popwreckoning

Omaha’s Landing on the Moon is has taken off on a big year: they just won the preliminary Maha Festival showcase for a spot at the July Omaha fest and they’re preparing their debut for Young Love Records.

The piano rock quintet has been together for six years, and have already gained a popular spot in the hearts of Midwest music fans. The band has also collaborated and participated in other area bands throughout the years (i.e. Little Brazil, Ladyfinger (NE)).

On August 10, 2010, We Make History Now will be released on Young Love Records, the label of Quitzow and Setting Sun. “She Wants” is the first single, which you can check out below. Also, be sure to check them out at the Maha Festival on July 24.

.“She Wants”

It’s old news that a lot of artists and bands aren’t too happy about SB1070. If for some reason you don’t know, SB1070 is the Arizona law aimed at curbing illegal immigration, but many so it’s just promoting racism and profiling.

Many artists such as Stars, Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst and Rage Against the Machine‘s Zach de la Rocha have banned together to boycott touring in the state until this law is repealed. They’ve joined forces with an organization called Sound Strike.

So if you’re a musician and you’re trying to promote a cause, the next logical step is to record songs about it to donate.

So here’s the new news. The first artist to come forth with a new tune is Bright Eyes‘ Conor Oberst (which, in our opinions might as well be Bright Eyes if it isn’t being labeled as “Monsters of Folk” or “Conor Oberst and the Mystical Valley Band” or “Conor Oberst and Insert-Collaboration-Project-Here.”).

The new tune is called “Coyote Song,” which is about two lovers separated by conditions out of their control such as…US-Mexico border laws. Oberst is also influenced by a similar law passed in a Fremont, Nebraska, a town near to his Omaha home.

Here’s an interview with behind-the-scenes footage from a video being filmed for the tune in El Paso, TX:

Conor Oberst for The Sound Strike from Producciones Cimarrón on Vimeo.

Glam rockers A.F.I. are working their way around the country on tour and we’ve got tickets.

PopWreckoning is giving tickets to the A.F.I. show on June 6 at Sokol Auditorium in Omaha, NE. There are three pairs of tickets up for grabs, and the contest will end at 4:30 p.m. CDT, Friday, June 4. Winners’ tickets will be at the door when you arrive at the show. Please also include your full name and email in the comment so that I can get in touch with the winners of the contest.

Winning is easy, simply complete the following steps:

1. Comment in this article with the answer to this question: For what do the letters A.F.I. originally stand? PopWreckoning staff will read your answers and choose from the correct ones the day of show.

2. Repost this article on either your facebook, twitter, myspace, blog, website or other social media tool. Spread the wealth, then send us the link (by posting it in your comment).

Then, best (and easiest) of all, show up at the venue and enjoy the show, compliments of PopWreckoning. Good luck!

Mastodon, a metal band from Atlanta, GA, are working their way around the country on tour alongside Between The Buried And Me, Baroness and Valient Thorr.

PopWreckoning is giving tickets to the Mastodon show on May 15 at Sokol Auditorium in Omaha, NE. There are two pairs of tickets up for grabs, and the contest will end at 4:30 p.m. the day of show. Winners’ tickets will be at the door when you arrive at the show. Please also include your full name and email in the comment so that I can get in touch with the winners of the contest.

Winning is easy, simply complete the following steps:

1. Comment in this article with the answer to this question: Which popular clothing manufacturer is sponsoring Mastodon’s North American tour? PopWreckoning staff will read your answers and choose from the correct ones the day of show.

2. Repost this article on either your facebook, twitter, myspace, blog, website or other social media tool. Spread the wealth, then send us the link (by posting it in your comment).

Then, best (and easiest) of all, show up at the venue and enjoy the show, compliments of PopWreckoning. Good luck!

30 Seconds to Mars’ tour with Neon Trees and Mutemath is a phenomenal tour with edgy, rock anthems. The bands on this tour deliver equally energetic performances with enough variety of a music to make for an entertaining night. I recently caught up to the tour in Omaha, Nebraska at Sokol Auditorium.

