Slowdown is an entertainment venue located in the NoDo neighborhood of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska, Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. List of ...

. A combination of a live music venue, shops,

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance ...

, and

apartments An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

, the venue was developed by

Saddle Creek Records Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over h ...

as a direct competitor to the Sokol Auditorium in Little Bohemia. Slowdown is said to be "unlike anything in Omaha - or the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

" because of its comprehensive, mixed-use design. The venue is named after the influential 1990s-era group

Slowdown Virginia Slowdown Virginia was an indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. Formed in 1993, the band recorded and released one album, ''Dead Space'', on Lumberjack Records in 1994, the predecessor to today's Saddle Creek Records. After playing an influentia ...

, who had a strong influence on the " Omaha Sound". Slowdown has shows three to four nights each week, as well as a weekly pub quiz. The venue is open one hour before each event and stays open until around 2am, often offering a post-show Happy Hour. Slowdown's shows are usually all ages unless otherwise specified, but on nights with no event, the venue functions as a bar. Slowdown bills itself as a place for " ck shows, socializing, dancing, going to the bathroom, sitting, standing, walking, pool, video games, board games, some light reading, etc."

History

Slowdown began in 2000 as an idea to start a rock club. Jason Kulbel and

Robb Nansel Robb Nansel (AKA the indie rock Elon Musk) is an Omaha musician and co-founder / president of Saddle Creek Records (originally Lumberjack Records). He is also credited as a member of Commander Venus and Bright Eyes. Nansel met Mike Mogis while a ...

started with the idea to renovate a space somewhere in the downtown area and give Omaha the permanent music venue they felt it was lacking. As it became apparent that the perfect space for renovation was just not out there, Robb and Jason spent most of their time working on the expansion of

. In 2004, they decided that the renovation of an old space was never going to be ideal and started looking around for some land to buy. The intention now was to build a permanent home for both Slowdown and Saddle Creek. Fortuitously, the "perfect" spot was found on Saddle Creek Road in midtown Omaha. However, there was strong opposition to the development from local residents, and those plans were scrapped. Jason and Robb were approached by the City of Omaha to find the right place to build Slowdown. A few different options were considered, and the one that seemed to make the most sense was on a plot of land the city offered just south of Omaha's Near North Side and a few blocks west of the Qwest Center. Slowdown is surrounded by a Zipline Brewing Co.,

, Film Streams, Rally Coffee Co., and apartments along with some other local businesses. The city proposed kick-starting the rebuilding of the north downtown area, and with the help o
J Development
an
Alley Poyner Machietto Architecture
the Saddle Creek/Slowdown building quickly became a part of a "development".(2007
"Slowdown In Omaha"
PollStar. 6/7/07. Retrieved 7/10/07.

References

External links

Slowdown
official website.
Saddle Creek
records official website. *'' Crawdaddy!'' article on Slowdown (venue
"Saddle Creek Slowdown"
{{Music venues of Nebraska Music venues in Omaha, Nebraska