Lazy-i will be on hiatus for the next few days as I head to over the water for some well-deserved R&R. In addition to sleeping, I'll be spending the plane-ride over catching up on reviews, so you'll have that to look forward to when I get back, as well as my take on Dublin's edgy music scene.

So what am I going to miss while I'm gone? All the hot action is on Sunday night:
-- Kasabian w/Madaction and Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers at Sokol Underground. This could wind up being a classic "I-was-there" type of show, depending on what happens to Kasabian in the next couple years. $10adv/$12 DOS.
-- No Things w/Rocket FM and Haywood Yard at Duffy's in Lincoln. No Things is the new project by former Mercy Rule drummer Ron Albertson and Opium Taylor's Pat Nature. After getting booted from The Liars (a band they formed), the duo rebounded with this new ensemble. This is a must-see show. $5.
-- Anonymous American w/Sarah Bench and the Robbers at Shag. Shag is the former Funnybone comedy club which, like all business in that area, is doomed to extinction after the dreaded overpass is completed. $5, 7 p.m.

What else?

-- Next Thursday is Pinback at Sokol Underground with Pit er Pat. $12.
-- Next Friday is Little Brazil w/Clair de Lune and Fromanhole, also at Sokol Underground. $7.
-- And then there's a handful of shows at O'Leaver's by bands I don't know, starting tonight with io, The Atlas and Life After Laserdisc; tomorrow with Red #9; next Thursday with Valient Thorr and Rent Money Big, and next Friday with VCR, Life After Laserdisc and Fizzle Like a Flood. O'Leaver's shows are somewhat tentative in nature, so don't blame me if you show up and the bands cancel or you're stuck listening to bad local metal.

See you when I see you…

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

My profile of Kasabian went online this morning (read it here). I had about five minutes to talk to the band's guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter Serge Pizzorno, and considering his answers to my questions, that's all I really needed. It was like interviewing David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap. Anyway, it's my sincere belief that Kasabian actually could be the next big thing out of bonny ol' England. Their single, "Club Foot," is a mammoth hit over there, and they're selling out arenas throughout Europe. It could be awhile, however, until that reach that status in the colonies... if ever.

Tonight is Mary Timony at Sokol Underground with Medications (the other touring band that includes her drummer/collaborator Devin Ocampo) and Omaha's own Bombardment Society. Can Timony pull it off with just her and Ocampo performing as a two-piece? We'll see. I asked he why she didn't have a full band and pointed out that two-piece outfits are becoming more common these days (The White Stripes and Black Keys come to mind). She said she hadn't thought about it, but yeah, I guess there are a lot of two-piece bands. Why is that? "I think it's just economical. It makes going on tour easy. Actually, I don't know why it is." The show is $8 and starts at 9.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Column 27: Behind the (Omaha) Music
Why is VH1 sniffing around town?

Just when you thought that every media outlet already had passed though our fair city looking for the Next Big Thing, out of the blue comes an e-mail from Eli Lehrer of VH1 Development.

Seems Lehrer had been sicced on Omaha by one of the powers that be at the cable station to find out all he could about the Omaha music world. Lehrer wanted to know if I, too, would be willing to share my breadth of knowledge with him.

Turns out I wasn't the first person that Lehrer had contacted. Far from it. He'd already talked to a number of local scenesters and musicians, and they all wanted to know the same thing: What does VH1 want with Omaha?

Sure, the Omaha indie music scene is now world-renowned thanks to Bright Eyes, The Faint, Cursive and the rest of the bunch at Saddle Creek Records, but isn't indie just a tad bit off the mark for a station whose prime demographic appears to be 30- to 40-year-old housewives? On the other hand, I admit that I watch VH1 tons more than MTV and its embarrassing menu of sophomoric "real life" humiliation plays, bling-bling-powered look-at-my-shit "Cribs" shows, and 24/7 T&A spring-break extravaganzas, none of which have anything to do with music. VH1 is now the closest thing to "music television" on Omaha cable -- from the classic "Behind the Music" series to last year's "Bands Reunited," which I proudly programmed into my TiVo Season Pass list.

After a few back-and-forths, Lehrer and I finally met over the phone, where we talked for a couple hours about the Omaha music scene beginning back in the '90s through the glamorous present. It quickly dawned on me that Lehrer and his unnamed VH1 Sith Lord had something different in mind than the usual New York Times/Fader/Spin magazine pieces that only looked at Omaha through Saddle-Creek-colored blinders. In the past, whenever a national journalist called for expert perspective, they weren't in the least bit interested in anything beyond Saddle Creek. Every time I listed a dozen or so other great local bands, the writer would clear his throat and say, "That's nice, but what's Conor really like?"

That didn't happen with Lehrer. In fact, most of our time was spent talking about Omaha's incubator-like environment for creating unique singer-songwriters who seem uninterested in "making it big." Instead, they're busy trying to line up a gig down at O'Leaver's, or figuring out ways to get studio time or buy a van for their next tour.

Like the half-dozen or so that spoke to him before me, I pointed Lehrer in the direction of a half-dozen others who I thought could add their own perspective to the Omaha story. Though weeks into his research he said he still hadn't spoken to anyone from Saddle Creek -- yet another sign that this wasn't going to be just another Conor lovefest.

But what exactly was it going to be? The Fabulous Life of Matt Whipkey? I Love The '90s Omaha-style? An Episode of Storytellers featuring Simon Joyner? Lehrer didn't know and couldn't even say if anything would ever come of the interviews.

