. A similar logic holds for the recent Beatles reissues. I like Sgt. Peppers…, but I don't feel like paying money to listen to it again even if it has been remastered.

Then there's the case of The Smiths, and the biggest problem with my past record-buying habits. When it came time to replace my vinyl with CDs, I made the mistake of not re-buying the original individual albums where songs first appeared, but instead bought collections -- or "greatest hits" compilations. This has proven to be a costly mistake.

Now whenever I listen to "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," off Early Days: The Best of Led Zeppelin Vol. 1, I immediately expect -- and want -- to hear "You Shook Me" because it was the track that followed "Babe..." on the band's self-titled debut, where the songs first appeared. Instead, I get "Dazed and Confused." Wrong. When I listen to "Magic" off The Cars' Complete Greatest Hits I expect to hear "Stranger Eyes" right afterward -- the tune that followed it on Heartbeat City. Instead I get "Hello Again." Mistake.

For any true music-lover, Greatest Hits packages are a waste of time and money, especially if you grew up with the original albums. Don't try to nickel and dime your way through your memories, just buy the complete catalog.

The same holds true for bands you think you may like. My first Smiths album was The Best of the Smiths, Vol. 1. I am only now going back and buying the original Smiths catalog and discovering that every song is among their best.

The Johnny Cash oversight is also easy to explain. I've never been a huge Cash fan mainly because my father forced us to listen to KFAB when I was a child working at our family store in Fremont, back when KFAB was a "music station." I got plenty of Cash back then, along with Crystal Gayle, Bobby Vinton and the New Vaudeville Band's rendition of "Winchester Cathedral." That music brings back stale, dusty memories of long Saturday afternoons dealing with stupid, smelly customers.

And then there's Daydream Nation. I didn't start buying Sonic Youth records until Dirty in 1992. I knew of DN's status in underground music, but it was a double album and expensive and hard to find and, quite frankly, there just didn't seem to be a driving reason to buy it back then. When I waved a copy at a local musician and asked, he said, "Sure, you should buy it. You should have bought it 20 years ago."

Maybe. Probably. But if I had, well, I wouldn't have had the experience of listening to it this weekend for the first time, along with the rest of those albums. What I discovered is what I already knew, that the most interesting songs are the ones they never played on the radio, like The Stones "Imagination" or Cash's "25 Minutes to Go," or, really, that entire Smiths album.

Daydream Nation isn't so much a collection of songs as a jangling, nerve-twisting hour-plus of textured noises and gritty college-rock released in 1988, and whose echoes can still be heard today in bands like Los Campesinos, Times New Viking and all of the bands in Omaha's own brutal noise-rock scene.

Daydream Nation is seminal, it is important, and it is also a difficult album to listen to from beginning to end in one sitting. But I did, and I will again and I'll be better off for it. And if you haven't, so would you.

* * *

There are a couple good shows going on tonight, which I'm going to miss because I'm in Chicago for the next couple of days (which is also why you probably won't be getting a blog entry tomorrow).

A bevy of singer/songwriters will be taking over The Barley St. tonight starting at 9 -- Brad Hoshaw, Alex McManus, Kyle Harvey and Chad Wallin. It's like some sort of crazy singer/songwriter summit! $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, up the street at The Waiting Room, '90s indie rock band New Radiant Storm Kings is playing with At Land (reviewed here). $8, 9 p.m.

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

Very. Little. Time.

Only time to tell you about last Saturday night's shows. It felt sort of like one of those Benson festival nights, as I was walking back-and-forth between The Waiting Room and The Sydney all night. Couldn't be helped. Both shows were going on simultaneously, and the ticket prices were so low, $7 and $5, it was worth it to pay for both and do the hiking. It also helped that The Sydney started so late (and went so late).

The evening opened with Boy Noises at The Waiting Room with new drummer Corey Broman proving once again that he's one of the best drummers in town, though I don't know if there was really a night-and-day difference between what he was doing and the former drummer. No matter. The band was in their usual high-flying form despite something being wrong with the mix -- at times Karl Houfak's keyboard parts blared over the rest of the band. Odd. It did bring up the question of how they're ever going to replace Karl (or do without him) once he leaves the band, as his keyboard parts are integral to their music. (See blurry photo).

