by Shannon Claire, Jordan Minnick, Andrew Norman, Dawn Thorfinnson and Casey Welsch
Lincoln isn't just a mildly populated city with some bands and bars. Lincoln is a music city. If you've kept up with HN's Exposed coverage, you've probably caught onto to the fact that Zoo Bar, Duffy's and the Bourbon packed in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds each night. With hundreds in attendance, the event was an uber-success. But if you've learned algebra, you know that the quantitative data is only half of the scheme.
So here are the qualitative facts: The bands ravished and ripped hard riffs. The music captivated showgoers, who bobbed heads, tapped toes, even cut rugs. After the bands played their last songs, those people had conversations that went something like, "Holy shit, Lincoln has so many great bands."
I wondered why I (Jordan Minnick) had waited so long to see this band or that band, as I'm sure others did, too. I was amazed by how many new songs I heard in one night alone by just a handful of bands. I got to see Lincoln music as I never had before.
Academy of Rock, Learning to Fall, Jarana, A Summer Better Than Yours, Kill County, Floating Opera, The Age of Strange (Paper Seahorse), Cornerstone Dub, The Betties, Tie These Hands, Higher Empathy Movement, Shaun Sparks and the Wounded Animals, Dirty Talker, AZP, Vibenhai, UUVVWWZ
Academy of Rock
review by Casey Welsch | photo by Dawn Thorfinnson
The final day of Lincoln Exposed was a weird one for me. I had to do actual work. Standing at the door of the Bourbon Theatre, checking IDs and applying wristbands all night was kind of a different way to experience the festival. Here, instead of being one of the throng, I was one of the throng-sifters, working the fest from the inside, and it was kind of neat to see. But I’m not here to review my job. I’m here to review Lincoln Exposed 2012 day four. So let’s get to it!
First up at the Bourbon was the Academy of Rock showcase, and all the little kids with their rock bands performed admirably. It was strange to be working at the Bourbon when the sun was still out, and to hear it full of the yelps of children, but kind of refreshing. I knew it would only get to an over-packed, standing room only state as the night went on. So for now, I listened to the covers of Led Zeppelin and Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs, and when the kids trying to be cool walked in with their drumsticks and said “I’m with the band,” I told them it was cool and they could go right in. They all beamed, and that made this worth watching.
Learning to Fall
review by Jordan Minnick | photo by Shannon Claire
The first of Saturday's shows hosted young musicians of The Academy of Rock non-profit music program as well as alt-rock band Learning to Fall. The foursome-turned-threesome seated up for an acoustic set at the Zoo Bar, joking mid-song saying, "This is usually where our drummer shows off."
However, the real show-off that evening was frontwoman Meghan Munyon. She sat, legs crossed, singing power-choruses with some impressive pipes that didn't need a microphone to carry them. With a singer like this, an acoustic set is welcomed anytime.
An HN tweet: Learning to Fall gets acoustic at @the_zoo_bar
Jarana
review by Casey Welsch | photo by Shannon Claire
After the sun went down it was time for a polar shift in what the Bourbon had to offer. Up first in the night was Mexican country band Jarana, and, as with Los Villanos, I really don’t have what it takes to give them a proper review. I heard beautiful, shimmering guitars, some Latin keys and the occasional pan flute, but there’s not much else I can talk about. I enjoyed it immensely, so I guess if you’re reading this, Jarana, good work.
A Summer Better Than Yours
We missed A Summer Better Than Yours. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Kill County
review by Jordan Minnick | photo by Shannon Claire
When Kill County took the stage for soundcheck, the crowd anticipation was comparable to only that of watching a glorious gunslinger fit-up for an old-fashioned outlaw shoot out. They're eye-catching, rugged men but they bear an arsenal of a different sort: plainspoken, whiskey-soaked folk songs.
"We were going to go right into the next song," said singer/guitarist Josh James at one point, looking at a tray of whiskey shots, "but we're in a drought." It was down the hatch and onto the next.
