Black Heart Booking, A-13 Punk Rock merge
One of Omaha’s longtime booking agents is adding an official partner.
Black Heart Booking and A-13 Punk Rock have announced they will join forces to book and promote concerts going forward. Each company will keep its respective name, while both will appear on promotional material for any show either books.
“I think this move will really benefit the local scene in that we will be able to help more touring bands and book more shows at a number of different venues around town,” says Black Heart Booking founder Lucas Wright.
Both Wright and A-13’s Rick Bennett play an active role in booking and promoting within Omaha’s punk rock scene. Wright has been in business under the Black Heart name for more than 12 years (excluding a brief hiatus at the end of 2014), while Bennett established A-13 in 2013.
Bennett and Wright say the idea emerged last month, after the two worked on a show at Dr. Jack’s Drinkery, near I-680 and W Maple. The two had known each other for years, and talk of linking their practices led to the formal partnership.
When asked why, both said the two will share the promotion load for shows either of them books, which they expect to boost success on both ends.
“By sharing our calendars and combining our efforts it will make things easier on the both of us,” Wright says. “We have similar tastes in music and know a lot of the same people. This should make it easier for bands, venues…everyone.”
“Working together with both our contacts and knowing different bands and working together will be a lot easier … and benefit for more than each of us doing it alone,” Bennett added.
Wright has also created blackheartbooking.net as a place to back-catalogue shows and list a calendar for new ones. Thus far, he has listed nearly 400 shows dating back to 2009. He says that while it’s still a work in progress (having launched in November) he would eventually like to add concert posters, photos and videos.
Black Heart Booking has already announced five shows in the first week of 2017, signaling a busy year for the new booking tandem. As a perk for fans of his and Bennett’s shows, Wright has created an email list that will update subscribers on shows before they are officially announced and will offer special ticket prices.
See a listing of upcoming shows below.
Jan 18: Words Like Daggers, Home Sweet Home, Vitamin K, King Me, MLR at Dr Jack’s Drinkery — 8 p.m., 18-plus, $8 advance, RSVP here
Feb 6: Moonraker, Gongfermour, The Fat Timmys, Eponymous at Dr Jack’s Drinkery — 8 p.m., 18-plus, $5, RSVP here
Feb 16: Off With Their Heads (acoustic), The Rackatees, Dummy Head Torpedo, Jeff Miller (DSM-5) at Milk Run — 8 p.m., all-ages, $8 advance, RSVP here
Feb 19: Nobodys, Raging Nathans, The Shidiots, Buggy Lewis and the Rabbit Grenades at Lookout Lounge — 8 p.m., all-ages, $7 advance, RSVP here
Feb 24: DSM-5, Big O, The Fat Timmys, Liar Wire at Dr Jack’s Drinkery — 9 p.m., 18-plus, $7, RSVP here
March 9: Crowbar, Havok, Super Moon, Orpheus, TBA at Lookout Lounge — 8 p.m., all-ages, $17 advance, RSVP here
March 10: Starry Nights, Mad Dog & the 20/20s, The Shidiots, In The Mouth of Radness, The Boner Killerz at Milk Run — 8 p.m., all-ages, $8, RSVP here
March 14: Carousel Kings, Abandoned By Bears, Bad Case of Big Mouth, Locals TBA — 8 p.m., all-ages, $10 advance, RSVP here
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Concert Round-Up: Weekend Edition
There’s plenty going on during the first weekend of the year. Find a fuller listing at our statewide calendar here. Tell us what we missed in the comments or add it yourself via our “contribute” feature here.
Friday
Tonight, Lookout Lounge hosts a benefit concert for CB Skatefest, which looks to host its sixth-annual event this summer. Read about event founder Trevor Hill, the free, all-ages skate and punk fest he started in 2011 and the playful antics it encourages in our feature story here. The Dying Color, Eponymous, The Fat Timmys, The Shidiots and Crab Legs play tonight’s show. 8 p.m., all-ages, RSVP here.
Also tonight, Minneapolis bands Heart To Gold and Gramma come to Milk Run, and will be joined by locals The Way Out and Boys Will Be Girls. Both out-of-town bands are toting new albums; Heart To Gold’s Still Stuck dropped Oct. 11 on Tilde Records, while Gramma released Hang Out on July 8 on the same independent label. This is Boys Will Be Girls’ first show.
Saturday
On Saturday, Bien Fang, Swamp Walk, Downtrod and Rig Time play at NEO (the art gallery adjacent to Milk Run). All proceeds from the $5-10 suggested donation will benefit Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. There will also be a bake sale, which will benefit NEO. 9 p.m. show, all-ages, RSVP here.
Sunday
To cap the weekend, No-Getter, Mom Jeans, Sports., and Graduating Life play Reverb Lounge on Sunday. The all-ages show is $7, RSVP here.
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