# Everything Else > Arts & Entertainment >  Okcfest 2014

## warreng88

Country stars coming to Oklahoma City in June for OKCFEST 2014

Some of country musics biggest stars will headline a new summer music festival coming to downtown Oklahoma City in June.

FROM STAFF REPORTS  Published: April 10, 2014

Country music stars Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley and Merle Haggard will headline OKCFEST 2014, a new summer music festival dreamt up by Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and business leader Fred Hall.

The four-day festival is expected to draw 30,000 people to downtown Oklahoma City in late June, organizers said Thursday morning when plans for OKCFEST 2014 were unveiled.

Something special is going on in Oklahoma City, Hall said. OKCFEST will be a kick-off party to celebrate Oklahoma Citys planned Core to Shore downtown park and new convention center and will give festivalgoers an exciting glimpse of what is possible in the years ahead as this event and downtown evolve together.

Our event site is literally at the epicenter of these future transformational attractions for our city.

The festival begins June 26, when renowned jazz vocalist Steve Tyrell and his 8-piece band will kick-off the weekend with an exclusive and independently ticketed Thursday night show for festival underwriters, sponsors and their special guests.

The festivals first-year line-up resulted from a collaborative effort between Hall and Victor Sansone, the former ABC radio executive and past chairman of the Country Music Association who is serving as a consultant to OKCFEST.

Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Merle Haggard, Randy Rogers, Kix Brooks, Josh Abbott, Casey Donahew and Scotty McCreery will perform on the OKCFESTs Main Stage on June 27 and 28.

Additional music and other entertainment events on three nearby Myriad Garden stages will be free to the public Friday through Sunday afternoons and evenings, with preferred seating at each stage reserved for those with OKCFEST passes.

One-day and two-day passes for the main stage event area, which will feature food, beverage and unique shopping throughout OKCFEST, go on sale this month one the OKCFEST Festival Website. Tickets are $35 per day and $59 for two-day passes.

The OKCFEST 2014 is a reflection of the incredible aspirational vision of our business leadership in Oklahoma City, Cornett said. The variety of the entertainment offering at the first annual OKCFEST 2014 shows the growing diversity of our community.

As evident by the big plans for OKCFEST 2014, our citys national and international standing as a place where arts and culture can flourish continues to grow.

Country stars coming to Oklahoma City in June for OKCFEST 2014 | News OK

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## HangryHippo

OKCFest?

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## UrbanNorman

Underwhelmed with the country bent, but I understand this fits the market in some ways.  Good for downtown in terms of bringing people down to spend some dough and program the area.

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## Pete

I assume this will be on the property owned by Hall -- the future convention center site immediately south of the Myriad Gardens.

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## Pete

OKC Fest ? Oklahoma's Premiere Outdoor Music Festival ? June 27 - 28, 2014

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## bchris02

> Underwhelmed with the country bent, but I understand this fits the market in some ways.  Good for downtown in terms of bringing people down to spend some dough and program the area.


Agree.  This likely won't be appealing to those who don't like country or redneck culture, but it fits OKC like a glove and will be great for downtown business.

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## Pete

> country or redneck culture


These are two completely separate things.

Lots of people like country music and aren't rednecks.  You'd be surprised by how many friends I have in Cali who love country.

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## AP

> These are two completely separate things.
> 
> Lots of people like country music and aren't rednecks.  You'd be surprised by how many friends I have in Cali who love country.


I was extremely surprised to hear the amount of Country music that I have up here in Halifax.

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## warreng88

As much as I can appreciate country music, I am not a huge fan so I won't be attending but I think it is great for the city and will bring people from all over to see it. I really wish they went all out and got an artist that could appeal to more people as a put us on the map kind of thing like Aerosmith or Paul McCartney. One can dream.

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## Pete

It says "first annual" so hopefully there will be other types of music represented in future years.

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## gopokes88

This is a huge deal. I bet it draws 50,000 easily. Month of June could be busy for downtown if the thunder make the finals.

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## Jim Kyle

> As much as I can appreciate country music, I am not a huge fan so I won't be attending but I think it is great for the city and will bring people from all over to see it. I really wish they went all out and got an artist that could appeal to more people as a put us on the map kind of thing like Aerosmith or Paul McCartney. One can dream.


I was quite amazed, some 60 years ago while visiting Tulsa, to stop by a small bar where a fellow was blowing piano and sounding very much a member of the "modern jazz" mainstream -- and then I learned that he was a guitarist with Bob Wills!

He pointed out that professional musicians have to eat, and consequently most of them will work at whatever gig will bring in their bean money. I'm sure that rule still applies today. For example, some of the best country artists began as rock musicians -- I mean Kenny Rogers, the Oak Ridge Boys, and I'm sure there are others -- and I just finished writing up an article for my alumni association's magazine about an opera tenor who performed at the Met 89 times, one of whose students has now conbined classic opera and rock music to become one of the latest innovators.

And the C&W genre isn't the only thing for which OKC is known -- we also had Charlie Christian, and an annual festival celebrating his legacy!

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## BoulderSooner

The oak ridge boys started as a country gospel band

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## trousers

As a music fan, this sounds terrible.
As a supporter of downtown this sounds great.  This crap sells.

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## Jeepnokc

Look at two of the oldest and biggest clubs in town.  Country music is still very popular here.  Grahams has been here forever and Cowboys has been going strong under various different names for several decades also.  These are huge clubs.  Get outside of the metro schools and look at the strength of the FFA clubs and ag programs.  I see nothing wrong with the choice of music as it will bring in a huge crowd from the rural areas which will mean lots of outside money coming in to OKC.

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## HangryHippo

I like country music and if it helps downtown OKC, bring it on.

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## Dubya61

> These are two completely separate things.
> 
> Lots of people like country music and aren't rednecks.  You'd be surprised by how many friends I have in Cali who love country.


We have rednecks in Cali, too.  We rednecks are EVERYWHERE (ever been to rural Maryland?)!  We're in Mexico, too, per Gabriel Iglesias, but don't listen to country.

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## MadMonk

As a music fan with eclectic tastes, I'm all for this.

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## trousers

Would really like to see Merle.  I could go for a classic/outlaw country stage.

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## soonerguru

Not excited.

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## coov23

> It says "first annual" so hopefully there will be other types of music represented in future years.


Sadly, they have some country music chairman doing the scouring and pulling in the artists. Don't bet on it being anymore diverse. Definitely not going to appeal to those millenials that okc is trying to attract. Way to pander to stereotypes.

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## Swake

> Sadly, they have some country music chairman doing the scouring and pulling in the artists. Don't bet on it being anymore diverse. Definitely not going to appeal to those millenials that okc is trying to attract. Way to pander to stereotypes.


Something more like this?
Center of the Universe Festival - 2014 Main Stage Bands Announced

80,000 people went last year. It was a good time.

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## coov23

> Something more like this?
> Center of the Universe Festival - 2014 Main Stage Bands Announced
> 
> 80,000 people went last year. It was a good time.


I just moved from Delaware. They started FireFly Festival about 3 years ago. It's huge now. So...
More like this.....https://fireflyfestival.com/lineup/

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## kevinpate

Merle and several known to exceptionally well known country/pop artists.

I like Merle. Don't hate the others, but prefer the sounds of Little Big Town and Sara Evans to any of the rest of those signed for the event.

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## coov23

I think the ones that are upset is the millenials, like myself. Okc professes to trying to change and be this cultural place. Then they go off and pull a music festival like this. That's not cultural, nor is it appealing to the millenials they are trying to move here. It's the exact opposite. Okc wants to be seen as this new hip city. Bad way of doing it. Mick needs to step aside and let the younger crowd pick the musicians. I linked what most in my generation see as a great music festival. 

If okc is trying to aspire and be like ACL, they did it all wrong. Just frustrated to see okcfestival 2014 and click to see it's just like a state fair concert event.

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## bchris02

> I think the ones that are upset is the millenials, like myself. Okc professes to trying to change and be this cultural place. Then they go off and pull a music festival like this. That's not cultural, nor is it appealing to the millenials they are trying to move here. It's the exact opposite. Okc wants to be seen as this new hip city. Bad way of doing it. Mick needs to step aside and let the younger crowd pick the musicians. I linked what most in my generation see as a great music festival. 
> 
> If okc is trying to aspire and be like ACL, they did it all wrong. Just frustrated to see okcfestival 2014 and click to see it's just like a state fair concert event.


Completely agree.

There is actually nothing wrong with having a festival like this.  One of Charlotte's largest festivals is Speedstreet, which celebrates NASCAR.  However, they also have a decent live music/concert scene and other festivals geared towards the younger generation.  They have a wide variety of cultural events and if you don't like country music, you can very easily avoid it.  It's not so easy here.  OKC's music scene is terrible for a city this size unless you like, you guessed it, country music.

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## trousers

So you guys are upset that a music festival organized by a mayor and a rich guy isn't hip...gotcha.

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## Jeepnokc

> I think the ones that are upset is the millenials, like myself. Okc professes to trying to change and be this cultural place. Then they go off and pull a music festival like this. That's not cultural, nor is it appealing to the millenials they are trying to move here. It's the exact opposite. Okc wants to be seen as this new hip city. Bad way of doing it. Mick needs to step aside and let the younger crowd pick the musicians. I linked what most in my generation see as a great music festival. 
> 
> If okc is trying to aspire and be like ACL, they did it all wrong. Just frustrated to see okcfestival 2014 and click to see it's just like a state fair concert event.


So, if the event doesn't cater to your taste, then we are not cultural or it is just another state fair event?   There is a reason that Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors.  There is a reason country music sells out concerts at the peake the same way that other music genres do.  If you don't like country, don't go.  These are not exactly state fair bands.  Lady Antebellum was the headline at BOK last month and is a 7 time Grammy winner. Dierks Bentley has had 10 #1 hits and was nominated for a grammy in 2013.  Kix Brooks started back his solo career in 2012 but before that he was half of Brooks and Dunn which has sold more than 30 million records and won more CMA and ACM awards than any other person/group in country music history.  Merle is Merle and noting more needs to be said.

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## coov23

> So, if the event doesn't cater to your taste, then we are not cultural or it is just another state fair event?   There is a reason that Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors.  There is a reason country music sells out concerts at the peake the same way that other music genres do.  If you don't like country, don't go.  These are not exactly state fair bands.  Lady Antebellum was the headline at BOK last month and is a 7 time Grammy winner. Dierks Bentley has had 10 #1 hits and was nominated for a grammy in 2013.  Kix Brooks started back his solo career in 2012 but before that he was half of Brooks and Dunn which has sold more than 30 million records and won more CMA and ACM awards than any other person/group in country music history.  Merle is Merle and noting more needs to be said.


Missed the point completely. Country is just fine. Why not have The Black Keys, Macklemore, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley and a Weezer type band be the headliners. Mix different genres like ACL does, and every other music festival? Nothing wrong with that. That is my point. Plus, it's much more appealing to the masses. 

Disclaimer: I just spit balled bands off the top of my head in different genres. Not saying id want to see them.

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## bradh

> Agree.  This likely won't be appealing to those who don't like country or redneck culture, but it fits OKC like a glove and will be great for downtown business.


Man come the hell on, you are one of the worst when it comes to cramming everything into a stereotype.

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## bradh

Coov your first post here just soundse typical east coast snobbery, "uh why isn't here more accommodating to what everyone else likes" type dribble.  You are complaining that people here don't open up to other genres.  Here is a thought, why don't you open up to what's been popular here and give it a shot?  I love your most recent post though, a mix of different Genres would be great, I say give it some time, we'll get there.

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## DavidD_NorthOKC

> Missed the point completely. Country is just fine. Why not have The Black Keys, Macklemore, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley and a Weezer type band be the headliners. Mix different genres like ACL does, and every other music festival? Nothing wrong with that. That is my point. Plus, it's much more appealing to the masses. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I just spit balled bands off the top of my head in different genres. Not saying id want to see them.


Give it time maybe? This is just the first year and going with well known country artists makes sense to get it established. I can see it evolving into something more like you describe in time.

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## coov23

> Coov your first post here just soundse typical east coast snobbery, "uh why isn't here more accommodating to what everyone else likes" type dribble.  You are complaining that people here don't open up to other genres.  Here is a thought, why don't you open up to what's been popular here and give it a shot?  I love your most recent post though, a mix of different Genres would be great, I say give it some time, we'll get there.


Haha! I'm from okc. Born and raised. Waiting for a political comment from you next. I'll save you the typing time by stating I'm a republican. So, there goes your liberal leg you were standing on.

I lived up there for 4 years while I was in the Air Force. I say I'm republican, but I pretty moderate, actually.

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## Jim Kyle

> The oak ridge boys started as a country gospel band


True of the group, but several of the individuals began in rock.

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## bradh

> Haha! I'm from okc. Born and raised. Waiting for a political comment from you next. I'll save you the typing time by stating I'm a republican. So, there goes your liberal leg you were standing on.
> 
> I lived up there for 4 years while I was in the Air Force. I say I'm republican, but I pretty moderate, actually.


Then you and I have more in common probably than what you think

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## animeGhost

I have a problem with them advertising this as an "All Genres" music festival when the only genre advertised is country! There's nothing wrong with country music, not my cup of tee personally but, I digress, its very misleading when the news is comparing this to Bonaroo or ACL. This lineup pales in comparison to those festivals, hell, Tulsa's Center of the Universe Fest and NMF both have better lineups than this. Whats the point of calling it all-genres if your not gonna book one popular act outside of country music. I mean, not even the Flaming Lips, Hinder, AAR, or smaller bands like Horse Thief or Pretty Black Chains and those are just locals. And god forbid there be Hip-hop or Pop music there. Ughh!!! -end rant

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## Jeepnokc

> I have a problem with them advertising this as an "All Genres" music festival when the only genre advertised is country! There's nothing wrong with country music, not my cup of tee personally but, I digress, its very misleading when the news is comparing this to Bonaroo or ACL. This lineup pales in comparison to those festivals, hell, Tulsa's Center of the Universe Fest and NMF both have better lineups than this. Whats the point of calling it all-genres if your not gonna book one popular act outside of country music. I mean, not even the Flaming Lips, Hinder, AAR, or smaller bands like Horse Thief or Pretty Black Chains and those are just locals. And god forbid there be Hip-hop or Pop music there. Ughh!!! -end rant


I didn't see it advertised as an all genre event so I missed that part.  The article that links on here does state that it will kick off with a jazz musician on the first night and that there will be other stages with other entertainment going on throughout festival so who knows what other bands or genres will be there.  I had to go back and look though as it is easy to miss these other comments as it most certainly comes off at face value as an all country event.  Hopefully they will get some other genres as not only will it pull more people but will hopefully open other people's mind to toher genres if they wander into one of the areas they weren't there to see.

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## ljbab728

> I didn't see it advertised as an all genre event so I missed that part.  The article that links on here does state that it will kick off with a jazz musician on the first night and that there will be other stages with other entertainment going on throughout festival so who knows what other bands or genres will be there.  I had to go back and look though as it is easy to miss these other comments as it most certainly comes off at face value as an all country event.  Hopefully they will get some other genres as not only will it pull more people but will hopefully open other people's mind to toher genres if they wander into one of the areas they weren't there to see.


