After a rather eventful first day including a thunderstorm rolling through during the middle of the festival, the 2023 Maha Festival ended the night shining bright with sets from Alvvays and Turnstile. The festival, spanning two days, July 28 and 29, is an eclectic assortment of music, comedy and art highlighting some of the most talented individuals Omaha has to offer. The Maha Festival has a unique spin on the outlook of a music festival, demonstrating their intense focus on being environmentally friendly and encouragement to live a sustainable lifestyle.
The last day of the festival was exciting but bittersweet because 2023 is the last year where the festival will be held at the Aksarben Village. However, next year is shaping up to be even bigger and better than ever taking place at Heartland of America Park at The Riverfront for Maha Festival 2024.
With that being said, Maha Festival 2023 ended with lots of amazing music, colorful vibes and a collection of the most lovely Omaha folk one could ever possibly meet.
Ebba Rose
On the music side of the festival, Ebba Rose began the day with a mix of rock, soul and blues into a seamless concoction of sweet, yet spicy. The Omaha native made the early festival goers very proud to inhabit the same city as Rose, with her chillingly gorgeous voice. Compared to yesterday’s aggressive opening band, BIB, Ebba Rose began the festival on a very soothing note which continued throughout the rest of the day as well.
Garst
The next set on the schedule was Omaha locals, Garst. The Nebraskan surf-rock band put on a spunky show filled with plenty of gnarly guitar solos and brutally tight drum playing. Garst’s set was more on the same wavelength for the Turnstile crowd from yesterday with the crunchy instrumentals and shouty vocals. Every member on stage absolutely ripped, and the crowd was loving every second of it by whipping their hair around and flailing their arms in the air. Some highlights from the set were “Fine” and “Teardown” from their self-titled record.
Omaha Girls Rock
A rather special set that truly highlighted the homegrown talent coming out of Omaha was the Omaha Girls Rock. OGR! is organization designed to encourage and empower the youth of Nebraska through the creation of art, specifically rock music. With a quick 15-minute time slot on the main stage, OGR! showcased some of their most exciting and talented young performers playing some original music. One group of performers blasted power-chords with the singer calling out, “Ethan, you’re a dirtbag,” essentially listing off reasons in the verses why Ethan is a terrible friend. The crowd absolutely loved it and was extremely encouraging to these young artists playing such a beloved festival like Maha.
Aside from the music, another pillar of entertainment Maha Festival hosts is stand-up comedy. In an air-conditioned and seated tent towards the back of the festival grounds, the comedy tent highlighted plenty of talent from Nebraska as well as Jimmy Kimmel Live! writer, Troy Walker, Brad Wenzel and Dante Powell. Although comedy is a very subjective art form, some comics resonated a bit more than others, but catching a few sets was a nice change of pace and a perfect way to escape from the heat for a bit.
Say She She
The Brooklyn female-led soul group got everyone grooving at Maha Festival with their heavenly vocals, beautiful harmonies and subtle yet fun choreography. A bit of a break from the intense and rock-heavy bands on every corner of the festival’s lineup, Say She She brought plenty of sensual and groovy vibes with a positive message of women empowerment. The singing trio transported festival goers back to the ’70s with disco-tinged tracks like “Astral Plane” and “Forget Me Not.”
Black Belt Eagle Scout
Coming out on stage with the black St. Vincent signature Ernie Ball Music Man guitar, it was a given this set was going to be amazing. Katherine Paul who also goes by KP, is from Portland, Oregon and uses her art as a vessel to celebrate and share her story and Swinomish heritage. This set featured a handful of tracks from the latest record, The Land, The Water, The Sky and Mother of My Children. Although guitar prominent tracks, the set was rather tranquil with KP singing with her incredibly cathartic and powerful vocals. With the crowd slight head-banging along to every song, this definitely proved that the storytelling and heart in Black Belt Eagle Scout’s music really resonated with people. And that is an extremely beautiful thing.
