A Run Through the Outlandia Lineup and Friday Night's Live Music Offerings
The Outlandia lineup has been announced for 2024. The third Outlandia Festival will take place on August 9th and 10th at Falconwood Park in Bellevue, Nebraska, Let’s run through the lineup.
Friday starts out with Omaha’s long running indie band Twinsmith doing a somewhat rare outing. Real Estate returns for a second run on the Outlandia lineup. Their new album, Daniel, is one of my most played albums of 2024. It’s plesant dad pop, but it’s so infectious. Just catchy song after catchy song that will sound so good outside in the early afternoon. It will have the Josh Rouse at Maha feel, and that was a special moment.
The Vacations are a young indie pop band that have three albums out and are touring on their latest album, “No Place Like Home," which I like a lot. These guys will pair up well with Real Estate I think. Then, of course, is the return of The Faint, who are now perennial Omaha festival performers, and attendees would have it no other way.
Men I Trust are a dream pop band from Canada, and a lot of younger music fans are going to be all about this, but also older dream pop fans such as myself. We don’t really get a ton of this type of music through town, so this is cool, and Men I Trust’s catalog over the past ten years is really good. Closing out the night are the Flaming Lips. I can already hear people say they were just here. They were, but they are also a great festival band-and seeing the Flaming Lips indoors versus outdoors are two different experiences. Witnessing them outside at Maha back in the day was pretty epic, as was cleaning the confetti afterwards. I hope we get a really fleshed-out set, including some of the newer stuff.
On Saturday, we start off with The Eye which is a long running Omaha band with a sound drenched in college rock of the 80’s and 90’s.” Kelsey Walden is a favorite country singer-songwriter of mine. She has five albums out, including 2022’s No Regular Dog, which got a lot of attention. Maybe there is a sixth on the way. She has a new cover out of the Carter Family song “Hello Stranger” with another favorite of mine, S.G. Goodman (who would be awesome on this festival some year-hint), which is very good.
Denver quartet Devotchka play a wide array of music, from folk to Romani punk to caberet. The bands proximity to Omaha over the years has found them with a fan base here, and we have seen some pretty incredible shows from them. Buffalo Tom is the band I freaked out about on the lineup, and looking at the internet, a lot of other people my age are as well. This is a band that existed during the heyday of alternative rock in the 90’s, was never massive, but put out solid music for those of us who were not really into the MTV heavy grunge and funk rock acts at the time. I really enjoyed their 2018 album Quiet and Peace, and they have a new album coming in 2024. This is very cool.
flipturn is a popular indie pop band that just sold out Slowdown this past week. They are touring non-stop for their 2022 album, Shadowglow. Dinosaur Jr. will be the highlight of the Friday lineup. The legendary band is still putting out solid albums forty years later. They are one of the best guitar rock bands around, but they are so much more. Having them on the same day as Buffalo Tom is nice, as Dinosaur Jr. front-person J. Mascis produced that band's first two albums.
The Revivalists from New Orleans are a roots rock band that people seem the most excited about, at least in my online friends group. They will be a nice pairing for The Head and the Heart, the popular folk rock band from Seattle whose albums from ten years ago still sell at the record store like they came out last week.
I look forward to spending the weekend out at Falconwood. Here is the website to get more information.
Tonight you have local prog rock band Wyrmwood at the Benson Theater with ione. Wyrmwood will be recording the show for a live album and video, and I think this is ione’s last show before she moves to Chicago. She is currently releasing a new single and video for “It Hurts." You can listen to that HERE
Bennie and the Gents will be at The Waiting Room this evening for Bennie does Bowie VIII. The original Bennie Does Bowie was on the books and planned, and then David Bowie passed away around the time of the show. That was a powerful event for Omaha Bowie fans, and so it has become an annual tradition of sorts.
Popular country duo The Brothers Osborne are at Steelhouse Omaha, Sailing With Soup is at The Zoo Bar in Lincoln; and hip-hop artist RITTZ is at the Bourbon Theater tonight. A couple good area based shows include The Willards at The Harney Street Tavern and a four band bill at Reverb Lounge with Alyeska, Before We Die, The High Hats, and Saltwater Sanctuary.
Below are the rest of tonight’s happenings. Plan your weekend HERE with the weekly calendar. Plan April HERE with the April Live Music Preview.
Friday March 29th
All Star City Blues at B. Bar 5:30PM (Omaha)
Beyond Bananas at B. Bar 9:30PM (Omaha)
DJ Dan and DJ L4ZR at Bar 415 (Omaha)
Hector Anchondo at Rusty Nail 6:30PM (Omaha)
Chad Lee at Copacabana Lounge 9PM (Omaha)
Taxi Driver at Bogies West 8:30PM (Omaha)
Holiday Drive at Dubliner Pub 9:30 PM (Omaha)
Keo & Them, Estrogen Projection, Das Dat, JDreams The Alien at Duffy’s Tavern 9PM (Lincoln)
Sidewalk Celebrity, Cordial Spew, Hand Painted Police Car at The Swamp 8PM (Lincoln)
Southall and The Glorious Sons with Them Dirty Roses at The Admiral Theater 8PM (Omaha)
Alyeska, Before We Die, The High Hats and Saltwater Sanctuary at Reverb Lounge 8PM (Omaha)
Bennie and the Gents-Bennie Does Bowie VIII-at The Waiting Room 9PM (Omaha)
Brother East Brother West at Beach House Bar 8PM (Omaha)
Sailing In Soup at the Zoo Bar 5PM (Lincoln)
LaPerm, Red Cities, & Wagon at The Zoo Bar 9PM (Lincoln)
RITZZ at the Bourbon Theater Lincoln 6PM (Lincoln)
Brothers Osborne at Steelhouse Omaha 8PM (Omaha)
Wyrmwood with ione at Benson Theater 8PM (Omaha)
Gimmie Gimmie Disco at Slowdown 9PM (Omaha)
McGovern String Band at Crescent Moon Coffee 7PM (Lincoln)
Taylor Moates at Kinkaider Omaha 7PM (Omaha)
The 402 at Maloney’s Live 8PM (Council Bluffs)
Gilda House at 1867 Bar 7PM (Lincoln)
Whiskey Bent Band at Cappy’s Hot Spot 8:30 PM (Lincoln)
Tanner Sovereign at Skyboxx (Omaha)
Hookt at the Island Bar and Grill 8PM (Omaha)
Joe McCarthy at Barroco Wine Bar 7PM (Omaha)
Dr. Rock at Bellevue Eagles Club 7PM (Bellevue)
Rustic Rebels Band at Whiskey Roadhouse (Council Bluffs)
The Willards at Harney Street Tavern 9PM (Omaha)
Sommer Ray at The Royal Grove 9PM (Lincoln)
The Replicants at Grays Keg 8PM (Lincoln)
Open Mic Night at Dry Spokes 7PM (Omaha)