Festival Season Ramps Up With Start Of Playing With Fire, Plus Jazz On The Green The Wallflowers And Much More
Around Twenty Live Music Options For Thursday
We have had a few festivals already in our area this year, but things really start ramping up this week and continue until the kids are back in school. Upcoming are GRRRL Camp, Outlandia, the Four Winds Festival, In the Market for Blues, and more.
Today start’s the 20th year of Playing With Fire bringing free international entertainment to our area. This year, we get three days in a row at Gene Leahy Mall. Some years the shows have been on various weekends over the summer, and in past years they took place at Midtown Crossing and Lewis and Clark Landing. The festival will happen on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this year, so let’s take a look at your Thursday night lineup. We will check in on Friday and Saturday in tomorrow’s post.
Tonight you will see the energetic blues rock band from Scotland, King King. King King has toured with both blues legend John Mayall and rock bands Thunder and Europe (Final Countdown! ), so you know they are going to cover some wide ground tonight. I watched a little bit of video tonight, and this is a party band, and frontman Alan Nimmo looks like he will bring the goods. There will be kilts.
Blues guitarist Walter Trout is a longtime favorite of our area blues fans. Trout is known for his time playing with John Mayall and the Blues Breakers, and also for his stint in Canned Heat. He has performed with John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, and Joe Tex. It’s his constant touring and recording over the past thirty five years under his own name with his band that has made him a huge name in the blues all over the world. His touring had to stop in 2013 due to needing a liver transplant. He got his liver transplant and also suffered brain damage and lost the ability to walk, talk, and, of course, play guitar. He spent eight months recovering right here in Omaha and relearned how to walk, talk, and play the guitar. He has released a few albums since then, including Broken this past March. Trout will be on stage at Playing With Fire on Thursday evening.
Australian blues artist and Hammond organ player Lachy Doley has also played with many greats over the years, including Jimmy Barnes, Glenn Hughes, and Billy Thorpe (Children of the Sun!). So, I am listening to his new album right now, and I hear a familiar voice. It’s Bootsy Collins! That is super cool. Lachy Doley will also be on the lineup this evening at Playing With Fire.
It sounds like a hell of a night of live music. FREE! It starts at 5:30. Clock out at work and head straight down. There will be plenty of food trucks and such around for dinner.
Playing With Fire is not the only thing happening tonight. Jakob Dylan and his band, The Wallflowers, will bring their show to La Vista to perform at The Astro. I feel a little kinship with Jakob, as my father went to high-school with his dad. My dad didn’t treat his father all that well, though. I would be nice to Jakob if I ever met him. I would probably talk to him about the band's real first album that came out before the album with the hits. That album is amazing, and they need to bring those songs back out. The really cool news is that Omaha band Virgin Mary Pistol Grip is opening the show. It is always great to see bands get these opportunities. They have a new album out called Where Time Went, and their single from that, “Where Time Went,” is on my 2024 area band mix tape for sure. Check it out.
It is also the first night of Jazz on the Green. Grab some wine, cheese, and a blanket and check out the Hector Anchondo Band and USAF Heartland of American Band Raptor. That is at Midtown Crossing, and FREE.
Happy 10th anniversary to The Down Under Lounge. This venue is known for giving both area and smaller touring artists a stage to play, jam, and try out new things. Places like The Down Under Lounge are what actually give our area's music scene life. Give them a little love tonight as they celebrate with Them Uke Boys.
Our friends Scott Severin and Stateleigh Holmes are the featured artists at Stransky Park in Lincoln this evening. Minneapolis grindcore band Deterioration is at Reverb Lounge tonight, and if you need the heavy in Lincoln, you have Gorgatron and more at 1867.
If you want to plan your weekend, you can do so HERE
Thursday July 11th
The Wallflowers with Virgin Mary Pistol Grip at The Astro 8PM (La Vista)
Jazz on the Green with USAF Heartland of America Band Raptor and Hector Anchondo Band at Midtown Crossing 6:30PM (Omaha) FREE
Mason Ryan Band with Travis Feutz at Duffys 8PM (Lincoln)
Them Uke Boys at Down Under Lounge 9PM (Omaha)
King King, Walter Trout, Lachey Doley at Playing With Fire at Gene Leahy Mall 5:30PM (Omaha) FREE
Deterioration, M.A.N., Cheap Porno Flick and Pigstye at Reverb Lounge 8PM (Omaha)
Midnight Special at The Dock 7PM (Council Bluffs)
Gorgatron, Casket Robbery and Voraath at 1867 6PM (Lincoln)
Chris Shelton at Dubliner Pub 9:30PM (Omaha)
Rum Runner at Vino Mas 6:30PM (Omaha)
Big Dopes at The B. Bar 7:30PM (Omaha)
Sounds Fishy at Copacabana 9PM (Omaha)
Stone good, Bvssbratt, Jade, Bats at Bodegas Alley 8PM (Lincoln)
Cruz Control and Underbite at Bar 39 8PM (Omaha)
Cover Me Badd at The Drinkery 7PM (Omaha)
Scott Severin & Stateleigh Holmes at Stransky Park 7PM (Lincoln) FREE
PVP Dueling Pianos at Krush Ultra Lounge 7:30PM (Omaha)
Last Train to Juarez 8PM Island Bar and Grill 8PM (La Vista)
Artists Anonymous Open Mic at Beach House Bar 9:30PM (Omaha)
Jazz Night at The Tavern (Omaha)