Chats with 311

If you're from Omaha, you know about 311.

Even if you're not a fan, you probably know a lot about them. You also probably have a friend whose sister used to babysit for them. Or someone who went to Westside with Chad Sextion. Or a girlfriend whose sister dated Nick Hexum.

I'm a lifelong Omaha resident and I know my 311 - songs, history, trivia, etc. They've been one of my favorite bands for a long time. I think it's because I grew up with them. It's like mama's cooking: When it's all you consumed for so long, nothing else tastes quite as good.

I'm certainly not drinking the Kool-Aid, so to speak. I like them a lot, but I'll admit that their latest album, "Uplifter," isn't the best thing on the planet. It has producer Bob Rock's hands all over it, in good ways and bad, and I think it sometimes suffers from wanting to please a lot of people.

On the same token, I really like "Jackpot" and "Never Ending Summer," two jams that are destined to become classics in their live shows.

Anyway, I spoke to Nick Hexum (vocals, guitars) and Chad Sexton (drums) for a little while this afternoon.

They're both very down to earth, humble guys and say they owe a lot to their start in Omaha.

Hexum talked about having an "Omaha work ethic" that helped them work really hard on their band. Sexton said they used to sit at a table assembling CD packages for record labels and radio stations in an effort to get a record deal.

When they're back in town, the guys spend time with their friends and family. Sexton and Tim Mahoney find it necesarry to get some La Casa pizza (I can't blame them... it's sooooo good). Hexum likes to walk through his old neighborhood and look around.

One of my favorite parts was when Sexton talked about the smell of Omaha and the smell of Joe Voda's Drum City and how he really knows he's back.

One of his favorite places, Chu's, is gone now, though. Formerly near 64th and Center St., the place has been razed.

"I can't find a frickin place like that. I don't even think they have them in Omaha any more," he said.

My favorite part of my interview with Hexum was about 311 Day. If you don't know, the band has a huge concert every two years on March 11 (3-11, get it?). The last few have been 5 hours long, which is just a silly amount of music.

Anyway, Hexum said the first one was kind of on a lark when the band happened to be on tour in New Orleans on March 11 in 93 or 94. They charged $3.11 for admission and had a blast during the show.

"I remember that one in particular. We drank a lot of jagermesiter," he said. "Then Chad performed the encore with his pants off."

* * *

The band performs at the Mid-America Center on Nov. 14. Look for more from the interviews in the next few weeks both here and in the World-Herald.

Review: Monsters’ marathon holds nothing back

Photo by Alyssa Schukar/The World-Herald

By Kevin Coffey
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Anyone curious should know: It was well worth it.

Before the Monsters of Folk’s Wednesday performance, some would-be concertgoers complained that tickets, at $47, were too expensive.

Far from it. The show was worth every penny.

Taking the stage in three-piece suits, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, singer-songwriter M. Ward and Jim James of My Morning Jacket were joined by a fifth member, drummer Will Johnson, to round out the Monsters.

Clocking in at a staggering three hours, the 35-song marathon set from the indie rock supergroup was remarkable.

“If you have to go to the bathroom, just go to the bathroom. If you have to get a beer, do it. We don’t mind,” Oberst said to laughs. “It was a choice between an intermission and no intermission, and we went with no intermission. You won’t hurt our feelings. Everyone’s got their needs.”

What did they play? Practically everything.

All 15 songs from the recent Monsters of Folk album made it into the set, as well as several songs from each member’s respective catalog. (Find the complete set list on Omaha.com.)

Kicking off with “Say Please,” the energy of the set ebbed and flowed between loud (“Soul Singer in a Session Band”) and soft (“Dear God [Sincerely M.O.F.]”) and slow (“Slow Down Jo”) and fast (“Losin Yo Head”).

The performers’ on-stage attitude was fun and nonchalant. They wandered on and off stage between songs, performing backup duties on vocals and guitars while their friends took the lead.