But one thing's for certain -- the project isn't over yet. Lehrer said he'll be visiting Omaha sometime in the next couple weeks to put faces to names. When I told him I was writing a column about his research, he became skittish and quickly called me, imploring that I not make a big deal about it, emphasizing that the odds are good that nothing will ever come of it.

But, of course, something already has. Whether or not a VH1 camera crew ever lands at Eppley, the fact that the channel is interested in Omaha music -- and not just Saddle Creek -- is a pretty good sign that people are beginning to wonder what undiscovered treasures lurk in Omaha that Saddle Creek hasn't discovered.

Just placed on the site, an interview with ex-Helium frontwoman Mary Timony (read it here). Timony talks about Matador's round-about way of ending its relationship with her, and how she picked herself up and moved on. She can count herself among those who were at that label during its mid-'90s golden years, back when you bought whatever the label put out regardless of whether you even heard of the band (a status that Saddle Creek is approaching). These days Matador is a shadow of its former self. Sure, they still have Yo La Tengo, Stephen Malkmus and Interpol, but after that it gets rather spotty. I haven't sought out a Matador CD since Interpol's debut back in 2002.

There weren't too many out-takes from the interview that didn't make the story. Timony did talk about growing up in D.C. and following the local hardcore/punk scene and how it influenced her music. "I went to a lot of punk shows, I hung out at The Wilson Center," she said. "I was aware of the bands and was a fan of the bands. They were so powerful; it was definitely a big influence in playing music and getting started. Then I was in a band called Autoclave that put out a record on Dischord in '91." In fact, Timony said she first met Fugazi's Brendan Canty (who produced her new CD, Ex Hex) when he recorded Autoclave.

I threw this story online early this week because Timony is playing Sokol Underground this Thursday, and because I'm putting the Kasabian piece up tomorrow. It's turning out to be a busy week. Yesterday the Omaha World-Herald reported (in this story) that the label's Slowdown project is now slated for a downtown location -- from Webster to Cuming between 13th and 14th streets, just as rumored last fall. Unlike the original, doomed Metcalf Park Slowdown project, this one is more than just a music hall, offices and bar. The latest proposal includes a two-screen art-house movie theater, a pizza joint and condos, with a targeted completion date of June 2006. An hour after the story broke Saddle Creek's Jason Kulbel e-mailed to say that despite the World-Herald report nothing about the project was definite. "Still many details to be worked out and the city has not accepted our proposal as of yet, but the cat is fully out of the bag," he said.

And speaking of Saddle Creek, tonight is the victorious return of The Good Life to Sokol Underground in what has been said to be one of their last local gigs for a long, long time. Opening the show are tourmates Make Believe and Zykos. I foresee a sell-out.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Last night was sort of a second coming for Criteria. Things change once you get signed to Saddle Creek. People take notice. You're no longer "just another Omaha band (that's not on Saddle Creek)." You've joined a fraternity of sorts, and with it comes the spoils in the form of larger crowds. Though The Nein were the touring band, it was Criteria that was the headliner and who most of the 260-something paid to see. And the band did not disappoint them.

I took my position along the wall adjacent to stage right, but this time it was somewhat crowded over there and I found myself further behind the stage than usual, providing a view mostly of the band's corduroys and their adoring crowd leaning forward and upward. By god, there were a lot of them singing right along to songs off En Garde. And the young girls, well… Indie music is the exception to the old crow that rock attracts only angry, disassociated teen-aged guys. There's always a lot of girls at indie shows, especially Creek shows, maybe because there's a sizable percentage among the radio rock guys who think indie/Creek is waaay to fey for them to listen to. That's their loss.

So far back was I behind the stage that the vocals got lost in the roar -- what do you expect when you're on the backside of the speakers? After the first couple songs, the guy next to me laughed and said, "These guys obviously grew up listening to the Scorpions." When Criteria frontman Stephen Pedersen said he was "really stoked" about everyone coming out, I turned and said, "It's the '80s all over again." My sideman left halfway through the set -- I guess it wasn't his thing. But for the most part, he was the exception to the rule. Criteria fills a void in the Creek cadre of bands. Other than maybe Beep Beep, no other act on the label is trying to burn the house down with their guitars -- a characteristic that Cursive also used to have, and maybe still do, if they ever return from their hiatus.

The sound was much better in front of the stage (obviously), and it was in the back of the room that I noticed the small contingency of people in their 50s (and maybe 60s) who I assume were representatives of the Kutak Rock law firm checking out the wares of their prodigal son, thinking to themselves how far away smoky Sokol Underground is from the lacquered oak and leather chairs of their boardrooms. Were they wondering if they'd made a mistake by taking the path less traveled by? We'll never know.

Shifting gears… It was true what I heard about Bunnygrunt. I actually found out that afternoon when someone e-mailed me that they were indeed going to play at O'Leaver's Friday night. So I made it out and it was pleasingly crowded. Low-fi poppers Grape Soda was up first, consisting I'm told of some folks who work down at The Antiquarium. It was more folk rock than indie rock and for some reason reminded me of Celtic music, though I'm sure there was no reason for it. I asked a guy next to me if it sounded Irish and he said, "Yeah..., sort of." It was sloppy fun.

Next was Lonnie Methe's group Mancini's Angels. I've seen Methe a number of times as has anyone who has seen Simon Joyner over the years -- he's the guy in the sweater playing the violin with his back to the audience. He's also a member of Omaha avant-guard ensemble Naturaliste, with Chris Fischer, Simon and Josephine Joyner and Chris Deden, among others. That group has a reputation for creating low-fi art/noise pieces, summed up on a full-length released by (Omaha's most unknown label) Public Eyesore, which I haven't heard. Mancini's Angels was far from avant-garde, instead bordering (again) on folk rock, with Methe handling the lead vocals, and quite well, I might add. Underlying every song were layers of structured dissonance that would drive any pop-music lover up a wall. In that context, it was arty and probably lost on the crowd that came to hear Bunnygrunt's three-chord "twee-punk." Still, if you looked, you found some interesting stuff hidden among the feedback. Methe told me after the show that he's headed to Austin to live in mid-June.

