Quickness - uh, I'm going to St. Louis right now to see Radiohead, if you're going to M.I.A. in Lawrence tonight, please let us know how it goes - tomorrow will officially be out of town hype day! See you in a few! - Andrew

As the rest of the internet (Tim with the heads up on the lazy-i comment board...) found out while I was at work yesterday, the Faint are officially releasing their next record, Fasciinatiion on their own brand new label named blank.wav on August 5th. First off, obviously the Faint will not continue releasing records on Saddle Creek, which is a bit of a bummer just from a nostalgia standpoint. Otherwise, blank.wav is just another exciting Omaha label as far as I'm concerned, plus the fact that blank.wav is probably the best name for a label I've ever heard. Maybe they'll help put out my synth-pop debut in 2009. Second off, and overlooked in the "oh no! It's true! No more SC!" hoopla, uh, the Faint are releasing a new record on August 5th! Excitingly, it was all recorded and produced by the band themselves at their brand new studio. They're touring this summer, starting on July 27 in Des Moines and wrapping up in a little town called Omaha on August 23rd. Wouldn't it be really cool is if there was maybe something in town before the album comes out? Maybe dudes need to change their schedule a little bit...

Links! Egoccentric has an interview with Jacob from the Faint about the new record and label. Here is the billboard link with some PR on the subject, even though it calls blank.wav an imprint. Those crazy boys at SecretPenguin have been working on a new official site for the band, too, full site coming soon. Oh, and here are some very poor quality youtubes of a couple new songs!

The Faint - Get Seduced (horrible quality live youtube)
The Faint - Forever Growing Centipedes (atrocious quailty live youtube, recorded at Sokol last summer)

There used to be a good quality version of 'The Geeks Were Right' somewhere too, but it seems to have been taken down. It's nice to finally know something concrete about what is coming out, and really August 5th isn't that far away, right? Can't wait. - Andrew

Opening is for Laura Veirs tonight is Liam Finn, who is by all accounts an amazing live performer - tons self looping and strange looking instruments with Liam basically playing just about everything live and looping it... sounds like something that shouldn't be missed. A very nice interview by Mr. Aponick in the CW this week >>click it<<, and also, word on the street is that Mr. Finn will be playing a Homers instore at 3pm at the Old Market Homers, which will be free and undoubtably sweet. You should check it out.

It's surprising to me that Laura Veirs isn't a bigger deal nationwide than she is. Her voice and guitar skills are great, and she is an awesome songwriter. And a female. What else are they looking for? She's on Nonesuch, which is owned by Warner Bros, I think... Shouldn't she be huge? Regardless, I'm quite familiar with her latest two records, Year of Meteors and Saltbreakers, and I like them quite a bit. 'Cast a Hook' is an absolute fave, check out a few mp3s down at the bottom and check the show out tonight. 9pm $10, and you know what? I bet your Mom would just love it if you would take her to this show with you. All she wants is to be involved in your life, guys. She loves you and if you don't at the very least call her today then you're just a horrible person. Write her a letter this week. Shoot, make her a mix CD of stuff she'd like, just remember to include a Rod Stewart song to keep her listening. Moms rule, just ask your Dad *wink wink* - Andrew

Laura Veirs - Cast A Hook In Me
Laura Veirs - Galaxies
Laura Veirs - Where Gravity Is Dead

Yeah, I know. We've seen these bands like a hundred times, right? Well, I see it as a perk of the "job" that we're doing here at Omahype. We were able to see these bands in their infancy, so to say, and watch them grow up into the acts we know today. From the improved dynamics of Honeybee and Melissa's vocals to Joey Bonacci of Hyannis transforming from being the shy kid on the right to a stage-roaming, face-melting soloist to Spring Gun looking and playing like career musicians, you knew they'd learned a thing or two in the year or so since we'd first seen them.

I'd say there were just over 100 people at the Slowdown when Honeybee started. Most of the tables were filled with content listeners and I quickly joined them. Honeybee effortlessly went through most of their songs, including favorite "Knees." It sounded like the band had a few new tricks up their sleeve as there were many new elements to old, familiar tunes. Aside from what was already mentioned, the most evident were some new drum flares from drummer Cody Peterson. Perhaps these little changes can be attributed to tutelage from producer Darren Keen. Hopefully, we can get some evidence on record (quite literally!) here soon.