Egos were checked at the door, too. During songs from their own repertoires, they each let others sing full verses. Oberst, Ward and James are normally frontmen, but they didn’t mind standing out of the spotlights to play bass guitar or sing backup.

They had the most fun during their rendition of Bright Eyes’ “At the Bottom of Everything.” Oberst took the first verse, then let Ward, James and drummer Johnson sing the rest.

Not all five members were on stage most of the time, but they were most powerful when the whole band took the stage together.

And aside from the suits and some classic red theater curtains hanging down on the stage, the setup was sparse. But the songs were enough on their own.

Stunning vocal harmonies on “The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me,” dueling instruments on “Losin Yo Head” and the energy of “Another Travelin’ Song” were just a few highlights.

Oberst, Ward and James all gave nods to Omaha and the 1,400 in attendance at the Holland Performing Arts Center, mentioning how the city was instrumental in getting the group together.

“The year was 2004 when the Monsters of Folk met in this great town of Omaha. It’s very meaningful to be back here,” Ward said.

“We’ve spent many hundreds of hours here under the careful guidance of Mr. Oberst and Mr. Mogis,” James added later.

“You did a great job raising these boys.”

My favorite spot

Everyone has their favorite spot in the club.

After getting through the door at Slowdown, saddling up to the bar to order a few PBR tallboys and hitting up the bathroom, everyone heads to their favorite spot. Maybe it's the balcony. Maybe it's one of the high tables near the bar. Perhaps the row of seats that surround the "pit" area.

I know this because I do it. And in "my spot," I run into the same people a lot. And I know others that have "their spots."

It's a weird phenomenon, really. My spot isn't because that's where it sounds the best (That's usually by the front of house, kids. Front of house = that booth with the sound guy and all of those knobs and switches.) Most people have no particular reason for their fav location.

At Slowdown, it's slightly stage-right, about 10 feet back because I like the view, but I'm not right in it. For Slowdown Jr., it's usually right at the bar, about halfway down so I can get drinks easily and it's not as crazy loud as in front of the stage.

At the Waiting Room it's usually right by the front of house because I don't like wading through a crowd of (usually) teenagers. At the Qwest, I prefer to sit in the sections to the right or left, not the floor (the floor usually gets kinda nutty and you get some annoying superfans down there).

At Sokol Underground, I like to be in the back, usually to the right so that stupid pole in the middle of the audience is out of my way. Upstairs at Sokol, I'm usually left side, near the wall of mirrors (I hate the balcony there... you can never see anything).

Where do you like to sit? Let me know in the comments.

On a slightly related note, I think the best sound in a rock club is not actually in the normal crowd area.

Call me crazy, but I think it's always the bathroom. (Don't believe me? Go into the bathroom at Slowdown in the middle of a show and just listen for a minute. Sounds great.)

A few reasons behind that: The sound is piped in there over the speakers, but not at that ridiculous concert volume. Since it's the bathroom, no one is talking, which means you actually understand it. Since you're behind a few walls, it also filters out some of that wild volume, making it more listenable.

Of course, you didn't come there to listen to the band. You came there to see them. To feel the kickdrum slam into your chest. To have the band sign your new vinyl after the show. To buy the show to prove that you were there, man.

Headlines: Kanye, Weezer and more

What's shakin' people? Today was pretty uneventful for me. No cool interviews, just doing some writing stuff.

I did call around to some recording studios to ask about rates. That stuff can be expensive, though rates vary all over the place. The best advice I've been given is to compare rates and get recommendations from friends. Why? Just because they're cheap, doesn't mean it's a good place to go. Sometime shelling out some extra cash will help in the long run.

Monsters of Folk are here next week. Therefore, I think you should check out my piece on what monsters the foursome would be, if they were actually monsters.

Next, we have some headlines!

• Kanye West is not dead. Read: not dead. Despite what Twitter would have you believe.