Though Neon Trees haven’t been a part of the music world as long as the other bands on the tour, they perform like they’re veterans. The group just released their debut album Habits and performed a fun set with big guitars, big drums and even bigger singalong choruses. The group has the performance energy and sound of a mix of The Killers and Head Automatica.
The group did a great job amping up their crowd. Not only was their music enjoyable, but so was their interaction with the audience. “It’s nice to be back here in Omaha,” said lead singer Tyler Glenn. “I used to live here. Elkhorn to be exact. That’s right, I’m legit,” the audience laughed and cheered at his homage to the small neighboring town.

“Let me see your claws, c’mon, I know you’ve all got a wild side,” Tyler then encouraged the audience before performing the group’s single. A sea of arms shot claw hands into the air, while the audience let out a big roar. Tyler then led the audience through the catchy single, “Animal,” while promenading out in front of the band’s set up on the speakers. The animated singer’s dynamic movements were contagious and got the audience moving along. Though “Animal” was the best known tune of the night, their best performance came on their set closer, “Sins of My Youth.” An extended ending and enhanced instrumental support made this song extra entertaining. When Neon Trees was all said and done, you could still here some audience members begging for more, a well-deserved compliment for a new band.
Neon Trees Set List:
Love and Affection
1983
Animal
In the Next Room
Your Surrender
Sins of My Youth
Mutemath’s music is a bit tamer then Neon Trees, but their set was still as explosive. Anytime you see someone begin their set up ritual by ducktaping headphones to their head, you know you’ll be in for an interseting time. The piano rock group made waves a few years ago with a unique video for their song “Typical,” in which they learned their parts backwards to record the whole thing. Now, while Omaha didn’t get any such reenactment, the band still had several tricks up their sleeves. When a drum stool was knocked over, the problem was resolved by sitting on a drum.

Members played with a freshness that teetered inbetween a reckless abandon—when done with some unidentified noisemaker, they simply tossed it off into the crowd—and controlled skill—some of those piano riffs would make classical composers blush. They stood apart from other touring bands these days by showing a grasp on dynamics lost on many as they swelled up from a soft piano dynamic into the fortes of their choruses. They are one of the more technically advanced bands I’ve had the pleasure of seeing, but as I said earlier, they’re not so caught up in the technical aspects that they lose the spontaneity that makes music fun.
Mutemath Set List:
The Nerve
Armstice
Chaos
The Fight
Spotlight
Reset
Typical
Break
A white curtain shrouded the stage before 30 Seconds to Mars began their set. As the intro music began, the outline of the mohawked lead singer, Jared Leto, appeared with arms outstretched to each side. Then in a swell swoop, his arms swung up above his head and then down, and with their downward movement, the curtain dropped revealing the full band performing “The Escape.” The next 90-minute set was filled with the band’s atmospheric rock anthems. As a band, they’ve improved so much since the last time I saw them over five years. They’ve gotten tighter and more controlled in their performance. As a frontman, Leto seems to have really gotten his act together, although I must question his decision to rock a pink mohawk. As a band, they really seemed to be about their fans this time, a sentiment I didn’t necessarily get the first time I saw them.
Leto began just singing the first few tunes, but donned a guitar for a majority of the set. About midway through the set, the band disappeared leaving Leto alone on stage with guitar as he took audience request. At least he tried to take audience requests, but I think the crowd was a little skeptical, so Leto just played a few through a few songs acoustic. Then 30 Seconds to Mars perhaps played its most bad ass of performances: “Bad Romance” acoustic morphed into “The Kill.” Yes, Leto went a little Gaga. The band returned and they replayed “The Kill” as a full band. It was a fun variation for the middle of a set.

My only disappointment came when Leto announced that this show was “stolen from Kansas City.” I just drove three hours to Omaha for a show that could have been in my town? Alas. You guys owe us KC kids a show.

30 Seconds to Mars Set List (as listed, but not exact order of performance):
Escape
Night of the Hunter
Attack
Vox Populi
From Yesterday
Beautiful Lie
This Is War
Acoustic Set – various songs, including Lady Gaga cover
The Kill
Closer to the Edge
Search and Destroy
Buddah for Mary
Fantasy
///
Kings and Queens

Four white cubes stood in a row against the back wall of Omaha’s newly remodeled.

