How far from big time?

The city that made Conor famous should have its own music festival — the Omaha version of Austin's South by Southwest, Tennessee's Bonaroo or Chicago's Lollapalooza. Shouldn't it?

Many here think so, including planners of the inaugural Maha Music Festival, which takes place today at Lewis and Clark Landing.

After all, the city is home to big-time indie label Saddle Creek Records. It's home to music venues of all sizes — the Qwest Center Omaha, the Holland Performing Arts Center, Slowdown and more intimate clubs — and attracts nationally known bands.

It has many noted bands of its own, such as 311 and Cursive, performing everything from punk to country.

The city could capitalize on this vibrant music scene to boost tourism and national recognition, like Austin, Texas, did when it built on its reputation as an indie rock and live music mecca with the weeklong, multi-venue South by Southwest. Even Des Moines, not known for its music scene, has the up-and-coming 80/35 festival, which drew 30,000 people this summer to see Ben Harper and the Relentless7, Public Enemy and almost 40 other bands.

Larger festivals bring in double that. Chicago's Lollapalooza had 130 bands over three days and reported attendance of 75,000 per day. Concert organizers in Austin expect 65,000 people per day and 130 bands in October for the city's other huge festival, Austin City Limits.

The first Maha Music Festival is a baby step toward that goal, observers say, although some have questioned the selection of bands, the location and the one-day time frame. The lineup for Maha, while entertaining, doesn't compare to the Kings of Leon, the Killers or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Lollapalooza or California's Coachella — the royalty of the indie festival world — nor are they big-time, locally popular bands.

Before achieving a first-tier festival, music watchers say, Maha organizers must attract bigger names. That will happen, many believe, with more collaboration among planners, local promoters and the local music community.

A number of Maha planners acknowledge that the festival didn't fulfill their goals, but they and others think they're moving in the right direction.

YFC, the nonprofit group of Omaha professionals organizing Maha, arranged for two stages with national and local acts at Omaha's riverfront. The group had only six months to plan, said Mike App of YFC. That's not long enough, according to experienced festival planners and concert promoters.

The board approached more than 200 bands, including 311, Conor Oberst and Cursive. Some were too expensive, some had other commitments and others ultimately didn't fit the feel organizers were shooting for, said App, 43, who works for Lozier Corp.

They eventually settled on Dashboard Confessional and G. Love & Special Sauce as headliners. Dashboard Confessional's last hit was in 2004. G. Love & Special Sauce is an alternative hip-hop group of middling popularity.

Other groups are Big Head Todd & the Monsters (at its peak of popularity in the early '90s) and little-known indie artists Serena Ryder, Army Navy and the Appleseed Cast.

App and fellow organizer Tre Brashear, 42, said they wanted to find groups that fit their budget, put on a great live show and created a connection with the audience.

“We like the lineup,” said Brashear, an attorney. “There were a bunch of bands available, but you have to find out what's the best fit. You can't pick the top six bands off of your iPod.”

It didn't help that Maha's date conflicts with the Leeds Festival in Britain and Outside Lands festival in San Francisco. App said his festival was trying to recruit similar bands.

Marc Leibowitz of Omaha's One Percent Productions has wanted to put on a local festival for years. He says, however, that anything less than a multi-day, multi-stage show such as Lollapalooza is merely a big concert.

That said, he's philosophical about the Maha lineup.

“I think they put together a decent festival for how little time they had,” said Leibowitz, also co-owner of the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha. “With more time, they could have gotten better bands.”

Maha organizers hope to extend the festival to multiple days and locations, but it probably won't happen next year.

The ultimate goal is to have headliners such as R.E.M. or Coldplay. Waving his arms above his head, App said, “I dream of having 20 (thousand) or 30 (thousand) or 50 thousand people outside doing this to U2.”

To that end, planning for next year's Maha “starts Aug. 30,” App said. “We'll be talking to bands in September.”

A bigger event would appeal to Omahan Francesca Faber, 23, who attended Lollapalooza last year.

“It was crazy. There's just stuff going on everywhere at all times. It was definitely a lot of fun,” she said. “If (other cities) could do it, we could do it. It's just a matter of being proactive.”

While the headliners aren't particularly exciting for Faber, she still expects to go to Maha.

“G. Love and Dashboard? I think I'll probably go to that,” she said. “I used to be a big Dashboard fan in high school. I think they'll be fun to see.”

But Bill Kaechele, 25, won't attend.

“I liked Dashboard Confessional. In 2001. I saw the lineup for it and went, ‘Meh.' ... Overall, it's kinda lame,” Kaechele said.

A bigger lineup might have helped, he said. “It's not even that many bands for a festival.”

As they move forward, Maha planners could learn from the success of the two-year-old 80/35 festival in Des Moines, some observers say. Organizers credit that success to collaboration with the Des Moines Music Coalition, which includes promoters, venue owners, bands and music fans.

The Maha board does not include local venue owners, bands or promoters, which prompted criticism from promoters and fans that outside firms are picking music for Omaha audiences without knowing about local tastes.

“I think there's room for ... a nice festival of some scale in some area of Omaha,” said Amedeo Rossi, the project manager for 80/35, who also owns a rock club. He cited Omaha's “rich tradition,” with the presence of Saddle Creek Records, One Percent Productions and a strong group of venues and musicians.

“I think you want to do something that challenges the imaginations of people,” he said, and solicit the help of civic and business leaders.

Saddle Creek Records was asked to participate in Maha, but label executive Jason Kulbel said Maha organizers asked for help too late. Given enough time, Kulbel said, the label would be interested in rounding up bands for a special Saddle Creek-sponsored stage at a festival.

But forget about involving Bright Eyes, Kulbel said.

“That's the egg that they're looking for, but Conor (Oberst) doesn't do a whole lot of that stuff, and he's not going to do that on a whim.”

Contact the writer:

444-1557, kevin.coffey@owh.com