• New Found Glory is coming to town next week. Here's a review of their secret hometown show.

• Eminem is pretty good in English. I can't imagine it would be very good translated into any language, let alone Klingon. Seriously.

• Dinosaur Jr. and Lou Barlow are coming to town soon, as well. They have a tour diary.

• Do we need any more ludicrous musicals? I don't think so. Nonetheless, a Run-DMC musical might happen. (Come to think of it, a Ludacris musical might be... wait, no. No, it would not.)

• I'm pretty pumped to see how this works, but Paste thinks that DJ Hero (new game from the Guitar Hero folks) will change music forever.

• Lil Wayne is probably going to jail.

• Rihanna has a new single. It's called "Russian Roulette." Ugh. Count me out.

• Weezer's new video was supposed to be up yesterday, but it wasn't. It is now.

• The American Music Award nominations were revealed on Wednesday. Does anyone care?

• Not related to music: That Boondock Saints sequel is supposed to come out Oct. 30. Well, it's not playing in too many places, and not in Omaha, last I checked.

Halloween Costumes: Music edition

It's that time of year: Halloween costume-buying season.

I've done it, just like many of you have... Wander to a costume shop or superstore in town and wander the aisles until you find something funny. Or think of an idea only to realize that you have a week to wander through 27 thrift stores in order to find the perfect set of stone-washed jeans.

This year, I wanted to go as something music related, but couldn't think of anything good beyond "rock star" or something stupid like that. Here's a look at some great (and awful) music-related costumes.

The Good

Dee Snider of Twisted Sister
Quite possibly the ugliest man in rock 'n roll, Dee Snider's costume in the "We're Not Gonna Take It" video is outstanding. Now, you can rock it too. If going as a couple, maybe pair it with this 80s groupie costume.

Buddy Holly
I'm a sucker for some Buddy Holly, so this costume is pretty great. You can imitate it by finding a checked, 50s-style jacket and some fake glasses, but this one pretty much nails the look dead on.

Punk Rock Princess
This one is good for two reasons. Chiefly, I've seen punk rock chicks dress like this. It's accurate. Secondly, It avoids that "I'll dress up as a (blank), but it will be a sexy (blank)" craze.

The Bad

Moonwalker Chiller Jacket

Not explicitly a Michael Jackson costume, but we see what they're getting at. For obvious reasons, the King of Pop is going to be a big hit this year. I find that somewhat creepy, but whatever. As for this costume, it looks like a cheaper, polyester-er version of Michael's original. I'm looking forward to seeing someone do something clever with an MJ costume. Here's the "official" version of the costume. This one, not official, comes with a mask. Ugh.

Random 80s hair metal rocker guy
Uh, really? This guy doesn't even look as good as Rikki Rockett from Poison, and that's saying something. You could probably assemble this costume a lot better by going to Weird Wild Stuff and buying a sequined vest and platforms. They sell them. Yes, seriously.

80s rock star costume
This is not, in fact, an 80s rock star. It might be Madonna, but it looks more like Christine Taylor's character in the "Wedding Singer."

The Ugly

80s Video Star
Do you know any 80s video stars that looked like this? I don't. Even if they exist, this costume just looks like a bad 80s costume, not anything music-related.

Elvis
This is pretty cheesy. In fact, this was cheesy when Elvis actually wore it. Also, any Elvis wig that you're going to buy is not going to look like Elvis' actual hair. It's going to look like a big, black bushy wig because it's going to be a mess after sitting in that plastic bag on the Nobbie's shelf after 4 years. (Also, it's somewhat ironic that this a plus-size.)

MC Hammer
MC Hammer is not a white guy. That is all.

Costumes I Wish They Had

Angry Bouncer
Shirt that says "STAFF." Add an angry scowl and maybe a flashlight. A clipboard with a guest list would be a bonus.

Guitar Tech
Black jeans, t-shirt, a beard and maybe a hat. But it has to be an indie hat.

