* Tilly and the Wall have put another new song and a round of tour dates online at their official website, TillyandtheWall.com. The song, “Static Expression”, is streaming on the band’s blog and features acoustic guitar and orchestral bells. The band also announced dates for their first headlining tour since 2008. That tour kicks off Friday, October 5th in Des Moines, Iowa and touches down in Omaha on Wednesday, November 21st at the Slowdown, 729 North 14th St.
* The summertime Jazz on the Green series continues Thursday, August 2nd at Turner Park, 3102 Dodge St, with a performance by Lincoln’s Lil’ Slim Blues Band. The Lincoln act serves up a slice of Chicago-style blues for free, starting at 7 p.m. Bandleader Lil’ Slim Shawn Holt is the son of Magic Slim, a Chicago blues veteran that also calls Lincoln home. For more information, visit JazzOnTheGreenOmaha.com.
* Bruce Springsteen just decided Omaha’s best show for autumn 2011. The Boss and the E Street Band will hit the CenturyLink Center, 455 North 10th St., Thursday, November 15th. Tickets for the performance go on-sale Saturday, August 18th through all Ticketmaster outlets.
* Weezer plays the hits, which is mostly a good thing. That was the case at their packed house show Sunday, July 29th at Harrah’s Stir Cove, 1 Harrah’s Blvd. in Council Bluffs. Their return to the area was punctuated by a barrage of well-known songs that continue to have a home on modern rock radio. The brisk set, which lasted roughly 90 minutes, leaned heavily on the band’s best and best-selling material, specifically from their blue and green-colored self-titled albums. Songs like “Buddy Holly”, “Hashpipe” and “Perfect Situation” garnered big cheers. Bespectacle and be-sweated singer Rivers Cuomo led the upbeat set, taking on several punchy guitar solos and wandering through the crowd during a song sung by bassist Scott Shriner. While older songs got the biggest cheers, Weezer seemed to run out of steam on the night’s closer “Beverly Hills”. While its the band’s biggest chart success, the band’s fans seemed to vocalize more admiration for the hits played earlier in the evening.
* Jeff the Brotherhood have been pegged as Weezer acolytes, but the band burrowed into their riff-heavy 70s hard rock sound Monday, July 30th at the Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St. The bare-bones duo played in a fog machine and floor light haze, pumping out songs that buzzed on guitar fuzz and heavy beats. Guitarist Jake Orral have even modified his guitar to only three strings, cutting out all the extras and concentrating the band’s attack into elemental garage/power-pop.