Icky Blossoms at Earth Day in Elmwood Park, April 22, 2017. Earth Day in Elmwood happens again this Saturday, but sadly without the Icky’s… By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com Storm warnings this weekend – keep your head on a swivel and your car in the garage!  Tonight our old friends The Filter Kings bring their shit-kicking country rock to the Reverb Lounge stage. Drop on by and check out Lee and the boys, and don’t forget your cowboy boots (and hat!). Omaha rockers Garst opens at 9 p.m.  The twang continues at Reverb Saturday night when so-called “insurgent country” artist William Elliot ..read more

Sheer Mag at Reverb Lounge, March 24, 2024. By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com Philly band Sheer Mag played a red-hot set last night in front of a crowd of about 30 at Reverb Lounge. A personal favorite since their 2017 debut album Need to Feel Your Love, sharp-eyed, long-time Lazy-i readers will remember “Expect the Bayonet” from the Lazy-i Best of 2017 compliation. Sadly, the band didn’t play “…Bayonet” last night, but did play that album’s unbelievably groovy title track linked below this review (be patient and get past the song’s odd southern rock intro). I’ve never been able to quite put my finge ..read more

Sheer Mag play tonight at Reverb Lounge. By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com Former Nebraskan now New Yorker, Stathi, dropped a note the other day to say he’s got a new track out called “Chasing Dreams, Chasing Time.” You can find it here on Bandcamp.  Stathi also recently opened for Conor Oberst at Bowery Ballroom during his sold-out NYC Residency, night one. “Very cool experience! I played a few songs in his band during this set as well on keys and vocals,” Stathi said.  Like its Los Angeles version, the weekly New York City residency, called Conor Oberst and Friends, has had a plethora of ..read more

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com In February when the Maha Music Festival announced it was 86-ing this year’s festival, it felt like another symptom of the slow death of indie music here in River City. Maha is/was the last reflection of a time when Omaha was a magnet for up-and-coming touring indie bands. And now even that festival was gone (for now?). Then last week Grrrl Camp Festival announced its 2024 line-up and, by god, they’ve managed to out-Maha Maha in terms of up-and-coming touring indie bands. While no rules govern Grrrl Camp booking, there’s little doubt that the festival is a celebrati ..read more

Indigo Girls circa the ’90s. The duo plays at The Astro tonight. By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com I was sitting on the side of a grassy hill somewhere in Philadelphia circa 1991 the last time I saw the Indigo Girls. It was shortly after the release of their breakthrough self-titled album – a record that carved their name into the zeitgeist of ‘90s pop culture and continues to be popular thanks to the film “Barbie” that used the track “Closer to Fine” in its soundtrack. It’s hard to underscore the album’s impact when it was first released, placing Indigo Girls alongside artists like Tracy Chapman, 1 ..read more

Urban Heat play with Twin Tribes Sunday night at Reverb Lounge. By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com Here we go: Tonight at The Sydney, Lincoln slam-bash noise-rock trio Dip Tet headlines a rock show. Joining them is newish noise-rock trio In Tongues, a band that features long-time LinOma indie-punk veterans Robert Little, Jason Ludwick and Boz Hicks. Opening the evening is Radical Sabbatical, who I don’t know, but maybe you do (or maybe you should)? $10, 9 p.m. 10 Dime Bags Don't Cost $1 by Dip Tet Moving on to Saturday, it’ll be another red-hot night at fabulous O’Leaver’s for practically a mini ..read more

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com I’ve been digging through old photos lately (and will be doing a lot more in the future), and pulled a couple in honor of Throwback Thursday. The top image was taken at The Slowdown Nov. 4, 2007. Stars was the band performing on stage. Shortly after The Slowdown opened that year, they installed this crazy sculpture in the rafters of the main room made out of (what I thought was) large plastic paint buckets (see top of photo). I thought it was a super-cool addition to the club, and would have loved if they kept it up there, but after a few months, it disappeared.&nbs ..read more

The Faint at Sokol Auditorium June 12, 2014, during the original Doom Abuse tour. By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com Conor Oberst’s first record label, Saddle Creek Records, yesterday announced that it’s releasing a digital-only “Deluxe Edition” of The Faint’s 2014 album Doom Abuse. This edition includes tracks from the “Evil Voices” 12-inch which have never been available digitally. If you go to the Saddle Creek page, you’ll see the track listings organized as Disc One and Disc Two, which makes it sound like it’ll be available as a Compact Disc, but no option for ordering a CD is available. No such o ..read more

The Felice Brothers, Valley of Abandoned Songs, to be released June 28 on Million Stars Records. By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com The first I heard of Conor Oberst’s new record label came via a press release with the headline: “The Felice Brothers Sign to Conor Oberst’s New Record Label Million Stars.” Wait, what? New record label? Isn’t Bright Eyes (and Conor Oberst) signed to Dead Oceans?  In the press release, Conor explained: “I first encountered the Felice Brothers in 2007 after being given some of their music by a friend. I liked it a lot, but there was something I couldn’t put my finger ..read more

Petfest just announced their 2024 lineup for the Aug. 17 event. by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com Petfest has the honor of being Omaha’s most-eclectic one-day festival, featuring mostly local indie acts and singer/songwriters. Held on the red-carpeted loose-rock parking lot behind Petshop Gallery in the heart of Benson, this year’s festival, slated for Aug. 17, will be no exception. Unless my eyes deceive me (very possible) this year’s line-up is almost all Nebraska acts, though there are a couple names I don’t recognize. The 21-act list as of this morning: – Problems – Dance Me Pregnant  – Ebb ..read more