I've-never-been-to-a-concert-before girl
Walk around in an innappropriately long sundress with one finger in your ear and the other holding your cell phone to the other ear. Yell "I'm at a concert" as loud as you can into the phone while you scowl at people for bumping into you and stepping on your dress. Bonus points for holding a silly drink, such as a martini, in the hand you're plugging your ear with.

Mysterious guitarist
Plaid flannel shirt, long wig (make sure the hair is in your eyes), low-slung guitar. Pace back and forth while you pick at the strings.

Overzealous frontman
A microphone and a penchant for yelling out "Yeah (insert city name here)" a lot.

Rock club bartender
Trendy rock T-shirt (say, a faded Pavement one), bottle opener, black plastic-framed glasses and a couple empty PBR tallboy cans.

Hey there

Ahoy! I just realized my last blog post was on Friday. Oops. Sorry about that.

I haven't been to many shows lately, so I haven't had any reviews. There was talk of sending me to Daughtry tonight, but I'm pretty happy that that's not going to be happening.

As for shows, I recommend hitting up Honey & Darling on Friday. I saw them before Matt & Kim performed about a month ago and liked what I saw. Sara Bertuldo played through the set after cutting her finger open (and a nice crowd member gave her a Band-aid).

Dinosaur Jr. is on Tuesday with Lou Barlow (of D Jr.) opening the show. I wasn't big on Barlow's latest solo release, personally. D Jr. should be a good show, though.

On Wednesday is the biggie: Monsters of Folk. I think a lot of folks are balking at the ticket price, a lofty 47 bucks.

You have to consider that you're not just getting the MoF playing its 15 songs along with some crappy opener you've kinda heard of.

Think of it more like a bill including Bright Eyes, M. Ward and My Morning Jacket and a few MoF songs thrown in the mix too. Recent reviews have said (and Mike Mogis told me) that it's at least two and a half hours (!!!) and the members will shuffle on and off stage to help each other with "solo" sets.

For $47, hell yes. You'll probably be paying about that much to see just one of these acts in the near future as their stars rise and ticket prices skyrocket.

Just remember to get up and stretch every once in awhile. Don't want to cramp up sitting in a Holland Center seat for that long.

The best break up songs

Breaking up sucks. Sad to say, I've been the victim more than a few times.

Anyway, the USA Today blog Pop Candy (if you don't read it, you should check it out) ran a top 5 list of songs to listen to after being dumped, submitted by a reader.

I thought I'd come up with a list of songs of, about or relating to breaking up that I like (by far not the best five, just the first that came to mind). I'd also like to know yours. Post 'em in the comments.

"It's Cool, We Can Still Be Friends" by Bright Eyes - Wow, this song is harsh. The tune basically recounts all the stuff that you go through with a girl after the relationship ends, from still getting a kiss (but on the cheek now) to pouring a tall glass of whiskey and getting loaded. Conor sounds angry, like maybe it actually happened to him.



"Take It Easy (Love Nothing)" by Bright Eyes - Another Conor one, this time from the kinda electronic "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" album. Starts with an, ahem, experience with a girl and then ends with him getting dumped in a note. The experience makes him "do as I please and lie through my teeth" to women he meets in the future. Who hasn't been there?



"Half Your Age" by Kid Rock - The early mornin' stoned pimp, as it were, has also been dumped. This is his anthem (presumably directed at Pam Anderson) about meeting a hotter, younger woman who does his laundry and, as it turns out, his mother approves of. Fight the good fight, Kid Rock.



"You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morisette - Thanks to Francesca F. for this suggestion. While it seems a predictable choice, it's nonetheless awesome. She sounds so sincerely pissed off and you can tell both in the lyrics and in the tone she takes. Incredible. The fact that it's supposedly about Dave Coulier (of Full House fame) is just icing on the cake.



