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Annual Music Issue - 2013

The Top 20 Plus 29 More That Made Our List

by Tim McMahan

The state of the Nebraska music scene is reflected in the adjoining list of the Top 20 bands of 2013 along with the 29 others that comprise the rest.

We usually limit the rest to just 15 bands, but when it came time to pull the list together this year, we couldnt stop or better yet couldnt see a reason to. The sheer number of quality new bands has never been higher, but where are they coming from? Didnt the Nebraska music scene peak sometime in the mid-2000s?

It was New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell who came up with the concept of the tipping point in culture, business and society its the moment of critical mass, the boiling point, the cresting of the hill that only builds momentum.

Benson reached its tipping point this year, and now were seeing an avalanche of new bars and booze joints opening along one of the citys oldest corridors. While were all busy patting ourselves on the back about this new Barley Districts economic boom, remember how it all began. First there was Micks Music & Bar, then there was The Waiting Room in 2007. While Micks closed in 2008 (and became another music venue called The Sydney) The Waiting Room flourished.

It wasnt alone. The same year The Waiting Room opened its doors, so did The Slowdown located in Omahas North Downtown district, acknowledged as one of the best music venues in the Midwest (perhaps topped only by The Waiting Room itself).

Meanwhile, one of the citys favorite dive-bar hangouts, OLeavers, quietly built a reputation as an adult playground for the citys finest garage and noise-rock bands as well as a convenient tour stop for young indie bands crossing the country. This year OLeavers gained heightened legitimacy when three members of national indie rock band Cursive bought the joint, along with long-time bartender and musician Chris Machmuller.

Add to those live music venues The Barley Street Tavern, Pageturners, PS Collective, the aforementioned Sydney, The Side Door, House of Loom, newcomer the Sweatshop Gallery, as well as all those Lincoln music venues the legendary Zoo Bar, Duffys, Knickerbockers, The Bourbon Theater and the just-opened Vega, and youve got a whole helluva lot of stages to fill.

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