“We learned to laugh at some of the moments when we were taking ourselves too seriously or at comedians making fun of us. Now, we love it,” Joe Jonas said, around the release of The Album.
The Jonas Brothers have likely already giggled at Nick stumbling backward into a gaping hole in the stage during their The Tour stop at TD Garden in Boston on Tuesday, August 15. Nick was busy singing “Sail Away” while a small section of the stage was opening up behind him. When he started walking backward to rejoin Joe and Kevin in the middle of the stage, he fell into the hole but immediately popped up without missing a beat.
The show doubled as a birthday party for Joe, who turned 34 on Tuesday.
“Can’t thank all of you enough for all the love you showed me last night for my birthday,” Joe wrote in the caption of an Instagram carousel. “From the signs, to bday hats, a cake from my brothers, and DJ CRAZY TIMES?? Wow. Can’t wait to get back out there for round 2 tonight!!!”
Nick also posted an Instagram carousel, choosing to focus on Joe’s birthday rather than his brief stumble.
The Tour will return to Boston’s TD Garden on Wednesday, August 16. Last month, the brothers announced 54 additional dates across their North American, European, Australian, and New Zealand legs. The Tour will stretch into June 2024. See all of the dates here.
After becoming the first artist to signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ label imprint Saddest Factory Records, Claud’s music has taken them to some pretty cool places. They’ve shared the stage with the likes of Paramore, Bleachers, and boygenius, and with their latest album Supermodels, they even got the chance to film a video with Paul Rudd.
While unexpected, Rudd’s cameo didn’t come from nowhere. Supermodels, which dropped in July as Claud’s second full-length release, features a song named after the actor. As a self-described shy person, Claud sings of attempting to emulate the kind of suave confidence his on-screen characters tend to project.
Like “Paul Rudd,” many of the songs on Supermodels seem torn straight from a page in Claud’s diary. The album tackles breakups, makeups, and relatable mid-20s identity crises. It pulls you in with lyrics about arguing at a bar about Regina Spektor or comparing yourself to photos of supermodels. Sweet, tender moments like the acoustic-driven ballad “Crumbs” or the earnest number “Every F*cking Time” add contrast to some of the album’s more blown-out indie pop numbers like “A Good Thing” and “Wet.”
To celebrate the release of Supermodels, Claud sits down with Uproxx to talk gender affirming health care, Justin Bieber, and burping the ABC’s in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Yearning, mushy, gay, pointless.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
I hope people remember my music as something that helped them come a little closer to figuring themselves out.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
It’s hard to pick just one person.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life and what was it?
My grandma’s holiday dinners are the greatest.
Tell us about the best concert you’ve ever attended.
Big Thief at a tiny venue in Ithaca, NY.
What song never fails to make you emotional?
“Basically” by STRFKR.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
“Paris to London train.”
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
One time I slept underneath the desk in a hotel room because there were six or seven people in one room.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform and what’s the city you hope to perform in for the first time?
My favorite city to perform in is Chicago because I grew up there, and the place I hope to perform in for the first time is Tokyo.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Ask people more questions.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
I can burp the ABCs.
If you had a million dollars to donate to charity, what cause would you support and why?
Accessible gender affirming health care because it is crucial and can save a lot of lives.
What are your thoughts about AI and the future of music?
I don’t really know anything about AI, I’m a little afraid of it so I haven’t looked too much into it. Like all technology, I’m sure it will take away jobs from musicians but hopefully people will understand the value of artists and musicianship.
You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you and the location it would be held.
The dream location of my hypothetical music festival is on a beach off of Lake Michigan in or near Chicago. Five artists playing would be a Jack Antonoff solo set.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok?
Donald Trump may seem mad that he nabbed himself a fourth indictment, but is he really? After all, the former president has said criminal charges have done wonders for his polls. Speaking of, he might have a specific date when he could turn himself into Fulton County jail in Georgia, just to really put the screws to his already flailing opponents.
As per Raw Story, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein went on MSNBC, where he speculated about how Trump will handle his fourth arraignment in only the last handful of months. Like his other 18 indictees in the Georgia election interference case, Trump has till next Friday to turn himself in. But, Bluestein ssaid, “My hunch is he’s not going to go under the cover of night.”
Bluestein said the talk of the town is that Trump is going to choose next Wednesday, the 23rd — which just so happens to be the day of the GOP primary debate he’s sworn up and down he’d be skipping. It’s possible, the reporter said, that Trump could see it as “counter-programming to the debate.”
