Remember that column where I asked 'Where are all the new bands going to come from?' (read it here, if you missed it)? Well, two new promising bands are making their debuts this week.

Tonight at O'Leaver's is the debut of Thunder Power, a supergroup of sorts consisting of members of Life After Laserdisque, Watch the Stereo and the Davenports, specifically Matt Hutton, vocals, guitar; Jason Koba, synth, vocals; Ian Simons, sax; squeeze box; Brendan Walsh, drums; and Will Simons, clarinet. Their myspace is here. With Pontiak and The Pistol Brothers.$5, 9 p.m.

Then tomorrow night at The Dubliner is the unveiling of Black Squirrels, consisting of two former Dark Town House Band employees -- Kat Smith, vocals/guitar and Kate Williams, accordion/vocals/keyboards -- and former Fizzle Like a Flood-ers Travis Sing, bass/vocals and Doug Kabourek on drums. Check out their myspace at www.myspace.com/blacksquirrelsomaha. The Squirrels will be opening for Gael Sli, a neo-traditional band from Dublin. $5, 8:30. If anything, it's just a great excuse to get down to The Dubliner!

By the way, One Percent Productions announced that the "mystery guest" for Friday's Gillian Welch show at Scottish Rite Hall is (ta-da!) Conor Oberst a.k.a. Bright Eyes. Expect the show to now sell out quickly. It should have sold out with Welch alone. Tickets are still available at onepercentproductions.com. I'm hearing rumblings of a second (even maybe a third) Welch show sometime this week. I'll pass on the details when/if I get them.

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