A younger crowd began to gather to meet Hyannis as they stepped onto the stage. They played most of the songs found on their Coco-Art released self-titled EP, but also introduced a couple new songs that were a little bit more guitar-driven than the poppier ones found on the CD. A little weird to admit, but for me the bass lines really stuck out (in a good way) in the new songs. As Tony B would be the first to admit, the vocals do need some work. But if that's the last thing that needs tweaking, they are definitely on the right track.

Adorned in slacks and ties (and sandals?!?), Spring Gun made a very formal return to the stage. Going into the show, you had to wonder how they were going to sound; they haven't played for awhile, there was a guest guitarist (UUVVWWZ's Jim Schroeder) and their lead guitarist had a skin graft! Fears were abolished halfway through the first song. Old favorite "West" was played, as was new hotness "Saints." I mark out everytime I hear the opening riff to the latter. Although I miss the spectacle that was the two-drummer set-up, their new permanant drummer can more than handle the workload. Thankfully, most of the crowd stayed through till the end and, from what I overheard, earned Spring Gun some new fans. - Ian

Chicago’s John Bellows is back in town tonight, playing at Sokol Underground. I missed him last time, but the stuff on his myspace is freaking insane and pretty great. One of the flat out best bands in Omaha, Outlaw Con Bandana will be playing in the middle, anytime you can catch them is a treat. There are always rumblings of a new Outlaw record coming soon, but nothing ever seems to happen. A shame, because 06’s Life Without Outlaw was phenomenal. Opening is Sam Martin of Capgun Coup fame doing a set of solo songs. His I’m Drinkin This tape release Love… or a Bunch of Shit? is a very interesting and sometimes very intense 25 minutes. I love it, well worth your $3. PLUS maybe even another touring band? Can't go wrong, show is at 9pm for a measly $5 and it’s always nice to drop into the Underground every once in awhile and remember what things used to be like.

Also, a special Simon Joyner house show is happening, he’ll be playing the Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll straight through in celebration of the re-release on Team Love (buy it, trust me). A once in a lifetime performance of an amazing record, if you’re a Simon fan you probably already know about this, but there are a few more details on his myspace… – Andrew

Tonight brings a pretty great local lineup to Slowdown – Spring Gun, Honeybee, Hyannis. Hyannis is probably playing first, listen for super-crisp sounding guitar parts and catchy pop songs. We’ve talked at length about Honeybee over the past whatever, and I’m excited over the mere thought of an eventual debut EP or LP or something (ASAP, please). I think they’ve moved beyond the simple “wow this could be a really good band” band to a full on “you should go see this band” band. I’ve said it before, you should check out the full band version of ‘Knees’ on their myspace. I wish I had the mp3 to post… As far as bands you should see go, well hey, it’s Spring Gun! Back from their “oh Micah has to get married blah blah blah” little break, and I’m quite excited to see them. The fact that the demos for their upcoming LP are better than their EP bodes well for this extra excitable blog nerd. Oh you don’t believe me? Check ‘Saints’ and ‘Buried’ below. Hopefully it’s really loud and Andy just wrecks your face on guitar. 9pm $5

Spring Gun – Saints
Spring Gun – Buried

Happening in Lincoln is a pretty nice lineup at the Box Awesome – Themes, Mucho Gut, Bryce Midas, Little Brazil, and Black Hundreds. I have no clue on the order, because every time I think I have a clue on the order at the Box Awesome I’m totally wrong. If you’re in the capital tonight, you should definitely check this show out, Little Brazil is almost always entertaining live. PLUS, Black Hundreds. All I had really heard of these fellas was what is on their myspace, although I’ve seen them on tons of Lincoln bills. They sound a bit like a bunch of bands I love – BJM (prior to Anton having to live down DiG!), Spacemen 3, a little BRMC, a little Black Angels. If I was to pigeon-hole them into some lame standard genre, they’re trippy psych unlike just about anything else happening around here. Through some sort of miracle, ‘Imaginary Numbers’ landed in our inbox when we were on vacation. I’ve totally slacked on emails lately, but trust it’s something you should hear, just another band worth getting excited about. 9pm $5?

