My Day at MAHA #2

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(ed.’s note: Debbie was one of the winners in our MAHA Facebook giveaway. She agreed to write a blog post about her experience. Photo courtesy of Eric Gonzalez)

After missing the MAHA Music Festival in its first year, I was determined to make it to this year’s show. However, finances being tight, I hoped winning some tickets would be a way to possibly make it happen. So, I diligently posted the appropriate links and answered the trivia questions. Like they say, you can’t win if you don’t play. I was crazy excited when I won the tickets. Thanks, Omaha.net!

Arriving at MAHA for the first time after the drive from Lincoln, I was excited to be attending a concert in such a stellar venue. Live music next to the Missouri River is a sweet experience. My friend and I lugged our chairs and sunscreen to a great spot and got settled. Voodoo Method broke us in with an energetic set as the pokey crowd began to fill out. It’s True took the main stage next for what was my favorite performance of the day. Unfortunately, I became an It’s True fan just in time for their final performance. Oh, well, at least MAHA brought us together.

The musical array continued with Betsy Wells, Landing on the Moon, and Old 97’s in the afternoon sun. I couldn’t help but think that maybe the Old 97’s were still a little sleepy, what with a switcheroo in their time slot because of the flight delays, but they had the crowd engaged. While we enjoyed the music, we tweeted about the concert, did some people watching, ate Italian nachos, and drank some cold goodness. Ben Kweller began the late afternoon shift, with his lively guitar and piano, and his memorable attire. Kweller was initially my main reason for wanting to attend, and he didn’t disappoint. He had the crowd singing along, and stayed on to enjoy other performances, something I always like to see at a concert. I’m glad that my Kweller love helped introduce me to some other quality Omaha bands.

I really liked The Mynabirds’ female lead singer. Her killer vocals have not left my mind in the days since the festival. I’m not gonna lie—the setting of the sun was welcome, and a second wind fueled by more cold beverages and some tasty gyros with tzatziki sauce was necessary to make it through the night to the final band. Superchunk simply rocked the crowd silly. Satchel Grande had a tough stage to fill when they followed, but they did an admirable job of keeping the crowd going with their funky sound. The Faint absolutely made people crazy and made Omaha proud to call them their own. Closing the show was Spoon who, with their horn section support, gave a great performance worthy of a headliner. We were sad that the east coast storm and its complications caused the event to run about an hour late, because that meant we couldn’t stay to see another performance of our new favorite Omaha band—It’s True. We headed for home—tired, dirty, sweaty, a little sunburned—but invigorated by all the amazing bands we’d heard that day and ready to count down till next year’s MAHA Music Festival.