"Song For the Dumped" by Ben Folds Five - A great tune. Folds sings about getting dumped on the front porch after he takes the girlfriend to dinner. Lyrics like "you wanted to slow it down some and have some space? Fuck you too!" and "Give me my money back, you bitch" and "And don't forget to give me back my black T-shirt." Who hasn't wanted to yell that at someone after being kicked to the curb?

Headlines! Green Day, Flaming Lips and more

I wrote this yesterday, but screwed up and didn't post it. Apologies... Herewith, yesterday's post:

Today I got to talk to to great people: Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets and the Queen of Mean, comedian Lisa Lampanelli.

Kirkwood actually lived in Omaha for a time, he told me. I had no idea. Apparently he had a kidney removed at Children's Hospital and camped out in town with grandparents and other relatives, who were from Omaha, when he was in first grade.

Lisa Lampanelli was pretty hilarious. Several words that she used over and over are not allowed to be printed in the OWH, so I'm going to have to find a way around that. Should be interesting.

Anyway, headlines!

• Monsters of Folk - Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, M. Ward and Jim James - kicked off its tour the other night. Spin reviewed the show. Looking at the pictures, it looks like they'll be dressed to the nines, just like on their Tonight Show performance.

• If you're Elvis-obsessed, you can buy a clump of the King's hair. Sounds kinda gross/creepy to me, but whatever floats your boat.

• The Flaming Lips were on the Tonight Show.

• According to Nick Hexum's Twitter page, 311 will announce details about 311 day tomorrow. Past dates have been in New Orleans and Memphis, but it appears that they're doing something different this time around.

• Download a new track from OK Go. You know, the guys who did the treadmill video?

• Sufjan Stevens apparently is getting a little tired of his conceptual ideas and trying to think of something new.

• Blender occasionally throws out five new songs they love. Here is their latest, including Death Cab, Flaming Lips and others that I've never heard of.

• I'm excited to see the movie Pirate Radio because of the cast and the music. Check out some clips over at Yahoo.

• Kanye and Lady Gaga canceled their tour awhile ago, but apparently the Lady is going out on the road with Kid Cudi. No Omaha date is on the list.

• Paul McCartney did a show awhile ago at Citi Field, the replacement for the New York Mets' Shea Stadium where the Beatles performed those famous concerts so many years ago. A DVD is coming out and Sir Paul released the tracklist.

• Remember how Green Day was going to do a musical? About "American Idiot?" Maybe not. If you did, you might have cringed like I did. Spin gives it a so-so review.

Headlines! Bon Iver, Weezer and more

Busy day of writing about Mannheim Steamroller and figure skating today. Yes, I said figure skating. Not my normal cup of tea, but there's a thing going on at the Qwest this weekend that I had to write about.

Tomorrow, I'm talking to Curt from the Meat Puppets and the queen of mean, Lisa Lampanelli. Should be a pretty fun day. I also have to write up a story on the Monsters of Folk. (I've been promising excerpts from my Mike Mogis interview and I'll get them to you. Promise.)

Until then, feast on headlines!

• Paste got a new website. I like it better. It's a lot cleaner than their old one.

• Bon Iver announced an indefinite hiatus. WTF?! The article explains that the full band will be apart for awhile, which leads me to believe Justin Vernon is talking about touring, not skipping out on recording more material.

• The new album from Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (wow, that's a mouthful) is streaming. He's the new Saddle Creek guy and his record (what I've listened to so far, anyway) is really freaking good.

• Download Thom Yorke's song "Hearing Damage."

• Tonight, there's a Joan Baez documentary on PBS. Apparently, it has a Bob Dylan interview, MLK footage and a whole bunch of other stuff.

• Speaking of Dylan, he's got a Christmas album out. Sounds interesting, but apparently it's good.

• If you pay iTunes about 20 bucks, you can get the new Weezer album, "Ratitude," plus a bunch of other goodies.

• Speaking of Weezer, Rivers Cuomo is going to work with Katy Perry.