Trump has always been theatrical and he’s always been petty, so it’s not beneath him to steal the thunder from the many Republicans looking to unseat him as head of the party. No doubt he’d love to stick it to Chris Christie, the most vocal anti-Trumpist running for the GOP ticket, who he’s reportedly terrified of debating anyway. If so, he’ll get to have his cake and eat it, too: avoid getting humiliated by Christie while robbing him and his other rivals of much-needed attention.
You can watch Bluestein’s MSNBC appearance in the video below.
Philippe Morgese is a single dad with a daughter named Emma. She, like many children, happens to have hair.
Like most parents, Morgese is really hoping to do his part to make sure Emma becomes a fully-functioning and responsible member of society. He wants to make sure she grows up confident and well-adjusted. He also wants her to have a good male role model in her life. Ya know, like most of us dads do.
And he wants to make sure her hair looks nice. He didn’t have any people in his life who knew how to braid hair, so he taught himself.
The class got pretty popular over time. So much so that he ended up starting a Facebook page called the Daddy Daughter Hair Factory to help dads everywhere learn how to braid hair. He got a kid’s haircare company, SoCozy, to sponsor the class. He even built an incredibly handy website where dads like me, who get horrifically dirty looks from their daughters every time they try to do hair, can learn how to do it correctly.
The class is about more than braiding hair though.
The classes are really about dads and daughters bonding and connecting.
They turn off their screens. They focus on being together. And they just hang out.
It’s a win for everyone. Dads and daughters get to spend time with each other and they both get something out of it: new skills for dad and awesome hairstyles for their daughters.
There was a time when bringing movies back into theaters was always marked by some occasion: the Harry Pottermovies would return to theaters to celebrate another installment, ET rides his little bike back into theaters every decade or so, and Titanic returns every so often just so James Cameron can buy a new house. But for a beloved and innovative stop-motion film like Coraline, we don’t need an occasion. We just want to see a creepy little doll with button eyes learn about the perils of adulthood. And that’s enough reason!
The Oscar-nominated film Coraline returned to theaters for a limited release earlier this week and managed to rack up $4.91 million at the daily box office, putting it on the map with Barbenheimer. It was so popular, Fathom Events announced that the film will be screened again at the end of the month.
“We’re thrilled to see throngs of Laika fans come out in record numbers for the third straight year to revel in this Coraline theatrical experience, this year in stunning 4K,” Laika Studios’ chief marketing and operations officer David Burke said in a press release, via Gizmodo. “Our partnership with Fathom has solidified Laika’s modern cinematic classic as a must-see annual summer tradition.”
Released in 2009, Coraline, based on Neil Gaiman‘s novel of the same name, tells the story of a young girl and her famished cat who venture into a peculiar world found in her creepy new home. There, she finds was seems to be a better version of her life, but things are not as they seem. Also, the mom has buttons for eyes, and it will haunt your dreams for years. The voice cast includes Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Ian McShane, and Jennifer Saunders.
The film will return to theaters again on August 28th and 29th. You can check out theater locations here.
Is the story behind The Blind Side — both Michael Lewis’ best seller and the hit 2009 movie — a bunch of bull? It’s hard to say, but…maybe? Earlier this week, Michael Oher, the former Baltimore Ravens tackle portrayed in both, claimed that he was duped into thinking he was adopted by the wealthy Tuohy family. Oher has even alleged that they screwed him out of royalties from the movie. The Tuohys have denied this, but that hasn’t quelled the online furor, which has even spread to the film’s main star Sandra Bullock. Still, at least she has someone defending her honor.
In a new interview with The New York Post (in a bit caught by People), Quinton Aaron, who portrayed Oher in the film, called the news a “sad, unfortunate turn of events,” also saying that his dealings with both Oher and the Tuohys was always warm and cordial. What he really didn’t like, though, were people online attacking Bullock, who played matriarch Leigh Anne Tuohy. Some have even said the Oscar she won for her performance should be returned. Not so, said Aaron.
“We are living in a day and age where people are hell-bent on pointing the blame on people and are just throwing things out there that’s wrong,” Aaron said. “It’s like saying, ‘Let’s throw this person to the wolves.’”
