A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I suggested to Lincoln Calling organizer Jeremy Buckley that he should put together a weekend of shows in Benson that feature all Lincoln bands. Maybe call it Lincoln Invasion. Now a few years later, Lincoln Invasion is becoming a reality. In fact, Buckley just sent me the preliminary schedule for the event, which will be held June 19 and 20 at three Benson venues -- The Waiting Room, PS Collective and The Barley St. Tavern.

"It's still seven-plus weeks out so we might have a band cancel or add, but hopefully we don't screw with too much," Buckley said. "We're doing a $5 cover each night -- the cover will get you into all three shows (Barley St. is 21+). We have 10 bands on Friday and 12 on Saturday and I think it's a good representation of what's going in Lincoln musically these days."

So do I. A few bands are obviously missing (Eagle*Seagull, UUVVWWZ, For Against, etc.), but Buckley said that's partially due to scheduling conflicts (i.e., they're on the road). He said that he's also "hoping to set up a bus excursion from Lincoln to Omaha and back each night so fans that don't want to drive up there personally can go with a bunch of other music fans. If we pull this off it will be a true Lincoln Invasion."

Here's the schedule, along with the bands' myspace addresses:

Friday, June 19

The Waiting Room

9:40-10:30 The Machete Archive www.myspace.com/themachetearchive
10:50-11:35 Ideal Cleaners www.myspace.com/idealcleaners
11:55-12:40 The Show is the Rainbow www.myspace.com/theshowistherainbow

PS Collective

9:30-10:20 The Allendales www.myspace.com/theallendales
10:40-11:40 Lucas Kellison and the Assembled Soul www.myspace.com/lucaskellison
12-1 Andrews Ave www.myspace.com/andrewsave

The Barley Street Tavern

9:20-10 Triggertown www.myspace.com/triggertown
10:20-11:00 The Amalgamators www.myspace.com/theamalgamators
11:20-12 Pharmacy Spirits www.myspace.com/pharmacyspirits
12:20-1:00 Big Gigantic www.myspace.com/biggiganticmusic

Saturday, June 20

The Waiting Room

9:40-10:10 Manny Coon www.myspace.com/mannycoon
10:20-11 Crush the Clown www.myspace.com/crushtheclown
11:20-12 Domestica www.myspace.com/domesticajr
12:20-1 Somasphere www.myspace.com/somasphere

PS Collective

9:10-9:50 Gooses www.myspace.com/goosesgooses
10:10-10:50 Once a Pawn www.myspace.com/onceapawnmusic
11:10-11:50 Columbia Vs Challenger www.myspace.com/columbiavschallenger
12:10-12:50 Knots www.myspace.com/knotit

Barley St. Tavern

9:00-9:40 AM Revival www.myspace.com/amrevival
10-10:40 Jodie Loves Hinckley www.myspace.com/jodieloveshinckley
11-11:40 Orion Walsh www.myspace.com/orionwalsh
12-12:40 Strawberry Burns www.myspace.com/strawberryburns

This festival, of course, will not preclude the annual Lincoln Calling festival, which will be held Sept. 30 through Oct. 4. More info as it becomes available...

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