You're correct.  It has not been advertised that way and I think they are starting out by emphasizing what will be sure fire attention getters. It's just not always possible to start a major new event that will be everything for everyone.  Give it time people!!!!

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## animeGhost

> I didn't see it advertised as an all genre event so I missed that part.  The article that links on here does state that it will kick off with a jazz musician on the first night and that there will be other stages with other entertainment going on throughout festival so who knows what other bands or genres will be there.  I had to go back and look though as it is easy to miss these other comments as it most certainly comes off at face value as an all country event.  Hopefully they will get some other genres as not only will it pull more people but will hopefully open other people's mind to toher genres if they wander into one of the areas they weren't there to see.


It was advertised as all genres by the Mayor on the news this evening. I hope it does turn out to be an awesome festival but, as of now, I am not interested in attending at all. I am a musician and my taste of music varies greatly but, country music (and heavy metal/skreamo) is one of those genres I find difficult to enjoy. I was so excited to hear there was a "big" music festival in the city but this is not what I was expecting, plus I just went to SXSW last month so I may be a bit jaded.

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## animeGhost

> You're correct.  It has not been advertised that way and I think they are starting out by emphasizing what will be sure fire attention getters. It's just not always possible to start a major new event that will be everything for everyone.  Give it time people!!!!


Those acts sure fire attention getters? Maybe for country acts. Here is a lineup with some sure fire attention getters Bonnaroo

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## ljbab728

> It was advertised as all genres by the Mayor on the news this evening. I hope it does turn out to be an awesome festival but, as of now, I am not interested in attending at all. I am a musician and my taste of music varies greatly but, country music (and heavy metal/skreamo) is one of those genres I find difficult to enjoy. I was so excited to hear there was a "big" music festival in the city but this is not what I was expecting, plus I just went to SXSW last month so I may be a bit jaded.


There was a link in the initial post with a video with extensive comments by Mayor Cornett.  He didn't once say anything about all genres.  As I said before this is a first time event.  People should give it some time to build into something for everyone.

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## Jeepnokc

> Those acts sure fire attention getters? Maybe for country acts. Here is a lineup with some sure fire attention getters Bonnaroo


I have heard of five of those bands.  I would be willing to bet that most people in OK are more familiar with the line up here than that line up.  Also, they have the previous line up for previous years and look at the first year's line up in 2002.  Much much smaller.  It has grown over 12 years hopefully much like OKCfest will.  As I don't know most of those bands...I can't say how many different genres are involved but I certainly didn't see anything that was a country or red dirt band that I recognized.  One again...31 flavors.  You don't have to eat the pistachio but apparently enough people like it to keep it out there as an option.

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## HangryHippo

> There was a link in the initial post with a video with extensive comments by Mayor Cornett.  He didn't once say anything about all genres.  As I said before this is a first time event.  People should give it some time to build into something for everyone.


Christ, no kidding. The amount of butthurt in this thread over a country lineup is astounding.

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## Urbanized

It will BECOME a multi-genre event in subsequent years, and will also be growing into multi-stage and multi-venue including places like venues in Bricktown. I am confident of this. The reason I'm confident? I've known about the event for a number of months, having been told about it in a meeting by Scott Booker, director of ACM@UCO and manager of the Flaming Lips. Scott said that the plan was to enter the market with a country focus initially and then grow it quickly into a wide-ranging, multi-genre and multi-stage festival comparable to others around the country.

Scott should know, as he was involved in the planning and as Fred Hall is a big supporter of what Scott is doing at ACM. The announcement and lineup is EXACTLY as described in the meeting months ago, including the location of the festival and specific artists like Merle Haggard and Lady Antebellum, so I don't doubt for a second the veracity of the other details he shared. I know that Scott has for many years wanted to see a quality festival take root in OKC (we talked about it at length close to a decade ago), and he was pretty excited about this one when discussing it, so that's good enough for me.

I agree about the name being a little bland; perhaps that is viewed as a placeholder for now.

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## bradh

> Those acts sure fire attention getters? Maybe for country acts. Here is a lineup with some sure fire attention getters Bonnaroo


Surefire attention getters to the hipster crowd.  People that attend Bonnaroo probably take pride in people NOT knowing who is playing at the festivals they attend, isn't that what they're all about, not mainstream stuff?  :Smile:

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## bradh

> It will BECOME a multi-genre event in subsequent years, and will also be growing into multi-stage and multi-venue including places like venues in Bricktown. I am confident of this. The reason I'm confident? I've known about the event for a number of months, having been told about it in a meeting by Scott Booker, director of ACM@UCO and manager of the Flaming Lips. Scott said that the plan was to enter the market with a country focus initially and then grow it quickly into a wide-ranging, multi-genre and multi-stage festival comparable to others around the country.
> 
> Scott should know, as he was involved in the planning and as Fred Hall is a big supporter of what Scott is doing at ACM. The announcement and lineup is EXACTLY as described in the meeting months ago, including the location of the festival and specific artists like Merle Haggard and Lady Antebellum, so I don't doubt for a second the veracity of the other details he shared. I know that Scott has for many years wanted to see a quality festival take root in OKC (we talked about it at length close to a decade ago), and he was pretty excited about this one when discussing it, so that's good enough for me.
> 
> I agree about the name being a little bland; perhaps that is viewed as a placeholder for now.


Good post with solid information, thanks for the background, sounds exactly like what a few of us figured, something to grab attention initially.

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## bchris02

In OKC, country is by far the most popular genre.  While it may not appeal to the young/hipster crowd, starting this festival centered on country and then slowly bringing in other acts is a good way to build a successful festival given the market here.  A similar festival with all hipster/indie bands right from the start would more than likely be a flop, unfortunately.

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## trousers

> In OKC, country is by far the most popular genre.  While it may not appeal to the young/hipster crowd, starting this festival centered on country and then slowly bringing in other acts is a good way to build a successful festival given the market here.  A similar festival with all hipster/indie bands right from the start would more than likely be a flop, unfortunately.


The young/hipster crowd?  There are plenty of young people that like bad country music. Most of the  under 30 crowd I work with listen to this exact kind of music. 

But yeah, I don't think they are trying to pretend that they are creating another Bonnaroo, Sasquatch or even a Forecastle.  Hopefully the lineup improves each year, but until then I'll go to NMF and just be happy they are trying something.

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## jccouger

> It will BECOME a multi-genre event in subsequent years, and will also be growing into multi-stage and multi-venue including places like venues in Bricktown. I am confident of this. The reason I'm confident? I've known about the event for a number of months, having been told about it in a meeting by Scott Booker, director of ACM@UCO and manager of the Flaming Lips. Scott said that the plan was to enter the market with a country focus initially and then grow it quickly into a wide-ranging, multi-genre and multi-stage festival comparable to others around the country.
> 
> Scott should know, as he was involved in the planning and as Fred Hall is a big supporter of what Scott is doing at ACM. The announcement and lineup is EXACTLY as described in the meeting months ago, including the location of the festival and specific artists like Merle Haggard and Lady Antebellum, so I don't doubt for a second the veracity of the other details he shared. I know that Scott has for many years wanted to see a quality festival take root in OKC (we talked about it at length close to a decade ago), and he was pretty excited about this one when discussing it, so that's good enough for me.
> 
> I agree about the name being a little bland; perhaps that is viewed as a placeholder for now.



This is good news. I was bummed, like most, that we were getting a festival named "OKCfest" that is 100% country like that is the only music genre connotation our city has. Seriously, how can they name it after our entire city and then make it nothing but country? I hate to be BChris, but this is how negative stereotypes are born. And yes I know not all people who listen to country are rednecks, but all rednecks listen to is country. 

I attend music festivals all over our country, and I will not be attending this one with a lineup like this. However, as many have said before me I'm sure it will bring in a lot of money for OKC so I'm ok with it.

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## warreng88

One thing to note is in the interview, Hall said 95% of the people hired to put this on are from OKC area and all proceeds will go back into the community. That's kind of a big deal for an event of this size. I would assume a lot of that has to do with ACM@UCO.

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## bchris02

> This is good news. I was bummed, like most, that we were getting a *festival named "OKCfest" that is 100% country like that is the only music genre connotation our city has*. Seriously, how can they name it after our entire city and then make it nothing but country?...


This is the core of the issue right here.  With a name like OKCFest it should represent the diversity that actually exists in the city rather than pandering to the stereotype.  I don't think people would have as much of an issue if it was called something like CountryFest.

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## bradh

> but all rednecks listen to is country.


not 100%, where i'm from they listened to plenty of rap too, something ironic about a jacked up truck with a stars and bars sticker on the window blaring DJ Screw through the speakers back home

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## BoulderSooner

> In OKC, country is by far the most popular genre.  While it may not appeal to the young/hipster crowd, starting this festival centered on country and then slowly bringing in other acts is a good way to build a successful festival given the market here.  A similar festival with all hipster/indie bands right from the start would more than likely be a flop, unfortunately.


As others have said country is te most popular genre for the under 30 crowd as well. 

And as for "oklahoma" stereotype.  Stagecoach in Palm dessert/Indio California draws 50k a year

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## DoctorTaco

Even within the country genre there is a lot of room for diversity. Like I have no freaking clue who Dierks Bently is, and I certainly do not want to listen to Lady Antebellum. Aren't these the people that just sing about trucks and tight jeans and hanging out? Not sure.

But I sure as hell want to see Merle Haggard. Man is a legend.

Even if they staid under the country umbrella they could always find ways to bring in legends (Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Willy Nelson, etc.) or alt-county types (Old 97's, etc.) to keep it interesting.

With that in mind I think keeping a country focus could help this stand out against an increasing wave of indie-rock festivals. Used to be just SXSWm, Coachella, Bonnaroo and Sasquatch. Now it is those plus Forecastle, MusicFestNW, the resurrected Lollapalooza, Norman Music Fest, etc. etc. etc.) A little brand differntiation could go a long ways with this.

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## bradh

I wouldn't mind a little mix of what you get at the Winter Music Conference in Miami either, but then again my musical tastes are broader than most.

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## OSUFan

I'm a millennial who doesn't love the lineup. That being said if they let me (or most millennials who frequent OKC talk) pick the lineup they might draw 5,000 people. Do you want to have a successful first event that draws 30,000 to 50,000 to downtown and gives you a chance to have this be an annual event? Pretty decent lineup. Do you want an event that makes millenials who frequent OKC talk warm and fuzzy then this wasn't the way to go.

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## dcsooner

I agree that this event should offer more that Country music. OKC is stuck on country music to the detriment to its desire to expand its offerings across diverse spectrums of music and other cultural genres.  They have missed a huge opportunity to draw more diverse peoples to OKC, whereas, the city offers very little today to do so.

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## coov23

> I'm a millennial who doesn't love the lineup. That being said if they let me (or most millennials who frequent OKC talk) pick the lineup they might draw 5,000 people. Do you want to have a successful first event that draws 30,000 to 50,000 to downtown and gives you a chance to have this be an annual event? Pretty decent lineup. Do you want an event that makes millenials who frequent OKC talk warm and fuzzy then this wasn't the way to go.


I think most feel like this is a pretty standard move by okc legislature. You can't claim to want to be like ACL and a hip city and pull this lineup. If I had to choose headliners for a music festival it'd be Black Keys, Imagine Dragons, Tim McGraw, Brantley Gilbert, J Cole and John Legend. That would cover every genre and would attract 60k, for sure. That's a real music festival. Just this millenials opinion.

----------


## bradh

well you certainly picked two terrible country options  :Wink:

----------


## catch22

> Not excited.


I hope it's not too loud. While I appreciate (but not necessarily like or enjoy) old country music, modern country is just obnoxious and annoying.

----------


## OSUFan

> I think most feel like this is a pretty standard move by okc legislature. You can't claim to want to be like ACL and a hip city and pull this lineup. If I had to choose headliners for a music festival it'd be Black Keys, Imagine Dragons, Tim McGraw, Brantley Gilbert, J Cole and John Legend. That would cover every genre and would attract 60k, for sure. That's a real music festival. Just this millenials opinion.


Well sure but I imagine that would be 3 or 4 times more expensive and how many more people would you really draw? Would it be smart financially? This is a private group putting this on. I completely understand this lineup is a no go for some. But is a major, major draw for a ton of people. I guess I like at this more as a starting point and not the end. I hope as the festival gets some success the lineup gets more diverse.

----------


## BoulderSooner

> modern country is just obnoxious and annoying.


Also the most popular genre in the United States

----------


## catch22

> Also the most popular genre in the United States


Sometimes popular things are just obnoxious and annoying.

----------


## bchris02

Something like Memphis in May may be doable in OKC.  I still think would be a bit out of our league though in 2014.  Maybe in ten years.  As another poster said, this city needs to become more accustomed to live music before the kind of things many would like to see would be feasible.

Memphis In May International Festival 2014: Salutes Panama

Unfortunately, Tulsa is known as the live music destination in Oklahoma and with it so close, its going to be difficult gaining major momentum here for genres other than country.

----------


## coov23

> Well sure but I imagine that would be 3 or 4 times more expensive and how many more people would you really draw? Would it be smart financially? This is a private group putting this on. I completely understand this lineup is a no go for some. But is a major, major draw for a ton of people. I guess I like at this more as a starting point and not the end. I hope as the festival gets some success the lineup gets more diverse.


 this lineup screams "Great State Fair of Oklahoma". I say that because that's where these artists play, excluding Lady Antebellum. So, yes, that lineup I named would be more expensive, but Tim McGraw did just play at Penn Square a year ago. I can tell you that the lineup I stated would draw significantly more people. Not just the state fair crowd that this is going to attract. I'm not trying to sound  like a douchebag. Even though I know I am. I've just seen FireFly in Dover, DE start 3 years ago and get those artists I named to come in year one. They drew over 100k that first year. They did it right. They picked every genre to atteact different cultural groups for a 3 day festival. It was HUGE. Look at their lineup now. https://fireflyfestival.com/lineup/

That's a festival. It's in a town of 35k to top it off. Just takes more than some 60 year olds putting a festival together.

----------


## coov23

A good name when the park is finished( if they become more diverse in music selection): ParkSide Music Festival in Okc

----------


## SOONER8693

> Agree.  This likely won't be appealing to those who don't like country or redneck culture, but it fits OKC like a glove and will be great for downtown business.


Country music is by far the most popular form of music in this country.

----------


## OSUFan

The festivals you keep referencing are massively, massively more expensive (not to mentioned most aren't held in a metro's downtown). Who is going to pay for that. I'm not arguing that something like Firefly wouldn't be awesome. I hope that this can eventually draw a more diverse acts. I think reuniting Led Zeppelin would bring a ton of people but I don't have the capital to get it done.

End of the day this has the potential to bring a massive amount of people downtown and be hugely successful. I'm just not going to say it is the world's worst idea because the music doesn't cater to me.

----------


## coov23

> Country music is by far the most popular form of music in this country.


Weird. Why isn't country music topping top 40 pop charts? Rap, R&B, Alternative and rock do on the regular. Think your stating opinion, not fact. If it is fact illness proof. I just see most downloaded songs in iTunes. It's not country.

----------


## bradh

> Weird. Why isn't country music topping top 40 pop charts? Rap, R&B, Alternative and rock do on the regular. Think your stating opinion, not fact. If it is fact illness proof. I just see most downloaded songs in iTunes. It's not country.


is that not because country has it's own chart?