Black Hundreds – Imaginary Numbers

Or you can just head over to O'Leavers and see garage rock worldwide superstars Brimstone Howl, 930 $5

ALSO I wanted to drop a heads up on a few other shows happening this weekend. I’m not sure how much time I’ll get on here so I thought I should mention them now. Tomorrow (Saturday) has what should be a great show happening at SOKOL UNDERGROUND, yes our old home court, Sokol Underground. The bill is John Bellows headlining (who, according to seemingly everyone who was there, put on a classic show at Hotel Frank last year) along with the always amazing and Thurston Moore approved Outlaw Con Bandana, plus a solo set from Capgun Coup’s Sam Martin. Sunday has a Liam Finn instore at the Old Market Homers at 3pm, before he opens for the super lovely Laura Veirs at Slowdown later that night. I plan on getting some mp3s up for both of these shows, but in case I’m busy/slacking, consider this fair warning on a few you should flat out not miss. – Andrew

Here is our friend Travis with a review of a show he went to Wednesday night… in Kansas City. Something we’re looking to do here at the site is feature more stuff from someone other than Ian or I, plus maybe even stuff from places within driving distance – Lincoln, KC, Lawrence, you know the drill. If you’re from around, or drive all over to see shows (Josh!), or if you just think I’m an asshole, let us know! Send us reviews or something! Depending on how packed the schedule is here in town, the plan is to drive all over the Midwest this summer to see cool bands so let me know if you have a couch we can crash on.

Anyway, thanks to Trav for this Kathleen Edwards review, I would have went to this show with him had I not had to work till after 10 (yes, this is the same reason I missed Fourth of July). No thanks for making me capitalize everything, but no big deal! Travis promise he isn’t a PR guy for Kathleen, and I’ll buy it since I’m not officially a PR guy for Cut Copy/Times New Viking/Baby Walrus/Capgun Coup/any other band I’m a huge nerd for. Also, this bar sounds amazing. – Andrew

Knuckleheads Saloon is a little dive (biker? roadhouse?) bar in the industrial area next to downtown Kansas City, just on the other side of the Missouri Rrver and quite literally on the wrong side of the tracks. if it weren't for the helpful arrows pointing the way, you'd never find it, mapquest or no. some of its’ charming features include:

-logo featuring Larry, Moe and Curly on Harleys
-lighting provided solely by 20+ neon beer signs
-lockers for rent to protect your valuables (note: don't bring valuables)
-urinals fashioned out of rectangular plastic buckets filled with ice
-video message board letting you know that if you have one too many coronas, they'll "drive your drunk ass home"
-gift shop directly behind the stage (???)
-ambiance provided by trains that go by at regular intervals on the tracks probably 10 feet away from the building

It's the kind of place that 85 year old blues singers with names like 'Magic Slim' still play when they venture out of Memphis. Needless to say, you should print out a schedule immediately and find a reason to make the trip down there.

The reason for my maiden (solo!) voyage to Knuckleheads was to see one of my absolute favorite artists, Kathleen Edwards. She plays mostly country music, but not to fear, she doesn't fit into the 'modern country' mold of a Toby Keith or any of that garbage they play on CMT. She's more descended from the old school, Johnny Cash/Steve Earle branch of the country music family tree. She's equally comfortable and adept at writing both personal, heartfelt first person lyrics as well as stepping into someone else's shoes and telling stories from their perspective. The music itself is a nice mix of quiet ballads and all out-rockers, with the occasional stab at mainstream country.

Opening for Kathleen was the band Last Town Chorus, out of New York City. Which it turns out was really just lead singer Megan, who played lap steel guitar and sang while her band played in a box that sat on a chair beside her. She was funny and engaging, her music not so much. apparently her band is best known for a bowie cover that served both as the soundtrack to a heart-attack scene in Grey's Anatomy, and also as the promotional material for one of the many made-for-cable docudramas about the death of Princess Diana, both of which, she joked, had earned her "dozens of dollars". She also gave out free bookmarks to encourage the kids to stay in school, saying she doesn't recommend playing music and touring to support yourself, because while she enjoys the 45 minutes a day she's on stage, the rest of the time on tour is spent in "sheer terror".

Kathleen and her band started with the unbelievable 1-2 punch of personal faves 'In State' and ‘What are You Waiting For?' from her sophomore album Back to Me, which seemed to be the album the crowd knew best. She played 4 or 5 songs from both it and her debut album Failer, as well as playing her new album Asking For Flowers almost in its entirety. I can't recommend enough picking up any or all three of them.