Up next was a band that I thought was Bunnygrunt -- three girls and a guy drummer playing the style of indie-pop that Bunnygrunt plays. The flat, female vocals even reminded me of the band. Turns out it wasn't Bunnygrunt at all, but a side project by one of its members. So as I was about to leave, on came Bunnygrunt, sounding much more confident and aggressive than the previous, unknown-named band. The trio included two guys and a girl drummer, and the vocals were mostly dominated by the men -- something I don't remember from the Bunnygrunt of the past. Despite the crowd yelling out song names, the band didn't play any of their "hits" during their disappointingly short 15- or 20-minute micro-set. Maybe next time (if there is a next time).

Lots of stuff coming this week, and the sched looks this way -- Mary Timony profile/interview online Tuesday; Kasabian profile/interview online Wednesday, and the column online Thursday -- if I get all of it written…

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

According to a mass e-mail sent to me and other members of Omaha's elite music media by sometimes Simon Joyner sideman Lonnie Methe, St. Louis cuddlecore legends Bunnygrunt is playing at O'Leaver's tonight with Methe's own Mancini's Angels and Grape Soda. I've been unable to confirm this with anyone including a contact at O'Leaver's, who says scheduling is in disarray there these days, what with all that volleyball going on. Bunnygrunt doesn't have a website. According to AMC, the band broke up in 1998. I know them from having seen them play with Frontier Trust sometime in the '90s, and from their single, "Macho Beagle," w/"Cry," a cover of The Raspberries classic. I hope this is happening, and I'll be down at O'Leaver's to find out.

Tomorrow night, of course, is Saddle Creek Records band Criteria with The Nein and The Philharmonic at Sokol Underground. Meanwhile, Fromanhole is hosting a CD release show at The 49'r with No Blood Orphan.

A couple headlines of interest:

-- The Bright Eyes/Faint saga continues with more of the same. This review of their Toronto show again goes out of its way to point out that The Faint is crushing BE in the popularity contest, at least with the critics. "All in all, a good show, but in the end Bright Eyes couldn't muster up enough energy or enthusiasm to claim best band of the night." Ouch. Says that Oberst rolled out a new song during the set -- wonder how they did the video for that one...

-- Rilo Kiley now appears to be using their defection from Saddle Creek Records as a publicity peg on their tour. In this item in yesterday's Boston Globe, frontwoman Jenny Lewis talks about "struggling" with the concept of indie vs. major "every day." "People make such a big deal about indie vs. major. But if you're making the same music, what's the fuss about reaching more people?" She then goes on to say that the band wanted to do things that Creek wasn't comfortable with... involving radio. Who knows what that means, although I would bet it has to do with Clear Channel.

-- Meanwhile, in this Detroit Metro Times story, Neva Dinova's Jake Bellows talks about a couple things concerning Jenny Lewis that I'm sure she's not comfortable with. "When we heard that she was a child star, we found Foxfire with her and Angelina Jolie. In it there’s this topless scene where all the girls are hanging out together, burning each other and touching their tits, and Jenny is the only one of the five girls who doesn't take her shirt off. I was like, 'This is fucking bullshit. I rented this movie because I thought I was going to see your naked tits.' I talked to her about it and the first thing I said was, 'We were all disappointed.'" Classic.

-- Finally, Tim Kasher talks about his budding screenwriting career in this Omaha World-Herald story. Kasher says he's working a play that that he hopes to score with music from The Good Life, and then goes on to say he and members of Cursive plan to work on a new album.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Column 26: Heavy Rotation
Has The River changed its course?

It may be time to turn the radio back on again.

I turned mine off years ago, when all I could find on the dial was freedom rock, goon rock, C&W warblers and gansta hate-hop. Why should I devote even a scintilla of my time to that noise when I have a CD player and an i-Pod in my car? The irony about Omaha radio has always been that we live in the nationally recognized indie rock capital of the world and can't hear a single indie band on a local station.

But then the other day as NPR was bringing me down with yet another report about third-world child rape camps or the extinction of another life form, I twisted the dial to 89.7 The River. On came the latest by none other than Omaha's very own Bright Eyes. Was I dreaming? Moments later, up popped the new one by Nine Inch Nails, which was followed by a track by …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, which was followed by something from the yet-to-be-released Criteria CD.

What the hell was going on? Could this be the same 89.7 The River that I've known and loathed for its tooth-drilling metal and agonizing Cookie Monster grunt rock?

I asked station program director Sophia John if I was dreaming. We talked at Sokol Auditorium the morning of the station's sold-out Mudvayne show, where John was busy wrangling a crew of young grips setting the stage for the night's performance.

Seems Ms. John indeed has slowly been working indie tracks into The River's regular rotation for months. And people are just now beginning to notice. "We're trying to mix elements of rock, pop, indie and even rap into the playlist," she said.

No, The River hasn't turned into a CMJ station. You're still going to hear grunters by Slipknot, System of a Down, Kottonmouth Kings and, yeah, Mudvayne. That's where John's job becomes a real balancing act, because indie shoegazers will immediately turn the dial when Slipknot comes on, just like metal heads will rifle straight to The Z rather than suffer through Tegan and Sara. Going too far either way could mean ostracizing a portion of the station's listeners.