He added, “Sandra did nothing wrong. That’s my girl and she is going through a really tough time right now,” alluding to her longtime partner, who died last week. “I really feel like they should leave her alone and stop trying to come at her.”
Oher’s allegations about the Tuohys have revealed a back story more convoluted than portrayed in either the Blind Side book or movie. While Oher has claimed he’s never seen a penny from the film, the Tuohys have said they’ve always shared money they received. In an interview with The Washington Post, Lewis alleged that Oher had denied his royalty checks, prompting the Tuohys to set up a trust fund for his son.
As for the adoption claim, that’s complicated. Oher said he only this year discovered that instead of being adopted, he was placed under a conservatorship. But the Tuohys said they chose a conservatorship so that Oher could play ball at the University of Mississippi, for which Leigh Anne is a booster, thus setting up a potential conflict of interest.
Oher has gone so far as to sue the Tuohys, so the truth, whatever it is, may one day emerge.
Given his current state, it’s easy to forget that Rudy Giuliani made a name for himself bringing down mobsters as a ferocious New York City prosecutor. He regularly wielded Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges to bring down gangsters, so it was particularly ironic to see Giuliani get slapped with those same charges in the Georgia election tampering indictment.
The RICO charges were an amusing bit of schadenfreude, and no one is enjoying that thrill more than the mobsters that Giuliani brought down during the less scandal-plagued days of his legal career.
Veteran mob lawyer Murray Richman told The Messenger that he’s “spoken to several of my clients” since Giuliani, former President Donald Trump and 17 co-defendants were charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
“You can quote me to say, ‘They’re f—— thrilled,’” Richman said Wednesday. “I don’t want to say the language, but they really ripped Rudy a new a——.”
However, the mobsters’ enjoyment of Giuliani’s demise is bittersweet. According to Richman, “half of these guys love Trump. They freaking love Trump.” But there’s nothing like a common enemy to form bonds. “All of them are almost unified in their position of hating f—— Rudy,” Richman added.
Another defense lawyer also chimed in with a similar reaction, and it turns out the legal community is also enjoying Rudy’s predicament.
“All of my clients who had the misfortune of being prosecuted by him are laughing now,” Jeffrey Lichtman told The Messenger. “As am I.”
It’s a true head-scratcher. Will the Old Fitz B-i-B line continue? Are we going to get a fall 2023 release, like… next month? How does this elusive bourbon taste? Will the average consumer even be able to find it?
Here’s one truism of elite bourbon, folks — never look a gift bourbon in the face. I think that’s how that saying goes in Kentucky. All that matters, really, is that we have a new Old Fitzgerlad B-i-B. That’s exciting! I was lucky enough to snag a bottle. So below, I’ll dive into what’s in the bottle and try and help you find one. Let’s dig in.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
Old Fitzgerald Botted-In-Bond Decanters always holds Heaven Hill’s wheated bourbon, which is made with a mash of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley. That recipe harkens back to before the brand was part of the Pappy Van Winkle line at the old Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville. In this case, the bourbon went into the barrel in the spring of 2013 and was left for 10 years. In the spring of 2023, those barrels were batched and just proofed with that soft Kentucky limestone water before bottling in Heaven Hill’s bespoke decanters for the official 11th Old Fitz release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with lemon cake with a whisper of meringue next to honey Graham Crackers, winter spiced Nutella cut with orange oils, soft vanilla sheet cake, and this fleeting sense of Double Mint gum by way of a vanilla malt milkshake.
Palate: The palate is luscious and sweet with a sense of rum-soaked raisins covered in dark salted chocolate next to toffee rolled in almond and dipped in eggnog with a light moment of stewed cherry compote with whole clove, allspice, and cinnamon bark.
Finish: Those woody winter spices amp up through the finish with a deep dark cherry jam over lemon-kissed shortbread with plenty of real vanilla before a light sense of tobacco rolled with molasses softens the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is really good sipping whiskey. A little ice or water really drives the palate toward the vanilla/cherry creaminess with bitter winter spice barks leaning into espresso oils and more dark chocolate with a light leatheriness.
Ranking:
91/100 — This is a solid “A” whiskey that hits every note perfectly.
Where To Buy:
Here’s the rub. This is so highly allocated that you may never see it in the wild. That’s true of every Old Fitz Decanter release. These bottles go on the shelf at $500-$1,000 the second they come out. If you’re in a control state (where it has to be sold at MSRP) and there are any left (unlikely), then you might get lucky in a local lottery. But that’s being generous.
