by Andrew Roger
I'm biased. I go to every Poison Control Center show in Omaha. Their gig last weekend at O'leaver's was no exception. Those guys with their flips, kicks, splits and guitar throwing are enough to thrill anyone. Even better, their quirky songwriting and singalong melodies really can hook you, better than a Fender to the face. As I talked to Pat, the splits guy, about their continually epic tour, he gushed about their friends in Brass Bed, whom I had never heard of. As they started, I caught this gem of a song.
This Lafayette band had me spinning with such a sweet sound I was getting a pop headache. It's not a Cajun sound by any means, but I still imagine the melody floating over the foggy cool bayou night. A couple beers in and I'm singing along.
Next up, I saw Danny, bassist in Little Brazil, slinging up a guitar, in a new band, New Lungs. I knew I had to catch this. For only their second gig, New Lungs played a solid set of dark rock tunes. Danny had a great howl to his voice, paired well with the start-stop bass playing of Craig Fort and energetic drumplay of Cory Broman. This is definitely a band to watch.
Lastly, fresh from mixing and mastering a new album with Doug Van Sloun of Focus Mastering, Poison Control Center ripped through a new set of singles and classics. As the night progressed and drinks were flowing, a frisky fan kept inviting himself to the mic to promote what I guess was a sad after-show party featuring professional crying games (did anyone go? I would love to hear about it!). Brushed aside by the crowd, our intrepid fan threw an inflatable sex doll into the chaos that is PCC and surprisingly it stuck, to headstanding guitar player Devin. For the entire song, Devin and the sex doll had an insatiable love/hate chemistry as they clung together no matter where Devin dove, ducked and dodged. Even attempts to scrape their relationship onto Dave the drummer were failures. So enraptured by these events, I forgot I had camera in hand, only recognizing this as I wiped the tears from my eyes. Another classic night with PCC and why you shouldn't miss them next time they swing on through.
Test one of the tracks off PCC's upcoming album:
As always, Tim McMahan of Lazy-i had a good review of the show here
Cameras:
Django G-S
Brendan G-W
Andrew R-?
Edit by Andrew Roger