Benson First Friday Femme Fest | Concert Coverage

Traditions are hard to come by for any young event, even one with such an air of familiarity and a clear, necessary goal.

So when Omaha Girls Rock representative Lions Tigers & Babes opened Benson First Friday Femme Fest this past weekend, it cemented two things for the second year festival: an annual (if rotating) opening ceremony and what could be its unofficial mission statement. It was the sentiment in vocalist/keyboard player Addie Costello’s chorus that struck founder Rebecca Lowry so starkly that Lowry pulled Costello back onstage to repeat it:

Fly above conformity
You are your first priority
Don’t be a commodity
Define your own pretty

In a landscape largely dominated by white men, Friday night’s Femme Fest was again a welcome sight. Its second year celebrating women in music saw a whopping 56 acts with at least one non-male member staged front and center throughout eight Benson neighborhood venues. In doing so, it provided a platform for the Nebraska music community’s underrepresented.

In addition, Femme Fest served as a kind of summit, a place where women of multiple generations and social and cultural backgrounds could come together. I must have heard Lowry say/write it 10 times over the last few weeks, and she’s right. The scene is stronger at its most inclusive.

Below, relive the 2016 Benson First Friday Femme Fest in photos:

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Lions & Tigers & Babes at The Waiting Room

 photo by Connor Lepert

All Young Girls Are Machine Guns at The Waiting Room

photos by Connor Lepert

Blue Bird at Reverb Lounge

photos by Connor Lepert

The Boner Killerz at The Sydney

photos by Connor Lepert

Mary Ruth McLeay at The Waiting Room

photo by James Dean

Badland Girls at Barley Street Tavern

photo by James Dean

The Toppings at Burke’s Pub

photo by Connor Lepert

The Hottman Sisters at The Waiting Room

photo by Connor Lepert

Emily Ward at Pizza Shoppe Collective

photo by Connor Lepert

Calling Cody at SoundCheck Rehearsal Studio

photos by Connor Lepert

Annie Dilocker at Barley Street Tavern

photos by James Dean

PYRATE at Petshop

photos by James Dean

The Ragabonds at Burke’s Pub

photos by James Dean

Molly & the Dustbunnies at SoundCheck Rehearsal Studio

photos by Connor Lepert

photo by James Dean

Wendy & the Lost Boys at Pizza Shoppe Collective

photos by Connor Lepert

Keiria Marsha at Reverb Lounge

photos by James Dean

The Clocks at Petshop

photos by James Dean

Lexi Robles at The Waiting Room

photos by Connor Lepert

Lady Scientist at Reverb Lounge

photo by Connor Lepert

Tara Vaughan at Barley Street Tavern

photos by James Dean

The Morbs at Petshop

photos by James Dean

Dammit Daniel at Burke’s Pub

photos by James Dean

La Guerre at The Waiting Room

photo by James Dean

photos by Connor Lepert

Muscle Cousins at Petshop

photo by James Dean

photo by Connor Lepert

Briner at Barley Street Tavern

photos by James Dean

Wagon Blasters at Burke’s Pub

photos by Connor Lepert

Edge of Arbor at SoundCheck Rehearsal Studio

photos by James Dean

High Up at The Waiting Room

photo by James Dean

Universe Contest at Petshop

photo by Connor Lepert

SharkWeek at Reverb Lounge

photos by Connor Lepert

CJ Mills at The Waiting Room

photos by Connor Lepert

photos by James Dean