All systems go for our Turner Park show tonight.
AZP and BOTH bring rhymes and catchy production to the Midtown Crossing concert series from 6 to 8 p.m. The series is made possible with help from Hutch.
There is plenty of grass to spread picnic blankets, so bring food, bring your friends, BYOB.
If you missed it, we caught up with the bands for a Q&A session to see what they were up to and what’s coming next. Read their answers here. Also, Both appeared on our radio show Monday night, and they were a laugh. Listen to that below:
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From time to time, we cover musical theater in Nebraska, most notably Lincoln’s Colonel Mustard shows and Dear Herman’s folk musical, Sincerely, Dorothy.
Time for another: Tonight marks the opening of the musical comedy American Smoothie. It’s directed by Nick Jester and Jesse Debolt. David von Kampen wrote the music.
Lincolnites might know Jester from the defunct band Second Wind and for producing Chiropractical for the Haymarket Theatre in 2011.
Jester, who writes, directs and acts in the production, briefly explained the plot to us:
“American Smoothie centers around Brian, who is the IT guy in the corporate office of a smoothie company,” “He struggles to win the affection of Brie [Amelia Barrett], who is the company accountant. Unfortunately, Brian stands in the shadows of Chad [Nathaniel Sullivan] from marketing, who is seemingly perfect. This is the story of Brian taking huge risks in order to find himself, redemption. And smoothies.”
The score pulls from a variety of musical styles.
“The score is pretty sophisticated which fits the IT subject matter thematically, but I also think it’s very accessible,” Jester says.
American Smoothie debuts tonight at 7:30 at the Haymarket Theatre and runs through Friday. Tickets can be purchased here for $10. RSVP to the event here.
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Choice show in Omaha tonight:
In a sneaky good Side Door Lounge show, Esmé Patterson is in town. She plays in the Denver folk band Paper Bird, which was superb on the mainstage at Nebraska Folk and Roots Festival last month.
In a festival full of great energy and performance chops, Patterson’s was a truly head-turning voice. Tonight, she is playing solo, but you also might know her from playing with Austin songwriter Shakey Graves.
Paleo headlines the show, and there’s no cover.
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Heads-up on a hip-hop artist we’ve never written about before.
Relatively new to the Omaha scene, TKO comes out smooth in a video for “God King.” It’s the title track from TKO’s forthcoming mixtape. Always nice to hear an Omaha emcee express love for his community of artists in his lyrics.
In the vein of Scru Face Jean’s recent Black Caesar and “Pharaoh” releases, it’s funny to see the ante eternally upped in terms of referential self-aggrandizement. What’s higher than “God King.” God Emperor? Cronus the Titan?
TKO releases his new mixtape on Aug. 31 at Slowdown. RSVP here. And he says to be on the lookout for a full-length album later this year.
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In case you missed it, the full lineup for the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards showcase is now up.
Local bands play a handful of venues and audience members have the chance to vote for favorites. The showcase takes place Aug. 22-23. Voting stays open until Aug. 31.
The lineup includes AZP, Voodoo Method, A Wasted Effort, The Decatures, The Big Deep, John Klemmensen and the Party, Op2mus, Oketo, Lot Walks and many more.