Virtually Home

Driving south through Iowa at dusk I went to Lincoln for a job interview of sorts. I reveled in the driving. It turns out that solo slogs across the lonely plains states, singing along to my car stereo, are my idea of a good time. It was the kind of interview that seems only to exist in my field: the one where someone already knows they want to hire you but the job may or may not exist. I gave a talk, met a bunch of really cool people, and spent a nice afternoon in a town I have only visited in songs. I left Lincoln for Omaha, crushed under the weight of not getting my hopes up.  I planned to get to the venue at some point after doors opened, which is not my usual modus operandi. I was going to play it cool. I should preface this by saying that there is no such thing as a casual Mountain Goats fan, in my experience. Mountain Goats shows are a deeply and unsettlingly communal experience. The unsettling part comes because, in spite of having lived a life I cannot identify with ...

Miwi La Lupa, left, on guitar and vocals I have a feeling this show is going to remain one of my favorite musical moments. The 40th Street Theatre was recently acquired and remodeled by some folks who own a stringed instrument store in Omaha. Apparently they did all the work themselves, and it looks like it was a little theatre, before. It has room for 200, if people are friendly, and a small raised stage. Conor decided to play a show there, and I think it was the inaugural show for the venue. Tickets were sold only in person, for cash, at Solid Jackson/Almost Music or Pageturners. Ryan was kind enough to pick me up a pair on his lunch break. They were really good-looking, hand-numbered, screenprinted tickets that glowed in the dark and displayed a secret message. I thought this was a really great touch, especially in the era of identical, mass-printed Ticketmaster ticket stubs or print-at-home sheets. Hartford/Focht opened. They're a husband-wife team who play and sing tog...

Omaha's twin venues, The Waiting Room and Reverb Lounge are celebrating their 10th anniversaries this month. They're celebrating, unsurprisingly, with shows! Conor Oberst played a Thursday night show for their 9th night of celebrations, and there was a sort of "afterparty" at Reverb immediately following that set. There was a $10 cover, and lots of folks who had been at the Waiting Room migrated over to continue the night with Har Mar's set. Ian, Christmas, and Farley from the Felice Brothers were there, and so were members of High Up and a bunch of my other Omaha heroes. Har Mar Superstar is a Twin Cities band that I had heard of but never quite managed to see. It's categorized as R&B or pop, which is generally not my thing, but Sean Tillman has a sort of shtick -- despite looking incredibly average and increasingly middle aged, he takes his clothes off, getting closer to naked as the night progresses, while singing a lot about his own sexual prowess. I...

Ian and Christmas of the Felice Brothers opened The Waiting Room is one of my favorite venues. First of all, it's in Omaha, where opportunities and great memories of previous shows abound. But practically speaking, it's also got a low stage, no barrier, isn't too big, and boasts a really excellent collection of concert posters. I met up with show-going friends and waited in line all afternoon. The temperature was pleasant in the sun, and the glass doors mean that while waiting, you can both hear and see the sound check. We had a blast hanging around, and then ate a pretty wonderful dinner at Lot 2 shortly before doors. The crowd was amiable before the show, and I got to catch up with a bunch of acquaintances. The Felice Brothers played a great set, if a somewhat solemn one. Phil and Farley seemed to be joking around in the wing at stage right, but the others were pretty serious. Since I hadn't seen the Felice Brothers before, I didn't make much of it, but w...

Female cricket at my field site. January started in the back lot of a Lutheran Church in Hilo, Hawaii. I recorded and captured crickets with my colleagues, counted invasive cane toads, and collapsed into bed sometime after midnight Hawaii time (hours after my friends in Europe and the continental US had finished celebrating). I spent as much time as possible on that trip snorkeling and reveling in the warm weather. Grand Canyon is Grand February was pretty quiet, but we saw the Wild play the Islanders in Saint Paul, and the Gopher men's gymnastics team take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Minneapolis. I caught Josh Ritter and Guster on tour. I tried not to freeze to death. My life as a lab rat in the spring In March, Jacob and I took a massive trip to Arizona. We visited his family in Phoenix, camped for three nights on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, and roadtripped to Canyon de Chelly, Walnut Canyon, and other places. We saw a lot of amazing Pueblo dwe...

Miwi La Lupa's opening set Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter out of Los Angeles, whose first single, "Killer" was released on a 7" she cut on Ryan Adams' label, PAX AM. She's been working with Mike Mogis in Omaha, presumably on recording her first full length. Her songs are beautiful - she has an incredible voice and a unique delivery. Her guitar work is great, and her songwriting is sad. Basically she's everything I want in a musician. Conor evidently agreed, saying that her being in town was the inspiration for this show. He wanted us to hear her. I was stopping through Omaha on the way to my cousin's memorial service in Tulsa, and I needed something to lift my spirits. Paradoxically, it was a night in a dark bar, listening to sad music that did it. The world just melts away, right? The night was pretty magical because of the setting. Pageturners is one of my favorite bars in the world, in part because of the ambiance. It has dark wood ...

Miwi La Lupa's opening set Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter out of Los Angeles, whose first single, "Killer" was released on a 7" she cut on Ryan Adams' label, PAX AM. She's been working with Mike Mogis in Omaha, presumably on recording her first full length. Her songs are beautiful - she has an incredible voice and a unique delivery. Her guitar work is great, and her songwriting is sad. Basically she's everything I want in a musician. Conor evidently agreed, saying that her being in town was the inspiration for this show. He wanted us to hear her. I was stopping through Omaha on the way to my cousin's memorial service in Tulsa, and I needed something to lift my spirits. Paradoxically, it was a night in a dark bar, listening to sad music that did it. The world just melts away, right? The night was pretty magical because of the setting. Pageturners is one of my favorite bars in the world, in part because of the ambiance. It has dark wood ...