Then there’s the rarity of what comes next for this expression. This might be the last one. We simply don’t know and Heaven Hill isn’t letting that slip. These are always collectible but this might end up being the most collectible one since it was such a surprise/possible one-off. We just don’t know.
My advice is to try this at your favorite whiskey bar. I don’t know if I’d pay $1,000 for this bottle otherwise. I could be convinced to buy one for $300-$400 maybe but that’d be for a very special gift for someone very special. The holidays are right around the corner, after all.
When I got the last-minute invitation to attend this year’s Maha Festival in Omaha, Nebraska, one of my first thoughts was, “There’s a music festival in Nebraska?” The short and simple answer is “yes.” The better answer is “… and it’s awesome!”
Maha has called Omaha’s Aksarben Village home since 2011. The name was bizarre to me until I realized it’s literally “Nebraska” spelled backward. Flagged by a tall LOTR-inspired tower, the park is everything you’d think it to be in a major Midwest city. Beautifully landscaped grass welcomed the 12,000 attendees, an interior patch of trees shaded the park’s edge, and it was adjacent to plenty of local restaurants and businesses.
On the first day, the festival was a ripe 100 degrees with 90% humidity. I was sweating in places I didn’t know could sweat. That was unusual for Omaha (or so I was told) and the second day was mellower. I was greeted by a beautiful 80-degree summer day and a light breeze.
Aside from the two adjacent stages, attendees milled in an open-air space that featured a cooling, air-conditioned pop-up comedy and poetry tent, a Community Village featuring 19 nonprofit-led activities, and the NFM silent disco dancefloor, which kept hundreds of people dancing well into the late night after the stages closed.
PART II — The Music
As someone who regularly tours the electronic and jam band scenes, Maha Festival was a whole different scene for me. Did you know Omaha is home to one of the biggest hot spots for indie and hardcore? Neither did I. But it totally checks out considering Saddle Creek Records was founded here, bringing up notable national bands Bright Eyes, Spoon, Tokyo Police Club, Big Thief, and more.
Friday and Saturday each offered up their palette of sonic flavors, full of tasting nods to alternative, hardcore, and folk. After a heavy (and much-needed) rainstorm on Friday afternoon, the evening was filled with a horizon dusk-setting performance by Alvvays, who made attendees swoon with alternative dream pop renditions.
JENNA HYNEK
It was the closing night’s performance by Turnstile though that really shook things up. I’m not one to call a band “cool,” but that’s exactly what they were. Strolling onstage, the whispering indie tones of Alvvays were soon blown away by Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates’ infectious hardcore energy. Meg Mills – the group’s newest touring member – went into a full-fledged hair-flipping rock out throughout the whole set, shredding in what literally looked like Princess Peach’s best dress. It seemed as if the whole city came together to rage during this set. It was awesome.
Saturday was a whole different ball game. With the weather boasting a milder day, the festival was decorated with cheeky attendees ready for a full day of programming. Omaha Girls Rock made their annual mark on the Union Pacific Stage mid-afternoon, granting the opportunity to female city-bred youth to play the stage. The day continued to be decorated with a breezy and light concoction mixed with the heavenly vocals by Say She She, guitar ballads by Black Belt Eagle Scout, alternative anthems by Peach Pit, and the soothing, twangy folk closing performance by Big Thief.
BEN SEMISCH
PART III — Nebraska’s Greenest Event
With half a million people living in the city of Omaha and an attendance of 12,000 people throughout the weekend, Maha Festival maintained its Zero Waste designation – an accolade the event officially achieved in 2022. By Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) standards, “zero waste” occurs when 90% or more of waste has been diverted from a landfill or incinerator via responsible composting or recycling. A counted 2,543 pounds of waste generated on-site — 94% of the total figure of 2,688 — was diverted from a landfill.
Attendees utilized 15 Zero Waste Stations throughout the park to separate their food scraps for composting, recycle their drink cans, and generally limit items going into the landfill bin. Even excess materials were reduced, with all beverage and food vendors using standardized compostable or recyclable service ware onsite and the free use of reusable water bottles stations that translated to over 9,600 plastic water bottles being saved from landfill, making Maha Festival the greenest event recorded in the state of Nebraska.