Next it was down the road to The Sydney for what I thought was Mother Pile but ended up being Life of a Scarecrow playing tight, intricate metal that also was very LOUD. Easily the loudest show I've heard at The Sydney, and probably by design considering the style of music on the night's bill. Halfway through their set I found people huddled outside in the Sydney's tiny new beer garden, seeking shelter from the sound storm. (See incorrectly titled photo).

After that, it was back to TWR for Broken Spindles, though I did catch the last couple songs by Pharmacy Spirits (Always a good time. If you haven't already, check out their new CDR, available at all their shows). Broken Spindles is The Faint's Joel Petersen's side project. It used to be a full-on A/V experience with Joel's hand-made videos projected behind him while he played. Not anymore. Now it's just Joel on guitar/keyboards/vocals, along with a bassist/keyboardist and a drummer. The secret weapon was that bass player, who was phenomenal, playing an aggressive style that reminded me of Tony Levin-'80s-era King Crimson. While there were a few typical Broken Spindles tone poems, most of the set featured thick-beat rock that was almost "danceable." Petersen makes the most out of his deep, monotone vocals (sort of like listening to The Edge sing "Numb"), wisely knowing his limits. I did not miss the ol' video at all, which I used to find distracting and unnecessary (like most performance-projected videos, including The Faint's). (See photo)

Finally, it was back down the street to The Sydney for Techlepathy who was celebrating the release of their debut CD. I've heard Lincoln Dickison and Co. play at least a half-dozen times, and always get lost in their brutal, syncopated noise rock, though this time it was noisier (and louder) than ever.

The crowds at both shows were somewhat lackluster -- by best guess, maybe 60 at TWR and 40 at The Sydney. I blame football season, and if I'm right, it could be a long winter for Omaha music venues, especially on Husker Saturdays.

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

Omaha's indie music scene is perplexing. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who played last night at Slowdown Jr., is easily one of the most hyped new indie bands in the U.S. They stormed SXSW this spring after getting a raging 8.4 on the Pitchfork petermeter. I figured the gig in the small room would have sold out quickly. Instead, there was fewer than 100 people in the bar last night -- more evidence that I should never consider a career as a show promoter.

I was less than thrilled by them when I saw them in Austin, calling their music "standard-issue indie with a pop slant that recalled the '90s… well-played, but boring and flat. Very run-of-the-mill…" I've had a few people tell me that was unfair, that I wasn't listening to their songs because of the gauze of hype that enshrouds them. One guy told me last night to just ignore it all and listen to their music. Fine.

He was partially right. Maybe I was unfair as far as the overall band was concerned. The musicians in POBPAH do indeed know how to rock, and yes they've got some very catchy songs in their oeuvre. They certainly were much more alive last night then they were at Emo's in March. The part about them sounding like a '90s band, however, still applies. Pains… sounds like a cross between The Cure and Modern English, with a less-glossy guitar sound.

Their Achilles heel is singer/frontman Kip Berman who simply doesn't know how to sing. He has no tone, no intonation, you could barely hear him, it's as if he didn't know how to use the microphone (i.e., this wasn't the soundman's fault). His singing sounded like a shy boy trying to ask a girl out on a date for the very first time. Backing vocalist Peggy Wang added nothing to the mix (because you couldn't hear her).

This is a classic example of a great band with a nonexistent frontman whose only attribute is his haircut. It's a shame because the music is very pretty and well-played. Then you have that guy up there mewing like he's never sung in front of an audience before. (See action photo).

Which brings us to the opening band, the horribly titled The Depreciation Guild, whose frontman was the guitarist in POBPAH. Compared to Berman, he was a veritable Sinatra. Too bad their music sounded like a tribute to "the shoegaze era" played in the temple of My Bloody Valentine. The three-piece consisted of two guitars and a drummer, and an ill-conceived synth loaded with samples, including lots of wonky keyboard parts. They were at their best when they turned down the sequencer and turned up their guitars.