----------


## coov23

> is that not because country has it's own chart?


Go to iTunes. Just go to most downloaded chart. It's for all genres. Alternative has it's own, as dies evey other genre. I'm talking about overall. There a chart for that on there, too. Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line are the only 2 in top 10.

Oddly enough, I like their music. It's not as twangy as most country songs.

----------


## bradh

> Go to iTunes. Just go to most downloaded chart. It's for all genres. Alternative has it's own, as dies evey other genre. I'm talking about overall. There a chart for that on there, too. Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line are the only 2 in top 10.


dude, country listeners still buy tapes & CD's, don't you know?  backwoods hicks and rednecks don't have iTunes

I was just asking a legitimate question anyhow.  I almost think it's unfair to compare country to top 40 pop, because really what's mixed in that chart is 3 or 4 different genres.  you don't just have two genres of music in this country (country or pop).

----------


## PWitty

BChris and coov23 are like two peas in a pod. Can't say I'm surprised by any of the statements either have made. You both can hang on to all the stereotypes you want, but modern country is far from "redneck" like a lot of older traditional country that people think of when they hear "country music". Eric Church could easily be labelled as "Rock", and others like Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, etc. could all just as easily be labeled as "Pop". Most of the current Country stars are far from being "Country". 

I am a pretty big music junkie myself, and my downloads jump from Hip-Hop (mainly) to Electronic to Country to Pop. I pretty much like it all, and people claiming that you have to play EDM or Pop to be relevant to millennials need to strongly reconsider. I'm fresh out of college and most people I met at KU liked country music much more than I did (I like it but it isn't my go-to genre). Do people prefer to hear EDM/Rap/Pop when they're out at a club/bar? Most definitely. But those same people are much more willing to pay to see a live country performance than an EDM concert. Most country performers can play anything live and it sounds good. There aren't too many Pop/EDM performers who can say the same. Heck, most of the big Pop stars just dance/perform on stage and chime in every now and then on the chorus while the rest of the song is played over the speakers. 

Also, just a random observation from the male perspective, most girls I have ever met like country music much more than any other genre. It seems like guys lean towards Hip-Hop/EDM, while girls lean towards Country/Pop. 

America's Favorite Music Genre

----------


## TheTravellers

> There was a link in the initial post with a video with extensive comments by Mayor Cornett.  He didn't once say anything about all genres.  As I said before this is a first time event.  People should give it some time to build into something for everyone.


Here's the lineup for the *first* ACL Festival in 2002 (put together in 3-4 months, apparently):

    Ryan Adams
    Arc Angels
    Asleep at the Wheel
    Joe Bonamassa
    Jane Bond
    Blind Boys of Alabama
    Caitlin Cary
    Gary Clark, Jr., W. C. Clark
    Shawn Colvin
    Cross Canadian Ragweed
    Karl Denson
    The Derailers
    Durden Family Singers
    Eyes Adrift
    Faithful Gospel Stars
    Ruthie Foster
    David Garza
    G. Love & Special Sauce
    Gospel Stars
    The Gourds
    Jon Dee Graham
    Pat Green
    Patty Griffin
    Grupo Fantasma
    Emmylou Harris
    Caroline Herring
    The Jayhawks
    Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
    Kevin McKinney
    Li'l Cap'n Travis
    Los Lobos
    Luna
    James McMurtry
    Mighty Sincere Voices of Navasota
    Ramsey Midwood
    Monte Montgomery
    Abra Moore
    Allison Moorer
    The New Deal
    Nickel Creek
    Olospo
    Original Bells of Joy
    Particle, Patrice Pike & The Black Box
    Pauline Reese
    Robert Randolph
    Rebellion
    Rebirth Brass Band
    Reckless Kelly
    Rana
    Bob Schneider
    Soulive
    Sound Tribe Sector 9
    South Austin Jug Band
    Spacetruck
    The String Cheese Incident
    Topaz
    Weary Boys
    Gillian Welch
    Kelly Willis
    Wilco

They did a pretty awesome job of diversity and big name bands in their first year, it's a shame OKC couldn't.

----------


## PWitty

> Go to iTunes. Just go to most downloaded chart. It's for all genres. Alternative has it's own, as dies evey other genre. I'm talking about overall. There a chart for that on there, too. Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line are the only 2 in top 10.
> 
> Oddly enough, I like their music. It's not as twangy as most country songs.


I just took a quick glance at the Billboard Hot 100 List, and about 23 or so of the 100 were Country songs. I would say that's a pretty decent number when the other 77 are split between Pop, Electronic, Alternative, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Rock. 

Like pahdz said, it's kind of hard to compare Country to Top 40 when Top 40 is composed of Pop, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Electronic/Dance. Some Rock even falls under Top 40, like Imagine Dragons, etc.

----------


## gopokes88

This is why you don't try to please people. Everyone clamors for a music festival, they throw one together and it's too country. Ignoring the fact ACL has taken decades to get where it is.  They used country bands for this to make a smash success. It's easy to sell country tickets and every whiner on this board will wind up going. Why? Because the first one has to be a massive success to guarantee a second one. The easiest way to do that was to get country artists. They called it okcfest to broaden it in the future but the first few have to be a success. So stop complaining and help build it instead of tearing it down because you're a spoiled brat who didn't get exactly what you want. 

I don't even like country but I can see what this could grow into. So I'm going to support it have a beer and have some fun. Supporting something because you can see the potential should be something all the self proclaimed urbanists should be able to do easily.

----------


## LocoAko

> Even within the country genre there is a lot of room for diversity. Like I have no freaking clue who Dierks Bently is, and I certainly do not want to listen to Lady Antebellum. *Aren't these the people that just sing about trucks and tight jeans and hanging out? Not sure.*


Uh, no. At least not Lady Antebellum.

There's so much negativity in this thread that I'm kinda surprised. I guess I kind of buy the argument that it would have benefited from being more diverse musically (especially with a name like OKCFest), but country IS popular here with young AND old (in fact, these bands are probably more popular with the under-30 crowd than the over-30 crowd). It may not be your cup of tea, but these are big time musicians and it is pretty exciting this festival is starting and will inevitably grow. Sure, OKC isn't "just" country, but I guess I fail to see the outrage that there'd be a country-based festival in OKC...




> This is why you don't try to please people. Everyone clamors for a music festival, they throw one together and it's too country. Ignoring the fact ACL has taken decades to get where it is.  They used country bands for this to make a smash success. It's easy to sell country tickets and every whiner on this board will wind up going. Why? Because the first one has to be a massive success to guarantee a second one. The easiest way to do that was to get country artists. They called it okcfest to broaden it in the future but the first few have to be a success. So stop complaining and help build it instead of tearing it down because you're a spoiled brat who didn't get exactly what you want. 
> 
> I don't even like country but I can see what this could grow into. So I'm going to support it have a beer and have some fun. Supporting something because you can see the potential should be something all the self proclaimed urbanists should be able to do easily.


Exactly.

----------


## PWitty

Nm

----------


## PWitty

> This is why you don't try to please people. Everyone clamors for a music festival, they throw one together and it's too country. Ignoring the fact ACL has taken decades to get where it is.  They used country bands for this to make a smash success. It's easy to sell country tickets and every whiner on this board will wind up going. Why? Because the first one has to be a massive success to guarantee a second one. The easiest way to do that was to get country artists. They called it okcfest to broaden it in the future but the first few have to be a success. So stop complaining and help build it instead of tearing it down because you're a spoiled brat who didn't get exactly what you want. 
> 
> I don't even like country but I can see what this could grow into. So I'm going to support it have a beer and have some fun. Supporting something because you can see the potential should be something all the self proclaimed urbanists should be able to do easily.


That's easy for folks like us, but some would rather be negative and complain about everything under the sun.

----------


## AP

Yeah, I'm a little surprised by the negativity too. I told my girlfriend about it and she is dying to go, and we're definitely the young millennials this city is trying to attract. I'm sure a ton of my friends from OSU will come as well. This city has been begging for more live music, and we get something like this set up and all you hear on OKCTalk is complaints...

----------


## coov23

> BChris and coov23 are like two peas in a pod. Can't say I'm surprised by any of the statements either have made. You both can hang on to all the stereotypes you want, but modern country is far from "redneck" like a lot of older traditional country that people think of when they hear "country music". Eric Church could easily be labelled as "Rock", and others like Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, etc. could all just as easily be labeled as "Pop". Most of the current Country stars are far from being "Country". 
> 
> I am a pretty big music junkie myself, and my downloads jump from Hip-Hop (mainly) to Electronic to Country to Pop. I pretty much like it all, and people claiming that you have to play EDM or Pop to be relevant to millennials need to strongly reconsider. I'm fresh out of college and most people I met at KU liked country music much more than I did (I like it but it isn't my go-to genre). Do people prefer to hear EDM/Rap/Pop when they're out at a club/bar? Most definitely. But those same people are much more willing to pay to see a live country performance than an EDM concert. Most country performers can play anything live and it sounds good. There aren't too many Pop/EDM performers who can say the same. Heck, most of the big Pop stars just dance/perform on stage and chime in every now and then on the chorus while the rest of the song is played over the speakers. 
> 
> Also, just a random observation from the male perspective, most girls I have ever met like country music much more than any other genre. It seems like guys lean towards Hip-Hop/EDM, while girls lean towards Country/Pop. 
> 
> America's Favorite Music Genre


Actually, I'm the exact opposite of bchris, except on this one topic. I don't bash okc, ever, on here. You obviously haven't paid much attention to most of my posts.

Btw, I'm not a big EDM guy. If you skim through my iTunes you'd see pop, country, hip-hop, alternative, 80's, 90's and 70's music. Very eclectic mix. You're jumping on me fir being disappointed in a very bland lineup. Just call it what it is, a country fest.

----------


## TheTravellers

> ...Ignoring the fact ACL has taken decades to get where it is.  ...


If you check my earlier post, ACL did not take decades to get where it is, they had a diverse lineup of well-known and not-so-well-known bands in their first year.

----------


## PWitty

> Actually, I'm the exact opposite of bchris, except on this one topic. I don't bash okc, ever, on here. You obviously haven't paid much attention to most of my posts.
> 
> Btw, I'm not a big EDM guy. If you skim through my iTunes you'd see pop, country, hip-hop, alternative, 80's, 90's and 70's music. Very eclectic mix. You're jumping on me fir being disappointed in a very bland lineup. Just call it what it is, a country fest.


Well, I don't monitor this forum 24/7 so I haven't seen most of your other posts I'm sure. But in this case you and bchris sounded like you could have been the same poster from two different accounts. So my apologies if I was off base.

Back to my last question though. Why is everyone so down on the entire lineup already? Has a full lineup already been announced? Because all I'm seeing is a couple performers listed for what is going to be a 4 day event. I know the listed performers are all country artists, but they're also all pretty big name country artists. It makes sense to put 3 artists with name-recognition in the press release so that people will get excited about it. 

I'm not saying they won't all be country artists, I'm just asking why everyone is assuming this to be true at this point in time.

----------


## TheTravellers

> Travellers, I don't mean to sound like an idiot here, but out of all those artists you listed I don't know if there is more than maybe 5 that I have ever heard of. I'm not real big into the indie/underground music scene, so I'm assuming that's why. But I don't see any names that are going to draw anyone besides college kids, or people that are going solely for the environment/experience, to that festival. 
> 
> Also, has the full list of performers been released or is everyone just assuming the full roster will be nothing but country? The press release says "4 day festival" but it only lists 3 performers. So that obviously isn't the full lineup.


Very well known mainstream acts at the time in that list are:

Ryan Adams
Asleep at the Wheel
G. Love & Special Sauce
Patty Griffin
Emmylou Harris
Los Lobos
Rebirth Brass Band
The String Cheese Incident
Wilco

I've heard of all of those, plus these:

Joe Bonamassa
Blind Boys of Alabama
Gary Clark, Jr.
Shawn Colvin
Karl Denson
The Jayhawks
Luna
James McMurtry
Allison Moorer
Robert Randolph
Gillian Welch
Kelly Willis

Don't necessarily like all those that l listed, but I've heard of them.  I am quite wide-ranging in my musical tastes, however, way moreso than most people I know.  The bands you don't know aren't underground/indie, they're just not someone you've heard of, that list has all genres on it, and the first year drew almost 42K people to it, almost twice the 25K expected, so they're not narrowcasting to college/indie kids.

----------


## OSUFan

Travellers, while you listed some great bands calling people like Asleep at the Wheel, G. Love, Rebirth and the String Cheese Incident mainstream might be stretching it. Maybe we just have a different definition of mainstream though. I bet the average person has only heard of 3 or 4 bands you just listed.

----------


## PWitty

> Very well known mainstream acts at the time in that list are:
> 
> Ryan Adams
> Asleep at the Wheel
> G. Love & Special Sauce
> Patty Griffin
> Emmylou Harris
> Los Lobos
> Rebirth Brass Band
> ...


I succeeded in making myself sound like an idiot! Sort of.  :Banghead:  

I didn't realize how long ago the first ACL was when you posted that. That's the main reason I haven't heard of most of those artists. I went back and deleted my original post but you beat me to it!

----------


## bradh

> Yeah, I'm a little surprised by the negativity too. I told my girlfriend about it and she is dying to go, and we're definitely the young millennials this city is trying to attract. I'm sure a ton of my friends from OSU will come as well. This city has been begging for more live music, and we get something like this set up and all you hear on OKCTalk is complaints...


this guy gets it

----------


## bradh

lot of egg on people's faces if the additional names to the lineup are outside of the country genre

----------


## adaniel

> Yeah, I'm a little surprised by the negativity too. I told my girlfriend about it and she is dying to go, and we're definitely the young millennials this city is trying to attract. I'm sure a ton of my friends from OSU will come as well. This city has been begging for more live music, and we get something like this set up and all you hear on OKCTalk is complaints...


In defense of OKCtalk I only see 2 or 3 people complaining, and its pretty much the same people that complain about everything. FWIW I have put some of them on ignore so I had to peek and see what the hubbub was about. 

I for one hate country, but it sells around here. I am frankly much more excited about having 30-50K people in downtown using a long derelict property and spending money at local businesses to worry about what kind of genre is playing. If people want to get upset that its not en vouge hipster bands thats their perogative, but they should at least be happy its another live event bringing people (and money!) downtown.

Keep in mind that there's Norman Musical Festival will be in May and needs to be supported.  Its just down the road and draws the type of indie bands some on here clamor for.

----------


## DoctorTaco

I was negative about Country music, yes, but if you read my post I was positive about the festival having a country identity.

----------


## warreng88

JMHO, but if you don't like it, don't go. 65,000 people showed up for the Toby Keith Moore tornado relief concert, 15,000 people saw the Healing in the Heartland concert live with an estimated 8.6 million people on TV. There are plenty of other concerts to indulge you if you are not a fan of country music. Lynyrd Skynyrd 5/2 at the DT Airpark, Big & Rich 5/3 at the DT Airpark, Foreigner and Styx 5/16 at the Zoo, Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss + Union Station 7/9 at the Zoo, Rascal Flatts and Sheryl Crow 7/10 at the DT Airpark, Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival featuring Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Cannibal Corpse, Mushroomhead and other 8/7 at the DT Airpark, Fall Out Boy and Paramore 8/10 at the Zoo, ZZ Top and Jeff Beck 8/22 at the Zoo, Panic! at the Disco 8/23 at the Zoo and Chicago and REO Speedwagon 8/30 at the Dt Airpark. I have no interest in going to this concert because I don't care for that type of music. You would only find me at the Mayhem Festival and that is about it but I am glad we have some kind of music festival set up locally and not just a bunch bands touring together that we up and call a festival.