The crowd was pretty sparse at first, maybe 50 people, everyone seated, appreciative but not rowdy, but that didn't last long. As more and more people poured through the entrance, the crowd got bolder, and about halfway through the set, new rocker 'Oil Man's War' caused spontaneous middle-aged dancing at the front of the stage. By the end of the night, during encore finale 'Back To Me', the entire crowd of 150+ was on their feet, the front of the stage was nothing but couples dancing wedding dance style, and the energy level had shot through the roof.

So while I'm aware that I use the word 'amazing' so often it's absolutely lost its meaning, don't let my limited vocabulary or the country music tag scare you off. Kathleen Edwards is an AMAZING songwriter and performer. Check out her myspace or website to sample some songs. I guarantee you'll fall in love. - Travis

Tonight brings a couple great shows to town, the first being Mark Eitzel and American Music Club. AMC took basically ten years off when Mark did some solo stuff, but have released a couple post "reunion" records on Merge that are just as good as their old stuff. Should be pretty good, opening is the Third Men and Brad Hoshaw, who has a ton of folks helping him out tonight. Show is at 9pm, $10.

Also happening is Ra-Ra-Riot and the Little Ones at the Slowdown. I've heard barely anything from Ra-Ra-Riot, but what I've heard from the Little Ones is pretty good. I know that doesn't sound like too much of a vote of confidence, but luckily for everyone, one of our favorite bands is opening - Fourth of July from Lawrence. On the Plains was one of my favorite records from 2007, and I've seen them a few times this year where they played some totally rad new songs. They're always great live, so make sure you're there on time to see them. No, seriously, if you've read this site for very long then you know how much we dig this band, you really need to check them out. 9pm $10. - Andrew

Fourth of July - Long Gone
Fourth of July - The Faint
Fourth of July - She's in Love

So, obviously I was pretty stoked for this show. I caught a few songs from the opening band, Mobius Band, but I honestly don't remember anything except for the drummer's mustache. Which was nice. Otherwise, I kind of did some people watching, because while there was a pretty nice turnout, it was not the indie rock kids I was expecting - it was a nice mix of dance kids and just mostly folks I don't see at every other concert. This was a good thing, evidenced by everyone crowding forward to see the Black Kids. They've been hyped to the skies on the internet, but I'm having a hard time finding them anything more than slightly entertaining. A few catchy songs, and the dude sounds like Robert Smith, and I counted two pretty ok guitar solos, but I just kind of find them boring. The crowd seemed to eat it up, and for a minute I was scared that my heroes were going to get Omaha'd a bit...

No dice. Up next, dance pop geniuses, Cut Copy. No need to worry, they opened with 'Out There on the Ice' and had the crowd jumping and dancing already. They drew most of the setlist from 2008's amazing In Ghost Colours but played some classics from (modern classic!) Bright Like Neon Love, obviously 'Time Stands Still', but to my great pleasure, they did 'Saturdays' too. Sadly, it was missing the "dialing phone" sample, but it was still great. They had nearly the entire crowd (turnout of what, 150ish? Pretty ok, I thought.) jumping and dancing for singles 'Lights and Music' and closer 'Hearts on Fire'. They do a lot of crowd build-up with countdowns and arm raising, but it works out well and doesn't come off as cheesy as that sounds. They play more stuff live than I originally anticipated, from slapping keys on a box of samples to live keyboards and live guitar and bass on nearly every song, they were more indie rawk than dance band, but they straddled the line pretty well. To be honest, it's probably hard to get a worthwhile opinion about this show out of me, I'm such a mark for the band, but I thought it was (standby adjective...) awesome. If you were there, tell us what you thought! - Andrew

edit: Apologies, this has been sitting in word all day and I guess I didn't post it? I am not good at computering.

I've only mentioned this show a million times over the past few months (in fact, last week I accidentally said it was on Tuesday. I'm the worst with dates). It should be great. I saw most of the Black Kids' set at Coachella and I'm not a huge fan, but half of that might be standing way too far away. They should be pretty entertaining up close, and shoot you can't miss on a super blog hyped indie pop band, right? As far as Cut Copy go, In Ghost Colours is one of my favorite albums over the past few months, really I've listened to it maybe entirely too much. Bright Like Neon Love is a flat out modern classic. I doubt these Australian's will get anything near the insane jumping and dancing crowd response like they got in the desert last week, but I really think this is a show you should catch and maybe Omaha folks will go nuts! One obvious problem, I know - $15. It's a bit outrageous and it sucks if you're poor (*raises hand*) but I think it'll be a fun one. Come on out! 9pm, $15, Mobius Band plays before Black Kids and Cut Copy. Happy Cinco de Mayo! - Andrew