James and singer/banjo player Ringo strummed and sung a little bit of everything from their discography, from the 2007 track "Adeline" to their brand new split-single "Brown Lee." Bandmate Joe Salvati cut a folk soulfulness into each song with his swelling lap steel and dobro performance.
The guys also announced that more new Kill County music is on its way, with their third album. They're currently recording for few weeks in a farmhouse outside of Lincoln, but will be taking the night of Saturday, February 25 off to play Zoo Bar with Simon Joyner.
An HN tweet: Kill County needs whiskey ASAP onstage
Floating Opera
review by Jordan Minnick | photo by Shannon Claire
It's no secret that Zoo Bar's modest stage snuggly fits a four-piece band. But under the weight of Floating Opera's nine musicians… you can imagine how much more the stage pales in comparison. With cello, violin and keys layered upon keys, the band had the audience thoroughly absorbed in orchestral-rock sound waves. They brought us all back to the womb, and they didn't even know.
An HN tweet: Its a tight fit for Floating Opera's 9 musicians at @the_zoo_bar
The Age of Strange (Paper Seahorse)
review by Casey Welsch | photo by Shannon Claire
Up next was another Bourbon employee, Dana Marie. Her band, name changed from Paper Seahorse to Age of Strange, has never played the Bourbon before, and she is nervous. Her entire life has been about a dream, to make music on a stage, and now that she has the opportunity, she doesn’t want to let anyone down. She doesn’t, and neither does her band. The beats are a little funky, the acoustic guitar simple yet adequate, and her voice. It soars, soulful and sirenic, warbling not out of nerves, but out of the power of determination. She nails it. They nail it. She doesn’t know how good she sounds. Only the audience was that lucky.
Cornerstone Dub
photo by Shannon Claire
The Betties
review by Jordan Minnick | photo by Shannon Claire
The Zoo Bar was hotter than a whorehouse on nickel night by the time The Betties' set was underway. Temperately hot, no. I'm talking your granny's dance hall hoe-down hot. Cause that place was stomping and clapping like Johnny Cash live at Folsom Prison.
"This is so fun," said singer/guitarist Heather Berney, a.k.a. Betty Jean, mid-set.
She went on to introduce a brand new song, which she said was written in the midst of three 12-hour studio days at Fuse Recording for their next release. And a good ol' Nebraska love song it was. "The whiskey burns like hell," sang Betty Jean, "but I'm feeling swell because my heart belongs to you." You know, the kind of love where there's beer for days, and a date doesn't cost you a dime? That kind of love.
An HN tweet: The Betties are sound checking & @the_zoo_bar is more packed than a carton of cowboy killers
Tie These Hands
review by Casey Welsch
Tie These Hands have been around for an eternity in local band years. If I heard Aram correctly from the stage, they’ve been around for a whole decade? Damn! And they prove it. Tie These Hands laid down a tight, technical set of damn-near perfect indie rock. They’ve clearly had some practice. They pack the Bourbon pretty tight (not Betties at the Zoo tight, but, you know) and hopefully there were a few people left in Lincoln who haven’t heard Tie These Hands in the last 10 years in the audience somewhere. Their music still rings fresh.
Higher Empathy Movement
review by Jordan Minnick | photo by Shannon Claire
It was my first time seeing Higher Empathy Movement. Needless to say the band sent me on a trip. They came in with funky distorted riffs (obviously cool), added a reggae off-beat (groovy) and then threw it back in my face as they doubled the tempo and riffage (gnarly). And on top of all this, frontman Alex Walker tied it harmoneously together with vocals. It was a great formula that all too easily got the crowd swaying.