Terry Presume
One of the most anticipated sets of the entire weekend, personally, was Terry Presume. From Naples, Florida, Terry Presume is a gritty hip-hop artist that expands beyond the genre, dipping his toes into R&B, funk, rock and many more. He is a diverse and eclectic artist that has no trouble fitting into the Maha lineup because he has plenty to offer all music lovers with samples of acoustic guitars, laid-back flows and introspective lyricism. At the top of the set, Terry stated that July 29th was the two-year anniversary of the project that put him on the map, What Box? – EP. The EP includes tracks like “Act Up” and “Don’t Wait Forever” which were both phenomenal live. Terry also performed a handful of unreleased tracks which felt like a nice preview for fans to hear before they are officially out. Overall, this set proved that Terry Presume is a force to be reckoned with and that it is only a matter of time before he becomes a household name.
The Beths
Easily the best set of the day goes to the colorful and charismatic indie-rock band from New Zealand, The Beths. With the incredible 2022 record, Expert In a Dying Field, The Beths proved to be one of the most whimsical and quirky bands in the indie realm with their shimmery guitars and sticky vocal melodies, and of course, unbelievable songwriting. Their music is sweet and soft on the ears, but gives you a right hook with a punchy guitar solo before you get too comfortable. The band members played extremely well together and had playful stage banter with each other as well as the crowd. Looking out into the audience, all walks of life thoroughly enjoyed The Beths’ set, including the long-haired heavy-metal dudes who came for BIB and Turnstile. There were plenty of songs to swing one’s hair around and bounce up and down to.
The Beths ran quickly through their set, almost ending a tad bit ahead of schedule. So when the crowd graciously showed the band some love and cheered for an encore, the band came back on stage to perform one last song. This felt like a very special moment because festivals usually don’t allow for encores due to overlapping set times, but Maha Festival truly does things differently. They finished their set with “You Wouldn’t Like Me” after a fan suggested it, and absolutely ripped. In regards to favorite sets of the weekend, Turnstile and The Beths are neck and neck.
Peach Pit
As the sun began to set, Vancouver-based indie rock outfit, Peach Pit, took to the main stage for a serene and rather easy set. With their very radio-friendly indie tunes, the crowd was definitely vibing out, enjoying the second to last set of the night with the sun setting behind the band. Compared to other rock outfits on the lineup, Peach Pit lands somewhere on the softer side of the spectrum, but there were a few moments of shredding and grooving, especially with the “Hotel California” interpolation during “Give Up Baby Go.” If it’s one thing about this set, it’s that Peach Pit are natural performers and are essentially the perfect example of just a couple of dudes who want to chill and have a good time. And a good time was had.
Big Thief
Closing out the entire festival were indie folk behemoths, Big Thief. Borderline jam-band, Big Thief, are known for the captivating and bold flowery rock with creative instrumentation, otherworldly chemistry and incredibly striking lyricism. Fronted by Adrianne Lenker, her soft, twangy vocals easily reel you in with how inviting they are until thunder strikes and her passionate vocal delivery comes through.
From the very first track, it is evident that Big Thief are complete pros, meshing very well with one another on stage as well as being hyper-aware of their surroundings and the crowd at all times. There were a few moments when someone from the crowd needed medical attention, and the group stopped on a dime until the situation was handled and they resumed rocking out.
As deep of a discography and amazing records as they have, Big Thief is hands down a band that must be experienced live to fully grasp the full picture. Adrianne’s guitar work is aggressive and intricate with the fuzz turned all the way up, similar to a Jack White guitar tone. If she isn’t in your top favorite guitar players of all time, give it a couple more years and your face will be melted off eventually. The majority of the set featured tracks from the superb 2022 release, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, with a handful of other songs that have yet to be released. Some stand out moments included “Vampire Empire,” “Not” and “Simulation Swarm.”
The crowd at this set was a bit older than the crowd that showed up for Turnstile the previous night, and there was hardly as much moshing, but this Big Thief set was the perfect way to celebrate the end of an astonishing 15-year run of the Maha Festival.
It is exciting to see a homegrown festival grow bigger each year snatching up such incredible artists like Turnstile and Big Thief to perform. With the new location of Heartland of America Park at The Riverfront for 2024 as well as the addition to another stage, the Maha Festival is proving to be a music festival to keep on anyone’s radar when it comes to festival season. The city of Omaha know how to celebrate their art and music scene extremely well, and are very welcoming to outsiders with open arms to join in on the fun.