Omahype: The Omaha Events Calendar

Written by Will Silvey Simons

Photos and words by Will Silvey Simons

I spent last Saturday night enjoying live music at two Omaha venues. And here’s one thing that was surprising to someone who has spent the last four years covering local music–of the four bands I caught, three of them I’d never seen before. And they were all really good. Amazing!

I starting things off at Slowdown, catching L. Eugene Methe performing his fragile, wavering folk songs accompanied by Brian Poloncic (drums) and Alex Boardman (electric guitar). Methe is a long-established local musician (who spent several recent years in Austin, Texas) and will release an LP on Grapefruit Records later this year.

From left: Boardman, Poloncic, Methe

Next up was Blue Bird. A young band (only their second show) that was full of familiar faces, including Carrie Butler (Eagle Seagull, Beauty In the Beast) and Ian Simons (Thunder Power). They had seven members and played fully orchestrated pop music rooted in Americana and soul. Pretty ambitious but they pulled it off nicely.

Blue Bird @ Slowdown

Things at the Slowdown wrapped up with a set by Ember Schrag (she’s the one I’ve seen before). Apparently she had just finished a 70-date tour (or thereabouts). She seemed like a hardened vet, with a cool, poised control over her guitar and vocals–the latter of which reminded me a bit of Jolie Holland and Hope Sandoval. Good stuff.

Ember Schrag @ Slowdown

After Schrag’s set (she headlined) I hopped over to O’Leaver’s Pub for the tail end of the Hear Nebraska benefit. (HN is a super-sweet website dedicated to the music of Nebraska that’s going to launch later this month.) Yeah anyway I was there just in time for The Answer Team to start. They were LOUD, especially in small O’Leaver’s, and played all-instrumental music in the vein of, say, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You Black Emperor and Mogwai.

The Answer Team @ O'Leaver's