• For those excited for Pavement's reunion shows, they won't be playing new material.

• As if there aren't enough Elvis compilations out, they're putting out a 100-song boxed set.

Miley Cyrus was not good

Part of my job is to review concerts. Smaller ones I'll do right here on this blog. Bigger ones, I'll do for the paper.

We've stepped back from covering every single thing that performs at the Qwest, Mid-America Center and Civic Auditorium. Notice that we didn't send anyone to Creed last week.

Well, Miley Cyrus happens to be one of the biggest things in pop culture (I mean, did you hear about people freaking when she deleted her Twitter account last week?).

So, I went. And here, dear readers, are my thoughts on the subject.

Basically, it was a gross display of the Disney machine in action. The whole thing was there to sell more Miley/Hannah Montana merchandise (which parents gladly did), topped off by a 16-year-old girl prancing around in hot pants and showing her ass and cleavage to almost 15,000 people (mostly young girls).

As for the music, it's pretty inoffensive pop stuff. Miley is no Bob Dylan, that's for sure. But she doesn't have the best voice in the world to begin with, and that was hampered even further by the fact she was running around the stage the whole time instead of actually trying to sing.

Ugh. Thank the maker she won't be back for awhile...

Image by James R. Burnett/The World-Herald

KoL update

A few people have commented (including some that I attended the show with last night) that the Kings of Leon performance was too short.

I agree. I said yesterday that I could have gone for another 10 songs, or at least 30 to 40 minutes. But I have to admit that they played their best 18 songs (see the set list). Were there others that I'd like to see? Yes.

But the Kings have a kind of no-nonsense approach. They don't banter with the crowd. They don't have an elaborate show. They don't fiddle around on guitar solos for 4 minutes. Essentially, they're the antithesis to U2.

Part of the quick show time has to do with that, I think. If it were Fleetwood Mac, 18 songs would have taken 2 hours, easy, because Stevie Nicks would extemporize about how they wrote "Landslide" and Lindsey Buckingham would noodle around on his guitar. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just Fleetwood's style, much like not fucking around and just playing some rock songs is the Kings' style.

One guy commented that Kol frontman Caleb F. was being a bit of a wuss (he used some stronger words) by complaining about his crew. If I were him, I'd complain too. Maybe not by calling them out onstage to the crowd, but I'd raise hell.

This is a band who runs a tight ship. Notes aren't out of place. Lyrics aren't flubbed. Ever. If the crew screws up, they're going to hear it.

Also, this same person commented that Caleb was bagging on the crowd by saying that the "fans in the front were real KoL fans." This is something that I've heard other bands say countless times. Don't think he was making fun of you for not crowd surfing, so cool out dude.

***

In other news, I have to go to review Miley Cyrus tonight. This should be interesting... Review will be posted later.

KoL at the MAC

Kings of Leon were quite awesome. Check out my review (and set list).

Something about those guys always makes their set seem waaaaay too short. I think it's partly that they barely stop for anything (even to drink their booze). And the other part is that they have a lot of songs that I like.

I have my favorites, but after 18 songs tonight, I felt like they could have done about 10 more. Hell, I wouldn't have minded if they played "Taper Jean Girl" twice.

Anyway, good show. If you have the opportunity to go, do it.

Anyone else at the show? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Today's Mail

I was gone for a week, so the pile of mail wast truly epic. Here's what turned up:

Bowling for Soup, "Sorry for Partyin'" - These guys play crappy, goofy pop punk full of fart jokes and cheesy lyrics. Nonetheless, I cannot help but enjoy these guys. Part of it is that I like crappy pop punk and fart jokes, but the other part is that these guys are in on the joke. They don't take themselves very seriously at all. I mean, they have a song called "My Wena." 'Nuff said.

