EDGE OF LEGENDARY: The Showcase! Part 2!
with DJ Surreal the MC
Emo Nite
AGES 18+
EDGE OF LEGENDARY: The Showcase! Part 1!
Distinct Motive
Distinct Motive is a Canadian producer/DJ creating explorative, visceral bass music for the masses. He quickly made a name for himself with his dark and minimal production style. Paying homage to the early aesthetic of dubstep while building a sound unique unto himself, he has put his respective hometown of Toronto on the map in international bass music circles, advocating for the original, dub-influenced side of dubstep to elated audiences across North America and Europe.
Galactic Empire
Galactic Empire is the galaxy’s foremost instrumental Star Wars cosplay heavy metal John Williams tribute band. Their first two music videos were viral hits, gaining over 24 million Youtube views with national press coverage including Huffington Post, Guitar World, Entertainment Weekly, and MSNBC, along with a live TV performance on E! Entertainment during their coverage of the 2016 Academy Awards. The band went on to tour extensively, headlining multiple national and overseas tours, including Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia, along with appearances at major festivals, comic cons, sporting events, and supporting arena acts Ozzy Osbourne and BABYMETAL. Galactic Empire released two full-length albums with Rise Records before signing to Pure Noise Records in 2023 and releasing the third in their trilogy of Star Wars albums, “Special Edition”. The upcoming album CINEMETAL sees the band journeying to other universes as they put their signature metal twist on songs from popular film franchises including Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean, Back To The Future, Lord Of The Rings, Batman, Avengers, and more. Comprised of the most sinister musicians in the galaxy, Galactic Empire is primed to continue their journey toward becoming the ultimate power in the universe.
Southall
Read Southall can sure turn a phrase. “This record is the gasoline for the love machine,” he says of his band’s new album, the exhilarating and self-titled Southall. The proud Oklahoma workingman isn’t exaggerating. The record sparks and burns with 11 crank-it-up songs that expertly combine country, rock & roll, and the dust and grit of the band’s native Red Dirt scene. But there are also glimpses of hard rock and metal, along with easygoing back-porch vibes, the result of a drastic change in the way the group formerly known as the Read Southall Band now makes music: Every member of Southall brings lyrics, melodies, and even full songs to the table. Produced by Eddie Spear (Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak) and recorded at Leon Russell’s iconic Church Studio in Tulsa, Southall manifests the true band album that singer Read Southall first envisioned when he released his debut, Six String Sorrow, in 2015. That was a mostly acoustic record, but Southall, the band’s fourth album, roars with raw and loud collaborative power. Reid Barber, the group’s resident metalhead, hammers his drums. Bassist Jeremee Knipp provides a brooding low end. Keys player Braxton Curliss adds both tasteful accents and off-the-rails barroom piano. And guitarists John Tyler Perry and Ryan Wellman wring wild sounds from their instruments. All of it is tied together by Southall’s scrappy, yearning voice. While Southall released three other studio albums, including their 2017 breakout Borrowed Time, the band’s namesake regards the records as just the building blocks of Southall’s future. He wrote all of those songs, including the fan favorite “Why,” just to get the train moving. Today, they’re charging ahead. “That was my contribution: our back catalog,” Southall says. “Now, we have this steam built up and we’re rolling down the tracks, and I want the guys to all grab a shovel, load some coal, and keep us rolling.” The six-piece has been up to the challenge. Their song “Stickin’ n Movin’,” off 2021’s For the Birds, appeared on the CBS series Fire Country, and they’ve established themselves as a band-youneed-to-playlist on the streaming services: Southall have more than 133 million streams on Spotify and more than 101 million on Apple Music, with nearly 1 million monthly listeners across all platforms. It’s not only the success story of a band, but of a region, according to Southall, who was first inspired to write and sing country songs after having a revelation while working on a farm. “I grew up at a really cool time when country music was good in the Nineties, and I spent a lot of radio time on the tractor. So whatever was happening in country music then was in my ears,” he says. “But then country started to change and became more about partying. That’s when I thought, ‘I could represent my people better than this.’” To Southall, that meant writing about work, and he sells that message hard in the rambunctious “Get Busy (Till It’s Done),” a centerpiece of the album and one of its most ferocious tracks. “They say anything worth having is worth fighting for/and I know that is true,” he howls. “It’s gonna take a little time, a little grind, to get what’s coming to you.” “My dad always said to me, ‘You’re not just going to sit there on your pockets and do nothing. That still rings true to me,” Southall says. “Work is what makes you who you are.” For Southall the band, that work began a long time ago — and it’s about to pay off in a big way.
Vincent Antone
AGES 18+
Fallen Reign
Talib Kweli
The Brooklyn-based MC earned his stripes as one of the most lyrically-gifted, socially aware and politically insightful rappers to emerge in the last 20 years. “I’m a touring artist. I’m an artist that’s internationally known. I’m not just a local artist at this point in my career. I’m cognizant of the fact that what I do is beyond where it started. I’m trying to reach the apex of where I am now, but without turning my back on or dismissing what I’ve done before.” After nearly 20 years of releasing mesmerizing music, Talib Kweli stands as one of the world’s most talented and most accomplished Hip Hop artists. Whether working with Mos Def as one-half of Black Star, partnering with producer Hi-Tek for Reflection Eternal, releasing landmark solo material or collaborating with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Just Blaze, J Dilla, or Madlib, Kweli commands attention by delivering top-tier lyricism, crafting captivating stories and showing the ability to rhyme over virtually any type of instrumental. In 2011, Kweli founded Javotti Media, which is self-defined as “a platform for independent thinkers and doers.” Kweli has set out to make Javotti Media (which released his 2011 album, Gutter Rainbows, and is named after his paternal grandmother) into a media powerhouse that releases music, films and books.
Cursive
FIRST NIGHT SOLD OUT! SECOND NIGHT ADDED! In preparation for their double duty performance at Best Friends Forever Festival in Las Vegas, Cursive thought we would do something special at home, in Omaha! On October 7th and 8th they will play both Domestica and The Ugly Organ in full as a unique event. The evenings (which they are dubbing ‘Your In My Web Now’) will comprise of three acts. Act 1 – Cursive Performing Domestica Intermission Act 2 – The Appleseed Cast performing a career spanning set Intermission Act 3 – Cursive Performing The Ugly Organ (and more)