Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming
Covering national bands can be a thrilling experience. The roar of a massive crowd, pyro literally melting your face, cool photo pass stickers, and getting the best seats in the house is always a good time. While I've covered hundreds of national bands over the last six years some of the most fun I've ever had on this magazine adventure has been covering local shows. There's something about supporting your local scene and being together with all your friends that makes for lasting memories.
Nearly every band you've ever seen started in a garage or basement. They played to a handful of people, most likely friends and other bands on the bill. Without the support of their local scene they wouldn't be where they are today. It's important to go to local shows. Without the support of the scene venues will close and all we'll have left is mega arenas and streaming services.
Last night the Reverb played host to some Midwest murderers in Yurei from Omaha and Stagnant from Illinois by way of Omaha. Locals Living Conditions opened the show. Corpseburner was supposed to be on the bill but unfortunately had to drop. I was running a bit late so I was flying down Maple trying to catch the first band. I arrived to find Benson packed with cars as the Shrek Rave was playing at the Waiting Room (more on that later). I finally got a spot and rushed over to Reverb only to find the show was pushed back to 8:30 with one less band.
Living Conditions set up on the floor and they were ready to rock! Their set was really fun minus the very low light situation. Only a couple dimly lit house lights shined overhead as the band thrashed their way through an intense 20 minute set. I cranked the ISO up and tried my best to get some shots in the near-darkness. With the band setting up on the floor I totally expected some crazy karate dancing or microphone grabbing but no such luck. Maybe the crowd needed some time to warm up. Living Conditions has a couple releases on streaming platforms if you want to give them a spin. I checked out some of their songs and they have a post-hardcore vibe almost like At The Drive-In or Thursday but with mostly scream vocals.
The first of the two headliners Stagnant took the stage to much fanfare. By now the room was filling up quite nicely. I love when Stagant comes to Omaha. I've had the pleasure of photographing Casey (guitar/vocals) and Blake (drums) in Stagnant and before that their band Elend. They're both super talented and bring the heavy. Casey was shredding the drop-tuned sludge and later in the set did some wicked tapping solos all while screaming his head off and turning beat red. Meanwhile Blake was dishing out blast beasts and pounding tribal drum patterns that made the walls shake. If you want those really nasty riffs that will give you the "something stinks in here" face, then Stagnant is right up your alley. The band played a good 45 minutes and left the crowd cheering. I saw quite a few Stagnant shirts walking around throughout the show. If folks didn't know who they were before they definitely know now! Make sure to give Stagnant a follow so you can catch them next time they come to town!
Last up was a newer Omaha death metal band Yurei (pronounced "you're E" like Yuri from MxPx if you will). While my little brother Stuart plays guitar in the band I hadn't heard them yet. I was going in fresh! I was thoroughly impressed with the doomy riffs, gutteral vocals, and etheral jams. I'm not just saying that cause Stu is family. These guys rip! Knowing Stu since birth I know he really digs Gojira, Deftones, Meshugga, and Neurosis and I could hear a lot of those influences coming through. And it wasn't just me, the crowd was digging it too! After several songs folks were shouting "What's the name of that song?!!" and even joking around saying "play that one again!". My favorite part of the set was the final song. It was like a grand finale of spacey Deftones riffs that hit you like a wall of sound. I joked with Stu after the set and said "Easy now Steph" haha! IYKYK. If you like super heavy down-tuned riffs with trippy vibes Yurei is for you! The band has a show coming up on Friday March 14 at Reverb opening for Swallowing The Sun. Make sure to get your tickets now, it's going to be a rager!
Speaking of ragers... After the Yurei show I hit the Shrek Rave over at Waiting Room for a few minutes and man, that was not what I expected. I kept seeing all these ads for Shrek Rave at both the Bourbon in Lincoln and at the Slowdown in Omaha. I had missed it the last couple times and I was still curious to what is it all about. I thought for sure they would have a guy in full Shrek costume and maybe a donkey costume or some characters from the movie. Nope, just a guy on stage with a turn table and some shrek images playing on a loop behind him. While fans did dress up like characters from the movie which was fun I just expected more from the actual event organizers. Oh well, I was just there to scope it out for a few minutes so it didn't put a damper on my night.
Again, make sure you go to local shows. You never know, your new favorite band could be right in your own backyard!
Thanks so much for reading and we'll see you at the next one!
Thanks to Stagnant for booking photos! If you want photos of your next show shoot me an email storiesfromthecrowd@gmail.com or hit me on Facebook and Instagram. @storiesfromthecrowd