February Live Music Preview
Some Of The Live Music Events Happening In Omaha, Lincoln And Beyond Next Month
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February 1st-Moors & McCumber at Folkhouse at Joslyn Castle-The folk duo has ten albums under their belt and also does a lot of international tours. The kind where you travel with the musicians to faraway places. Gary Louris of The Jayhawks has kind words to say about them, and that is all I need.
February 3rd-Six Feet Under-Bourbon Theater-Chris Barnes and his long-running death metal band, Six Feet Under will be at The Bourbon Theater. They are touring on their latest album, Killing For Revenge, and will have Psycroptic along with them.
February 5th-Guster at The Admiral Guster loves Omaha. They really do. Sometimes they are in town just hanging out. They put out an album with the Omaha Symphony five years ago. They have always been pretty vocal about their love for Omaha. The band put out their first album thirty years ago and are on tour doing a Taylor Swif-esqe “eras” show. Omaha also loves Guster, so don’t sleep on tickets. You can get fee-free hard tickets in person at Homer’s Music while they last. This show only on the fee free tickets.
February 5th-Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal-The Zoo Bar-Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal were victorious at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis this month, and they are holding a victory party at their home base, The Zoo Bar. This will be one hell of a party.
February 6th-Paul Cauthen at The Admiral-Speaking of people who seem to like Omaha, or at least Nebraska, Paul Cauthen returns for a show at The Admiral. He has played there before, at The Waiting Room, did a special New Year's show to ring in 2025 at Barnato, and opened for Hank Jr. at the Pinnacle Bank Arena last year. People keep coming out for this country artist that has built a loyal fan base here.
February 6th-Andrea Bocelli at CHI Health Center Omaha-The 66 year old tenor Andrea Bocelli has sold over 80 million albums, and he is celebrating thirty years of recorded music on this tour. Bocelli will be joined by the Omaha Symphony at CHI Health Center Omaha for this lead up to Valentines Day on February 6th.
February 6th-Wallows at The Astro-Alt-pop band Wallows has been one of our biggest-selling bands the past five years at the record store. They released their latest album, Model, this past May and just released “Your New Favorite Song” a couple of weeks back (that is the name of the song). You can catch the band at The Astro on February 6th.
February 6th-Real Estate at Waiting Room-I was bummed when indie pop band Real Estate dropped off last year's Outlandia Festival. I have always been a fan of the band, but their 2024 album, Daniel, has become my favorite of theirs. So I wanted to see them on that tour. We finally get to do just that as they will be at Waiting Room on February 6th. Very much looking forward to this.
February 6th through 8th Omaha Invades Lincoln-The Zoo Bar-Three nights of Omaha music in Lincoln at The Zoo Bar prior to the upcoming Lincoln Invades event the following week. Dark wave, post-punk, folk, jam band, jazz, and more will be heard on the famous stage.
February 8th-Bob Marley Birthday Bash-Slowdown-The 8th Annual celebration of all things Bob Marley will happen at Slowdown on February 8th. This year it will features Rhythm Collective and friends, Cruz Control and DJ Stryker.
February 9th-Alex Williams-Bucks Bar and Grill-One of my favorite real-deal country singer-songwriters will return to Bucks on February 9th. This will be a 2 PM matinee show, and they do this every Sunday, but not always with names like this. He is a favorite out there, so get there early, grab a table, and some food. Bucks can get a party started on a Sunday afternoon.
February 12th through the 15th-Lincoln Exposed-It is the 20th anniversary of the Lincoln Exposed festival. See over 100 bands and artists from the Lincoln area over four days at five venues, including 1867, Bourbon Theater, Bodega’s Alley, Duffy’s Tavern, and The Zoo Bar. I have gone over the years to this event, including a night last year, and it’s a blast and super easy to move around between bars and see as much as you can.
February 12th through the 16th-Ward Davis at Bucks Bar and Grill-Popular country singer-songwriter Ward Davis occasionally does a string of shows at Bucks Bar and Grill, and this one coming up is all sold out except for the Wednesday show on the 12th. That will surely also sell out, so if you want to see what many people already know, grab those tickets now.
February 13th-Levell at Holland Performing Arts Center-Your Valentine's week choices are getting a little easier with the announcement of Kansas City R&B singer Levelle at The Holland Performing Arts Center. Levelle will do songs from his 2024 release, Love Story, and more.
February 15th-Hippo Campus at The Astro-indie pop band Hippo Campus return to Omaha, this time at the Astro, for a show on February 15th. The band is out tour for their fourth album Flood.
February 15th-Benjamin Booker-Reverb Lounge-People have been waiting a long time for a new Benjamin Booker album, and it finally arrived last week. The album has been getting rave reviews, and new fans are also jumping on board. Catch him now at Reverb Lounge on the 15th, as he may be headed to larger venues soon.
February 19th-Howard Jones and ABC at Steelhouse Omaha-Howard Jones and ABC will be at Steelhouse Omaha on February 19th. I saw Howard Jones twenty plus years ago open for Culture Club and The Human League, so I am looking forward to a full set from him. I saw Martin Fry and ABC last year in California, and I think he looks and sounds better than ever. He was suave AF up there and crooned out those hits like it was 1985 still. I am also excited that the legend Richard Blade will be hosting. He is known for his stint as a California KROQ DJ in the 80’s and 90’s and the current main man on Sirius XM 1st Wave station. He introduced young me to so much of the music that I love through his Flashback Favorites CD series. Blade got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year. Very excited for this.