* * *

Speaking of Pitchfork, it was brought to my attention that indie music's favorite online make-or-break tastemakers reviewed the new Box Elders album a couple weeks ago (here) and gave it a lowly 5.4, saying " …you've no doubt heard the 1960s garage surf of Box Elders before. It just wasn't theirs. Of course, if you put together enough solid hooks, none of that would matter. But Alice and Friends doesn't produce often in that department, relying instead on the kind of raw energy that fuels a good house party." Confused? Then you've never read a Pitchfork review before.

* * *

There are a couple interesting shows going on tonight as we head into the weekend.

Flight Metaphor is celebrating its CD release tonight at The Waiting Room. I haven't seen this band live, and have only casually listened to their new album, Mess, which sounds like a stab at alt-radio rock. Opening is Charm and Skypiper. $7, 9 p.m.

Down the street at The Sydney, Fortnight is headlining a show with California Wives and the mighty Talking Mountain. $5, 9 p.m.

And over at O'Leaver's Yuppies opens for Davila 666 and The Prairies. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) Techlepathy celebrates the release of its new CD, Anthem For Future History, on Speed! Nebraska Records. Opening is Mother Pile and Speed! labelmates Ideal Cleaners. $5, 8 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Broken Spindles plays at The Waiting Room with Pharmacy Spirits -- one of my favorite Lincoln bands -- and Boy Noises featuring new drummer Corey Broman (Dance Me Pregnant, ex-Art in Manila, ex-Little Brazil, ex-Kite Pilot). $7, 9 p.m.

Finally, down at Slowdown Jr. Saturday night, Arts & Crafts recording artist and Milton Ontario natives The Most Serene Republic headline a show with Still Life Still and Omaha's Adam Weaver and the Ghosts. $8, 9 p.m.

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

Via Facebook I discovered that a friend of mine was robbed last night at gunpoint in Benson, presumably a few blocks from The Waiting Room. And we all remember when Burke's Pub was held up at gunpoint this past January. I'll say again what I said back then: It's time for the Benson Business Association -- or the bars, venues and restaurants in the area -- to put money in a hat and hire off-duty cops to patrol the streets at night. A network of security cameras also might make a difference, though I don't know who would be responsible for running them. The best answer would be for the OPD to start a foot patrol in the evenings, but with budget cuts I doubt that'll ever happen. Of course we could all start escorting each other to and from the venues, but I don't know how that's going to stop a guy holding a gun.

Crime in Benson is a problem that is going to have to be addressed if the area is ever going to emerge as one of the city's true entertainment centers. I know people who will not step foot in Benson after dark for fear of being robbed. I always thought they were paranoid, but after what happened last night, maybe their fear isn't so unwarranted.

* * *

Well, I went to Homer's Old Market location yesterday to pick up a copy of the reissue of The Feelies' The Good Earth, an album that was ballyhooed in the current issue of Rolling Stone. After pushing past the racks of Beatles' reissues that stood like a barricade at the front of the store, I perused the "Rock" section of the CDs. Hmmm., not only was the reissue not there, but there wasn't even a place-holder for The Feelies in the bins. Clearly they must have moved the CDs somewhere else. There's no way they wouldn't stock what many believe is one of the most influential indie bands in the history of rock music, right?

So I asked the clerk. "The Feelies, is that the name of the band you're looking for?" he asked, seemingly never having heard of them. After a few taps in his computer, he said "Nope. We don't have it." Apparently they didn't order it. I told him how surprised I was, especially with the rather large review of the Feelies reissues in Rolling Stone. He offered to order it for me, but really, who wants to deal with that? I wanted my Feelies CD yesterday. Now I'd have to wait, or check back later. Homer's obviously can't stock every band that I consider to be essential, but it would be nice to at least be aware of what magazines like Rolling Stone consider to be essential. It is, as the kids say these days, an epic fail.