MIKE MACHIAN
“Sustainability is all about innovating and making continuous improvements,” Maha Festival Co-Director Rachel Grace said. “It’s great to know that together we are capable of diverting 94% of waste and leaving only two standard trash bins after a weekend-long festival. We’re inspired by those results and look forward to maintaining this initiative and exploring new areas of sustainability in the future.”
PART IV — Where To Stay
While most of my festival attendance has seen me sleeping in tents and hammocks, Maha Festival takes place right in the city of Omaha. Because of this, I traded my sweat-fueled camping attire for a more primed and proper stay at the city’s newest hotel, The Farnam.
Walking in, I was invited into a warm and upscale aesthetic as soon as I stepped foot into this place. The hotel is in a prime location within the Old Market District and is close to a lot of the city’s favorite restaurants, bars, and a short drive to Aksarben Village.
MIKALA LUGEN
Ever since my trip to Spain, I’ve had somewhat high standards when it comes to hotel rooms. I was pleasantly surprised by the room I stayed in. While I wasn’t lucky enough to secure one with a view of the city, the mood within the space exuded high-end finishes with a blend of Nebraska’s Midwest charm and industrial details. The bathroom was probably the best part of the whole room, with the walk-in shower big enough to fit a whole group (if that’s your thing). I enjoyed the big space for myself, including the raindrop shower head.
Aside from the room itself, the hotel’s Dynamite Woodfire Grill was an exceptional place to fuel up for the day ahead of the festival. The interactive menu was helpful to see exact photos of what you’d be ordering, which helped make my decisions pretty simple:
Hot Tea: I’m a tea drinker through and through. Usually, when I order tea I’ll be lucky enough to be asked what kind I want or given a small selection to choose from. Not here. The server came over with a beautiful display of teas all within a wooden box that tickled my fancy for the morning. The heaping serving of honey was perfect as well.
Avocado Toast: You’ll never get avocado toast the same way anywhere you go. Because of this, most places like to jack up the price (this is why we apparently can’t buy a house). While this was expensive, it did fill me up for most of the day. I loved the toppings of radish, grape tomatoes, goat cheese, and cilantro with poached eggs on top.
Bagel & Lox: If I see Lox on any breakfast menu, I usually get it. This came as a whole smorgasbord to put together yourself, which I appreciated since there’s a fine line of how much cream cheese you can use before you hit a saturation level. The capers were insane. Perfectly air-fried and crispy, I asked for a separate side of them to munch on like a bag of chips.
Buttermilk Pancakes: My sweet tooth kicked in on this one and I shamelessly ordered them with bananas and chocolate chips. The bananas were cooked into the pancakes with the chocolate chips spread on top, which I thought should’ve been the other way around. Either way, I couldn’t even finish them because they were so huge and rich.
PART V — What To Do Within A 10-Minute Uber Of The Event
With the festival not opening its gates until the early afternoon, there was plenty of time to do some sightseeing and food tastings around the city.
Just three blocks from The Farnam is Block 16, a delicious garden-to-table restaurant that stands for all things Omaha. Each dish is prepared with local, humanely raised, and preservative-free ingredients, something that makes my mouth water just by hearing those words. Make sure to get the Crab Rangoon fries – they were perfectly crispy with a perfect topping of the sweetened Asian creamy sauce.
MIKALA LUGEN
From there, take a short drive and park at the National Park Service Midwest Region building and be in two places at once on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. The 3,000-foot-long bridge is suspended in the air by mere cables and connects Iowa and Nebraska over the Missouri River. It’s a somewhat cheesy tourist attraction, but who doesn’t want to snap a photo of being in two states at once?
MIKALA LUGEN
Round out your day at Coneflower Creamery in the Blackstone neighborhood. You’ll most likely encounter a line out the door when you arrive, but make sure you wait it out as it’s the number one ice cream shop on Yelp’s list of 100 best ice cream shops in the country. The ice cream uses local ingredients and handcrafts its cones and sprinkles. Yes, even the sprinkles. You’ll find the classic flavors of vanilla bean, cookies and cream, and dark chocolate, but it’s the signature flavors of Tart Cherry Crumble, Grandma Millie’s Lemon Bar, and Blackstone Butter Brickle that had me swooning.
MIKALA LUGEN
Maha Festival has already announced its move to Omaha’s renovated Heartland of America Park at The RiverFront for next year’s 16th gathering. The festival’s new home, which will have large green lawn space and ample room for Maha to expand to three music stages, twice as many Community Village booths, and thousands of additional guests, is scheduled to open later this month. It’s looking to be lit and definitely has me eager to get back to Nebraska.
