Lincoln concerts
lack star quality
By Josh Krauter
Staff writer
The 1998-1999 academic year was a dead
one for live music.
Sure, plenty of bands came through Lincoln
and Omaha (Collective Soul, Motley Criie,
Everclear, America, Third Eye Blind, Jackyl,
Vanilla Ice and Digital Undeiground twice), but
there wasn’t anything awe-inspiring, jaw-drop
ping or even, well, good.
There was nothing close to Jon Spencer Blues
Explosion’s intensely physical show at Sokol Hall
or Beck’s musically adventurous bill, in which he
was joined by Atari Teenage Riot and the Roots,
both in 1996. The Ranch Bowl, now a haven for
bad teenybopper metal and ska bands, brought
Pavement, Mike Watt and Dinosaur Jr. in the
same three-month period. Los Lobos played a
great set at Pershing Auditorium. The Lincoln
Omaha area was bringing at least five or six great
national acts a year. What happened?
There were a few exceptions, of course.
Sleater-Kinney played a great, if slightly sub
dued, set at the Sokol Underground in Omaha,
but with two local bands opening and a starting
time of 9:30, the band wasn’t able to play a very
long set. The Spinanes came to Knickerbockers
early in the school year, but they almost didn’t
make it
The band was a few hours late because they
were scared of a rainstorm. This coming from a
band who made their live reputation in
the Pacific Northwest. Arriving tired,
they played a short, lackluster set
Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch
Hancock gave a great performance at
the Great Plains Music Festival, but few
students were there to see it.
That’s where one of the major prob-'
lems lies. Our student population does
n’t seem to support live music. Bars are
half-empty when bands play, and bands
don’t come back after playing to empty
houses. Cities comparable in size to
Lincoln, such as Lawrence, Kan., and
Columbia, Mo., consistently draw great
bands and most of this is due to student
attendance.
There’s a lot more to the picture than
lackadaisical concert attendance.
Lincoln lacks a good midsize venue. In
Lincoln, bands can play in either arenas
or bars. Bands who are too big for one
and too small for the other, such as Jon
Spencer Blues Explosion or the Afghan
Whigs, aren’t going to be stopping here
anytime soon. x
Tom Lorenz, assistant executive
director at Pershing Auditorium, says it’s
tough to consistently book live music.
“We buy very few shows, because
it’s a risky business,” he said. “It’s hard to
find someone willing to take the chance
at a loss.”
Geography and band’s tour sched
ules also played a hand in this lackluster
year. Our MiSwest locale means a lot of
bands ignore Nebraska. Denver, St.
Louis, Kansas City, Mo. and Chicago
usually get the nod when bands come
through the Midwest. And many great
live bands simply weren’t on tour this
year. They were in the recording studio.
When a lot of these bands did hit the
road, they went to Europe first.
Things don’t seem to be looking up
this summer, either. Lorenz said it’s hard
to book bands from May to September.
“In the summer, bands go through
what we call sheds-outdoor venues,” he
said, adding that things look grim at
Pershing. “They don’t play this type of
venue.” ,
giance ai me wen sues ror mistar
0http://www.pollstar.com) and Ticket
master (http://www.ticketmaster.com)
reveals not much happening in the
months ahead. The summer concert sea
son is going to be even worse.
The Royal Grove is bringing in
Molly Hatchet, Sister Machine Gun and
Candlebox. And in what is probably the
biggest promotional coup of the year,
the venue is hosting the quadruple threat
ofBulletboys, Bang Tango, Enuff ZnufF
and Pretty Boy Floyd (hold your breath)
on the same bill.
The Ranch Bowl’s highlights
include the perpetually annoying
Kottonmouth Kings and the perpetually
boring Verve Pipe.
Some venues, though, are atoning for sched
uling sins by including something good. The
State Fair loses points for scheduling Def
Leppard and Chris Ledoux, but earns them back
for getting Willie Nelson. And Aksarben
Coliseum may be bringing Rick Springfield to
town, but makes up for it with World
Championship Wrestling. Still, the concert scene
seems to be a dried-up river at the mo
ment.There’s not much that can be done to com
bat a lack of good concerts, but when a good band
comes to town, show up. Convince the promot
ers, bar-owners and bands that Lincoln is a good
place to have shows.
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» Courtesy Photos
ABOVE: THIRD EYE BUND came to Lincoln as part of an MTV college campus tour in October.
ABOVE LEFT: COLLECTIVE SOUL let its dim light shine at Pershing Auditorium this semester. It was
one of a few major groups and major disappointments to play in Lincoln this past academic year.
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