* * *

I'm surprised that tonight's Pains of Being Pure at Heart show at Slowdown Jr. hasn't sold out yet. They were one of the most talked-about bands at SXSW this year, and continue to garner tons of press. If you're interested in going, I suggest you buy your ticket online now rather than risk being disappointed by seeing "Sold Out" taped to the box office window. Opening is The Depreciation Guild and Cymbals Eat Guitars. $12, 9 p.m.

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

I've returned from NYC with little if anything to report. My annual trip to Gotham revolves more around sports (U.S. Open, Yankees, etc) than music. The only music-related activity was seeing Hair on Broadway (Not bad, not great, despite the fact that there was full-frontal nudity and it won a Tony for best musical revival). Anyway, it's good to be home.

* * *

Today the world is abuzz over The Beatles remasters. I figured I should run by Homer's and pick up at least one, but haven't been able to decide which. Sgt. Peppers is the classic, but it's also the most burned out in my mind, and years of listening to Rubber Soul, Revolver and The White Album have left me lacking the will to listen to them again. So maybe Help? Beatles music is so ubiquitous, both on radio and television, that it seems like a waste of money to actually buy the albums. I suppose if I were 13 years old and had yet to be introduced to the music that I'd be more excited about the remasters, but anyone my age has been submerged in dollops of The Beatles his/her entire life.

Which is making me think perhaps my money would be better spent buying one of The Feelies reissues, which also come out today (specifically, The Good Earth, which I don't already have).

* * *

This week's column, btw, is last week's piece on Homer's (slightly retooled), though I'm not entirely sure The Reader is going to run it. I guess we'll both find out tomorrow.

* * *

Matt & Kim are playing at The Waiting Room tonight with Honey & Darling. The duo had a hit with "Daylight," which you'll remember from the Bacardi commercial in which it appeared (watch it here -- oh, now you remember). Watching it again makes me want a Mojito. $14, 9 p.m.

Unfortunately Portland singer/songwriter Shelley Short has yet to have one of her songs appear on TV selling anything (Actually, maybe that's not such a bad thing). Instead, you can hear her dreamy music via videos like this one for "Submarine." Or better yet, see her tonight in person at Slowdown Jr., with Alexis Gideon and Omaha musical genius Jake Bellows. $8, 9 p.m.

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

Jeremy Buckley, the organizer of the annual Lincoln Calling Festival which runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 5 at seven Lincoln venues, has posted the line-up in Facebook right here. We're talking about 106 bands at 35 shows.

More LC news: This year they're offering an all-access pass that gets you into every show for just $20, but it's a limited-time offer. The $20 price only lasts through Saturday. After that, the all-access pass is $25 through Sept. 12, and then $30 after that. If you live in Lincoln, you can buy a pass at Kinetic Brew inside the Bourbon Theatre, 1415 O St. If you live in Omaha (or presumably anywhere else) you can buy one online at e-tix, right here.

* * *

Lot of chatter about The Omaha World-Herald's official Omaha Music Scene Family Tree, which ran on the front of the paper's poorly named ETA section in the Sunday edition. You can read it online here. The problem, of course, is that the "tree" (which isn't a tree at all) focused almost solely on Saddle Creek Records' artists and businesses, and neglected to mention the hundreds of other musicians and entities that are at the core of the Omaha music scene. As you can imagine, all of those who were left out are a bit miffed. The OWH is the newspaper of record, after all, so its declaration of what comprises the Omaha music scene will be viewed as creed by readers who know nothing about it (which, it would be safe to say, is about 99 percent of the paper's subscribers).

As I say in this thread on the webboard, perhaps a better name for the chart would have been "Six Degrees of Saddle Creek," a play on Six Degrees of Separation and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

In his defense, Coffey did provide this disclaimer: "Omaha's music scene involves more people, bands and venues than could possibly fit on this page. This chart covers the big names, but some items inevitably got left out." But that, apparently, isn't going to be enough to satisfy all those with hurt feelings.