----------


## Jim Kyle

> Travellers, while you listed some great bands calling people like Asleep at the Wheel, G. Love, Rebirth and the String Cheese Incident mainstream might be stretching it. Maybe we just have a different definition of mainstream though. I bet the average person has only heard of 3 or 4 bands you just listed.


The only act on his list that I recognized was Emmylou Harris, and that's only because back in the day I was a lover of folk music and a regular patron at The Buddhi (in what's now known as MidTown), where most of the top folk acts of that time appeared and which hosted several national recording sessions.

Of the headliners for OKCFest, Merle Haggard is the only one I recognize. If we were going to go all-country, why omit such folk as Reba McIntire and Vince Gill, both of whom visit fairly often?

----------


## coov23

> In defense of OKCtalk I only see 2 or 3 people complaining, and its pretty much the same people that complain about everything. FWIW I have put some of them on ignore so I had to peek and see what the hubbub was about. 
> 
> I for one hate country, but it sells around here. I am frankly much more excited about having 30-50K people in downtown using a long derelict property and spending money at local businesses to worry about what kind of genre is playing. If people want to get upset that its not en vouge hipster bands thats their perogative, but they should at least be happy its another live event bringing people (and money!) downtown.
> 
> Keep in mind that there's Norman Musical Festival will be in May and needs to be supported.  Its just down the road and draws the type of indie bands some on here clamor for.


The first and only time I've been "negative" on here. Hit a nerve with me so I apologize.

----------


## johnnyhooper

> I for one hate country, but it sells around here. I am frankly much more excited about having 30-50K people in downtown using a long derelict property and spending money at local businesses to worry about what kind of genre is playing. If people want to get upset that its not en vouge hipster bands thats their perogative, but they should at least be happy its another live event bringing people (and money!) downtown.
> 
> Keep in mind that there's *Norman Musical Festival will be in May and needs to be supported*.  Its just down the road and draws the type of indie bands some on here clamor for.


Agree with all this. And who knows what this festival could grow into? The lineup that has been announced so far is not my cup of tea, but it could be in years to come (assuming more acts are not announced for this year) if the thing is successful.

----------


## RadicalModerate

Maybe Andrea Bocelli could be booked to appear?
Or John Fulbright?
Trout Fishing in America?

----------


## kevinpate

> ... Foreigner and Styx 5/16 at the Zoo, Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss + Union Station 7/9 at the Zoo, Rascal Flatts and Sheryl Crow 7/10 at the DT Airpark, ...  Chicago and REO Speedwagon 8/30 at the Dt Airpark. ...


Summer concert plans covered? CHECK!

----------


## PWitty

> I succeeded in making myself sound like an idiot! Sort of.  
> 
> I didn't realize how long ago the first ACL was when you posted that. That's the main reason I haven't heard of most of those artists. I went back and deleted my original post but you beat me to it!


Wow, nevermind. I stand by my original comments. I just now looked back and saw you said that was the lineup from *2002*, so I feel much better now. I just saw you bolded "first", so I googled Austin City Limits to see when the first one was and saw it was in the 70's. Didn't realize that Austin City Limits was different from the Austin City Limits FESTIVAL at first. 

I'm really going in circles now!  :Sofa:

----------


## Mel

As long as out of towners come into OKC and spend money, yay!

----------


## ljbab728

How many of our country music complaining posters attended this?

What to do in Oklahoma on April 11, 2014: Hear Moby and many more at the ACM@UCO Rocks Bricktown Festival | News OK

----------


## Mel

I would like to see an old "Country Rock" festival. That old late 60's/ early 70's stuff. I went to a big concert of that kind of music but I got to wasted to enjoy some of it. It was in Mobile, Al. and I went when I was stationed at Keesler A.F.B.

----------


## PennyQuilts

Some people react negatively to different genres of music for reasons that may have little to do with the music and a lot to do with what they bring to the party.   Rock and roll was awful, rap is awful, country is awful, jazz is awful.  We are all entitled to our personal tastes and that should be respected, IMO.  You see the same thing with the visual arts where people hate abstract or primitive.  The more I learn and appreciate the genre the more I get why others like it even if it isn't my cup of tea. I think a lot of non musicians like country because the lyrics are a big part and they can join in with song.   It's also feels good and just makes you happy.  That's a legitimate reason for music and IMO, something to appreciate.  Candidly, a lot of different types of music are lost on me because I lack a music/instrument background and miss a lot that my better trained friends notice.  On the other hand, a lot of those same people completely miss the lyrics because they aren't important to them.  Country, to me, is very akin to poetry.   And modern country is making great use of cadence more akin to rap than Rock in a way I like.

----------


## TheTravellers

> How many of our country music complaining posters attended this?
> 
> What to do in Oklahoma on April 11, 2014: Hear Moby and many more at the ACM@UCO Rocks Bricktown Festival | News OK


Not me, had to work and wife works until late each weeknight.  And I don't care much for student bands, anyway, I'm a music snob (and a wine snob, beer snob, food snob, ad nauseum).  Moby as a DJ isn't that interesting to me, either.  Having said that, however, I have attended a few ACM@UCO shows downtown in their club/whatever it is, Scott does bring some good bands there (Swans, Black Angels, etc.).

----------


## warreng88

I noticed on the DCF website they had a concert promotion flyer and at the top of the flyer it said, "Oklahoma's premier outdoor music festival". I think Norman, Pryor, downtown Tulsa and a few other places might have something to say about that...

----------


## ljbab728

> I noticed on the DCF website they had a concert promotion flyer and at the top of the flyer it said, "Oklahoma's premier outdoor music festival". I think Norman, Pryor, downtown Tulsa and a few other places might have something to say about that...


That's called planning for the future.   :Big Grin:

----------


## bradh

Even though we argue over the lineup here, don't be surprised if this has the largest turnout of those you listed

----------


## Questor

Maybe they should rename it SouthOKCFest.

Between this and Rocklahoma we really do know how to target our consumers.  I'm sure it's going to be wildly successful.

----------


## Questor

I'm looking at the Bonnaroo link posted earlier in this thread wondering if folks realize these are some of the hottest names in music right now, and that this festival is pretty diverse... many different genres here.  Someone categorized it as hipstery and genre specific.  I just wanted to point out it was basically the opposite of that.  

My prior joking (jabs?) aside, I do wish that something called OKCFest, which would seem to be implying it is a festival for our entire city, would include more than one genre of music.  You would think that even if they were "trying to focus on what is popular" that someone could spring for one, maybe two modern rock acts and throw in a dash of hip-hop for good measure.

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## ljbab728

> My prior joking (jabs?) aside, I do wish that something called OKCFest, which would seem to be implying it is a festival for our entire city, would include more than one genre of music.  You would think that even if they were "trying to focus on what is popular" that someone could spring for one, maybe two modern rock acts and throw in a dash of hip-hop for good measure.


Keep in mind that the complete lineup has not been announced yet.

----------


## Questor

> Keep in mind that the complete lineup has not been announced yet.


*keeping fingers crossed*

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## TheTravellers

> Keep in mind that the complete lineup has not been announced yet.


Which is really surprising, since most larger fests (which this one aspires to be, apparently) have their lineups announced way more than 2 months in advance.  Guessing that the only acts added will be smaller than the ones already committed, because the bigger acts will have already figured out tour dates for 2 months from now (Motley Crue, for example, already has a date set for OKC in October).

----------


## trousers

> I'm looking at the Bonnaroo link posted earlier in this thread wondering if folks realize these are some of the hottest names in music right now, and that this festival is pretty diverse... many different genres here.  Someone categorized it as hipstery and genre specific.  I just wanted to point out it was basically the opposite of that.


You do realize that Bonnaroo started off as almost 100% hippy jam-bands right?

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## Edgar

country music concert in central Ok- that's thinking outside the box. This all has the official Cornett stamp of lameness.

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## kevinpate

Well, to be fair, they thought about booking a hot new happening red dirt hipster group called My Way or the Highway, but then they realized it was just the DRED campaign looking for new work

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## trousers

I still find it odd that people are looking for a hip lineup in a festival started by some yuppie and a mayor.
ACL, Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, Coachella, Austin Psyche Fest, Norman Music Festival...pretty sure no of those were started by their town's respective mayors.

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## bradh

anyone know where you can suggest bands for the lineup?  my buddy in Seattle is friends with this band Country Lips.  Yes they're all NW hipsters, but they all genuinely love classic country and put a pretty neat spin on it, this is a new release

Black Water - Country Lips OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO - YouTube

----------


## zookeeper

> anyone know where you can suggest bands for the lineup?  my buddy in Seattle is friends with this band Country Lips.  Yes they're all NW hipsters, but they all genuinely love classic country and put a pretty neat spin on it, this is a new release
> 
> Black Water - Country Lips OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO - YouTube


Brad, I would have them wait a few weeks until after the June concert this year and contact them about 2015 at the contact form:
OKC Fest; Oklahoma's Premiere Outdoor Music Festival - June 27-28, 2014

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## bradh

I just think that sound would kill it down here with a wide audience.

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## zookeeper

> I just think that sound would kill it down here with a wide audience.


Kinda has that old C&W feel inspired by a little electronica, great sound! Good stuff, really!

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## bradh

I had to ask my friend though, are they trying to troll old C&W fans, is it some "ironic" hipster deal, or do they truly love this music?  He said they all are in love with classic C&W style.

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## 5alive

Awesomely nice


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Pete

C&W is the last bastion of the singer/songwriter.

I've never really liked the style but I have some friends out here that are into the newer stuff and I have to admit that most in that genre have some musical talent.  Almost all can really sing, play an instrument and write songs.

And frankly, every once in a while it's still nice to hear music with lyrics that you can understand and tell a bit of a story.

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## bradh

> C&W is the last bastion of the singer/songwriter.
> 
> I've never really liked the style but I have some friends out here that are into the newer stuff and I have to admit that most in that genre have some musical talent.  Almost all can really sing, play an instrument and write songs.
> 
> And frankly, every once in a while it's still nice to hear music with lyrics that you can understand and tell a bit of a story.


So true about being able to play an instrument.  Brad Paisley is a helluva guitarist.

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## s00nr1

It didn't take me reading all 5 pages of this thread to come to the conclusion that for some of you, nothing will ever be enough. I am not a fan of country music but anything that could get 30-40,000 people out and about downtown is a damn good start. There are too many members of this board who complain OKC still doesn't have enough to offer but then bitch and moan when an event that will draw thousands doesn't fit the bill. Cry me a damn river.

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## kevinpate

For folks who do not typically listen to country, traditional or modern, start taping Nashville. When you watch it, if you want to FF through the plot lines and only play the music, you'll not feel like you missed a great deal.  Not a horrid story overall, but the music, ahhh, the music.  The show could pretty much succeed as a weekly series of concerts far longer than it could survive on it s story lines.  There are so dang fine writers working with that production.

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## Jeepnokc

> For folks who do not typically listen to country, traditional or modern, start taping Nashville. When you watch it, if you want to FF through the plot lines and only play the music, you'll not feel like you missed a great deal.  Not a horrid story overall, but the music, ahhh, the music.  The show could pretty much succeed as a weekly series of concerts far longer than it could survive on it s story lines.  There are so dang fine writers working with that production.


I just got back today from Nashville and Lynchburg.  Downtown Nashville was amazing vibrant all weekend long long.  Tons of live music and bars.

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## dcsooner

> It didn't take me reading all 5 pages of this thread to come to the conclusion that for some of you, nothing will ever be enough. I am not a fan of country music but anything that could get 30-40,000 people out and about downtown is a damn good start. There are too many members of this board who complain OKC still doesn't have enough to offer but then bitch and moan when an event that will draw thousands doesn't fit the bill. Cry me a damn river.


ANYTHING?
Would you Still say that if DT had 30,000 hip hop fans listening to rap?

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## David

Why would that make the _slightest_ difference? If 30,000 hip hop fans want to show up to a festival in DT, more power to them.

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## s00nr1

> ANYTHING?
> Would you Still say that if DT had 30,000 hip hop fans listening to rap?


Well if this isn't stereotyping, I'm not sure what is. 

And to answer your question, yes I would still say that.

----------


## TheTravellers

> It didn't take me reading all 5 pages of this thread to come to the conclusion that for some of you, nothing will ever be enough. I am not a fan of country music but anything that could get 30-40,000 people out and about downtown is a damn good start. There are too many members of this board who complain OKC still doesn't have enough to offer but then bitch and moan when an event that will draw thousands doesn't fit the bill. Cry me a damn river.


One of my problems with the festival is the billing of it as "Oklahoma's Premiere Outdoor Music Festival", when it's all a bunch of country acts, with absolutely no other genres of music represented at all (yet).  Call it what it is - OKCountryFest 2014. And it should probably be "Premier" instead of "Premiere". :-P

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## bchris02

> One of my problems with the festival is the billing of it as "Oklahoma's Premiere Outdoor Music Festival", when it's all a bunch of country acts, with absolutely no other genres of music represented at all (yet).  Call it what it is - OKCountryFest 2014. And it should probably be "Premier" instead of "Premiere". :-P


I agree with this fully.  If you want to have a country/redneck festival with country music, big trucks, cheap American beer, etc then fine, but don't market it as something that represents the entire city of OKC.  Doing so simply re-enforces a stereotype that the city has been trying to move on from since the first MAPS was passed.

----------


## adaniel

I don't care for country music in the least but to automatically associate it with rednecks and "cheap American beer" is as ridiculous as associating rap with gangs and shootings. And what stereotype are we reinforcing?  People in OK like country music? Shocking, I know! Are people in Charlotte too sophisticated to listen to country music?  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

The hyperbole in this thread is off the charts. If you don't like it don't go.

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## bchris02

> I don't care for country music in the least but to automatically associate it with rednecks and "cheap American beer" is as ridiculous as associating rap with gangs and shootings. And what stereotype are we reinforcing?  People in OK like country music? Shocking, I know! *Are people in Charlotte too sophisticated to listen to country music?*


We have a festival called Speed Street which draws 400,000+ people into Uptown annually.  Notice it's not called CharlotteFest.

600 FESTIVAL - Coca-Cola Speed Street | At Food Lion Speed Street demographics range from corporate america, families, race fans and fans of the national recording artists

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## bradh

> I agree with this fully.  If you want to have a country/redneck festival with country music, big trucks, cheap American beer, etc then fine, but don't market it as something that represents the entire city of OKC.  Doing so simply re-enforces a stereotype that the city has been trying to move on from since the first MAPS was passed.


predictable...saw this coming a mile away.

MAPS has nothing to do with moving away from a country heritage stereotype, that's just what you and all these other hipsters want it to be.  Such a double standard at play here with this entire crowd.  I agree if it's going to be named OKCFest, represent more than one genre, but don't act like it's only going to attract toothless rednecks.  That's the same as me saying a roster of Bonnaroo bands will bring skinny hipster guys in tank tops and smelly girls who don't bathe.

