Greetings from Omaha!

This was the first time we actually had a deadline to be in a specific city. We knew that no matter where we ended up in the country prior to this, we needed to be in Omaha by the 22nd, as our friends Bowerbirds and Megafaun, two incredible bands based out of our hometown of Raleigh, were playing a show that night. No traffic jams this time… and we actually made it into town a day early!

This left me the entire following day to explore downtown before the show. The area where I spent most of my time could be compared to Raleigh’s warehouse district or downtown Durham… lots of old warehouses and otherwise giant brick buildings that had been renovated but still retained their integrity. The streets were made of brick and most of the streets had giant wooden awnings installed over the sidewalks with flowers planted on top. Way fun. The weather was a little crumby, but still good enough to snap a few shots.

I stumbled upon a random thrifty antique shop in the midst of my exploring… and was greeted twice by a young hipster lady who seemed too inebriated to realize she had started a conversation with me five minutes prior. I carried on the second conversation as if the first never happened. I’m not sure if she ever realized it. Perhaps that’s for the best.

I met back up with Tim and Alyssa, our lovely Omaha host, and we spent some time drinking coffee and browsing record shops (Saddle Creek Records, founded by Conor Oberst, is based out of Omaha… so you can get a lot of their tunes for cheap here).

Next stop: Meeting up with Bowerbirds & Megafaun. They were playing at the Slowdown, the venue owned by Saddle Creek. The venue was nice… very aethetically pleasing and quiet and completely devoid of smoke or grime. Nice change.

The show was great, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, and the show was well-received. We stayed for a bit to catch up with all of them post-showtime, but we were all so exhausted from our own individual tours that we said our goodbyes early and promised to catch up in Denver, when we all reunite.

Omaha day 2 consisted mostly of pizza, beer, and mustaches. Just you wait and see.