My take on all of this: Everyone needs to suck it up and cut Coffey some slack. The guy is doing things at the OWH that I never thought were possible. Somehow he's managed to break the OWH of the mindset that the only thing worth covering are American Idol-quality Qwest Center acts. I always marveled at how his predecessors -- Christine Laue and Niz Proskocil -- gutted out all those Nickelback and Taylor Dane concerts only to have to go back to the office and write reviews that didn't blow them out of the water.

The OWH sent Coffey to Lollapalooza for godsake, and Coffey has even managed to get the OWH to acknowledge there is an internet outside of Omaha.com. Unlike so many other national newspapers and media outlets, Coffey is allowed to have both a Twitter feed (here) and a blog (here) that are not owned or operated by the OWH. That's groundbreaking. And on top of that, it's good reading. Here's hoping that he can keep the momentum going and that the powers that be at OWH don't rope him back into their odorless, colorless, flavorless stable.

* * *

Well, it's that time of year again when I head to NYC for some rest and relaxation (and as always, if you have any suggestions for must-see or must-eat places in NYC, send them to me). As such, Lazy-i will be on hiatus for the next few days. Judging by the venue calendars, I picked the right weekend to skip town. Here's what I see worth checking out in my absence:

Little Black Stereo, maybe the most lauded band in the Omaha scene that I have yet to see perform live, is having its CD release show at The Waiting Room Friday night with Shiver Shiver, It's True and Another Holiday. $6, 9 p.m.

Also Friday night, Little Brazil is playing at O'Leaver's with Digital Leather and Cloven Path (Hey, didn't they break up?). $5, 9:30 p.m.

While down at Slowdown Jr., Omaha's latest supergroup, Our Fox, is playing a show with Outlaw Con Banana and Dim Light, and it's FREE.

After that, it's looking mighty thin.

I may or may not provide dispatches from Gothem while I'm gone, but I will be updating the ol' Twitter feed (follow me). Have a good holiday weekend.

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

More notes from last weekend before we get to the column:

-- A couple people commented at MAHA that Little Brazil was as good or better than any of the nationals that were on the big stage. They did sound particularly good, and it makes me wonder why others aren't picking up on their potential (national press, etc.).
-- Appleseed Cast was a droning wall of sound, atmospheric and somewhat interesting, though afterward no one would be able to hum one of their songs by memory as there's no central melody to their music (or at least none that sticks out). Hopefully Old Canes, a band that shares some Appleseed members and that just signed to Saddle Creek, will be different.
-- Army Navy were a fun band with a solid indie-pop sound that was culminated in the fact that they covered Maxine Nightingale's "Right Back Where We Started From." I'd like to see these guys again at TWR or Slowdown.
-- We're still waiting on official word of MAHA attendance. I've been being told (unofficially) that as many as 2,500 tickets were either sold or given away prior to Saturday, and that the landing was packed during G. Love, but that the crowd dwindled to around 400 for Dashboard Confessional. So the question isn't whether MAHA lost money; the question is how much, and was it enough to pull the plug on a festival for next year. I hope not.

-- Matt Beat, the guy behind the Nebraska Pop Festival, clarified that the new Mav Radio HD channel will in fact include all the indie and local music programming that's now at the center of the station, and that the jazz/blues content (mentioned in the Gateway article) would be aired during overnight and hours when the station isn't manned. Now if only people had HD radios…

-- RAT Fest is the first effort of Derek Pressnall's new event "production company" called OAF (Omaha Action Force). Look for more OAF events in the very near future.

Column 236: Festival vs. Festival
Three music festivals jockey for patrons on the same weekend.

We decided to leave the car parked in front of Malara's since we were only six blocks from the address on the flier. We've all heard stories about this area of town, seen the walking dead along its sidewalks, read about bodies in dumpsters, have been told that it's no place to go after dark. But we went anyway.

We made our way along 24th Street, open road under orange phosphor street lights, and didn't see a soul let alone a dangerous one. We were fine until we got to Leavenworth and realized we were lost, peering into the closed and empty 11Worth Cafe, looking vainly from building to building, until we spotted a couple guys standing ominously in the shadow of a doorway of an unmarked building across the street.