An HN tweet: Higher Empathy Movement has the chillest of vibes @duffystavern
Shaun Sparks and the Wounded Animals
review by Jordan Minnick | photo by Shannon Claire
If you're going to get down to Shaun Sparks and the Wounded Animals, the bottom line is that your only choice is to seriously get down. Cause that bass line moves too fast for you to simply mosey around it. Which I think totally explains why Shaun Sparks is the frontman that he is. He isn't calm and he doesn't half-ass anything. Like when he introduced a new funk number called "Ditch Digger," and pronounces it as "Ditch Diggaah!" Although the show was the last for the band, you can stay tuned for more of Sparks' music as he combines forces with bandmate Ken Morton and his band The Allendales.
An HN tweet: Shaun Sparks & the Wounded Animals debut a new funk number called "Ditch Digger" at @the_zoo_bar
Dirty Talker
review by Andrew Norman | photo by Shannon Claire
Dirty Talker for me represents an all-local festival like Lincoln Exposed's crucial value: It's a band I've known of, but somehow, inexplicably, never actually seen. But now that I have, Dirty Talker will remain laser-focused within my live-show radar. The trio, consisting of drummer Brendan McGinn, bassist Justin Kohmetscher and guitarist Adam 2000, make up three-fourths of the now-defunct Thunderstandable (McGinn and Adam 2000 are in Her Flyaway Manner, too).
It didn't surprise me that their rock was as solid as their Lincoln music credentials. I'm a sucker for strong, bass-driven rock songs, which is what you get with Dirty Talker. Kohmetscher pounds his bass while peering and hollering down into his mic as if he's disciplining a child while Adam 2000 strums quick, intricate hooks and adds vibrant color to the songs. I'm used to seeing McGinn as the frontman of HFM, but was blown away at his prowess and stamina on the drums. He closed a song toward the end of the set with a drum solo that consisted of him beating his tom and high hat as hard as he could for as long as he could go. It was engaging and impressive, as was the band's entire set. But damn, he beat those drums.
An HN tweet: Dirty Talker just dropped 80 f-bombs at @bourbontheatre
AZP
photo by Shannon Claire
Vibenhai
photo by Dawn Thorfinnson
UUVVWWZ
review by Andrew Norman | photo by Shannon Claire
The last two times I've seen this band play their new songs live, I've admittedly become more and more hyperbolic. But I make no apologies. In my opinion, UUVVWWZ is the best band in the state, and frontwoman Teal Gardner is as compelling a front person as you'll find anywhere.
And so you don't think I'm just an indiscriminate fanboy, I didn't really like this band when I first heard them back years ago in Box Awesome. It was too, well, weird for me. The musicians are and were (back then, Tom Ambroz was on drums) stellar, but the song structure and Gardner's unique singing style just didn't quite grab me. It was simply too odd. I didn't get it.
But after I listened to their debut album a couple times, I got sucked in. Jim Schroeder's guitar hooks and Gardner's poppy punk vocals began to become more and more familiar. And all of a sudden, the elements that make UU unique ceased to be weird and instead became what I love most about the band. Their sound is original, and it's homegrown in Lincoln. I imagine that's why Saddle Creek Records gobbled them up and put out their first album (they're putting out their upcoming record, as well). It may or may not be easily accessible on first listen, but it's undeniably catchy. It's kind of challenging, and it's entirely charming.
Standing and getting jostled around in the "moat" in the Bourbon's front room with likely more people than have ever fit into that space, I watched Schroeder communicate timing with drummer Dave Ozinga and bassist Dustin Wilbourn through visual cues as the band executed their six-or-so new songs. I saw Gardner draw shapes in the air with her finger, dance like a robot, reach to the rafters and stare people down with a smile. I heard a girl standing next to me say, "It's like she has a wonderland in her head." I thought how accurate that description was, and I felt lucky to be seeing this band in a local showcase.
An HN tweet: UUVVWWZ is hot 'n ready to start their set at @bourbontheatre
Final note: See a full slideshow of Shannon Claire's photos here.
Andrew Norman is Hear Nebraska's editor-in-chief. Reach him at andrewn@hearnebraska.org. He can relay any messages you have for our Lincoln Exposed team.