Omahype: The Omaha Events Calendar

Written by Jeremy Stanosheck

Despite the difficult weather and related driving conditions last Thursday, I managed to make it down to Slowdown around 9:40 p.m. for the sold-out Slowdown Virginia show. When I made my way past the bar, which was packed, I walked down on the floor to catch the first Polecat song of the night. The three members, Ted Stevens, Oliver Blaha and Boz Hicks, were blazing through a song, sounding loud and fine-tuned. Since their breakup, roughly around the same time as Slowdown Virginia’s in 1995, they seemed like they hadn’t skipped a beat.

The video montage that played behind Polecat was striking and diverted my attention for most of their set. The video collage summed up a feeling of growing up in the mid-1990s. The video was shot from a hand-held VHS camera, scratchy at times and filmed while driving. The footage looked like Lincoln and Omaha city streets but also had scenes from a high school couples dance. The video complemented Polecat and added to the overall feel of their set. This familiarity rang through the night at Slowdown. Whether it was seeing a familiar face from years back, or the music and the video montage, I started to feel that a warm night of nostalgia was in the works.

After Polecat finished I had the opportunity to catch up with old friends and a finally grab a drink while waiting for Slowdown Virginia to take the stage. Finally, after a long intermission, Slowdown Virginia walked out and began to play, launching into “Whipping Stick” off the Dead Space album. The state-of-the-art sound system of the club made the band sound better than they ever had in past shows, where presumably they played at venues with no more than a PA. The highlight of the night was hearing the song “C.B.” off the Apollo’s Salvage compilation, which was the last Slowdown Virginia song recorded and released. The song is pop-like and very catchy, but also their most Cursive-like, in my opinion.

Slowdown Virginia's Tim Kasher. Photo by Daniel Muller

Slowdown Virginia and Polecat gave you a taste of what it was like to be growing up 15 years ago. However, they didn’t alienate anyone, they just showed you what it was like, which was not too different from the decade before or the decade after for that matter. To drive this point home Slowdown Virginia ended the show with an encore cover of Twisted Sister’s ’80s classic “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Later, to no one’s surprise, Slowdown Virginia finished with the Dead Space album opener “Supernova ’75.” It was good to see a reunion of friends play the music that helped start their musical careers, whether as in bands or as individuals, respectively. More importantly, it was better to see how much fun they had doing it.

-Jeremy Stanosheck

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Here’s another take on the show from Lazy-i.com, plus some more photos from Daniel Muller.