by Steven Ashford
This year, Lincoln's own sound sorcerer of experimental music, Darren Keen, is on a quest to exhibit up-and-coming talent from around the country by providing a fresh approach. On March 9, Keen will open downtown Lincoln's gates and provide his peers the opportunity to partake in his pursuit to party.
Keen's Good Speakers Festival will be a micro-music festival along O Street that ranges from local to national acts, spanning all genres of music that Keen says will be "the best party in Lincoln history."
The evening of invigorating music will span three participating venues including Bourbon Theatre, Yia Yia’s and Mix Barcade. As each venue will have both early and late shows, attendees can get the bang for their buck, with a cover of $7 for the entire night.
Good Speakers Fest will mark the kickoff of many more events that Keen plans to promote throughout the year under the moniker “Good Speakers Presents." As the date is rapidly approaching, I caught up with Keen via email to get a little insight to the idea behind the best party Lincoln lays its eyes on:
“I just want to throw a big, undeniable party and let people know how serious I am about providing fun, interesting shows for Nebraskans,” Keen says.
What will make this evening stand out from any other weekend show are the multiple approaches you can't convey from a standard concert.
“I was able to work my magic and convince Yia Yia’s to host bands all night,” Keen says, acknowledging the rarity of such an allowance.
Yia Yia’s will also have live screen-printing all night courtesy of Screen Ink.
“Also the 'Freeplay Happy Hour' at Mix Barcade is something that lots of people have wanted for a while, and having Bassthoven there spinning video game music is going to make that show even more special!” Keen says.
While there will be great, local talent showing their skills at all three venues, Keen is excited about two particular headliners that will be making a rare appearance in Lincoln for the show.
“For the oddball freaks, we have Ed Schrader's Music Beat, which is a floor tom/bass guitar duo from Baltimore, on Load Records,” Keen says. “We somehow managed to book Mux Mool on his way to SXSW, which is very exciting. He really could be the 'next Pretty Lights' and I'm so honored to have him headlining this fest!”
As this festival marks the beginning to Keen’s concert promotions for Good Speakers Present, he promises there will be much more in store for the near future. To check out all of the details on Good Speakers Fest, including bands and set times, click here.
Steven is an editorial intern at Hear Nebraska. He senses a lot of good juju surrounding the creation of this show. Reach Steven at stevena@hearnebraska.org.