The Show Is the Rainbow

Never afraid to lubricate the dance floor with a little well-slung mud, Darren Keen of Nebraska's one-man band The Show Is the Rainbow is as known for his frequent lambasting of the prominent Omaha indie-rock scene as he is for his own abrasive yet massively catchy dance jams. Keen seems...

By Jason Heller

October 29, 2009

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Never afraid to lubricate the dance floor with a little well-slung mud, Darren Keen of Nebraska's one-man band The Show Is the Rainbow is as known for his frequent lambasting of the prominent Omaha indie-rock scene as he is for his own abrasive yet massively catchy dance jams. Keen seems to have mellowed out — if you could call it that — on his latest full-length, Wet Fist, which is lighter on the diatribes and longer on epic synths, rattling beats and spoken-sung vocals. Then again, six years into his reign as The Show Is the Rainbow, Keen now describes himself in his official bio as "a big hippie weirdo storyteller dude made of lesbian love paste and positivity." For some possible clarification on that point, check out Keen's sweat-slathered performance at Rhinoceropolis this Wednesday.

Jason Heller is a staff writer at Westword. He's the author of the book Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded (Melville House/Penguin Random House), and has contributed to the New Yorker, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and NPR.org. His work has won a Hugo Award and a Colorado Press Association Award.

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