The sold out venue was packed with people waiting for Brooklyn city’s experimental rock group: Yeasayer.

Originally scheduled opener Sleigh Bells had canceled earlier in the day and while Omaha’s DJ Kobrakyle came to the rescue mixing tunes during the crowd’s wait, audience members shared their Yeasayer stories like they were veterans comparing battles:

“Yeasayer with MGMT at Slowdown? Yeah. I was there. I was one of the lucky ones.”

And if a person wasn’t sharing notes about if and when they saw Yeasayer last, they were busy wondering about those cubes.

Soon, the lights went down, and the giant cubes glowed with light. The front row of the stage was lined with synth stands that also glowed in a matching light. Yeasayer emerged and within moments, multiple members had grabbed mallets and the driving beats got the crowd-dancing.

As a group known for their fun dance numbers, a lot of their appeal rested in the two percussionists in the back row. The big arm movements of those two members were fun to watch and the heart of the band does rest in those big beats, but I was fascinated in watching the front row. I knew Yeasayer had multiple vocalists with different octave ranges that wove in and out of each other, but I never imagined some of the highest-pitched vocals would come out of the band’s tallest member. I have to give their guitarist/keyboardist props on his falsetto work.

My only disappointment with Yeasayer was the few brief moments that Yeasayer talked to the crowd. These moments consisted of awkward dialogue about how encores worked and about an unfortunate smell in the front row. This awkwardly brought the dancing to a jarring halt when the beats should have just carried from one song into the next.

But, I can’t be too disappointed. The set featured all the songs one could want at a Yeasayer show: “Rome,” “Ambling Alp,” “O.N.E.” and plenty more. It was a dance party in the pit that would continue even after Yeasayer’s performance with more djing from Kobrakyle.

Even without Sleigh Bells, this show was great time.
Set List:
The Children
Strange Reunions
Rome
Summer
I Remember
2080
Love Me Girl
Tightrope
O.N.E.
Mondegreen
Madder Red
Ambling Alp
//
2-song encore

Forget what the Bible says about seven deadly sins. There’s really only one deadly sin and that’s not knowing who is Brad Hoshaw. Brad Hoshaw is the front man for Omaha’s indie folk rock group Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies, a group that recent won the title of Omaha’s Artist of the Year as well as earning Album of the Year when up against fellow local act Cursive.

Brad recently spoke with PopWreckoning about his group and life in Omaha. You can read the full interview below:

Bethany, PopWreckoning: How are you?
Brad Hoshaw, Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies: I’m good. How are you?
PW: Good. Just enjoying the warm weather the Midwest is finally good.
BH: Absolutely. Are you in Kansas?
PW: Yeah. Lawrence.
BH: So you’re getting the warm weather, too.
PW: Yep. I lived in Omaha, too, for four years, so I know that it’s usually about the same.
BH: Cool. This weather has been hell. It reminds me of the winters in Minneapolis where it just lasts for way too long.
PW: Did you live there or do you just know that from touring?
BH: I lived up there for three and a half years. Yeah.

PW: Cool. I know you’ve been making music for a long time. How did you get started and decide to pursue a career in music?
BH: It was kind of an assured feeling for me when I was 18. I had been playing since I was 16 and when it came to decide where to go to college, it was just like, “Well, I need to do what I need to do in order to support my love of music.” It wasn’t really a tough decision or anything really to wrestle over. I just knew what I needed to do to pursue whatever would support that.

Photo by John Shartrand

PW: You went to college for three years or that’s when you came to Omaha?
BH: No, I went to Lincoln for a semester in music, but then I realized that wasn’t really teaching me anything that I felt was useful towards my musical direction. They focused a lot on marching and classical music. I was more interested in the composition and the songwriting and lyrical aspects of music, which they didn’t have anything to encourage me that way, so I left after a semester and started doing it on my own.