February 20th-Setting-Live at the Low End-Bemis Center-This trio of experimental musicians put out the album “Shone a Rainbow Light On” in 2023, which Mojo magazine named in its top five underground albums of that year. Drummer and percussionist Joe Westerlund also put out Elegies for the Drift that year. Westerlund was a member of the indie folk band Megafaun and DeYarmond Edison with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). He has also played with Sylvan Esso and Califone, among others. Nathan Bowles is a banjo player that NPR Music compared to John Coltrane. His current album with his trio, Are Possible, is a fun, cool, and sometimes stunning listen. It’s much more accessible than one would think. Jamie Fennelly plays the harmonium, synthesizer, positive pipe organ, tape, and electronics and has the Mind Over Mirrors project that I have been enjoying personally this morning. These shows are free, and you can reserve tickets at the Bemis Center website.
February 20th-Aborted-Waiting Room-big night of extreme metal with long running band Aborted and up and coming band Peeling Flesh and established favorites Ingested.
February 21st-Parker McCollum-Pinnacle Bank Arena-So, Parker has become a pretty big country star, obviously. It is being rumored that a 2025 album is coming that may find McCollum going back to his Limestone Kid roots of his debut album. That was definitely a little different sound, and maybe you will get a little insight into what is next at Pinnacle Bank Arena on February 21st.
Febraury 21st and 22nd-Dvořák & Elgar and Omaha Symphony at Holland Center-II have been on this big classical music thing the past couple of months. I usually break out a little bit here and there, but my car radio is locked on KVNO. Probably time to hit the symphony. British conductor Alasdair Neale is headed to Omaha with cello phenom Oliver Herbert to play Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 for “possibly” the first time ever in Omaha. That sounds like a big deal.
February 21st and 22nd Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras at Barnato-I don’t know this person. I know they are on a TV show called Vanderpump Rules and that when he was last in town at Barnato that it sold out. So in 2025 they are going to do two shows with Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras. This was originally on Valentines Day weekend, but it is no longer. It looks like they mostly do covers from all over the musical spectrum and looks like a fun show from the videos I just watched.
February 21st Nikki Boulay-Mix Tape at The Jewell On Capitol-Here long time Omaha musicians and media personality Nikki Boulay perform your favorite songs from Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson and her signature artist Bonnie Raitt at the Jewel On Capitol. Many time shows at Jewell On Capitol are free, but this is a ticketed event.
February 23rd-Dune Rats at Reverb Lounge-Australian bands have been delivering the goods for years now. Punk band Dune Rats are a lot of fun (on record at least-I have to assume this translates to the stage) and are touring on their new album If It Sucks, Turn It Up. They play Reverb Lounge with Playboy Manbaby, Boy Wonder and Omaha’s own Jar.
February 23rd-123 Andres at Lied Center-Christina and Andrés are a Grammy and Latin Grammy award winning duo. They do children’s music that mix Spanish and English and bring the sounds of Latin America to the stage.
February 24th-Molchat Doma at Steelhouse Omaha-One of the biggest of the new wave of darkwave bands, Molchat Doma are coming to Steelhouse Omaha on February 24th, 2025. The band from Belarus have a fantastic new album out. This is very exciting for us post punk and darkwave fans. I really thought I would have to travel to see the band perform. Opening is our friends Sextile, who have performed in Omaha a couple times and put on wonderful dark and weird shows. Do not miss this show.
February 25th-Josey Scott at Royal Grove-Nu metal is all the rage again. Like teenagers are coming into the record store and eating this stuff up. So it seems like the right time to do these types of tours. Fun fact: It was my job to drive Josey Scott around for a while on a golf cart at Westfair when he was in Saliva. Most of the rock dudes around that time were real dbags. He was so nice. He even asked me what I thought of his music and was still nice to me after that. Hed P.E., Adema, Flaw, Till Hell, and Core round out the lineup. Quite a few names there that had a moment.
February 26th-Vincent Neil Emerson and Kelsey Walden at Slowdown-I was already planning on going to this show as I enjoy Americana songwriter Vincent Neil Emerson, but I didn’t know Kelsey Walden was also on the lineup. She is a favorite of mine, and we last saw her in 2024 at the Outlandia Festival. She played her set and then went and fished at the pond at Falcon Wood Park. Doesn’t get more country than that.
February 28th-Glizzyfest at Reverb Lounge-End the year (it’s not a leap year is it?) at (checks notes) The Worlds Premier Hot Dog-Core Mixed Genre Music Festival. Yup. Enjoy Decent Dogs and the music of Otis Julius, The Scabby Ghouls, Smoke Break, Dread & $trange, Forest, Snake Lucci, Hi Hats, The Carrion Crawlers, Manson Hats, Dakotah Faye, Cody Moon, SJ23 X Brodie1, Jinx, SRT-KG and M4K3SH1FT