Neil Diamond, "A Cherry Cherry Christmas" - I always find it amusing that a Jewish guy has this many Christmas albums, but they work for him. This disc features Xmas classics like "White Christmas" and "Jingle Bell Rock" but also new stuff like "Cherry Cherry Christmas." He does include a little tune called "The Chanukah Song" at the end. And yes, it is a cover of the Adam Sandler tune. And it's hilarious.

Five For Fighting, "Slice" - This guy was in town recently. I guess the show lasted 15-20 minutes. Lame. Maybe the album's good? Don't know.

Taylor Hollingsworth, "Life With a Slow Ear" - Taylor is a member of the Mystic Valley Band, as one of the group's guitarists (I think they had three, maybe four). He also penned a few tunes and sang on "Air Matress." I liked his pre-MVB stuff (like "Central City") and am interested in listening to the new one. The 10-song album will be out on (surprise!) Oberst's Team Love label.

Bishop Allen, "Grrr..." - This disc isn't new, but Bishop Allen is coming to town soon. My friend Maggie D. turned me onto these guys awhile back and we've both been anticipating their arrival. Check 'em out Nov. 3 at Slowdown.

Paste sampler - If you're lucky enough to recieve "Paste" magazine, you get a music sampler every week. It is a highlight, to be sure. The mini version of the magazine came last week and, along with it, a disc including Avett Brothers, Sea Wolf, Langhorne Slim, Lou Barlow and quite a few others.

Backstreet Boys, "This is Us" - I don't really care much to hear this album, but it's gauranteed to sell a bunch of copies after we get beaten over the head with whatever the album's first single is (I'm guessing "Straight Through My Heart" based on the sticker slapped onto the jewel case).

Toby Keith, "American Ride" - This should be interesting. Kris Kristofferson just had an album out too. Hopefully, they don't start any fights.

Brandi Carlile, "Give Up the Ghost" - The third full-length from the indie-pop-folk-alt country-whatever singer-songwriter.

Lita Ford, "Wicked Wonderland" - Who knew Lita Ford was still putting out albums? Well, here's another one.

Other stuff in the mail: "Holiday Magic" by Connie Talbot, "Music for Men" by Gossip, "Life as a Song" by Five Times August, "SpeakLove" by Courtney Fortune, "The New Seed" by Zera Vaughan, "Speak No Evil" by Tinsley Ellis, "Lost in Dreams" by Curtis Stigers, "Bright Nights Dark Days" by Cavo and "Why You Runnin'" by Lissie

KoL live DVD

The day of their concert in good ole Council Bluffs, Kings of Leon announce a new DVD.

It's official: They've hit mainstream status. You can tell because they're not focused on just doing albums any more. The group is now keeping up a steady stream of non-album releases to keep fans interested in between records.

Don't get me wrong, this is going to be cool. Their live show is freaking great (at least, they were when I saw them in Chicago). This will be nice to replay and relive the memories, so to speak.

Tracklist:
Notion
Be Somebody
Taper Jean Girl
My Party
Molly's Chambers
Red Morning Light
Fans
California Waiting
Milk
Closer
Crawl
Four Kicks
Charmer
Sex on Fire
The Bucket
On Call
Cold Desert
Use Somebody
Slow Night, So Long
Knocked Up
Manhattan
Black Thumbnail

I'm back

My weeklong vacation was a much-needed one. I am now back in the office with nearly 400 e-mails to read, quite a few missed calls and voice mails and a pile of CDs and press releases to go through.

The blog will be back in the swing of things today and I'll be checking out Kings of Leon at the Mid-America Center tonight. A review will be posted on Omaha.com and here later on.

Anything I missed on my week off? Let me know in the comments.

Hahaha

Hey folks! I'm on vacation from the office this week. I'll still be blogging (a bit), but you won't be hearing as much from me.

Today, feast on this funny music-related comic from the genius R. Stevens over at Diesel Sweeties:

Go to Diesel Sweeties' site for more hipster robot comics, funny t-shirts and the like.