PW: Eventually you switched from solo artist and you filled out with a band – the Seven Deadlies. How did you come up with the name and were there at one point seven other people in the band with you?
BH: Ha. Yeah. The name is…a lot of people have different ideas about what the name really means. It started out where I had put the band together for a one show only performance and there were nine of us total. I was thinking of something that I could buy each of the band members to commemorate the event and remember what a good time we had. I was thinking about gifts that come in eight or nine and I was doing a lot of research from that. Seven deadly sins kept popping up as some sort of a theme that I could use. I had also read an article on CNN about how the Catholic Church had cleared a new list of seven deadly sins, which was about the same time I was processing this band show. This new list of seven deadly sins was a little more specific to modern things like hurting the environment and causing poverty and things like that. It just all came together. We played our first show just as Brad Hoshaw band and then we decided to play some more. I threw out name ideas and they liked the idea of the Seven Deadly Sins, but didn’t want it to be that dark and broody, so Seven Deadlies was what we kind of settled on.

PW: Having this initial start with more people in the band, is that how you got…on a lot of your songs, I’m hearing female harmonies. Are those guest spots or was there a female in the band at some point. Yeah, there was a female at some point named Eliza Webb. She and Adam Hawkins, who is the lead singer of a band called It’s True, were my background singers. I had two people that just did background vocals live in concert. Then I had mandolin, keyboards and trumpet and a few other people that would just play on certain songs, but didn’t play every song. It was just about six, eight months ago that I scaled it down to a four-piece. The harmonies are done by the drummer and bass player. The key parts are covered by different people. It’s easier to tour that way and make everybody happy.
PW: Definitely. I know there’s another Omaha band, Midwest Dilemma, and they have so many people, it seems like anytime they go on tour they’re billed as Midwest Dilemma – in some form.
BH: Haha. Yeah. I can’t imagine trying to make everybody happy in that band. There are so many different personalities in that band. It’s an impossible feat to keep everybody together on the road.

PW: I know recently you were honored with three awards at the Omaha Entertainment Awards including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. What was your reaction like to be picked as the best of the best in Omaha when up against artists like Cursive?
BH: Oh man. Cursive is one of my favorite bands ever. That was really cool. It was kind of a little weight off my shoulders. I did put a lot of work in that year and to be able to have somebody say, yeah, we recognize that and your work, your effort was well spent, and what you did actually maters and people noticed…that was the biggest compliment. Not necessarily that people can compare music and say that one song was better than another, that doesn’t matter to me, but that people recognize all the hard work that I put in.

PW: Great. I also read somewhere that on this last particular album, the one that won you Album of the Year, a lot of reviews said you broke out of the “Omaha sound.” Is there something you’d call the Omaha sound and is it something you’re conscious of while songwriting?
BH: It’s definitely been stated by people outside of Omaha that there’s a distinct Omaha sound, but being in the midst of it, I’d say that’s it’s hard to think that way. I know so many musicians and the diversity of the bands is pretty extreme. I can play with Midwest Dilemma and Cursive and Bright Eyes all on the same stage, but our music is all very different from each other. We’re all about the same age and all in the same city, but saying there’s an Omaha sound or that we all sound alike, it’s…I don’t know, it’s kind of ridiculous to me. There’s definitely a lot of people that think that we sound like a bunch of farm boys making indie rock music. I don’t know. At some point, I’m conscious of what other people think, but as I get older it’s just me making music, regardless of what other people think. I don’t worry too much about how I’ll be labeled.

PW: Ok, a few fun things for the last few questions. If you could put together a dream tour, living or dead, who would be on the billing with you?
BH: Oh man. My favorite parts of touring are just hearing the other people perform. I would love to be able to tour with Johnny Cash and Jeff Buckley. I think those two—aside from their performances—I think that there’d be some good conversations and good hangs before and after the shows.

PW: Great answer. Now, if somebody were visiting Omaha, aside from catching you in a hometown show, what would you recommend that they do there?
BH: Man, I think my favorite thing to do is the diners and the thrift stores. Hit those and you’ll find a lot of the character of the city.
PW: What are your favorite diners? Like Leavenworth or Dixie Quicks.
BH: My favorite right now is Leo’s Diner. It’s right in Benson where all the music venues are. That’s a good diner. Then the Radial. Lisa’s Radial Café is a good one.