John knows this all too well. She's been inundated by amateur program directors telling her she should be playing everything from 24/7 metal to 24/7 CMJ. "If I did that, I wouldn't be doing what's best for everyone," she said. "I want to bring the masses what they really want while opening their minds to something different."

She admits that even she doesn't like every song on the play list. "If you understand the basic breakdown of music, there's a pop element to everything, even hardcore and metal," she said. "If you hear something you don't like, it'll only take two or three songs before you hear something you do like. If you don't like The White Stripes or System of a Down, just wait awhile."

Working indie into the mix hasn't been easy. Saddle Creek Records' spate of new releases last year helped her logically work the local label into rotation. But getting Trail of Dead on the air took sheer chutzpah. "We wanted to see if we could open doors to people who don't know the band yet, and change the attitude of those that listen to bands like Trail of Dead but never expected to hear them on the radio."

It seems to be working. John said The River has gone from having a 3.8 share when she arrived over a year ago, to a 5 share in the latest book, which equates to roughly 170,000 listeners at any given moment (and being ranked No. 7 in the Omaha radio market).

Sure, I'd be happier if The River only played indie rock, but I'm smart enough to know that such a severe program shift would only kill the station. And then we'd be left with nothing but freedom rock, goon rock, C&W warblers and gansta hate-hop. I can withstand a little Slipknot as long as I can have my Garbage, too.

I just placed online, an interview with Criteria's Stephen Pedersen (read it here). Pedersen talks about leaving nationally respected law firm Kutak Rock where he's an attorney, to pursue his rock 'n' roll dream with the help from his friends at Saddle Creek Records. The word limit for The Reader article was 1,000. Here's some out-takes from the 2-hour interview that didn't make the cut:

There's already those who think Criteria could rise to become the second most popular band at Saddle Creek. Pedersen pooh-poohs those comments. "Every band on that label has earned it from years of touring and focusing full-time on music for the greater part of the past decade. I kind of dilly-dallied."

He said he had no idea what he and the former members of White Octave are going to do with their last album, Menergy, now that they've acquired the rights to the CD from Initial Records. "I would be surprised if there was a label that wanted to release it," he said. Interestingly, White Octave also owns the masters to their first record, released on Deep Elm who only had a five-year licensing agreement on the recording, which has since expired.

Pedersen said Saddle Creek's 50/50 royalties split is a rarity in the business. "It's about as pure of a partnership as you're going to get in the music business," he said. "While the front-end isn't that great, the back end is incredible. It's the difference between an 11 to 15 percent royalty and a 50 percent royalty. If you're successful, the payoff for record sales is fabulous, but that wasn't the reason I wanted to be on Saddle Creek.

"These are my friends, the people that kept me going. I've known them half my life. And it's also a great label with an amazing reputation that's well deserved. I like their business model and can totally trust them."

It was here that Pedersen referred to the famous Spoon/Ron Laffitte debacle that was immortalized in Spoon's Saddle Creek-released single "The Agony of Laffitte" b/w "Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now."

"The only reason to go to a major is to raid their coffers," Pedersen said. "If there was a $5 million non recuperable advance dangled in front of me, that may have made things difficult."

So how does one get signed to Creek these days? Pedersen said there are two possible routes. "Either Robb, Jason and the people at the office love the record and want to put it out, or you appeal to the greater community of bands -- you get Todd and Joel from the Faint and Conor and Tim and Matt behind you. The artists in effect are like an appellant court when the district court denies you. Luckily it never came to that."

Pedersen discussed the process of writing his music. I've always thought that he must have consciously gone out of his way to create the stuttering, waltzy lope that's indicative (to me, anyway) of their sound. "I don't know why I do that," Pedersen said. "The music wouldn't be talked about if it was in 4/4. When I was writing En Garde, it was the first time I had the chance to make the beats, but I don't know where I got the beats."

Like En Garde, much of When We Break was recorded in Pedersen's dingy basement studio. There is nothing fancy about the set up, you almost expect the guitarist to be leaning against a washer/dryer while recording a solo. Amidst all the sound equipment is a bicep/curl bar and some weights, I guess to get pumped up with before rolling tape. Though the guitars and vocals were recorded there, the drums and bass were tracked at Presto! Studios in Lincoln. AJ Mogis did the mix.

"The reason the record sounds the way it sounds is AJ," Pedersen said. "He is the engineer and producer and the wizard behind its massiveness. It doesn't sound like a record that was, in a large part, made in a basement and that's entirely because of AJ. He just captures sound, and is also an incredible musician. The guy shreds. I'm, like, the worst guitar player in the band."

When We Break wasn't the first name chosen for the album. "We were thinking of calling it Danish Soul or Rock and Roll Miracle," Pedersen said, clearly joking. "There were some more serious considerations, too, like From the Dead Center, and Touché -- sort of a response to En Garde. But that would have been too cute. When We Break is a lyric from one of the songs. It's referring both to when a band breaks and gets popular, and as humans when you get hurt."

Which brings us to the album's "meaning."

"Lyrically, it's not about a break-up, it's about a lot of things," Pedersen said. "At the end of the day, I'm singing for myself, and if other people get meaning out of it, that's great, but I don't try to define my words."

Just as important, he said, are the songs' sound and tone. "The delivery can convey as much or more meaning than the words, and I'm all about delivery," he said. "I'm a defacto songwriter because I write a lot of songs, but I don't see myself as a songwriter."

He said he doesn't write lyrics down, or anything else for that matter. Everything is composed in his head, from the beat to the guitar to the vocals.

