Omaha Venues Now Require Notarized Letter From Your Parents

By CRYSTAL K. WIEBE

Hey, Kansas City kids! Ever wish you lived in the utopian Omaha music scene, where indie rock flows endlessly and members of Saddle Creek bands tend the bars? Well, if you’re under 18, don’t get so wistful. Starting tomorrow night, music fans age 17 and under will need a notarized letter from their parents in order to get into a show at the Slowdown or the Waiting Room, the city’s most happening rock bars.

The new rule – along with requirements for the bars to have extra security, wrist bands for the 21-and-over folks and different cups for booze and non-alcoholic beverages – is part of a music venue ordinance passed by the Omaha City Council earlier this month. It’s annoying for club owners and patrons both. But it could be worse. The council had considered banning the youngins from the clubs altogether because as stand-alone bars that don’t admit minors on nights when there isn’t music, the venues fell into a legal gray area.

Read more about the ordinance in this Omaha World-Herald article and at the Slowdown’s Web site.