Three dozen Omaha music acts took over Benson on Saturday evening, for the second night of the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards’ Summer Showcase. Our pair of Omaha interns and photo contributor Cara Wilwerding made it to a good chunk of the proceedings, with photos and a few reviews of Fallible, Dominique Morgan, A Wasted Effort, Clark & Co., Mitch Gettman and more. Find our coverage below.
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Coincide at The Waiting Room
photo by Cara Wilwerding
Dominique Morgan at Reverb Lounge
photos by Cara Wilwerding
Low Long Signal at The Waiting Room
photos by Cara Wilwerding
Carson City Heat at The Waiting Room
photos by Samuel Bennett
Baker Explosion at PS Collective
photo by Samuel Bennett
Two Shakes at Barley Street Tavern
photo by Samuel Bennett
Uh Oh at Barley Street Tavern
Phoenix Rising had left the Barley Street Tavern Stage and Uh Oh was set up by about 11:40 p.m. There was one thing left to do though; drummer Anthony Bradley had to hug his mom before any music could be played.
Sound checked and ready, the band opened with “Fool’s Gold” to a mostly standing crowd. There was only one technical difficulty throughout the show; a problem with Bradley’s bass drum. A slew of “uh ohs” rained down from the crowd when singer/guitarist Joe Champion made the issue known to the crowd.
Champion played the role of energetic frontman flailing all around the small, blue and red lit stage. Bradley, bassist Erik Trent and guitarist/keyboard Scott Ausdemore rounded out the lineup. Trent and Ausdemore also backed Champion on vocals.
Uh Oh filled the small, dark room with a big, deep rock and roll sound. The heavy bass was felt throughout the set especially on the couple of tracks on which Bradley had mallets out on his drums.
The band finished off their set with newly released “Shooting Arrows” off its upcoming album In the Glow scheduled to be released July 17. The peak of a crescendo at the the song was the perfect ending to the groups set.
—Riley Bowden
photos by Cara Wilwerding
The Bishops at The Waiting Room
photos by Samuel Bennett
Phoenix Rising at Barley Street Tavern
Vocalist/lyricist Shell Cavanaugh and guitarist/vocalist Stacy Sharp have been making music together since they were in high school. They noted between songs at the Barley Street Tavern that mixtapes on cassettes were still a thing back when they started.
Sharp’s instrumentation was simple, and highlighted a rasp in Cavanaugh’s voice that would take most people a chain-smoked pack of cigarettes to achieve.
While it was just two women and a guitar on stage, they remained engaging. This was best seen on the third song in their set “Daydream.” The bluesy track facilitated swaying from those standing, and those lucky enough to find a seat were tapping their feet along.
Cavanaugh and Sharp had played through their setlist, but continued playing once the crowd realized Phoenix Rising’s time slot had not run its course.
The set made you want to drink your beer slow and enjoy your company. By the end of it, the duo had made enough of an impression to elicit free drinks from a crowd member: a shot of Jack Daniel’s Honey for Cavanaugh and a Hot 100 for Sharp.
—Riley Bowden
photo by Samuel Bennett
Lift Ticket at PS Collective
photos by Samuel Bennett
Clark & Co at PS Collective
Drummer Simon Clark let an arrant symbol ring out between songs. Sister Sophie Clark, the only girl in the set of triplets that makes up Clark and Co., turned to her brother with an “excuse me.” Simon apologized and they continued past the sibling ribbing.
Sophie, vocals and piano, Simon, bassist Cooper Clark and saxophonists Cameron Thelander and Michael Palandri played music that was hard to define. In the eyes of the OEAAs, it’s an R&B/Soul band, but there’s clearly some jazz and blues influence in the mix, as well. The subtle smiles of the triplets gave them a palpable chemistry, and the talented saxophonists complemented with a connection of their own.
The band members are young, late teens, and they look it. Four of the five who played at the Pizza Shoppe Collective on Saturday will be freshman at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in the fall, and Thelander will be a sophomore. Make no mistake though, they are babyfaced killers.
The group has already recorded two albums, and most of the songs they played Saturday came off their newest release, Larger World. They opened with “Last Night” which would have you thinking they are a jazz band, but their genre varied including the bluesy track “New Orleans Song” on which drummer Simon and bassist Cooper had an exchange you won’t see often.
Cooper brought his bass over to Simon who stood out of his drum seat and played a solo on the bottom of his brother’s bass, with his drum sticks, while Cooper hit notes at the top.
—Riley Bowden
photos by Samuel Bennett
Fallible at The Waiting Room
Fallible appeared on The Waiting Room stage Saturday night, and the screech of just one guitar at soundcheck did more to wake someone up than any cup of black coffee ever has.
The modern hard-rocking foursome was not light on the gain or volume throughout its 50-minute set.
The bandmates, who have been together since 2013, got into the swing of things quick, and displayed solid chemistry throughout the show. Multi-talented frontman Shawn McAllister kept the band on cue, and the musicianship tight, none of which matched their wild stage movement. Their turbulent headbanging completed their heavy-hitting rock look.
McAllister assumed lead vocals and played bass and guitar on a couple tracks, lead bass duties were assumed by Tony Stanton, Derek Bird was on drums and Daniel Carr played lead guitar. Carr was also lead screamer, and often made sounds that left me questioning how a noise like that can come out of the human body.
A hard rock performance through and through, Fallible had the front-row-fanatics nodding, with the drinks left on tables shaking and splashing out of their brims.
Hear Nebraska premiered “Left Behind,” a single released by the band on April 24. Find that here.
—Riley Bowden
photo by Samuel Bennett
Virgin Mary Pistol Grip at Barley Street Tavern
photos by Cara Wilwerding
The Willards Band at Burke’s Pub
photos by Cara Wilwerding
Stereo Rocket at The Sydney
photo by Cara Wilwerding
ShookOn3 at Burke’s Pub
photo by Cara Wilwerding
Orion Walsh at PS Collective
photo by Cara Wilwerding
Mitch Gettman at Reverb Lounge
photos by Cara Wilwerding
A Wasted Effort at The Waiting Room
A crowd member sitting next to me said to his friends sadly, “I don’t think there will be a mosh pit tonight.” There wasn’t, but as A Wasted Effort ripped through its 50-minute set, it was easy to imagine how perfectly a mosh pit would have accompanied the music.
The dress code of A Wasted Effort did not match their music, nor did it match their hair. Suited up with a white tie, the long-locked group (outside of drummer Derek Talburt) came out of the gate bass-booming.
Now three years old, the band rolled smoothly into their set, and didn’t look back. Talburt, vocalist/guitarist Corey Bremer, vocals/guitarist Jared Gottberg and bassist Tony Bates were charismatic and their stage personalities were much friendlier than their amps were on your eardrums. The group was constantly engaging the crowd, usually making sure they had a drink in their hand.
Gottberg, especially, simply appears to love rock, judging by his kneeling guitar solos and his shredding of an Angus Young style Gibson SG. Bates and Bremer matched his energy in front.
Their set list ranged from the George Thorogood-esque “Daddy Took My Doobie” to a hard-hitting cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Gimme One Reason.”
A Wasted Effort was having a contagious amount of fun on the Waiting Room stage, and encouraged all comers to support every Omaha band, as well as The Waiting Room’s liquor sales.
—Riley Bowden
photos by Samuel Bennett