For more information on Maha Festival, the plans for 2024, and future years at the new Heartland of America Park at the Riverfront and more, visit Maha’s website.
When I got the last-minute invitation to attend this year’s Maha Festival in Omaha, Nebraska, one of my first thoughts was, “There’s a music festival in Nebraska?” The short and simple answer is “yes.” The better answer is “… and it’s awesome!”
Maha has called Omaha’s Aksarben Village home since 2011. The name was bizarre to me until I realized it’s literally “Nebraska” spelled backward. Flagged by a tall LOTR-inspired tower, the park is everything you’d think it to be in a major Midwest city. Beautifully landscaped grass welcomed the 12,000 attendees, an interior patch of trees shaded the park’s edge, and it was adjacent to plenty of local restaurants and businesses.
On the first day, the festival was a ripe 100 degrees with 90% humidity. I was sweating in places I didn’t know could sweat. That was unusual for Omaha (or so I was told) and the second day was mellower. I was greeted by a beautiful 80-degree summer day and a light breeze.
Aside from the two adjacent stages, attendees milled in an open-air space that featured a cooling, air-conditioned pop-up comedy and poetry tent, a Community Village featuring 19 nonprofit-led activities, and the NFM silent disco dancefloor, which kept hundreds of people dancing well into the late night after the stages closed.
PART II — The Music
As someone who regularly tours the electronic and jam band scenes, Maha Festival was a whole different scene for me. Did you know Omaha is home to one of the biggest hot spots for indie and hardcore? Neither did I. But it totally checks out considering Saddle Creek Records was founded here, bringing up notable national bands Bright Eyes, Spoon, Tokyo Police Club, Big Thief, and more.
Friday and Saturday each offered up their palette of sonic flavors, full of tasting nods to alternative, hardcore, and folk. After a heavy (and much-needed) rainstorm on Friday afternoon, the evening was filled with a horizon dusk-setting performance by Alvvays, who made attendees swoon with alternative dream pop renditions.
JENNA HYNEK
It was the closing night’s performance by Turnstile though that really shook things up. I’m not one to call a band “cool,” but that’s exactly what they were. Strolling onstage, the whispering indie tones of Alvvays were soon blown away by Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates’ infectious hardcore energy. Meg Mills – the group’s newest touring member – went into a full-fledged hair-flipping rock out throughout the whole set, shredding in what literally looked like Princess Peach’s best dress. It seemed as if the whole city came together to rage during this set. It was awesome.
Saturday was a whole different ball game. With the weather boasting a milder day, the festival was decorated with cheeky attendees ready for a full day of programming. Omaha Girls Rock made their annual mark on the Union Pacific Stage mid-afternoon, granting the opportunity to female city-bred youth to play the stage. The day continued to be decorated with a breezy and light concoction mixed with the heavenly vocals by Say She She, guitar ballads by Black Belt Eagle Scout, alternative anthems by Peach Pit, and the soothing, twangy folk closing performance by Big Thief.
BEN SEMISCH
PART III — Nebraska’s Greenest Event
With half a million people living in the city of Omaha and an attendance of 12,000 people throughout the weekend, Maha Festival maintained its Zero Waste designation – an accolade the event officially achieved in 2022. By Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) standards, “zero waste” occurs when 90% or more of waste has been diverted from a landfill or incinerator via responsible composting or recycling. A counted 2,543 pounds of waste generated on-site — 94% of the total figure of 2,688 — was diverted from a landfill.
Attendees utilized 15 Zero Waste Stations throughout the park to separate their food scraps for composting, recycle their drink cans, and generally limit items going into the landfill bin. Even excess materials were reduced, with all beverage and food vendors using standardized compostable or recyclable service ware onsite and the free use of reusable water bottles stations that translated to over 9,600 plastic water bottles being saved from landfill, making Maha Festival the greenest event recorded in the state of Nebraska.
MIKE MACHIAN
“Sustainability is all about innovating and making continuous improvements,” Maha Festival Co-Director Rachel Grace said. “It’s great to know that together we are capable of diverting 94% of waste and leaving only two standard trash bins after a weekend-long festival. We’re inspired by those results and look forward to maintaining this initiative and exploring new areas of sustainability in the future.”