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## dcsooner

> Why would that make the _slightest_ difference? If 30,000 hip hop fans want to show up to a festival in DT, more power to them.


It should not  and maybe would not in a lot of places but we are talking OKC here and Oklahoma writ large

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## bchris02

I never said it's only going to attract toothless rednecks.  However, music and musical preference is tied closely to cultural identity.  There are exceptions to every stereotype.  Not all country fans are rednecks.  Not all indie rock fans are hipsters.  Not all classical fans are snooty.  Not all hip-hop fans are gangsta.  However, each genre of music carries with it a certain culture. The fact that OKCFest is ONLY country you can make a pretty educated guess as to what the crowd will be like.  There is nothing inherently wrong with that except it should be called OKCountryFest, not OKCFest.

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## RadicalModerate

The Number One Ranked Restaurant in Bartlesville (Frank and Lola's) played Waylon Jennings Hits, back to back, the entire time we were there. That, the classic bicycles suspended from the ceiling, and the quality and quantity of food offered, makes me wonder, "Who Are These People, in OKC, Who Are So Intent on Hatin' on Country?"  =)  (it's certainly not my personal favorite genre, these days, but its OK . . . Ain't it?)

I mean . . . we plugged a Pierce Hart CD (recorded live at Sean Cummings) into the player and let it roll two and a half times between Pawhuska and OKC.

It never got old, and it sure ain't "Country".

Frankly . . . I wish Okcfest could bring in a bunch of Celtic/Irish/World Music Bands (with Dropkick Murpheys at the top).  Maybe for Okcfest 2039.

----------


## Urbanized

> We have a festival called Speed Street which draws 400,000+ people into Uptown annually.  Notice it's not called CharlotteFest.
> 
> 600 FESTIVAL - Coca-Cola Speed Street | At Food Lion Speed Street demographics range from corporate america, families, race fans and fans of the national recording artists


Are you KIDDING me? Have you looked at the announced entertainment schedule for Speed Street?

THURSDAY, MAY 22
5:30 p.m.             The Stranger, a *Billy Joel tribute band*
7:45 p.m.             Backbeat, a *Beatles tribute band*
9:15 p.m.             Coca-Cola Presents: Who’s Bad, the Ultimate *Michael Jackson Tribute Band*

FRIDAY, MAY 23
5:30 p.m.             Zach Ludlam *(COUNTRY!!)*
8:00 p.m.             Tim Dugger *(COUNTRY!!)*
9:30 p.m.             Chevrolet Presents: Thompson Square *(COUNTRY!!)*

SATURDAY, MAY 24 
4:00 p.m.             Julie Gribble  *(COUNTRY!!)*
8:00 p.m.             School of Rock (Charlotte's version of ACM@UCO)
9:30 p.m.             Coca-Cola Presents: 38 Special *(REDNECK SOUTHERN ROCK)*

Sprinkled in among all of these "multi-genre" musical legends are appearances by NASCAR drivers..

Is the irony intentional? Are you simply trolling?

----------


## RadicalModerate

"CharlotteFest" . . . heh, heh, heh  . . .
(sounds more like a case of Charlotte's Web or OKC Envy t' me . . .)

Ya' reckon' the avatar of the OKCfest hater is that Third Eye Blind that I keep "hearin'" so much about?

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## bradh

that lineup brings 400k?  Headlined by .38 Special?  No way

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## hfry

^^ I thought the same thing but I didn't have the energy to debate it with him.  Not to mention the 400,000 has a large overlap with the 2 separate weekends of Nascar races and events, with a track that seats around 140,000. Don't get me wrong, the event sounds great but in its 20th(I believe) year I have more than enough faith we can get a great music festival going here in that time period.

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## RadicalModerate

Looks to me like Charolette SpeedFest picked up all the entertainers that every Casino in Oklahoma rejected . . .
Or "juried out" as the case may be. =)

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## Edgar

> I never said it's only going to attract toothless rednecks.  However, music and musical preference is tied closely to cultural identity.  There are exceptions to every stereotype.  Not all country fans are rednecks.  Not all indie rock fans are hipsters.  Not all classical fans are snooty.  Not all hip-hop fans are gangsta.  However, each genre of music carries with it a certain culture. The fact that OKCFest is ONLY country you can make a pretty educated guess as to what the crowd will be like.  There is nothing inherently wrong with that except it should be called OKCountryFest, not OKCFest.


It's OKCFest because Cornett's going to make it a hokey marketing event for OKC. It'll be white bread safe. A diverse lineup might attract a diverse crowd and that makes Mick and the boys uneasy. You'll have to got to Austin or up the pike for a cool diverse music festival.

----------


## trousers

> It's OKCFest because Cornett's going to make it a hokey marketing event for OKC. It'll be white bread safe. A diverse lineup might attract a diverse crowd and that makes Mick and the boys uneasy. You'll have to got to Austin or up the pike for a cool diverse music festival.


You are so absolutely right.  If we would elected Shadid we would have gotten that grindcore festival that the majority of OKC not only needs...they crave.

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## Dubya61

^ or at least the promise of one.

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## trousers

Yeah...Shadid seems more like the crust punk type.

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## Edgar

Shadid probably would book a mariachi band and we all know the crowd that would draw.  Dodged one there

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## warreng88

Plus EDgefest was already taken...

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## Dubya61

but a DRED-fest!  We be JAMMIN'!!!

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## gopokes88

> One of my problems with the festival is the billing of it as "Oklahoma's Premiere Outdoor Music Festival", when it's all a bunch of country acts, with absolutely no other genres of music represented at all (yet).  Call it what it is - OKCountryFest 2014. And it should probably be "Premier" instead of "Premiere". :-P


They aren't going to call it what it is because that would be shortsighted and terrible marketing.

If you want "call it what it is" you would call it

"Hey OKC wants to build up a big annual music festival to draw in thousands of tourists, but in order for that to happen it will need a few years to grow. To ensure that year 5 is a success year 1 must be a smash hit so let's have a broad based appeal so that year 1 takes off and we can add more genres later because we have branded under the vague term of OKCfest which this year is country, but more can be added because we aren't going to be shortsighted and throw the word country into the name-festival"

----------


## Bigrayok

> but a DRED-fest!  We be JAMMIN'!!!


We do have Reggae Fest in Bricktown every summer. Of course, not all reggae fans and musicians have dreadlocks. LOL

----------


## Questor

It's interesting. One of the first posts on their Facebook page mentions it'll be an all genre festival. But then later posts all say "okc's premiere country music festival" or similar.  T minus 30 days out and no rock bands have been added to the lineup. I don't know, it's seeming more like a country music festival to me with every passing day.

Update:  Just found out the guy who helped put this together was the past chairman of the Country Music Association. I'm guessing this is now a country festival.

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## TheTravellers

Can't really expect much of a festival that I think was conceived of during the May 2013 tornado benefits, when Mayor Mick apparently thought "Hey, these things can bring in a lotta people, let's get one going every year and make a lotta money", which to my mind is an odd thing to think during benefit and relief concerts, but I guess that's how you have to think if you're a mayor.  Just read this article, which is hilarious in retrospect:

OKCFEST music festival set to transform downtown Oklahoma City, build new industries | News OK

This is a *transformational* event in Oklahoma City, Cornett said. In that it will not just be a weekend  it will, I believe, kick-start *a new identity for the music scene in Oklahoma City* and also be the beginning of an industry for both film and video.

Hall said hes looking at OKCFEST to draw 30,000 people per day. He also noted more than 90 percent of event production is from Oklahoma-based vendors.

Why cant we do Austin City Limits in Oklahoma City? Hall said. Why cant we build an industry? ... I want to keep all that money here and build that industry in Oklahoma City.

Emphasis mine.  And we can't do ACL in OKC because we just can't - not enough money, not enough promoters, not enough festival grounds ready for it, not enough bands willing to do it (apparently, since all they can get is country acts).  Maybe in a few years, but not now.  

Also just sent them an email asking if they meant to be "OKC's First Outdoor Music Festival" instead of "OKC's Most Important Outdoor Music Festival" (Premiere vs. Premier).  Seriously, nobody caught this?  SMH....

----------


## Edgar

Why can't we do an ACL in OKC? beacause Austin is a hip progressive liberal artful town and OKC, well whatever antonyms you prefer.

----------


## trousers

Have you considered starting an ACL style festival in Oklahoma or are you counting on the mayor to do it for you?
Once again...how many of the "hip" festivals around the country were started by the cities mayor?
Pretty sure that the mayor of Manchester TN was the mastermind of Bonnaroo.

----------


## Urbanized

I suspect it will be entertaining to pull up and re-post some of these whiny comments a couple of years down the road. The festival has to start somewhere, and they chose to start with the surest path to commercial viability. The rest will come in time.

----------


## bchris02

> Why can't we do an ACL in OKC? beacause Austin is a hip progressive liberal artful town and OKC, well whatever antonyms you prefer.


OKC needs to figure out how to compete with Tulsa's music scene before it can think about an ACL type event.  What this city needs is better promoters and most importantly more of a live music culture.  Once OKC gets in the habit of going to see live acts, especially non-country acts, the rest will snowball.

----------


## TheTravellers

> I suspect it will be entertaining to pull up and re-post some of these whiny comments a couple of years down the road. The festival has to start somewhere, and they chose to start with the surest path to commercial viability. The rest will come in time.


Y'know, it wouldn't've been *that* hard to get a few non-country bands on side/smaller stages for the first time...  Do something like Neil Young and Crazy Horse did on their tour back in 1990 - he got Sonic Youth and Social Distortion opening for them because he liked them and wanted to introduce them to more people.  Pissed off lots of people, but also made a lot of them check the bands out later (I personally remember a bunch of folks at the show bitching about Sonic Youth, while I was way into them and thought it was great he did that).

As far as starting my own festival, I just don't have the millions in money, contacts, experience, ad nauseum to do it.  99% of OKC's population couldn't do it, either, I'm guessing, so we're stuck with the rich people in power that have all the advantages for that kind of thing to do it.

And I don't think the mayor of Manchester had the idea for Bonnaroo, it seems it was just in the right place at the right time (slightly paraphrasing a Dr. John song, since they got the fest name from one of his albums):  The Founders of Superfly Presents and Brains Behind Bonnaroo | Inc.com

Mayers: We took a break and went to California for Coachella, the music and art festival. That rejuvenated us, and we came home with a new business model. It would be a multiday music and entertainment event where the audience would camp out. We would control all the revenue streams: tickets, concessions, merchandise, VIP packages, sponsorships, and licensing of audio and video content.

...

Mayers: We raised money from Coran Capshaw, who manages the Dave Matthews Band, and found a site in Manchester, Tennessee. It was a 700-acre farm with all these access roads left over from a festival of retro acts that had flopped a few years earlier. The place had a great vibe. It was right off the highway. The backstage road led to a Holiday Inn. We negotiated a deal on the spot.

----------


## Edgar

OKC has had good music promoters with Innervisions for decades. The city just doesn't support live music very well. The reason Tulsa gets all the shows, people buy tickets. OKC could never pull off an ACL because that would mean a diverse lineup drawing a diverse crowd and that's scary.

----------


## trousers

One advantage Tulsa has is Cains.  A venue that fans AND performers love.
OKC has no similiar mid-sized venue, and if you mention the Diamond Ballroom...well let's not be silly.

----------


## TheTravellers

> OKC has had good music promoters with Innervisions for decades. The city just doesn't support live music very well. The reason Tulsa gets all the shows, people buy tickets. OKC could never pull off an ACL because that would mean a diverse lineup drawing a diverse crowd and that's scary.


It does seem like the old divide is still there, thought it might change over the past 30+ years, but it really hasn't much, as far as live shows go - OKC likes country and classic rock and not much else (except maybe metal/punk/hardcore), Tulsa likes everything.   :Sofa:

----------


## TheTravellers

> One advantage Tulsa has is Cains.  A venue that fans AND performers love.
> OKC has no similiar mid-sized venue, and if you mention the Diamond Ballroom...well let's not be silly.


Yes, Cain's and the Brady get more acts that OKC should also get, and OKC doesn't have a venue to compete with them.  Yet.  I'm hoping the horrible concrete shoebox that the BEC was is going to be transformed into someplace that can somewhat compete with them (they have way too much history and coolness associated with them for the BEC to really compete toe-to-toe, head-to-head with them, but hopefully we'll get *some* bands that would normally pass us by).  Of course, we also need promoters that are willing to bring non-country/classic rock bands here more often for it all to work out.

----------


## Edgar

> One advantage Tulsa has is Cains.  A venue that fans AND performers love.
> OKC has no similiar mid-sized venue, and if you mention the Diamond Ballroom...well let's not be silly.


The Diamond is ok. Thought the old farmers market has great potential to be a cool venue. The Black Crowes show there was epic. Innervisions tried to make a go of it, booking Buddy Guy and others. Guess it didn't go.  OKC could make a bang with the Bricktown Blues Festival now that Tulsa doesn't have one anymore in the spring, there is a fledgling fall camping blues fest on the Arkansas, but it's not even worth driving up from Norman last year with only cheap local talent booked. OKCFEST has a steep hill to climb.

----------


## TheTravellers

I agree totally with the Farmer's Market as being a cool venue, wish something would happen there, but I think the owner doesn't really want to do shows there or something similar...  Went to the Hallowe'en party there in 2009 (I think, may've been 2010) and it was great, but it just kinda sits there, wanting to do more...

----------


## bchris02

> It does seem like the old divide is still there, thought it might change over the past 30+ years, but it really hasn't much, as far as live shows go - *OKC likes country and classic rock and not much else (except maybe metal/punk/hardcore), Tulsa likes everything.*


That seems to be the case but is it really?  I am pretty sure OKC is a major supporter of Tulsa's music scene.  Most younger people I've met here go to Tulsa quite often for shows.  It's easy to default to the old stereotype of Tulsa being progressive and artsy and OKC being country and redneck to explain the difference in the music scenes, but I don't think its that simple.

----------


## trousers

I usually fall back on my OKC north side vs south side bit when comparing OKC & Tulsa.
OKC will drive to Tulsa for shows, Tulsa rarely drives to OKC for shows.

----------


## TheTravellers

> That seems to be the case but is it really?  I am pretty sure OKC is a major supporter of Tulsa's music scene.  Most younger people I've met here go to Tulsa quite often for shows.  It's easy to default to the old stereotype of Tulsa being progressive and artsy and OKC being country and redneck to explain the difference in the music scenes, but I don't think its that simple.


You're right, promoters are part of the solution/problem, I expect.  Promoter - Hey, let's bring [anythingbesidescountryandclassicrock] here, but wait, do we have the crowd for it, will it sell enough tickets, can I make money (the most important part), do we have an appropriate venue, is it a good idea, .....?  Populace - Hey, why isn't [anythingbesidescountryandclassicrock] around here, I'm not sure if I'd go, but I might if it were the right band, .....?  Chicken-egg, catch-22, etc. is what I'm thinking part (not sure how big a part) of it is.  Promoters and venues and artists like to make money and if they're not sure if they will, they probably won't come here.  If the populace won't go support [anythingbesidescountryandclassicrock], then the promoters won't bring more of them here.  I personally try to go to any show that has a band that I like (but my taste is so eclectic, not much comes here that I like - pretty much the only bands I've seen here in the past few years were Pink Martini, Boris, Swans, Sleigh Bells, a few FLips shows, one NMF, saw the Pixies at the Brady a few years ago) to show support for [anythingbesidescountryandclassicrock].