"I don't quite understand it," he said. "It's just a combination of having a Danish father and a Sicilian mother. You have a very strict, structured, disciplined side of you and a very passionate, emotional just sort of a very-lucky-to-be-alive side of you. And that's where the music comes from."

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

The reason why there was no update yesterday is because I was busy pulling together all the content for this coming week. Among it, look for an in-depth story with Criteria tomorrow morning. Frontman Stephen Pedersen talks about his decision to drop the lawyer biz and take on rock 'n' roll full-time. Methinks you'll enjoy it. Then on Thursday, look for this week's column focused on my interview with The River's Sophia John about the station's gradual shift in format over the past year. Good stuff. In fact, though both stories are also slated for this week's issue of The Reader, you'll get some exclusive extras right here on Lazy-i -- Sheesh! This is beginning to sound like a promo for Access Hollywood.

And speaking of Hollywood, looks like our old friends Rilo Kiley have up and dumped the whole Brute/Beaute ruse outright and signed to Warner Bros., who will be rereleasing More Adventurous under its moniker later this year (See story here). And all that talk about wanting their own label -- pish. Says frontwoman Jenny Lewis about signing with Warners: "I felt like it was inevitable that this is where we were going to end up. It seemed like the time was right for us. I don't know what sort of success that will bring us. That doesn't really concern me. I just wouldn't want to regret not having taken a chance." If success "doesn't really concern her" then why sign with Warners?

Meanwhile, Bright Eyes continues to get beaten and battered around the head and neck by critics as The Faint/Bright Eyes tour rolls throughout our United States. The latest attack comes from the Chicago Sun-Times, home of Roger Ebert, which didn't like anything about last Saturday's windy city show, from Oberst's singing to the use of two drummers (read it here). "He glowers beneath his mop of raven hair, which he wears in his eyes, and acts aloof, if not petulant." God, the critic sounds like a spurned lover. How will Conor bounce back from a month's worth of media hazing?

It's not all negative in Saddle Creek land. The Good Life received a nice write up in New York Newsday, which called Album of the Year "a small masterpiece, a 12-song tale of a yearlong relationship." And then went on to describe the band's set last Friday night at The Knitting Factory (read it here) The show also got a strong preview in the last issue of Time Out New York.

But who cares about shows in New York when you've got some good ones right here in River City, like tonight's Le Beat CD release show at Sokol Underground with Mal Madrigal and Son, Ambulance? The new Le Beat is some of the most laid-back stuff I've heard coming out of Omaha, more laid-back than even the latest Neva Dinova stuff, which it most closely resembles though Le Beat has a much closer allegiance to the Velvets. Didn't know this show was even happening? Maybe it's because neither One Percent nor Someday Never are involved. Will anyone show up? It starts at 9 and costs $5.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Column 25: Opening the ol' E-mail Bag

One does get mail.

And though The Reader appears to get none of its own -- or at least never prints any of it -- I get more than my share, probably because I ask right at the bottom of the column for you to send your love/hate mail to tim@lazy-i.com.

In addition to those kind words from the faithful readers (thank you for your support, it keeps me going), the most common (and voluminous) mail comes from hopeful bands making sure that I received their CD for review. Since The Reader doesn't print CD reviews, I'm pretty sure this e-mail is generated from my website. As stated online, I do my best to listen to everything that's submitted, but a man only has two ears, and with feature-story deadlines breathing down my neck, the time for absorbing CDs is scant. Patience, grasshopper.

The rest is hate mail.

First and foremost, last week's Tegan & Sara column prompted a long, non-apology apology letter from Sara Quin herself explaining why the band never got back to us after countless rescheduling attempts following their interview cancellation and no-show. "We would have been happier with a friendlier welcome to Omaha, but we understand that maybe we hurt your feelings. But you hurt ours too. Don't write off young bands so soon! Some of us really do care about this world and music we are making in it." I'm told by people who were at their show last week (I wasn't because I was under the weather) that Sara sarcastically dedicated the set to me from the stage. Nice.

Look, my gripe was more with their publicist then the band, who had four days after my run-in with their answering machine to get back to us if only to say that the interview was off. Instead, she was too busy revvin' it up at Coachella. Sorry, that's just bad biz. I will add this caveat -- T&S aren't the first band to do a no-show, and they won't be the last. It comes with the territory.

A reader who goes by the initials "AES" was "slightly aggravated" by the April 23 column that highlighted how only the rich and lucky are able to take advantage of so-called "top-drawer" acts performing at the Qwest Center these days (U2, Paul McCartney, etc.). He thinks the ticket prices are fair.

"I think you are MORE upset at the fact that the Qwest Center did not give you a pass to 'Get to know the band' or 'front center seats'… I think the attendees to the U2 show would rather have you walking around Sokol's dirty halls, griping about what you know is right and is cool, and the piss smelled bathrooms full of 'cool coke heads' than have you at QCO ruining their opportunity to see a band they like."

Ol' AES missed the point. The biggest problem concerning these shows is scalping -- not the tickets' face value. With scalpers making a flush living off the current system, only the lucky and determined few have a chance at paying face-value for tix. It's turned into a game that I'm not willing to play. I would have been happy to pay the tickets' face value to see Bono and The Edge, but not $2,000.

And yes, I'd much-much-much prefer to see U2 (or even an old has-been like McCartney) at a piss-scented Sokol than at Qwest. That, of course, will never happen. However, I am able to see tomorrow's U2 (Kasabian, for example) at Sokol today.

Keep them cards and letters coming, folks.

