The Derby Birds release Aaron Gum-directed music video
There’s something nostalgic about on-screen puppetry. Considering the art-form’s 3000 BCE advent, it speaks to our shared, experience-bound cultural memory that our minds may drift straight to Sesame Street (or, more irreverently, Crank Yankers).
It’s why The Derby Birds new video — “Landline,” premiering today via HN — feels so slick and so friendly at once. Like dialing a significant other via rotary phone, it conjures the romantic and old-fashioned. “Landline,” taken from the Omaha alt-pop quartet’s self-titled 2014 debut, calls upon the sort of simpler, carefree essence of a summer all the more viscerally against director Aaron Gum’s and Nathan Hack’s puppeteering.
Watch “Landline” below:
Side note: Alamo Drafthouse is screening Gum’s films Endor and Stuck On Neal April 3, before they tour Nebraska and Iowa as a double feature. His work is filled with songs by Nebraska artists including Orenda Fink, Midwest Dilemma, Edge of Arbor, Tara Vaughan, Rock Paper Dynamite, Eli Mardock and many more. Gum says he’s still arranging showings, so keep track here.
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Concert Round-Up: Weekend Edition
Friday
Icon One Presents “I’m Still Standing” at House of Loom – It’s been five years since Dominique Morgan emerged on the scene, releasing A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. He celebrates that fact (and his birthday) tonight at House of Loom. Morgan has led the charge in the Omaha R&B scene, working hard for inclusion and diversity. It’s one of the things that he finds vital to the music community.
“The most important thing that I’ve learned is that you get as much as you give back in this scene,” Morgan says. “Supporting other artist shows, collaboration musically, community investment is essential. Give without expecting anything back and you will be blessed abundantly.”
DJ Mellie Mel and Tricia Pugsley aka DJ Shor T will open the show with and East Coast v. West Coast battle. Entry to the 10 p.m. show is $5. RSVP here.
Lillie Lemon, SUPERBYTES, Robo Dojo at The Down Under Lounge – Monterey, Calif., synth-pop duo Lillie Lemon comes to Omaha, touring in promotion of its latest EP Aether. Lemon and keyboard player/producer Erica Wobbles play a sparkling brand of pop similar to CHVRCHES and Passion Pit. RSVP to the 9 p.m. show here.
Saturday
HN, Omaha Girls Rock host workshops – HN has a pair of audio-related workshops this weekend. Tomorrow at 3 p.m., University of Nebraska- Omaha Music Technology students and UNO Director of Music Technology Brett Leonard teach Music Mixing 101, which will cover basic music production at Omaha’s Do Space. In two Sunday sessions at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Vessel Live’s Brenton Neville and Zoo Bar audio engineer Mark Wolberg teach Live Sound for Musicians at the Vessel Live Farm. Before HN’s Omaha workshop, Omaha Girls Rock hosts Beginning Sound Engineering Saturday at 10 a.m. at 3724 Farnam. Jon Ochsner and Kait Berreckman lead the lesson. Find more information here.
Night Owl Pub Fundraiser – The new Lincoln pub/music venue is sprucing up their facilities, revamping its sound system and making improvements to its green room. Jackie Storm has moved her open mic night to the 13th & Arapahoe bar. It hosts a fundraiser concert Saturday to assist its improvement efforts. Performers include Evan Bartels, The Wildwoods, Lucas Kellison, Scott Severin, Gabe Nelson, Kyra Sallans, Basic Lands, Jake Kloefkorn, Scarftough and Sam Stacy. Music starts at 8 p.m., with a poetry reading by No Name Reading Series at 5:15 p.m. RSVP here. Can’t make it but wish to donate? Do so here.
https://soundcloud.com/hearnebraska/the-dark-by-evan-bartels-live
Loom 10-year anniversary at House Of Loom: The dance party series celebrates a decade of grooves tomorrow night at House Of Loom. New York DJ Raven Fox joins resident DJ and co-owner Brent Crampton and Keith Rodger aka DJ Kethro. Doors open at 8 p.m., with music from 9 p.m. to close. The cover is $5 until 11 p.m., $8 from then until 2 p.m. RSVP here.
We featured a video interview with Crampton yesterday, in which he discusses loom’s 10 year run. Watch it below:
There are a ton of other events and shows this weekend. Head to our statewide calendar here for a fuller listing. If you do not see your show or one you plan to attend, leave it in the comments, send it to news@hearnebraska.org or add it yourself with the “Contribute” button at the top of the homepage. Happy concertgoing!