Having said all that, I am going to a classic rock show - ZZ Top/Jeff Beck, but only to see Jeff Beck (and he really can't be classified with the ForeignerStyxREO38Specialblechwhatever contingent) since he's absolutely amazing and he's 70, so not sure how long he'll be touring.   :Rock On:

----------


## Jim Kyle

> That seems to be the case but is it really?  I am pretty sure OKC is a major supporter of Tulsa's music scene.  Most younger people I've met here go to Tulsa quite often for shows.  It's easy to default to the old stereotype of Tulsa being progressive and artsy and OKC being country and redneck to explain the difference in the music scenes, but I don't think its that simple.


It definitely is not that simple. There was a time when OKC commanded top acts. The names may not be familiar to you youngsters to whom Elvis and Buddy Holly are ancient heroes, but I've personally attemded two concerts by Stan Kenton here in OKC, interviewed Count Basie when he appeared at the Municipal Auditorium (and filled the house), enjoyed Pete Fountain and Louis Armstrong there (on different occasions), and we were a regular stop on the tours of twin-piano team Ferrante and Teicher.

And those are only the highlights that I can pull out of the top of my head. Charlie Christian got his start here, in Deep Deuce, and Jack Teagarden blew a lot of trombone in small joints around the city. In the 50s I danced to Woody Herman and the Third Herd, and also to Buddy Morrow (of Night Train fame) but Morrow was in Stillwater.

Until our far-seeing leaders destroyed the heart of downtown and with it the vibrancy of the city, we were definitely the equal of Tulsa in having top-quality entertainment. We had stage shows with Broadway casts, including Carol Channing (her son was editor of the Oklahoman for a time) and Mary Martin. But when the fabric of our community was shattered into widespread sprawling mini-communities, we lost that position with it. And we're just now on the road to regaining it.

By the way, don't decry all "country" artists as rednecks. Some of the best bebop piano I ever heard (and yes, it was in a Tulsa bar, not OKC) came from the fingers of a guitar picker for Bob Wills and the Playboys. We chatted a bit, and he pointed out that a professional musician simply had to take any gig that would provide bean money, while working for an opportunity to get to the top and do what he wanted. My middle son was a classmate of Vince Gill at Northwest; Vince lived only a block from us, and I listened to him practice almost every night in that last year before he went to Los Angeles to get a start. It took him something like 10 years to gain recognition and during that time he played every kind of music imaginable, as one of the best studio men in Music City. Now he can call his shots, and they're definitely not redneck at all. Kenny Rogers started as a rock singer with the First Edition; he became a country star, but again is anything but redneck in style.

Let's back this festival, and hope it can reach its goals in future years!

----------


## Edgar

> You're right, promoters are part of the solution/problem, I expect.  Promoter - Hey, let's bring [anythingbesidescountryandclassicrock] here, but wait, do we have the crowd for it, will it sell enough tickets, can I make money (the most important part), do we have an appropriate venue, is it a good idea, .....?  Populace - Hey, why isn't [anythingbesidescountryandclassicrock] around here, I'm not sure if I'd go, but I might if it were the right band, .....?  Chicken-egg, catch-22, etc. is what I'm thinking part (not sure how big a part) of it is.  Promoters and venues and artists like to make money and if they're not sure if they will, they probably won't come here.  If the populace won't go support [anythingbesidescountryandclassicrock], then the promoters won't bring more of them here.  I personally try to go to any show that has a band that I like (but my taste is so eclectic, not much comes here that I like - pretty much the only bands I've seen here in the past few years were Pink Martini, Boris, Swans, Sleigh Bells, a few FLips shows, one NMF, saw the Pixies at the Brady a few years ago) to show support for [anythingbesidescountryandclassicrock].
> 
> Having said all that, I am going to a classic rock show - ZZ Top/Jeff Beck, but only to see Jeff Beck (and he really can't be classified with the ForeignerStyxREO38Specialblechwhatever contingent) since he's absolutely amazing and he's 70, so not sure how long he'll be touring.


Innervisions tried a diverse lineup at the Zooamp years back and lost $ with acts like Ludicris and the Praire Home, so they went to booking classic rock solely.

----------


## TheTravellers

Re: Jim's post (since I didn't really want to mess with partially quoting it) - Agreed, my dad went to marvelous things here in years past, and we actually had some great concerts all the way through the 80s, I think (I need to get my list of concerts out and check, yes, I have a list of all the concerts I've been to), then it went downhill and was one of the reasons I left in 1995.

And just to make sure I don't get painted with the country/redneck brush, I didn't equate country with redneck, I just don't like most current (post-1960-ish) country music, but I do like the older stuff - Patsy, Hank Sr., Bob Wills, some Willie, Dwight Yoakam, some Merle, Johnny (old and the Rick Rubin stuff), Carter Family, lots of old mountain bluegrass, etc.

----------


## bchris02

> Innervisions tried a diverse lineup at the Zooamp years back and lost $ with acts like Ludicris and the Praire Home, so they went to booking classic rock solely.


How long ago?

Also, OKC has never been a big hip-hop town.  This city has never (in recent history) been able to support a real hip-hop/r&b radio station so I doubt a hip-hop concert that was tried probably 5-10 years ago is something to go by to determine the viability of bringing in artists that aren't country or classic rock.

----------


## Questor

I think the metros best music festival is the Norman Music Festival.  I love it's diversity and always get a kick out of the indie bands they have headlining it. It's amazing that it was started up by a couple of random folks who just wanted a cool music festival there. It's mostly free so that limits them in many ways, but it's still amazing to me what they can pull off.

I wish OKCFest was all of the above, but with real money to draw in bigger names who simply don't perform at freebees.

----------


## Questor

Agree Cain's is incredible. Incredible because if it's acoustics, it's vibe, the people there, and the shows it can draw. Tulsa just has a different vibe and a different set of young people there. I've been hearing people talk about how our music culture is eventually going to catch up with and surpass theirs for years. And it just never happens. Whether we are talking failed venues in Bricktown that gave it a go or failure to get the idea off the ground like with the Tower Theater a few years ago the end result always seems to be about the same. 

I'm not happy about the extremely safe lineup of OKCFest, but I understand it. Maybe it's for the best.

----------


## Jim Kyle

> I think the metros best music festival is the Norman Music Festival.  I love it's diversity and always get a kick out of the indie bands they have headlining it. *It's amazing that it was started up by a couple of random folks who just wanted a cool music festival there.* It's mostly free so that limits them in many ways, but it's still amazing to me what they can pull off.
> 
> I wish OKCFest was all of the above, but with real money to draw in bigger names who simply don't perform at freebees.


Do you know whether there's any connection at all between the current Norman festival and the Wayne Nichols Memorial Benefits there quite a few years ago?

For the youngsters who never heard of Wayne, he was one of the top local musicians in the 50s through the 70s. He blew trumpet but was also a mean piano player and not-so-bad singer after the fashion of Jack Teagarden. He led the band at the Jamboree Club and created all sorts of numbers for some of the exotic dancers there. Unfortunately, he was also an alcoholic and that eventually killed him. I met him when he was blowing piano at The Store, a tiny joint at NW 50 and Portland which is still in operation. I first went there in the 70s because it was a favorite watering hole for members of my wife's bowling league, and I tagged along. I kept going after Wayne showed up, and spent many a night nursing a single draught beer all evening and listening to him.

I'm sure that Prunie knew him and maybe even played a gig or two with him. He was widely known by all the musicians in the area, and it was nothing out of the ordinary for two or three of them to show up unexpectedly on any evening and launch an impromptu session.

When I first met him, Wayne was an active Friend of Bill. He was quite open about the fact that he had no memory at all of several years of his life, but appeared to be as close to cured as a true alcoholic can achieve. However it didn't last, and when he fell off the wagon he was no longer able to perform in public. Only a few months later, he suffered a massive and fatal heart attack.

Several months after that, his friends organized a memorial benefit down in Norman. My wife and I made it a point to be there. There was no admission charge, just an opportunity to donate if one desired. It was a full day of great music, mostly (like the man himself) from the Big Band era. Groups came from out of state to participate. And afterward, there was talk of plans to make it an annual event.

I never heard any details about a repeat, though, until the Norman festival showed up. That's why I'm curious as to whether there's any connection, or simple coincidence at work...

----------


## dcsooner

> That seems to be the case but is it really?  I am pretty sure OKC is a major supporter of Tulsa's music scene.  Most younger people I've met here go to Tulsa quite often for shows.  It's easy to default to the old stereotype of Tulsa being progressive and artsy and OKC being country and redneck to explain the difference in the music scenes, but I don't think its that simple.


I do.

----------


## bchris02

> I do.


Do you really think there is nobody in OKC who would support a show that wasn't based around country or classic rock?

----------


## DoctorTaco

Why not make a premier C&W festival? I don't like modern country music, but I have no problem with OKC hosting a giant C&W music festival.  I don't give a hoot about Quarter Horses, but I am not all bent out of shape about the AQHA show every year. Money is money, right?

It is finding a niche. Can we go head to head with ACL/SXSW? Hell no. But can we go head to head with other Country festivals (whichever those happen to be...I can't think of any myself)? Hell yes we can! 

Is country fans' money no good? Is there something wrong with their money that we don't want it? Is OKC going to be the starving artist of metro areas, forgoing any income in order to preserve our indignant self-regard?

Seriously people, chill out.

----------


## Edgar

> Agree Cain's is incredible. Incredible because if it's acoustics, it's vibe, the people there, and the shows it can draw. Tulsa just has a different vibe and a different set of young people there. I've been hearing people talk about how our music culture is eventually going to catch up with and surpass theirs for years. And it just never happens. Whether we are talking failed venues in Bricktown that gave it a go or failure to get the idea off the ground like with the Tower Theater a few years ago the end result always seems to be about the same. 
> 
> I'm not happy about the extremely safe lineup of OKCFest, but I understand it. Maybe it's for the best.


The Tower put on a two day blues fest about 15 years ago, excellent lineup, and no one came. It was very sad. Mick doesn't know what he's getting himself in to. Music promotion in OKC is a tough sell.

----------


## dcsooner

> Why not make a premier C&W festival? I don't like modern country music, but I have no problem with OKC hosting a giant C&W music festival.  I don't give a hoot about Quarter Horses, but I am not all bent out of shape about the AQHA show every year. Money is money, right?
> 
> It is finding a niche. Can we go head to head with ACL/SXSW? Hell no. But can we go head to head with other Country festivals (whichever those happen to be...I can't think of any myself)? Hell yes we can! 
> 
> Is country fans' money no good? Is there something wrong with their money that we don't want it? Is OKC going to be the starving artist of metro areas, forgoing any income in order to preserve our indignant self-regard?
> 
> Seriously people, chill out.


It shouldn't just be about money. It should be about quality of life with regards to entertainment options for ALL the citizens of OKC. That's one of the biggest drawbacks to moving to and living in Oklahoma in general and OKC in particular is this steadfast refusal to purposefully incorporate different genres of art, music, film etc ( a more diverse politics might also help) into the State and City's landscape to appeal to a broader base. I have nothing against CW, doesn't do it for me, BUT, when it dominates the market like it does in OKC it doesn't  present the city in a way that would encourage others from more progressive locals to give OKC a look. Say what you will, but places like Seattle, Portland, Austin, etc are quirky but thats what makes them interesting and causes people (esp younger) to gravitate towards them. Places like Dallas, Houston etc are not necessarily different than OKC in those areas, but what draws people there is JOBS. OKC needs to venture out of its musty old bedroom/ suburban/ mindset to begin to really soar! There is no reason for so many expatriates like me to be away from the State of their birth except that the lack of significant change and options

----------


## Edgar

> Why not make a premier C&W festival? I don't like modern country music, but I have no problem with OKC hosting a giant C&W music festival.  I don't give a hoot about Quarter Horses, but I am not all bent out of shape about the AQHA show every year. Money is money, right?
> 
> It is finding a niche. Can we go head to head with ACL/SXSW? Hell no. But can we go head to head with other Country festivals (whichever those happen to be...I can't think of any myself)? Hell yes we can! 
> 
> Is country fans' money no good? Is there something wrong with their money that we don't want it? Is OKC going to be the starving artist of metro areas, forgoing any income in order to preserve our indignant self-regard?
> 
> Seriously people, chill out.


but it'd be nice if it were something that would cause me to drive up from Norman.

----------


## bchris02

> The Tower put on a two day blues fest about 15 years ago, excellent lineup, and no one came. It was very sad. Mick doesn't know what he's getting himself in to. Music promotion in OKC is a tough sell.


OKC in 1998 and what was viable then is probably very different from 2014, if this place has really improved as much as most OKCTalkers like to point out.  In fact, the target demographic for a music festival today is of an entirely different generation than it would have been in 1998.

----------


## bchris02

> It shouldn't just be about money. It should be about quality of life with regards to entertainment options for ALL the citizens of OKC. That's one of the biggest drawbacks to moving to and living in Oklahoma in general and OKC in particular is this steadfast refusal to purposefully incorporate different genres of art, music, film etc ( a more diverse politics might also help) into the State and City's landscape to appeal to a broader base. I have nothing against CW, doesn't do it for me, BUT, when it dominates the market like it does in OKC it doesn't  present the city in a way that would encourage others from more progressive locals to give OKC a look. Say what you will, but places like Seattle, Portland, Austin, etc are quirky but thats what makes them interesting and causes people (esp younger) to gravitate towards them. Places like Dallas, Houston etc are not necessarily different than OKC in those areas, but what draws people there is JOBS. OKC needs to venture out of its musty old bedroom/ suburban/ mindset to begin to really soar! There is no reason for so many expatriates like me to be away from the State of their birth except that the lack of significant change and options


OKC really is surprisingly diverse, as pointed out in the population thread.  What really needs to be improved how cultures and lifestyles other than the dominant one (suburban, white bread, conservative, C&W music) are represented and marketed to in this city.  It's getting much better but there is still more ground to cover.  That's why having a country music festival and calling it OKCFest, implying its for EVERYONE in OKC, can be seen as a step backward.

----------


## Head

I haven't gone through the ENTIRE thread, but it's interesting that the Kick-Off party for the "underwriters" and "special guests", features a jazz band. So, does this mean that there's sufficient sophistication among the affluent (affluent enough to underwrite a fesitval) that they get a jazz band with it's complex arrangements, and melody lines, while the general population is fed three chords, and some chicken-picken on a telecaster?
"Patronizing", in a word.

----------


## TheTravellers

> How long ago?
> 
> Also, OKC has never been a big hip-hop town.  This city has never (in recent history) been able to support a real hip-hop/r&b radio station so I doubt a hip-hop concert that was tried probably 5-10 years ago is something to go by to determine the viability of bringing in artists that aren't country or classic rock.


103.5 is a hip-hop/R&B station, been around for a while, don't know if they qualify as "real" to you or not, but I listen to them occasionally, seems legit hiphop/R&B.  Remembering a show I went to back in the day now - LL Cool J, Whodini, Run-DMC, and the Beastie Boys, sold out the Myriad, great show...