PW: It is. I’ve been there. Finally, is there anything that you want people to know about your band, while you have this forum to share?
BH: I think the band is pretty transparent and if anybody thinks that we’re trying to be anything, that’s the one thing they need to know. We’re just going to write the songs that we know and perform them the way that we feel at that time and just hopefully we’ll be a relevant, genuine band for many years to come, regardless of what genres we’ve been looped into or the subject matters we’re singing about. We’ll just keep doing everything that we’re doing from our hearts and hopefully people will connect with that.
PW: Sounds great. That’s all I have. Thanks so much.
BH: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me.

This was my first time seeing Weatherbox perform so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a late show at the Jackpot in Lawrence Kansas which made for a small and intimate setting.

The two openers were local Lawrence acts: Second Star Operator and From Quiet Arms.

I had never seen Second Star Operator before, and I was fairly impressed by them. The vocals were definitely there and several of their songs seemed to have a great hook. I look forward to seeing them again and would be anxious to hear what they would sound like if they were to go in-studio.

Next up was From Quiet Arms, which I have seen from time to time over the past few years. This band has always had great stage presence and has definitely maintained a consistent sound. They have continued to grow, both musically and professionally as musicians and as any band should strive to do, is improve and grow along the way. These guys like to go all out and try to bring anything they would do in studio onto the stage, this time with a lot more harmonizing vocals that I am used to hearing from them which I enjoyed quite a bit.

For the show being on a Tuesday, during a KU basketball game there was a decent amount of people out at the show. I noticed a lot of fans and friends of the local acts coming out to support and sing along with their friends and soon after the secnd band, From Quiet Arms performed the venue began to dissipate. Soon a new crowd of people came forward just as Weatherbox was getting ready to perform and the local crowd seemed to either leave or be hanging out towards the back of the venue at tables.

Weatherbox’s set started off by three or four solo songs by singer, Brian Warren just him and his guitar. His songs were all raw/acoustic in style- besides the fact that it was played on clean electric- but I definitely enjoyed his set. The rest of the band stood in the audience as he performed, which is part of the experience going to a show at such a small venue- the opportunity to interact with the bands.

The rest of the band joined Warren on stage as they kicked up the pace. After the first song with the full band the crowd in front of the stage began to thicken as local scene kids and the guys from Second Star Operator and From Quiet Arms trickled back in. The show definitely had an obvious separation of fans. There were those who were initially there for the local acts and those who came up later strictly for the headliner (not unheard of). There was several people right up in the front that were dancing and singing along the entire time while towards the back were those, like myself, hearing this band for the first time.

A few songs into their full band set they stopped playing and a mix of smiles were shared by the guys on stage. They revealed to the crowd that they had just acquired a new bassist (Landon Hedges of Omaha’s Little Brazil), and by ‘just’ they meant only hours before the show. I was not sure if that was an exaggeration or not but thought it was interesting. Pretty impressive if it was the truth, that this new bassist learned their whole set just before the show. They got ready to start the song back from the chorus when someone from the crowed yelled out “START FROM THE BEGINNING.” This motion was backed up by the rest of the audience, and not daring to disagree, Weatherbox started the song over again.

I hope that those in the crowd who, like me, were seeing this band for the first time were as taken with the band as myself and will make their way to see them again. They were excellent performers and enjoyed their entire set. As for the new bassist story, pretty impressive feat if he did learn that quickly.

Learn more about the Nebraska foursome Cursive and life on the road in this backstage interview with Kacie Faye.

Saddle Creek artist Orenda Fink had been going to Haiti since 2003. Her time there inspired her to do art shows and write music. Her debut album Invisible Ones is directly attributed to her travels there.

In the aftermath of the tragic earthquake, Orenda has shared her thoughts on the country that she has formed a special bond to on her web site.

“Despite my profound sadness, what I also need to share with you is my abiding belief in the love, wisdom, beauty and magic that lies (often undiscovered) in this much maligned country,” writes Orenda. “They have never needed us more than at this moment in time and history.”

In addition, Orenda and Saddle Creek are offering Invisible Ones for free download for the rest of the month. This debut album even draws its title from Orenda’s trips to the impoverished county. They offer this download in hopes that it will inspire others to donate to the relief effort.

To download the album, see how to help and to read her full blog go here.