Cursive Plays Legendary Hometown Shows!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

Last week was a whirlwind of shows. Franz Ferdinand, Cursive, and All Time Low, whew! I need a nap, haha. We've got Bilmuri at the Admiral tomorrow so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime let's jump back to Wednesday (10.8.25).

The Waiting Room played host to one of Omaha's favorite indie bands, Cursive! In preparation for the Best Friends Forever Festival in Las Vegas, Cursive put on a pair of legendary shows playing Domestica and Ugly Organ in full. At BFF they were slotted to play Domestica on the first night and then Ugly Organ on the last night, but Omaha got the incredible chance to see both albums in one night! These are my two favorite Cursive albums and seeing them live in full was absolutely mind blowing. To break up the sets Cursive had their friends The Appleseed Cast play a set in between the albums. When the show was announced it sold out very quickly, I think within the first day. Cursive was able to add a second show on Tuesday the night before and that show sold out as well! I was so jazzed to pull up to the Waiting Room and see "Cursive Tuesday and Wednesday, SOLD OUT". Such an awesome moment for the Omaha music scene.

When I arrived the room was already pretty full. I scanned the merch for any must-have items. I got an awesome glow in the dark skeleton shirt and my son snagged a button set. We made our way to the front of the stage and waited in excited anticipation. Cursive walked out to raucous applause and ripped into the opening crunchy riff of "The Casualty". Tim and Matt traded stabs of deep bass and prickly, jangly guitars. A tale of a turbulent relationship was woven. Tim's facial expressions morphed from sadness to anger to derangement. The crowd was enveloped in the Midwest-emo opera as they bobbed their heads and screamed out their favorite parts. "Your tears are only alibis! "To prove you still feel, you only feel sorry for yourself!"

Through nine short songs we were taken on a rollercoaster of emotions with the characters Sweetie and Pretty Baby, two lovers working through a complicated marriage. In what felt like a short blink Tim was addressing the crowd and hyping everyone up "That was Domestica!" He thanked everyone for coming out and promised an incredible evening of music.

After a short break the Appleseed Cast came out for Act II. I'll be honest, I didn't know much about the Appleseed Cast going in, but it was an enjoyable set. Things started off soft and slow with the first song being almost all instrumental. But by the last couple songs their wall of sound aesthetic was in full force. They were a good pairing for Cursive as both bands dabble in the dynamics of shifting from soft to loud and timid to exploding chaos. The crowd was digging it, with several fans singing along and pumping their fists. I know Cursive and The Appleseed Cast have done several tours together in recent years so I'm sure they've picked up a lot of fans along the way.

After one last set change it was time for the legendary Cursive to finish the evening with Act III: The Ugly Organ. Rather than playing The Ugly Organ first and then an encore, Cursive dished out a few one-off songs. They hit the crowd with a cut from their latest album Devourer (which is fantastic by the way) in the way of "The Avalanche of Our Demise", and some crowd-favorites, "Big Bang" and "From the Hips". Tim thanked everyone for the support and said out of respect for the album this would be the band signing off.

The intro music of a creepy organ and shrieks from seaside roller coaster riders pumped out over the stereo. The crowd cheered with excitement as the band launched into the opening song "Some Red Handed Sleight of Hand". Rolling right into the thumping beat of "Art is Hard" the tempo was moving at break-neck speed. The crowd jumped with excitement and sang along to every word. While Cursive doesn't shy away from the songs of The Ugly Organ for their live sets, I couldn't recall if I had seen all of them live before. Either way, this was such a trip. I would still put Domestica up there as my personal favorite Cursive album, but The Ugly Organ is a very close second. This is Cursive at the peak of their powers. The lush storytelling, the layered sounds and pop sensibilities on The Ugly Organ are everything I love about this band.

Cursive played through all of The Ugly Organ finishing with the haunting "Staying Alive". As the fuzz of Tim's guitar was still ringing out he handed it to the crowd and walked off stage like a post-hardcore James Dean, so cool. The crowd cheered for an encore, but that was it. Just the murmurs of "Doo doo di do, di doo, doo doo, the worst is over" slowly faded over the speakers.

I could go on for days about how great these albums are and how amazing this show was. If you were there, I hope these pictures bring back awesome memories. If you missed it, I'm not sure if you'll ever see this same show again.

The next time Cursive plays Omaha do everything you can to make it, you won't regret it.

Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!