The summer concert machine has hit third gear. A reunited cult-status hardcore band plays O’Leaver’s tonight, two strong Lincoln shows happen Wednesday (one which we’re co-presenting), and we have a bunch of new information about some notable upcoming shows, including Maha and Good Speakers Fest.
Here we go:
It’s Monday, which means add day on HN Radio, which means a couple exclusive tracks, some new songs and a few well-loved selections.
On HN Radio this week, we’re premiering a few tracks, including Live at O’Leaver’s with New Lungs and Max Holmquist of Great American Desert and Oquoa. We’re also featuring “Cryostasis (Still Cold)” by Lincoln MC Sleep Sinatra (who told Hear Nebraska he’s returned to shows after taking a short summer hiatus).
Listen to “Out into the Snow” by Simon Joyner, “Oh My Mod” by Capgun Coup and “I Ain’t the Kind” by Evan Bartels at the top of any page.
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This Wednesday, Hear Nebraska co-presents the second Cox Cable Maha Music Festival showcase at the Bourbon in Lincoln featuring Bogusman, A Ferocious Jungle Cat and blét. It’s free and 18+. Earlier this month, Matt Whipkey, Brad Hoshaw and Tara Vaughan played the first showcase at Dixie Quicks in Council Bluffs.
A handful of veteran bands have shows around Lincoln and Omaha in the coming weeks. It’s probably all coincidental, but late summer always seems to be fertile ground for nostalgia.
Tonight, Planes Mistaken for Stars plays O’Leaver’s in Omaha with New Lungs and All Eyes West. Planes Mistaken for Stars has been playing post hardcore music off and on since 1997, but this summer they’ve reconvened for their first tour since 2012 with an LP on the horizon.
On Wednesday, once-defunct Lincoln band Her Flyaway Manner plays Knickerbockers with Powers and Overlake. Her Flyaway Manner’s influence on Lincoln’s scene can’t be understated — the recent influx of progressive punk acts can probably be traced to two bands, Her Flyaway Manner and the also influential/defunct Ideal Cleaners. Saber Blazek, of Halfwit and Machete Archive, remembers Her Flyaway Manner as a band that changed his perceptions of what music could do. “To see this raw emotion really talked to me,” he said. “It was like, ‘yeah, I like getting loud and rocking.”
After Her Flyaway Manner disbanded in 2009, Adam Anderson and Brendan McGinn went onto form Dirty Talker. It’s not a stretch to say Powers, Halfwit (featuring Dan Jenkins of Ideal Cleaners), Bogusman and a handful of other bands owe some aesthetic choices to the trio.
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On Sept. 13, Brother Ali returns to the Waiting Room almost exactly a year after his last Omaha appearance. He’s been an active MC since 1998 and associates with Rhymesayers and the same Minneapolis scene that birthed Atmosphere and Slug.
We had an intense interview with Ali when he toured through with Immortal Technique a year ago:
Just announced, cult-thrash act D.R.I. will play Sokol Auditorium on Sept. 15 with Omaha bands Powerslop, Varmint and No Thanks. D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles) pioneered melding punk and metal, breaking ground for acts like Suicidal Tendencies and Stormtroopers of Death. The show is only $10. The thrash band has been active since 1982 and appropriately will take the stage with some of Omaha’s most energetic metal bands.
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Maha Music Festival released their full schedule last week, which really doesn’t include any big surprises, but is interesting in that it upholds the tradition of placing local talent at near-top billing. Speaking of legendary acts, Lincoln band Domestica (fronted by Jon Taylor and Heidi Ore of Mercy Rule) opens the festival around noon followed by three more local acts — Matt Whipkey, Twinsmith and M34N STR33T.
The day wraps with Icky Blossoms, billed over Local Natives, then The Head and the Heart and finally Death Cab for Cutie. The festival seems to like billing local acts higher than their more famous counterparts as in 2012 when Desaparecidos headlined over Garbage. Maybe it’s the festivals nod to its own local roots which, since its inception, has relied heavily on local talent.
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The Good Speakers Music Festival has been fleshed out a little, though the full lineup hasn’t been revealed. Organizer Darren Keen announced that M34N STR33T, Just Jace, Talking Mountain and Buckhunter will play the two-night festival at Omaha’s Carlisle Hotel near 108th and L streets. With Andrew WK headlining, ticket packages, that include a stay at the hotel during the festival ($70 for one day and a room, $119 for both days and a room) and DJs until 4:30 each morning, the rest of the lineup may not matter, at this point you’re probably either in or out.