"Hey guys, do you know where 2406 Leavenworth is?"

"What are you looking for?"

"It's uh... well... uh... we're looking for RAT Fest."

It was nearing the end of a long weekend of festivals, with RAT Fest as the capper. It started Friday night with the Nebraska Pop Festival in Benson. The event actually had started the night before and would run through Sunday night. A four-night festival seemed like a tall order after an already long summer of multi-band festivals, most of them held in Benson. This one, a benefit for UNO's Mav Radio, was a particularly hard sell since the majority of the bands were completely unknown in this market.

So it was no surprise to find upon entering The Waiting Room only about 20 people watching Talking Mountain put on a theatrical show complete with a small bank of colored lights, fog machine and the lead guy in his trademark hand-made furry monster mask. They were followed by a six-piece band from Seattle called Poland that played some amazing pop featuring two violinists, and a NYC band called Strega that sounded as if they had been weaned on Factory Records. Both bands had traveled to Omaha on their own dime -- and weren't making a dime that night -- but seemed happy to be there anyway, playing to a crowd that consisted mostly of other band members.

Nebraska Pop Fest organizer Matt Beat said he was "disappointed" by the weekend's turnout. "We only made $211 for the radio station," he said. "Saturday night was the busiest night, but there were still only about 50 people there (that's including band members)."

On the bright side, he said the bands were phenomenal and "no one seemed to mind that they were not getting paid for the event, despite some of them coming from overseas. As it turns out, if we had to pay the musicians, we would have lost money."

The next day was The MAHA Festival at Lewis and Clark Landing. You couldn't have asked for better weather, but it wasn't enough to bring people to the event. When we arrived at around noon, maybe 100 folks were walking along the patio under Rick's Boatyard Café, checking out the row of concessions while swabbing on free sunscreen offered by Alegent volunteers.

Appleseed Cast sounded pristine on the mammoth stage, if not loud. After their set, Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship played on a small stage atop a walkway just to the west of the main stage. The sound, again, was amazing for an outdoor venue. In fact, the whole MAHA Festival was well run, first-rate and professional. Too bad so few people saw it.

MAHA Fest organizer Tyler Owen didn't have any attendance numbers to pass along on Monday, but said kudos should go to the folks on the ground and the volunteers. When we left after watching Little Brazil rip it up, there were between 200 and 300 people camped out on the patio. I'm told it filled up nicely later in the evening, but I'm guessing that ticket revenues didn't come anywhere near what organizers had hoped for.

And then came RAT Fest.

Any fear we had moments earlier was gone as we made our way up the long dark stairway of the broken-down warehouse where we were greeted by a smiling young lady who took our $5 and directed us to the keg (free beer, but $5 for a cup, you know the drill).

The room -- a former practice space for The Faint and Tilly and the Wall -- looked like a converted Manhattan loft with a stage in one corner and a smattering of comfortable couches and chairs along the opposite wall. I had feared that RAT Fest would be a hipster fest, but there was nothing but smiling faces and people having a good time.

The one-man band Brainworlds played ambient noise-washes that sounded like an undersea sound track -- the only thing missing was whale noises. After him, a new incarnation of Flowers Forever took the stage -- a huge improvement over their original sound -- dancier, more electronic and just more interesting. Six more bands followed before the "fest" ended before 3 a.m.

RAT Fest organizer Derek Pressnall (who fronts Flowers Forever) said around 350 people came through the door by the end of the night. "Not bad considering everything going on in the city and that I put it together a week and a half out," he said.

Not bad indeed.

The three festivals were a portrait in contrasts: The overly ambitious four-night Nebraska Pop Fest vs. the mammoth scale of MAHA vs. RAT Fest's one night in one room furnished in early poverty.

I'll let you decide which was the most successful.

* * *

Tomorrow, Lincoln Calling info, family trees and the beginning of a brief vacation hiatus..

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