Those critics in K.C. and Seattle who so boldly dissed their Bright Eyes sets didn't get it. They were blinded by The Faint's boom-boom-boom bravado, thinking that they had been invited to a dance party, which was the last thing on Conor Oberst's mind. There would be no dancing at the mighty MAC Center during his set, only upside-down crosses and lots and lots of angst. Oberst wasn't trying to redefine electro-dance with his live rendition of Digital Ash, instead he was creating some sort of new electro goth. More later...

I could hear The Faint ripping into their set just walking from my car to the arena, pushing through crowds of smokers who were trying to get a last one in before settling down to the set. Once inside, there was plenty of space for us gen-ads to find a seat. All the fun was down on the floor, anyway, which from my vantage point looked like a seething flesh-mass of hysteria. The Faint always have known how to get people moving, and last night was no exception, even though they've never been so separated from the crowd. Big stages in big arenas mean barriers between the band and the throngs, and for the first time watching an Omaha act on stage I had flashbacks of my first arena shows way back in the '70s and '80s (Who remembers Lover Boy? Styx? Journey?). This was a real concert, from the bigger-than-life sound system to the battery of synchronized spotlights that -- when striking you head-on -- felt like they were burning a hole through your retinas.

Faint shows always have been glorified multimedia extravaganzas, but not last night. Were those the same projection screens that looked so massive inside Sokol Auditorium? Split in two and separated by a few feet in the Mac, they lost all of their punch and distracted from the live performance in a way that was never intended. If The Faint is going to continue playing arenas gigs, they're gonna need screens about 8 times larger than these little projector numbers that made their videos look like overheads in a poorly lit board room, which is a shame because the videos lovingly created by Dapose and Jacob are such a big part of what they're trying to do on stage.

The band sounded as good as I've ever heard them, though I thought Todd's hollow vocals were too low and lost in a mix that, as always, was way too bass heavy. But hey, you gotta have lots of bass if you're gonna get those rumps moving, right? I would guess that the audience indeed did enjoy The Faint's set more than Bright Eyes', and why not? If you were on the floor you had no choice but to jump and bump with the sweat-hog next to you. By contrast, no one moved during Bright Eyes' set, and I'm not entirely sure they were supposed to.

At one time during BE I counted 10 people performing on stage, including a violin and cello player, trumpet, keyboards, two drummers (including Clark Baechle), bassist Joel Petersen, Mike Mogis playing two instruments at once, and Nick "Edward Sissorhands" Zinner on guitar. Despite all that, all you could really hear were the two drummers and Petersen, with Oberst chirping through the chair-rattling rumble. When the rhythm section actually gave the other performers some space, like on a couple Zinner guitar solos that burned like acid on glass, things got interesting instead of maudlin.

It's obvious that pace is the reason some critics are saying Oberst's set is a downer. The Faint's entire set is one long throbbing dance orgasm that doesn't let up until the bitter end. And their music has been around so long that everyone knows it. On the other hand, people are still getting used to Digital Ash and I doubt that a lot of the crowd recognized music. In addition, not all of the songs on that CD are very interesting -- far from it. That means waiting for the dud to get over in hopes that the next one will be something interesting.

Oberst looked bored at times, or maybe it just seemed that way from the top of the bleachers. There were songs that he could have pushed up a notch (like "Lover I Don't Have to Love"), but instead seemed to be just mailing it in. I don't expect him to do a stereotypical rockstar turn, but he could have at least looked interested in what he was doing as he wandered around stage. At one point he seemed to be riding piano stand, eventually knocking it over -- interesting, but not very rock 'n' roll. Maybe he should have lit it on fire?

In the end, Oberst's set sounded like a modern indie rendition of Goth, what with its dark video images, semi-slow pace, throbbing electro-static sound, and lots and lots of talk about death and dying and the afterlife. I could see this going over big with the Goth crowd if Conor started looking the part, which he never will because Goth is probably the furthest thing on his mind when he was recording Digital Ash. Some say the album was a cash-in a la The Postal Service. I think he was probably going for something deeper than that, but I don't know if he succeeded.

The set ended with a two-song fake encore (you know it's fake if he's prepared videos for them). Oberst's only notable comment from stage was that he never thought he could pull off such a large show in Omaha. Tsk tsk, Conor, don't you know that you're a rockstar now?

Tonight, Rilo Kiley at Sokol Auditorium with Neva Dinova and Tilly and the Wall. Tickets were still available ($12) as of this posting. If it keeps raining like this, you'll be able to take a bass boat to the show.

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Election Day is today, at least for us mid-towners. Get out there and vote, people.

With the Faint/Bright Eyes concert slated for tomorrow night in Council Bluffs, the early reviews of this experimental mixed tour are dribbling in, and they ain't been good. The problem: How do you follow an act like The Faint?

The opening dates in Kansas City got panned by the Kansas City Star, who said The Faint just plain outperformed Bright Eyes. "The Faint played an opening set that was unusually long and significantly livelier and more entertaining, visually and musically, than the headliner's." The writer then went on to assign blame. "The problem wasn't with the performers or the performance or the videos. It was the concept: 11 new songs, none with a formal groove to grab on to or a chorus to dive into, each the same weight and hue of the others, all written to emphasize the difference between digital and analog."

Ouch. Read the whole review here.

Things got better a few days later at Coachella, where the L.A. Weekly gave the performance a thumb's up. "The Omaha supergroup -- from rival high schools, actually -- played quite nicely together, despite the lack of a rumored cameo from Vote for Change tourmate Springsteen." Imagine Springsteen being backed by The Faint... That review's here.