----------


## bchris02

> *103.5 is a hip-hop/R&B station, been around for a while, don't know if they qualify as "real" to you or not*, but I listen to them occasionally, seems legit hiphop/R&B.  Remembering a show I went to back in the day now - LL Cool J, Whodini, Run-DMC, and the Beastie Boys, sold out the Myriad, great show...


That station sounds good but it would be nice if you could actually pick them up in OKC.  Coverage is very poor to non-existent north of I-40 and east of I-44 unless the weather is right.

----------


## TheTravellers

> That station sounds good but it would be nice if you could actually pick them up in OKC.  Coverage is very poor to non-existent north of I-40 and east of I-44 unless the weather is right.


I believe we get it just fine on NW 164th and May/Penn-ish in the wife's car, in any weather (I don't listen to the radio in the car, just CDs/MP3s).  I'll try to remember to check on the way home today, though.

----------


## TheTravellers

More of the lineup has been announced, and yes, there's *a bit* of variety - a gospel stage and a "Rock en Espanol" stage.  Still leans very heavily towards country, western, folk (guy/girl with a guitar), and there is actually a whole stage dedicated to bluegrass, which is surprising

----------


## TheTravellers

> I believe we get it just fine on NW 164th and May/Penn-ish in the wife's car, in any weather (I don't listen to the radio in the car, just CDs/MP3s).  I'll try to remember to check on the way home today, though.


Oh yeah, finally remembered to reply, we do get 103.5 up where we live and around that area running errands...

----------


## AP

For everyone that was wanting some diversity in music: 
Saturday night at deadCENTER, the documentary Take Me to the River will be showing and after there will be a special concert.

"Join the musicians featured in the film Take Me to the River after the screening for a very special encore concert at the Myriad Gardens Water Plaza.
The concert will include: 
Stax Record Legend William Bell, Grammy Nominee Otis Clay, Academy Award Winner Frayser Boy formerly of Three 6 Mafia, Critics Choice Award winner Al Kapone, 13 piece house band lead by The Hi Rhythm Section and Ben Cauley and the Royal Memphis Horns, Stephanie Bolton and Memphis rapper Ify, Stax Music Academy students and more!"

----------


## TheTravellers

> For everyone that was wanting some diversity in music: 
> Saturday night at deadCENTER, the documentary Take Me to the River will be showing and after there will be a special concert.
> 
> "Join the musicians featured in the film Take Me to the River after the screening for a very special encore concert at the Myriad Gardens Water Plaza.
> The concert will include: 
> Stax Record Legend William Bell, Grammy Nominee Otis Clay, Academy Award Winner Frayser Boy formerly of Three 6 Mafia, Critics Choice Award winner Al Kapone, 13 piece house band lead by The Hi Rhythm Section and Ben Cauley and the Royal Memphis Horns, Stephanie Bolton and Memphis rapper Ify, Stax Music Academy students and more!"


Man, that sounds good, I'm actually listening to the Complete Stax-Volt Singles sets in my car currently.  Wish I could go, but wife's mom is visiting that weekend and just can't make it, dammit!

----------


## Questor

> OKC really is surprisingly diverse, as pointed out in the population thread.  What really needs to be improved how cultures and lifestyles other than the dominant one (suburban, white bread, conservative, C&W music) are represented and marketed to in this city.  It's getting much better but there is still more ground to cover.  That's why having a country music festival and calling it OKCFest, implying its for EVERYONE in OKC, can be seen as a step backward.


That's Oklahoma City... an extremely risk-adverse and very "safe bet" town.  We always go for the least expensive sure thing when it comes to anything involving money.  That goes for most businesses here or the city itself.  OKC = the Minimum Viable Product of cities.

Accept it for what it is, realize it is never going to change and is just part of the culture here, deal with what that means, and you'll sleep better at night tomorrow.

----------


## OSUFan

It is easy to spend other's people money when you have nothing on the line.

----------


## Edgar

> That's Oklahoma City... an extremely risk-adverse and very "safe bet" town.  We always go for the least expensive sure thing when it comes to anything involving money.  That goes for most businesses here or the city itself.  OKC = the Minimum Viable Product of cities.
> 
> Accept it for what it is, realize it is never going to change and is just part of the culture here, deal with what that means, and you'll sleep better at night tomorrow.


OKC does indeed dream grand, when the city lords are doing it with taxpayer money.
You're right about safe bet involving $. Did you see the bricktown Blues fest lineup? Otis Watkins Sat headliner?! Noting against Otis, he's ok, but a decade ago he would have been the 6pm act getting everyone warmed up for the exciting national acts to follow. Obviously someone did the calculation and figuere they'd sell as much BBQ booking cheap local acts, putting bottom line ahead of a special event we could be proud of. Tulsa doesn't have their spring blues fest anymore. Here's a chance for OKC to reverse the traffic of live music fans on the turnpike, and they put on this turkey. Again, noting against Scott Keeton et al, but I've seen them a dozen times. Huge blues fan here and this won't even cause me to drive up from Norman. I've rented a room downtown in the past to make a fun time of it- sigh.

----------


## Urbanized

Wait...you live in NORMAN? Why then did/do you show so much heated interest in the politics of Oklahoma City?

----------


## Edgar

> Wait...you live in NORMAN? Why then did/do you show so much heated interest in the politics of Oklahoma City?


OKC always claims Norman. Cornett spoke here and said Norman benifits from what's happening in downtown OKC(rolly eyes)
Anyway, grew up in MWC, mom lives NW OKC- I'm qualified, and really am truely bummed out about the Bricktown Blues Fest. Used to very much look forward to it, but it's not valued anymore for some reason.

----------


## David

ACM@UCO to Present Bandshell Stage Featuring Wanda Jackson at 'OKCFEST'




> ACM@UCO TO PRESENT BANDSHELL STAGE FEATURING WANDA JACKSON AT OKCFEST
> 
> The Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@UCO) will present a stage with headlining act Wanda Jackson at the first-annual OKCFEST, Oklahomas premier outdoor music festival, June 2729 in downtown Oklahoma City at the cross section of S. Robinson Ave. and W. Reno Ave. in the Myriad Gardens.           
> 
> The OKCFEST main stage will feature notable country music headlining acts including Dierks Bentley, Merle Haggard, Lady Antebellum, Scotty McCreery, and Randy Rogers Band, among others.           
> 
> While access to the main stage performances requires a ticket, OKCFEST will include free access to other stages featuring a variety of local musicians, like the ACM@UCO Bandshell Stage, Saturday, June 28.  Bands comprised of ACM@UCO students and graduates will perform starting at noon leading up to the headlining act, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Wanda Jackson.  
> 
> The band lineup includes Air Line Road at noon, The Broken Okies at 1 p.m., Jennifay Joy and Diamond Grit at 2 p.m., Mountain Smoke at 3 p.m., Carter Beckworth at 4 p.m., The Hideouts at 5 p.m., Aaron Pierce at 6 p.m. and Wanda Jackson at 7 p.m. 
> ...

----------


## AP

The Queen of Rockabilly.

----------


## warreng88

> OKC always claims Norman. *Cornett spoke here and said Norman benifits from what's happening in downtown OKC(rolly eyes)*
> Anyway, grew up in MWC, mom lives NW OKC- I'm qualified, and really am truely bummed out about the Bricktown Blues Fest. Used to very much look forward to it, but it's not valued anymore for some reason.


So, you don't think Norman benefits from what is happening in DT OKC?

----------


## Stan Silliman

> Something more like this?
> Center of the Universe Festival - 2014 Main Stage Bands Announced
> 
> 80,000 people went last year. It was a good time.


Philip Kaiser? Related to George Kaiser?

----------


## Stan Silliman

> I think the ones that are upset is the millenials, like myself. Okc professes to trying to change and be this cultural place. Then they go off and pull a music festival like this. That's not cultural, nor is it appealing to the millenials they are trying to move here. It's the exact opposite. Okc wants to be seen as this new hip city. Bad way of doing it. Mick needs to step aside and let the younger crowd pick the musicians. I linked what most in my generation see as a great music festival. 
> 
> If okc is trying to aspire and be like ACL, they did it all wrong. Just frustrated to see okcfestival 2014 and click to see it's just like a state fair concert event.


Oklahoma City already hosts a Deep Deuce Blues Festival which is a pretty cool thing. 

Norman has a Jazz in June and a 4 day Norman Music Fest, which features a lot of Gen X bands so the area gets coverage. 
Nothing wrong with a C-W fest, also. It's not like having a C-W music fest precludes OKC from also having a separate event
which features younger and more current music.

----------


## Swake

> Philip Kaiser? Related to George Kaiser?


It's his son. 

Funny fact, Tim Blake Nelson, from O' Brother Where Art Thou? is George Kaiser's nephew.

----------


## bchris02

> Oklahoma City already hosts a Deep Deuce Blues Festival which is a pretty cool thing. 
> 
> Norman has a Jazz in June and a 4 day Norman Music Fest, which features a lot of Gen X bands so the area gets coverage. 
> Nothing wrong with a C-W fest, also. It's not like having a C-W music fest precludes OKC from also having a separate event
> which features younger and more current music.


You are correct.  The OKC area has a lot of music festivals that aren't country oriented.

As has already been said, I don't think there would be as much dislike towards this if it was called something other than OKCFest.  Having a C&W festival and calling it OKCFest helps re-enforce a stereotype the city is trying to leave behind or simply diversify from.

----------


## David

I don't know why I was expecting the ACM@UCO announcement to distract from the OKCFest = C&W narrative. Hopeless optimism I guess.

----------


## BoulderSooner

FYI VIP tickets for okcfest are 450

----------


## Questor

The lineup:

Lineup &mdash; OKC Fest &mdash; Oklahoma's Premier Outdoor Music Festival &mdash; June 27-28, 2014

----------


## Pete

This starts tomorrow; stage is up:

----------


## TheTravellers

Yee-haw!  This is kind of funny, from First OKCFest showcases national, regional and Oklahoma musical talent | News OK

"Plus, a *diverse* (emphasis mine) slate of Oklahoma talents playing on an array of free stages in the Myriad Botanical Gardens will take OKCFest beyond country and into rock, folk, bluegrass, gospel, jazz and rock en Espanol."

Um, folk and bluegrass can be pretty much lumped in with country (yes, I know they're completely different styles and have different histories, etc., but for practical purposes, they're closely related to country), so that leaves rock, gospel, jazz as being "diverse".  Guess so, in the most literal sense of the word, but man, there's soooooooooo many more types of music out there than that.  Admittedly, they won't draw all the fans that country will here in OKC, but I wouldn't classify this as a diverse festival.  At least they're being upfront about it being OKCountryFest now, though.  Little steps, I suppose, we'll see how decountry-ed the fest gets in the next few years...

----------


## bchris02

As I've said before, and have been attacked for saying it, there is nothing wrong with having a country music festival.  They should call it something other than OKCFest though.  Its my hope that in future years, if it remains a country music festival that it gets renamed to something that reflects that.  I know country is the preferred genre of the majority of people who live in OKC but there are people here who don't like it and something with a name like OKCFest should represent the entire city.

----------


## adaniel

This navel gazing about the name, the lineup, etc. is pretty ridiculous at this point. It's happening, let it go.  

I will have a good laugh at your expense when this concert is successful, as I expect it to be.

----------


## TheTravellers

> This navel gazing about the name, the lineup, etc. is pretty ridiculous at this point. It's happening, let it go.  
> 
> I will have a good laugh at your expense when this concert is successful, as I expect it to be.


Not at my expense, I expect it to be wildly successful, they expect 60,000, never said it wouldn't be.  Funny enough, it being successful is part of the reason I don't like it, just reinforces that country is the #1 thing around here, in lots of aspects, which I get tired of.

----------


## onthestrip

Read some questions and comments on OKCFest fb page and no outside water is allowed in but that there will be water for purchase inside. They also said no re-entry, so you cant go in, then leave for a bit to go see some of the free shows and then come back. Also, no blankets or chairs allowed. So you have a 93 degree day and you are trapped on a parking lot with no shade, comfortable place to sit and the only water you want you have to purchase...sounds incredibly miserable.

----------


## warreng88

Hope the weather holds out tomorrow for the concert. I think venture was showing there was a chance of more severe storms in the afternoon.

----------


## Anonymous.

Yea the lineup for tonight looks like fantastic weather, save for the stupid wind.

Tomorrow looks like a soupy day with upper 80s to low 90s and HIGH humidity. Then potentially supercells moving into C OK by around Antebellum.

----------


## Bullbear

> This starts tomorrow; stage is up:


I see Green parcels of land in this photo.. however they set the stage up in a concrete parking lot. that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. and if they aren't allowing people to come and go from the main stage as someone stated then I don't see the point of touting the free stages with diverse music acts because anyone attending the main stage cannot leave and enjoy other acts. am I missing something?. I am not a big country fan but if they are going to have the festival they should work a bit harder at making it appealing. I do plan on going down to see Wanda Jackson tomorrow evening.

----------


## Bullbear

Just checked out the website for myself.. lots of craziness in the planning of this in my opinion. it is true once inside the main stage area you cannot leave and re-enter. You can have blankets and chairs at the other stages in myriad gardens but not in the main stage area.  It seems had they put the main stage on the grass at 3rd and hudson and faced it to the east or west it would not only be on grass and more cool it would also allow a sound buffer.. facing the stage to the north will leave little sound buffer between main stage and the Myriad gardens.

----------


## adaniel

> Not at my expense, I expect it to be wildly successful, they expect 60,000, never said it wouldn't be.  Funny enough, it being successful is part of the reason I don't like it, just reinforces that country is the #1 thing around here, in lots of aspects, which I get tired of.


I am a bigger fan of OKC than I am of any music genre. If we get 60K people in downtown spending $ and having a good time thats a win in my book. 

You should really take your complaints up with the owners of venues and promoters who do a half-assed job bringing acts into this city, as well as the citizentry who do an even bigger half assed attempt at supporting what little comes. Not these people, who are actually trying to create something with enough success that it can be improved upon in the future. Just my 0.02.

----------


## TheTravellers

> I am a bigger fan of OKC than I am of any music genre. If we get 60K people in downtown spending $ and having a good time thats a win in my book. 
> 
> You should really take your complaints up with the owners of venues and promoters who do a half-assed job bringing acts into this city, as well as the citizentry who do an even bigger half assed attempt at supporting what little comes. Not these people, who are actually trying to create something with enough success that it can be improved upon in the future. Just my 0.02.


Exactly how would I go about that?  How do I convince the citizens of OKC to go to shows they normally wouldn't go to and promoters to bring in more, different acts?  I don't have a personal fortune to give to promoters and say "Here, do what you can to bring this act here" and then to say to the OKCitians "Here are a bunch of free tickets, go see them, promote more diversity in our live music scene".  That might be about the only way to do it, and that might not even work (at the risk of being flamed to death, I'll say this - based on decades of personal observation, people that like country music are pretty averse to a lot of other genres, except classic rock).  I don't have a personal fortune to start a new promotion company to bring those acts in, either, but damn, I wish I did.  

