Good Living Tour avoids weather, enjoys Saturday night in McCook
by Andrew Stellmon | photos by Lindsey Yoneda
By the time JAGAJA took the Good Living Tour stage in McCook’s Barnett Park, all involved had been through a familiar outdoor-summer-concert ringer. The weather forecast had threatened rain in the days leading up to Saturday’s show and had changed little by its 4 p.m. start time. In an effort to squeeze in every act, the show essentially split in two. Local vocal trio MajorMinor3 kicked things off early and Scottsbluff rock band All We Seem followed with a brief set of tuneful alt rock. Rapper J. Crum punctuated that de facto first-half by spitting absolute fire through a mix of intense and groovy sampling and production.
The Good Living Tour by its very nature — outdoors, with increasingly heavy community involvement — has introduced us to all manner of luck, and Saturday’s narrow avoidance of a scattered storm system allowed another fun, engaging entry into the statewide series’ saga. It was possible because of everyone’s flexibility: the acts, all five of whom either pared down sets or, in the case of High Up, were ready with multiple iterations; to our staff, who had been pushed to-and-fro by weather in the past and was ready for essentially anything; and the community of McCook, which came out in droves, stuck with us on the fly and ultimately helped make the concert feel like a success.
And of course, there was an actual concert! MajorMinor3 came equipped with a few unique harmony arrangements and a ton of family and friend support. On the other hand, All We Seem (like the other acts) were playing McCook for the first time, almost certainly gaining some fans in the process. During J Crum’s set, I swear I saw people with their mouths agape, and when he busted out the ominous “Hearts Collide” many through their hands up with him in solidarity. High Up vocalist Christine Fink was her usual spastic and energetic self in front of a tight-as-ever band. And, after a brief break, brought by the realization that the weather would hold, JAGAJA played through a relaxed and peppy set of its psych pop songs.
After Saturday’s storm threat subsided, the concert was fitting beginning to the Good Living Tour’s second half. August brings stops in Norfolk (this Friday), Lyons and Hastings. Find more info here, and check out Lindsey Yoneda’s photos from McCook below.
Major Minor 3
All We Seem
J Crum
The Good Living Tour
High Up
JAGAJA
Photos by Lindsey Yoneda
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Hullabaloo takes over Falconwood Park this weekend
by Sam Crisler
The wait for Hullabaloo Music Festival’s 2017 edition is nearly over, and you can get to planning your camping stay in Falconwood Park now with the full Hullabaloo schedule.
Hullabaloo runs Thursday, Aug. 3 until the wee hours of Aug. 5, with a lineup of touring acts such as The Wailers, Minnesota and TAUK and locals like Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal and Kris Lager Band, who opens and closes the festival. Stay up late after the music to catch an outdoor movie showing or bring along your frisbee to test your disc golf skills.
Kris Lager masterminds the festival each year, drawing big-name artists like Nappy Roots and Gene Ween in its seven-year history. Since launching, Hullabaloo has gained a reputation as one of Nebraska’s go-to festivals for jam bands, funk and soul, creating a neon light-filled environment that lends itself to painted faces and glow sticks.
Weekend passes are $70, and day passes are $25. Find more information about Hullabaloo’s offerings, activities and tickets here.
Thursday
7:30 p.m. — Kris Lager Band
9:00 p.m. — The Wailers
11 p.m. — Tank and the Bangas
12:45 a.m. — El Dub
Friday
5:50 p.m. — Reggae Rapids
7:05 p.m. — Taylor Scott Band
8:10 p.m. — Andy Frasco
9:30 p.m. — TAUK
11 p.m. — Michal Menert
12:45 a.m. — Linear Symmetry
Saturday
2:30 p.m. — Sideways 8
3:40 p.m. — Me Like Bees
5 p.m. — Rothsteen
6 p.m. — Black Swan Theory
7:05 p.m. — Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal
8:10 p.m. — Jon Wayne and the Pain
9:45 p.m. — Minnesota
11 p.m. — Andy Frasco
12:30 a.m. — Kris Lager Band
LATE NIGHT: Henry + the Invisibles
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Graham Ulicny to debut interactive Soundscapes performance at KANEKO
by Sam Crisler
You know that feeling when you’re so engaged in a concert’s sonic developments that you begin to lose yourself in the bass and percussion as they encompass you? It’s captivating, urging you to close your eyes and absorb every sound.
But what if you were able to actually control some of the sounds presented on stage? With his Soundscapes performance project, Omaha musician Graham Ulicny (Thick Paint, The Faint) will give audience members the power to get involved in the music through their own movement. It happens Aug. 17 at KANEKO from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Soundscapes will expand on the meaning of an interactive show, allowing audience members to affect the sounds filling KANEKO by approaching distance-measuring sensors that relay information to Ulicny’s computer. The information will then be converted into audible sound. In other words, movement equals music.
Ulicny says his inspiration for Soundscapes grew out of a visit to David Byrne’s “Playing the Building,” in an empty, vast Manhattan ferry terminal. The exhibit used wires to connect a piano’s keys to various pipes and motors around the building. Byrne invited the public to come in and “play the building,” accomplished by hitting a note on the piano and triggering an audible response from the devices scattered throughout the building.
“I thought it was so cool, and since then I really feel connected with ways people transform space with sound,” Ulicny says.
Find out more about Soundscapes and buy tickets here.
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Photo Coverage: Twinsmith Album Release Show
HN contributor Morgan Kazanjian hit up Slowdown on Friday night to catch Twinsmith’s Stay Cool album release show with local indie rock bands Thick Paint and I Forgot To Love My Father. Stay Cool dropped on Saddle Creek back on July 14; listen to our podcast team’s review here and view Kazanjian’s photos below.
Twinsmith
Thick Paint
I Forgot To Love My Father
photos by Morgan Kazanjian
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Photo Coverage: Turner Park Night Market
Turner Park hosted its second Night Market of the summer on Friday, boasting dozens of local vendors, Hear Nebraska-booked music and hundreds of dogs (probably). HN multimedia intern Marti Vaughan went out to the event to snap some photos of the scene and of performances from JAGAJA and The Dilla Kids.
Jagaja
The Dilla Kids
photos by Marti Vaughan
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Concert Round-Up
With another Monday comes another week of Nebraska shows; check out a few picks below. Head over to our events page for a fuller list of shows, and make it even more comprehensive by adding to the page with our contribute feature here.
Monday
Friendship Home Benefit with Histrionic and Domestica at The Bay – Tonight, The Bay hosts a benefit for the Lincoln-based Friendship Home, which advocates for victims of domestic abuse and violence through providing shelter and emotional support for survivors. Learn more about Friendship Home’s mission here. Lincoln punk bands Domestica and Histrionic play the benefit show. 7 p.m. $5. All ages. RSVP here.
Tuesday
Steve Earle & The Dukes with The Mastersons at Slowdown – Four decades of touring and recording don’t seem to be at all slowing down Outlaw country icon Steve Earle, who, at 62, just released his sixteenth studio album, and fourth of this decade, So You Wanna Be An Outlaw. Earle and his band The Dukes stop at The Slowdown on Tuesday night with Brooklyn alt-country band The Mastersons. RSVP here.
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