It was back to the barbs as the bands pulled into Seattle Sunday. The Seattle Times seemed more critical of the venue than the performance. "Downer music seldom works in nightclubs, especially after several hours of opening acts, during which the audience became well lubricated. That called for dancing, not brooding." As in KC, the writer got pumped up over The Faint's set, only to be confused by the BE set. "The Faint, a lively electro/dance outfit, with fancy video accompaniment for each song, had the place dancing and applauding. Then Bright Eyes came on and dragged everything down." Yikes! Read more here.

Of course the jury is still out until Wednesday night, when you might be seeing The Faint and Bright Eyes together for the last time around these parts.

Tonight, surf guitarist Dick Dale rolls into Knickerbocker's for an 8:30 show, which gives me a reason to link to this classic Dick Dale Lazy-i interview from way back in 1998. Tickets to the 18+ show are $18, and it starts at 8:30 with El Guapotones and Fallen 77 opening.

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So I'm told my name was bantered about from on stage at last night's Tegan & Sara show. And I received a rather long letter from Sara (or someone claiming that she's Sara, you know how the Internet is), who wasn't very pleased with Column 24 (below this entry). Other tasks and health-related issues (I'm getting better, thank you) kept me from the show. Now I'm sorry I didn't go. I've been name-checked from the stage a number of times, half the time from angry bands who didn't like something I've written (Brother Ali is one angry example). It's generally a hoot.

So what've we got for tonight and this weekend? Well Fizzle Like a Flood will be in the house at Ted & Wally's, opening for the ubiquitous Poison Control Center. I'm told Mr. Fizzle's new band is rather scorching. $3, 11 p.m. (late, because they want the kiddies to finish dessert).

Also tonight, metal giants Bloodcow are at O'Leaver's, who just updated their sexy website. The bad news is they only have four shows booked for the month of May.

Tomorrow night it's our old friends Bad Luck Charm at The 49'r. I haven't seen Mr. Wolf and the boys in many moons. $3, 9:30.

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Column 24: Searching for Tegan
Sometimes being a rock star means never answering your phone.

No one ever said it was gonna be easy.

I know that. I've always known that. You think the rock journalism thing is just a walk in the park clutching a handful of free CDs and all-access laminates? Think again. It means dealing with overworked publicists and burned-out "rock stars" in a lame attempt to glean a scintilla of profound insight on their music, whether there's anything profound about it or not. That is if you can get them on the phone.

You'll notice that there isn't a feature on Tegan & Sara in this issue of The Reader. It wasn't an oversight by the editors. They know T&S are hot stuff. The dynamic duo currently are opening for a sold-out Killers tour. No, yours truly is to blame, but not entirely, actually maybe not at all.

Let me explain something: When the editors throw out the assignments to us lackey writers, I'm always the first to say "me-me-me" when it comes to covering the hot under-the-radar indie musicians. With my experience why not try for the big fish like U2 or Paul McCartney or Neil Diamond? Because even if I was lucky enough to get them to talk (and not their faceless drummer or bassist), the interviews are so canned and formulaic that they add nothing to the story. They're not going to give up anything they haven't already given to Rolling Stone or Spin or The New York Times or any other national rag that is more important than The Reader will ever be.

Up-and-coming indie musicians, on the other hand, are another story. They're just getting used to talking to the press. Being interviewed by Rolling Stone is beyond their wildest dreams. The Reader may not be CMJ, but at least it's distributed in the city that they'll be playing in the coming weeks, and the last thing they want is to show up to a roomful of crickets at O'Leaver's or Sokol Underground. On top of that, these guys are still excited about the whole rock 'n' roll thing -- they feel lucky to be living in their own feces in the back of a shitty van, driving 10 hours a day eating nothing but Slim Jims and Red Bull, pissing in empty bottles so they don't have to stop on the way. All for the chance to share their music with the masses. Translated: They're not rock stars yet.

Tegan & Sara seemed to fit into that category. Sure, they landed the Killers tour, but for the most part, they're veritable unknowns, recognized only by the hip few who read Magnet, shop at The Antiquarium and listen to college radio or watch MTV2's Subterranean. I had my hand way up when the assignment was offered.

Here's what happens next: We figure out who their publicist is, snag a press kit which includes a copy of their latest CD, and schedule a phone interview (i.e., "a phoner"). The Reader's hard-working super-talented assignment editor, Alissa Martin, took care of the first half as she always does. I eagerly e-mailed a request to Sheila Breen at Tag Team Media begging for an interview. She lined it up -- noon PST Saturday April 23.

With the date in my book, I burned Tegan & Sara's latest, So Jealous, onto my i-Pod for intensive all-purpose listening. It's hardly a chore. The CD is amazing -- a retro-tinged classic that melds Til Tuesday and Missing Persons pop with a modern-day indie sensibility. And it rocks. Next up, research -- study the press kit and glean info from the Internet all to find that one thing to hook the interview around. Maybe it's the fact that Tegan and Sara Quin are twins, or that they're both lesbians? Pretty obvious stuff. Or how 'bout the fact that they're from Canada and record on Neil Young's record label? Maybe ask them how the Killers tour is going and why Omaha was dropped.

Then out of the blue, Sheila e-mails and cancels the Saturday interview. Seems the band will be in the middle of a photo shoot at that time. Can we reschedule? Sure, I say, anytime after 5:30 p.m. CT (I have a real job, you know). She immediately proposes 2 p.m. CT Monday. I explain the hour limitations again, and we reschedule for April 28 at 6:30 p.m. CT. I get the cell number, the time arrives, I have my questions in front of me and make the call… only to get a message that says, "Hi, this is Tegan & Sara, we're away from the phone now…blah blah blah." I leave a message and tell them I'll try back -- maybe they're just out of cell range. But 10 minutes later I get the message again. And again and again. And after an hour, give up.