PART IV — Where To Stay
While most of my festival attendance has seen me sleeping in tents and hammocks, Maha Festival takes place right in the city of Omaha. Because of this, I traded my sweat-fueled camping attire for a more primed and proper stay at the city’s newest hotel, The Farnam.
Walking in, I was invited into a warm and upscale aesthetic as soon as I stepped foot into this place. The hotel is in a prime location within the Old Market District and is close to a lot of the city’s favorite restaurants, bars, and a short drive to Aksarben Village.
MIKALA LUGEN
Ever since my trip to Spain, I’ve had somewhat high standards when it comes to hotel rooms. I was pleasantly surprised by the room I stayed in. While I wasn’t lucky enough to secure one with a view of the city, the mood within the space exuded high-end finishes with a blend of Nebraska’s Midwest charm and industrial details. The bathroom was probably the best part of the whole room, with the walk-in shower big enough to fit a whole group (if that’s your thing). I enjoyed the big space for myself, including the raindrop shower head.
Aside from the room itself, the hotel’s Dynamite Woodfire Grill was an exceptional place to fuel up for the day ahead of the festival. The interactive menu was helpful to see exact photos of what you’d be ordering, which helped make my decisions pretty simple:
Hot Tea: I’m a tea drinker through and through. Usually, when I order tea I’ll be lucky enough to be asked what kind I want or given a small selection to choose from. Not here. The server came over with a beautiful display of teas all within a wooden box that tickled my fancy for the morning. The heaping serving of honey was perfect as well.
Avocado Toast: You’ll never get avocado toast the same way anywhere you go. Because of this, most places like to jack up the price (this is why we apparently can’t buy a house). While this was expensive, it did fill me up for most of the day. I loved the toppings of radish, grape tomatoes, goat cheese, and cilantro with poached eggs on top.
Bagel & Lox: If I see Lox on any breakfast menu, I usually get it. This came as a whole smorgasbord to put together yourself, which I appreciated since there’s a fine line of how much cream cheese you can use before you hit a saturation level. The capers were insane. Perfectly air-fried and crispy, I asked for a separate side of them to munch on like a bag of chips.
Buttermilk Pancakes: My sweet tooth kicked in on this one and I shamelessly ordered them with bananas and chocolate chips. The bananas were cooked into the pancakes with the chocolate chips spread on top, which I thought should’ve been the other way around. Either way, I couldn’t even finish them because they were so huge and rich.
PART V — What To Do Within A 10-Minute Uber Of The Event
With the festival not opening its gates until the early afternoon, there was plenty of time to do some sightseeing and food tastings around the city.
Just three blocks from The Farnam is Block 16, a delicious garden-to-table restaurant that stands for all things Omaha. Each dish is prepared with local, humanely raised, and preservative-free ingredients, something that makes my mouth water just by hearing those words. Make sure to get the Crab Rangoon fries – they were perfectly crispy with a perfect topping of the sweetened Asian creamy sauce.
MIKALA LUGEN
From there, take a short drive and park at the National Park Service Midwest Region building and be in two places at once on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. The 3,000-foot-long bridge is suspended in the air by mere cables and connects Iowa and Nebraska over the Missouri River. It’s a somewhat cheesy tourist attraction, but who doesn’t want to snap a photo of being in two states at once?
MIKALA LUGEN
Round out your day at Coneflower Creamery in the Blackstone neighborhood. You’ll most likely encounter a line out the door when you arrive, but make sure you wait it out as it’s the number one ice cream shop on Yelp’s list of 100 best ice cream shops in the country. The ice cream uses local ingredients and handcrafts its cones and sprinkles. Yes, even the sprinkles. You’ll find the classic flavors of vanilla bean, cookies and cream, and dark chocolate, but it’s the signature flavors of Tart Cherry Crumble, Grandma Millie’s Lemon Bar, and Blackstone Butter Brickle that had me swooning.
MIKALA LUGEN
Maha Festival has already announced its move to Omaha’s renovated Heartland of America Park at The RiverFront for next year’s 16th gathering. The festival’s new home, which will have large green lawn space and ample room for Maha to expand to three music stages, twice as many Community Village booths, and thousands of additional guests, is scheduled to open later this month. It’s looking to be lit and definitely has me eager to get back to Nebraska.
For more information on Maha Festival, the plans for 2024, and future years at the new Heartland of America Park at the Riverfront and more, visit Maha’s website.
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