Cut Copy - Feel The Love
Cut Copy - Saturdays
Cut Copy - Unforgettable Season
Cut Copy - Time Stands Still
Cut Copy - Lights and Music

Good news guys, Mt Fuji's the Cops AND our own local Mt Fuji dudes Little Brazil are playing at Slowdown tonight! It's only $8, seems like a good deal right? OH PLUS CRITERIA IS PLAYING for like the first time in 100 years. You might want to go ahead and buy tickets because I would assume this will be a mad house and you might be in trouble if you show up too late. 9pm $8, the return of a Saddle Creek rock band and a couple awesome live acts, should be a classic. - Andrew

KIDS DON'T FORGET YOU'RE GONNA NEED YOUR PERMISSION SLIPS TO GET INTO THESE SHOWS AT THE WAITING ROOM AND SLOWDOWN FROM NOW ON. Download this and go get it signed by your mom and a notary. I know it's a pain in the ass but it's better than not going to shows, right? Take your parents to the Waiting Room and the Slowdown sometime (the Slowdown has an open house on Saturday just for this reason) and let them see that these aren't the pits of evil.

ANYWAY, tonight at the Waiting Room is Merge Records recording artist, Destroyer, aka Dan Bejar, who is also in Hello Blue Roses and a little band known as the New Pornographers. His latest under the Destroyer moniker is Trouble in Dreams, and it was good. 2006's Rubies has kind of been seen as his masterpiece, and it's really good, but I've always had a soft spot for Your Blues, because it was the first Destroyer record I heard. Below are a few of my favorite Bejar songs, including the amazing 9 minute 'Rubies' and my number one overall Destroyer song, 'It's Gonna Take an Airplane'. Goddamn this should be an amazing show, and I'm pretty stunned that it's not sold out at this point. Also playing is Toronto's Andre Ethier and Omaha's Mal Madrigal. I've got some great Mal Madrigal news for you folks who haven't gotten your hands on either of 2007's amazing LPs, they've got them back in stock (and are available at the Antiquarium right now, jerks) so make sure to get your hands on them at the show. Even if you don't have a turntable, you'll get the beautiful 180 gram LPs plus CDRs too. Highly recommended. This show starts at 9pm, $12 is a steal.

Destroyer - It's Gonna Take an Airplane
New Pornographers - Ballad Of A Comeback Kid
Destroyer - Foam Hands
Destroyer - Priest's Knees
Destroyer - Rubies

Now you're saying to yourself, man, I'm way too tough to be seeing a lame dude like Dan Bejar tonight, I wanna kick some ass instead. Ok, well then guess what? At everyone's current favorite "fuck this bar" bar, the Saddle Creek Bar, is the Shanks and the Terminals (anyone seen the Terminals lately? Seems like it's been forever...) and the show is freaking FREE. 9pm, and guess what? You better be 21!! No permission slips here!!

Also happening is a killer Speed! show at Slowdown, Domestica bring their loud version of mom and dad rock back to town from the capital city, and bring the Monroes and the Sleepover for the ride. This should be fun, it'll be on the small stage in the front for a measly $6, show at 9.

OH WTF MORE GOOD STUFF. Bazooka Shootout @ O'Leavers, with the Voodoo Organist, who by all accounts is a legendary live show. O'Leavs, 930, $5.

ALSO TONIGHT. This is really the one I'm bummed I won't be attending - Steve Earle at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln. Dude is a legend and someone I heard a lot growing up. If you're from rural Nebraska I'd hope you know every word to 'Copperhead Road' and unironically love it as much as I do. The Rococo should be a great place to see him, tickets are $25 and the show starts at 8. Also in Lincoln, Son Ambulance plays at Box Awesome, 9pm $whoknows.

I'd say we're definitely back in the thick of things. Oh Omaha Nebraska, you always treat me so nice. (kind of) Glad to be back. See you kids tonight, if you're not at something then I'm just gonna assume you're not that into live music, and that you might not even be worth knowing. :)... of course depending on the Celtics game I might not even leave my apartment tonight, so I guess I'll see you if I see you, and if I'm not around, trust you don't want to hang out with me anyway. - Andrew