My pleading phone messages to Tegan & Sara, alas, went unanswered. As did my reschedule requests to Sheila Breen. Then it dawned on me. Maybe I misjudged Tegan & Sara. Maybe they're bigger than I thought. Maybe they've crossed that unmarked boundary that divides the bands that need The Reader, from those that don't. Maybe they're rock stars after all.

Just placed online, an interview with Omaha filmmaker Nik Fackler (read it here). Nik talks about how he created the videos used to support Bright Eyes on the Digital Ash in a Digital Urn tour, from how he first got involved to the challenges of visually interpreting Oberst's music without interpreting its meaning directly from the songs' lyrics. In addition, you get a glimpse of stills from videos used for seven songs (including the still used on the Interviews page). It's eye-popping stuff. At 20 years old Fackler already has garnered a reputation for creating stirring videos and films. Is he the next Spike Jonze? Judge for yourself by going to the Bright Eyes/Faint concert in ol' CB May 11 and going to Fackler's website where you can see his music videos and short films.

A couple notable gigs tonight: The 49'r is hosting a David Bowie tribute that will include some interesting guest performers from the local scene, not the least of which is a sometimes-review-contributor to Lazy-i (though it's been awhile). Since the show also is the birthday party for local celebrity/man-about-town/music-gadfly-for-the City Weekly/all-around-nice-guy MarQ Manner, the place with be packed with people dressed like '70s-era white pimps (it's "glam night" after all). Who says Halloween comes only once a year?

Meanwhile, Kyle Harvey, Fine Fine Automobiles (Landon Hedges), Kisses for Kicks (Reagan Roeder), and Nick Freitus and the Headgates will be performing down the street at O'Leaver's.

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I've never liked Leno, not from day one. Letterman always seemed like the more genuine personality, certainly funnier. Not anymore. Letterman comes off like a coke-addled freak, unable to carry a natural-sounding conversation with anyone without interrupting. He's jittery like an insect or a fly cleaning itself. Leno on the other hand, is your typical good-ol' boy just trying his hardest to make all the execs happy, with a range of humor that's just slightly above Hee Haw. He's corny and phony, but at least he sounds like he listens when people talk to him.

But I digress. It was almost a year ago that Bright Eyes was on Letterman, and the appearance represented a significant achievement for an Omaha boy done good. Even though he's living in NYC a good part of the year, Oberst keeps his Omaha roots firmly in tact. Letterman's one thing, but The Tonight Show's made careers -- a program that caters to family-loving white bread Bush voters throughout the iron, bible and corn belts. I'm sure Leno's bookers thought Bright Eyes would be edgy, but add to that him singing "When the President Talks to God," well, you got yourself a controversy.

Leno must have listened at the rehearsal, because after his monologue and during the guest roundup, he turned to his bandleader and said: "You hear the song he's doing Kevin? I haven't heard a protest song like this… you know I grew up in the sixties. I used to do a Jesse Winchester, a Jerry Jeff Walker, and Kris Kristofferson doing these anti-Nixon… This is a song that's right up there. This will galvanize the audience. You'll go one way or the other but you will have an opinion when he's done."

I TiVo'd the show, so I fast-forwarded past Wanda Sykes and some fat guy - no idea who he was. Then at the tail end of the show, out trots Conor dressed head to toe in C&W performance gear, complete with a red rhinestone-trimmed western shirt and matching pants, black scarf and black cowboy hat. Breaking the look, of course, was Conor's trademark swoop cut, sticking out like black straw from beneath the brim. During the introduction, Leno said Conor's been compared to a young Dylan and a young Springsteen, and then held up vinyl copies of Wide Awake and Digital Ash - I'm sure there were kids watching who wondered how you play those gigantic CDs.

For what it's worth, this is the best Conor has sounded on TV. With no backing band and just his guitar, he spat out the lyrics like he was daring someone at the network to pull the plug. They didn't, though they blanked out the b-word in the last verse. Then Conor ended the song by saying "Fil mish-mish, fil mish-mish." No idea what it means, though a blog found by a Google search says that it's an Arabic euphemism for "don't hold your breath." Leno looked agitated when he strolled out and said, "Good job," but who knows. He may have just felt rushed, having to thank all of his guests in about 5 seconds. An interesting performance, and I suppose daring for Leno to air it. I doubt Letterman would have done it. Yet another milestone for Bright Eyes...

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I spent my weekend sleeping and blowing my nose having succumbed to a vicious spring cold. In fact, the malady still has me in its grip and will keep me from attending tonight's Supersystem, Thunderbirds are Now!, Coast of Nebraska show at O'Leaver's. Supersystem, btw, used to be the better-named El Guapo. Said I of the band's Oct. 22 show at Sokol Underground when they opened for Q & Not U: "I was somewhat surprised to hear a couple bands that were sort-of, kind-of dance acts. El Guapo more so. I joked that I blamed The Rapture for their sound, but that's probably not fair. The four-piece mixed NYC punk rock with dance beats and programming. I was initially confused by the drum parts -- I thought it was just a really clear, crisp snare. But in fact, they were using a combination of live drums and pre-recorded beats, which worked most of the time. I liked it, but when it comes to this sort of progressive punk-dance stuff, I prefer the live version of Radio 4." Though derivative, certainly worth the $5 cover. Wish I could go.

Tomorrow I'll catch up on all the Internet headlines that have been piling up in my inbox. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some flem to attend to...

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