Indie music venue, theater bring more culture to Omaha
Posted: Tuesday, September 04, 2007
OMAHA (AP) -- Omaha, long stereotyped as a land of cows and corn, is adding more culture to its list of attributes.
And it's mostly thanks to Saddle Creek Records, the indie record label behind Bright Eyes and The Faint.
The record label's new headquarters just north of downtown has transformed a rundown city block into a prime destination, giving visitors a music venue/bar and a theater for independent films. A local coffee shop and national clothing retailer Urban Outfitters also have leased space, with room left to accommodate a restaurant.
"It's a little bit of build it and they will come," said label manager Jason Kulbel.
He said the complex that covers a city block -- as well as the move from the namesake location on Saddle Creek Road -- was the unintended outcome of the label's years-long effort to open its own club in Omaha.
When a plan to build the club in a neighborhood near Saddle Creek Road met opposition, the city persuaded the music label to bring its project to an area further east targeted for redevelopment. Kulbel said Saddle Creek Records bought an entire block, so it could have control over who its neighbors are as more businesses move into the vicinity.
The result was Slowdown, a 470-capacity music venue that has featured indie acts like Built to Spill and Jimmy Eat World in its first three months.
Kulbel stressed that while Slowdown is owned by Saddle Creek Records, it is not intended to showcase the label's bands. In fact, he said, those groups will rarely play there.
When Slowdown is not hosting a concert, a retractable screen hides the main stage area, allowing entrance only to its full-service bar, pool table, arcade games and a small performance area.
"People are taken aback by this," Kulbel said, explaining that Omahans haven't really seen a venue like this before.
Until the opening of Slowdown and another lounge called The Waiting Room in the spring, acts too small for the 18,300-seat arena at Qwest Center Omaha were mostly relegated to Sokol Auditorium, the century-old Czechoslovak gymnastics hall that gave rise to Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and other musically inclined Omaha natives.
Kulbel said Slowdown is an attempt to rectify that and, in some part, entice young people to stay in the city.
Anchoring the opposite side of the Saddle Creek complex is Film Streams, a two-screen movie theater that shows first-run independent films, documentaries and foreign films, along with repertory series.
The initial series featured 10 movies hand-picked by Omaha native Alexander Payne, the movie director behind "Sideways," "About Schmidt" and "Election." Among the selections were Akira Kurasowa's "Seven Samurai" (1954), Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" (1936)," Robert Altman's "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971) and Federico Fellini's "8.5" (1963).
Rachel Jacobson, executive director of the nonprofit theater, said the mission of Film Streams is to enhance Omaha's culture by showing movies that wouldn't normally be available and "promote them as an art form."
"We kind of add our own voice to it, which is really important to the cultural development of Omaha," she said.
According to Jacobson, community support has been strong -- even before the theater opened in mid-July. A fundraising campaign yielded $1.7 million, well above the startup capital needed to open the theater.
And, she said, Film Streams surpassed its first-year membership goal of 500 when it gained 1,100 members in the first four months the $50 memberships were offered.
Said Jacobson: "We're going through popcorn faster than we modestly thought."
And it's mostly thanks to Saddle Creek Records, the indie record label behind Bright Eyes and The Faint.
The record label's new headquarters just north of downtown has transformed a rundown city block into a prime destination, giving visitors a music venue/bar and a theater for independent films. A local coffee shop and national clothing retailer Urban Outfitters also have leased space, with room left to accommodate a restaurant.
"It's a little bit of build it and they will come," said label manager Jason Kulbel.
He said the complex that covers a city block -- as well as the move from the namesake location on Saddle Creek Road -- was the unintended outcome of the label's years-long effort to open its own club in Omaha.
When a plan to build the club in a neighborhood near Saddle Creek Road met opposition, the city persuaded the music label to bring its project to an area further east targeted for redevelopment. Kulbel said Saddle Creek Records bought an entire block, so it could have control over who its neighbors are as more businesses move into the vicinity.
The result was Slowdown, a 470-capacity music venue that has featured indie acts like Built to Spill and Jimmy Eat World in its first three months.
Kulbel stressed that while Slowdown is owned by Saddle Creek Records, it is not intended to showcase the label's bands. In fact, he said, those groups will rarely play there.
When Slowdown is not hosting a concert, a retractable screen hides the main stage area, allowing entrance only to its full-service bar, pool table, arcade games and a small performance area.
"People are taken aback by this," Kulbel said, explaining that Omahans haven't really seen a venue like this before.
Until the opening of Slowdown and another lounge called The Waiting Room in the spring, acts too small for the 18,300-seat arena at Qwest Center Omaha were mostly relegated to Sokol Auditorium, the century-old Czechoslovak gymnastics hall that gave rise to Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and other musically inclined Omaha natives.
Kulbel said Slowdown is an attempt to rectify that and, in some part, entice young people to stay in the city.
Anchoring the opposite side of the Saddle Creek complex is Film Streams, a two-screen movie theater that shows first-run independent films, documentaries and foreign films, along with repertory series.
The initial series featured 10 movies hand-picked by Omaha native Alexander Payne, the movie director behind "Sideways," "About Schmidt" and "Election." Among the selections were Akira Kurasowa's "Seven Samurai" (1954), Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" (1936)," Robert Altman's "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971) and Federico Fellini's "8.5" (1963).
Rachel Jacobson, executive director of the nonprofit theater, said the mission of Film Streams is to enhance Omaha's culture by showing movies that wouldn't normally be available and "promote them as an art form."
"We kind of add our own voice to it, which is really important to the cultural development of Omaha," she said.
According to Jacobson, community support has been strong -- even before the theater opened in mid-July. A fundraising campaign yielded $1.7 million, well above the startup capital needed to open the theater.
And, she said, Film Streams surpassed its first-year membership goal of 500 when it gained 1,100 members in the first four months the $50 memberships were offered.
Said Jacobson: "We're going through popcorn faster than we modestly thought."
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