Not really sure what I can do as one citizen without much money or power (just like a lot of things that I believe are beyond my control that still frustrate the hell out of me), although I did get them to change the promotion of it from "Oklahoma's Premiere Outdoor Music Festival" to "Oklahoma's Premier Outdoor Music Festival" (but it should never have gotten past any proofreaders). :-D

----------


## Urbanized

> ..I know country is the preferred genre of the majority of people who live in OKC...


How exactly did you decide this? You took a poll? If I were to label OKC as any one thing in particular I would probably call it a classic rock town.

----------


## David

Man, that's about the fourth post in this thread today I've written up and then deleted on account of not really wanting to pick a fight.

----------


## Edgar

what's the over/under non-caucasians at OKCfest?double digits?

----------


## BrettM2

Just go away Edgar.

----------


## warreng88

> what's the over/under non-caucasians at OKCfest?double digits?


What's the over/under on the amount of times Edgar complains about this concert?

----------


## bradh

For a festival that many here claimed would only attract coal rolling rednecks, I have seen lots of tweets and instagrams tonight from all types, including Barons players and other non natives.  Hate the music if you will (I like it but I would t mind more diversity myself) but this event is a huge plus.

Disappointed about not allowing outside water.  It's balls hot, thinks of patron safety before profits for a moment

----------


## dcsooner

What was the estimated attendance. It looks from photos maybe to not have met projections

----------


## PWitty

> What was the estimated attendance. It looks from photos maybe to not have met projections


I have a bunch of friends that went down for the weekend from KC for this, and they texted me last night saying it was pretty packed. I think I saw somewhere that there was around 20K+ at the main stage when JAB finished his set, but don't quote me on that.

On a side note, my buddies have only been down to OKC a couple times and they're staying DT for the concerts all weekend. They kept sending me pictures throughout the day as they were making their rounds DT and kept telling me how cool OKC is.

----------


## sooner88

Was anyone else there last night? I thought I heard Merle welcome Robert Earl Keen to the stage for "Okie from Muskogee", although I couldn't tell if it was actually him. Can anyone else verify this/tell me I'm crazy?

----------


## sooner88

H&8th --> Ambassador --> OKCFest... just one of many "I don't feel like I'm in OKC" moments.

----------


## OkieHornet

> Was anyone else there last night? I thought I heard Merle welcome Robert Earl Keen to the stage for "Okie from Muskogee", although I couldn't tell if it was actually him. Can anyone else verify this/tell me I'm crazy?


it was toby keith. there's a pic on newsok.com.

----------


## warreng88

I'm afraid the weather today will deter people from attending. Hopefully it clears up for this evening.

----------


## soonerguru

I'm apparently not in the target audience for this event. Literally two people have said anything positive about it on my Facebook feed, and I think both of them are affiliated and / or volunteers for the organizers.

This seems like a good idea if there were actually diversity of talent.

----------


## Urbanized

Hang on...  ...you're using your FACEBOOK FEED as a barometer of cool? LOL

Seriously, I know patience is not the long suit of posters on this board, but after a conversation I had the other day I now believe even more strongly that the event is going to grow into a strong multi-genre festival in future years.

It was country-heavy this year mostly because there was a short ramp-up and because Fred Hall has developed some strong Nashville connections that allowed them to get some A-list country acts with not a lot of advance notice and without a track record, neither of which will be an issue in the future. They fully-intend to have a more well-rounded lineup going forward. I know that hearing this won't be good enough for a lot of folks here, but it's good enough for me.

----------


## warreng88

I had a dream last night that Incubus and Metallica were going to headline OKCFest 2015.

----------


## catch22

Too country oriented for me.

That's fine if that's what they want to play, different strokes for different blokes. Just not my thing, I'd attend if there were some other genres. I know several other people who have said the same thing.

----------


## BrettM2

> I had a dream last night that Incubus and Metallica were going to headline OKCFest 2015.


This would be sweet.

----------


## BoulderSooner

> I'm afraid the weather today will deter people from attending. Hopefully it clears up for this evening.


Yep only 30k or so

----------


## ljbab728

Downtown, Bricktown, and the river area were packed tonight.  I caught Wanda's concert and it was a lot of fun.  She still has a very strong voice and was spot on in all of her songs.  Her audience was surprisingly young also.




I didn't stay for the fireworks but the river was really hopping with all kinds of activity.  Anyone who didn't have fun downtown today had to be trying hard not to.





In addition to the two festivals there was a baseball game tonight at the Brick and a dog show happening at the convention center.

----------


## gopokes88

It was packed. It was fun. Bright days ahead to hell with the negativity.

----------


## ljbab728

Music fans fill venues for first OKCFest | News OK




> “This is amazing that all this has come together in four months and the first time we’ve ever tried to do it,” OKCFest founder Fred Hall told The Oklahoman on Friday. “I think Oklahoma City will all unite, from every area of Oklahoma City, behind music. Let’s bring Oklahoma City together more and more, and this could be a great way to do it.”
> 
> 
> 
> Organizers of the festival plan to do it again next summer, with more acts and genres. Hall said he wants to add more rock music for next time. Chase Kerby said he thought continuing the festival would be a good idea for the city.

----------


## soonerguru

> Hang on...  ...you're using your FACEBOOK FEED as a barometer of cool? LOL
> 
> Seriously, I know patience is not the long suit of posters on this board, but after a conversation I had the other day I now believe even more strongly that the event is going to grow into a strong multi-genre festival in future years.
> 
> It was country-heavy this year mostly because there was a short ramp-up and because Fred Hall has developed some strong Nashville connections that allowed them to get some A-list country acts with not a lot of advance notice and without a track record, neither of which will be an issue in the future. They fully-intend to have a more well-rounded lineup going forward. I know that hearing this won't be good enough for a lot of folks here, but it's good enough for me.


Why is Fred Hall a concert promoter? Do you think Fred Hall is a barometer of "cool?" It is what it is. Not my cup of tea. Hope you had a great time.

----------


## Urbanized

Where did I say Fred Hall was a barometer of cool? He's just the financial backer who in this case also had a bunch of Nashville connections. I WILL say that I am glad that there (for the first time I am aware of) is a very wealthy guy who is taking an interest in the OKC music scene. Seems like a positive development to me.

Appears in hindsight that the Nashville connections came in handy thanks to the short run up and no event history to sell. Barring that Wanda Jackson might have been the headliner. Or Foghat. Next year they'll have more time AND more industry credibility. And it says right there in black and white that they specifically want more diversity going forward. I don't get the pervasive negativity.

And by the way, I didn't attend. Not my cup of tea.  :Big Grin:

----------


## TaoMaas

> ...just reinforces that country is the #1 thing around here...



Duh!  Why would anyone have any other kind of festival here unless they just wanted to throw their money away?  lol

----------


## Pete

"Organizers of the festival plan to do it again next summer, with *more acts and genre*s. Hall said he wants to add *more rock music* for next time."

Sounds great to me.

Glad they got off to such a good first start.  By next summer the convention center should be under construction, so I guess they could move to the Central Park site.

----------


## Jim Kyle

> Too country oriented for me.


They're having a big music fest across the pond, too, this weekend, and I found this article on the BBC web site interesting:
BBC News - Dolly Parton graces the Glastonbury Pyramid stage

Especially interesting are the comments near the end of the piece, from other musicians...

----------


## coov23

> This would be sweet.


Incubus would be okay. Metallica? No. Might as well bring in twisted sister, Korn and the like to headline. Let's be more current for our wish list, please. Mix in a little old school, but make it trendy and diverse. That's my wish.

----------


## coov23

My wish list for next year? How about this: Florida-Georgia Line, The Black Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Eric Church, Bastille, OutKast, Luke Bryan, Foo Fighters, Phil Collins and Dave Matthews. Smaller bands like Horse Thief, Lee Brice, Wale, etc. That would get people from all over this region. Probably more than 100k a day in attendance.

----------


## dankrutka

It'll be interesting the direction this takes in the future. I really loved how D-Fest in Tulsa was run. It really focused on alternative and hip hop and had acts spread throughout venues in the Blue Dome District, which suited my personal tastes. Regardless, it's great to get people out in the core.

----------


## soonerguru

Throw in Churches, Local Natives, Beach Fossils, Neutral Milk Hotel (if touring), et. al.

----------


## warreng88

> My wish list for next year? How about this: Florida-Georgia Line, The Black Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Eric Church, Bastille, OutKast, Luke Bryan, Foo Fighters, Phil Collins and Dave Matthews. Smaller bands like Horse Thief, Lee Brice, Wale, etc. That would get people from all over this region. Probably more than 100k a day in attendance.


Throw in 30 Seconds to Mars, Aerosmith, The Pixies, Imagine Dragons, Kings of Leon and Lenny Kravitz and I would be ok with that. I think we will see one of the people you listed as headliners and then a bunch of other lower acts.

----------


## Urbanized

> It'll be interesting the direction this takes in the future. I really loved how D-Fest in Tulsa was run. It really focused on alternative and hip hop and had acts spread throughout venues in the Blue Dome District, which suited my personal tastes. Regardless, it's great to get people out in the core.


Considering the fact that Scott Booker/ACM is involved, I think D-Fest similarities are a very realistic possibility. D-Fest's co-organizer, Angie Devore Green, was Scott's assistant (pre-ACM) during (I think) its entire run, and Scott has mentioned a personal desire to bring a high-quality festival to OKC.




> Throw in Churches, Local Natives, Beach Fossils, Neutral Milk Hotel (if touring), et. al.


Agree completely, and I would suspect that would be the direction of the music they would bring into the fold rather than played-out classic rock, which might be economically successful but would ultimately be a dead end.

----------


## SOONER8693

> Too country oriented for me.
> 
> That's fine if that's what they want to play, different strokes for different blokes. Just not my thing, I'd attend if there were some other genres. I know several other people who have said the same thing.


American country music is the most popular music genre in the world.

----------


## dankrutka

> American country music is the most popular music genre in the world.


Link? How is "popular" defined - by sales? Just curious...

----------


## Pete



----------


## RadicalModerate

Spinal Tap and any of the folk groups in "A Mighty Wind".
Plus a puppet show.  Maybe build a full sized Stonehenge arch for the dwarf dance.
(and anything recommended by Saxondale)

----------


## coov23

> Spinal Tap and any of the folk groups in "A Mighty Wind".
> Plus a puppet show.  Maybe build a full sized Stonehenge arch for the dwarf dance.
> (and anything recommended by Saxondale)


As long as they bring their amp that goes up to 11, instead of 10, I'm game for Spinal Tap.

----------


## OSUFan

> My wish list for next year? How about this: Florida-Georgia Line, The Black Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Eric Church, Bastille, OutKast, Luke Bryan, Foo Fighters, Phil Collins and Dave Matthews. Smaller bands like Horse Thief, Lee Brice, Wale, etc. That would get people from all over this region. Probably more than 100k a day in attendance.


Do you have any idea how much this would cost to put on? Of course that would be awesome but it is not even close to realistic. I bet there are not many music festivals in the US who could pull that off let alone one in OKC in only its second year. People do realize the city is not funding this right? This is basically one guy.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Do you have any idea how much this would cost to put on? Of course that would be awesome but it is not even close to realistic. I bet there are not many music festivals in the US who could pull that off let alone one in OKC in only its second year. People do realize the city is not funding this right? This is basically one guy.


There hasn't been much realism regarding OKCFest since it was announced.  If it didn't surpass ACL right off the bat, which it wouldn't because of country music's inclusion, it was junk.

----------


## Bullbear

Country isn't my thing but I know for this region and for the quick start up it was probably a good bet. I also think if they become more diverse in the lineup it could develop into a great festival. My main concern for this year was that they didn't exactly know how to put on a music festival. Chalk it up to growing pains but it doesn't take a lot of research to find out how to run this type of event. There are plenty of them around to find out how to deal with gate access ect. Having multiple stages but not allowing people to come and go from the Main stage is a problem and is not really a "festival".  plus you might want to put the stage on some grass since its june and hot and a large enough space to allow for chairs or at the very least Blankets. People do not want to stand for hours on end in the sun and they don't have an option to go to another stage to relax so they are stuck. 
HOwever I hope they work out those kinks and do make a more diverse lineup.
I did enjoy D-Fest the few times I went and it was ran pretty well. although in that district they also have no grass so it was very HOT.
I will be going to Center of the universe festival in Tulsa end of July so we will see how that goes.

----------


## AP

> Country isn't my thing but I know for this region and for the quick start up it was probably a good bet. I also think if they become more diverse in the lineup it could develop into a great festival. My main concern for this year was that they didn't exactly know how to put on a music festival. Chalk it up to growing pains but it doesn't take a lot of research to find out how to run this type of event. There are plenty of them around to find out how to deal with gate access ect. Having multiple stages but not allowing people to come and go from the Main stage is a problem and is not really a "festival".  plus you might want to put the stage on some grass since its june and hot and a large enough space to allow for chairs or at the very least Blankets. People do not want to stand for hours on end in the sun and they don't have an option to go to another stage to relax so they are stuck. 
> HOwever I hope they work out those kinks and do make a more diverse lineup.
> I did enjoy D-Fest the few times I went and it was ran pretty well. although in that district they also have no grass so it was very HOT.
> I will be going to Center of the universe festival in Tulsa end of July so we will see how that goes.


I agree with this. My complaints are not being able to leave the main stage even though there were acts I wanted to see at other stages and having to stand the entire time.

----------


## coov23

> Do you have any idea how much this would cost to put on? Of course that would be awesome but it is not even close to realistic. I bet there are not many music festivals in the US who could pull that off let alone one in OKC in only its second year. People do realize the city is not funding this right? This is basically one guy.


Firefly festival in Dover, Delaware is having their 3rd annual music festival. They've done it. https://fireflyfestival.com/lineup/past-lineups/

That's in freaking Dover, Delaware. Trust me. I lived around that area. The fact they pull off a better lineup than okc says a lot.

----------


## Urbanized

Yeah, it says it's their third annual festival vs. a first-ever festival with a four-month ramp-up.

----------


## coov23

> Yeah, it says it's their third annual festival vs. a first-ever festival with a four-month ramp-up.


Hers the first years lineup: 
https://fireflyfestival.com/lineup/past-lineups/

No excuses other than the guy that put together okcfest is a country guy and did what he knew.

Click the link and then go to 2012 lineup. Imagine Dragons, The Killers, Death Cab For Cutie, The Black Keys, Group Love, Lupe Fiasco, Modest Mouse, Basenector, The Flaming Lips,  Silver Sun Pickups, Young The Giant, AwolNation and Fitz and the tantrums. 

Insane lineup for a first year festival.

----------


## Urbanized

Like I said, only four months' ramp-up, and he had Nashville business connections (not a "country guy"). It was the simplest route. Next year will be much more multi-genre, according to words from his own mouth. Perhaps he should have waited another year instead to make you happy.

----------


## coov23

> Like I said, only four months' ramp-up, and he had Nashville business connections (not a "country guy"). It was the simplest route. Next year will be much more multi-genre, according to words from his own mouth. Perhaps he should have waited another year instead to make you happy.


I'm not complaining. Just tired of the excuses. I didn't go, like many others, because of the lineup this year. I hope he sticks with his word by being more diverse. Left a lot of money off the table by being one-dimensional. Oh, and since I was stationed in Dover I can tell you that festival was put together in about 6 months. Spur of the moment by the Rollins Family. I volunteered and helped put it together. Timelines are excuses, too. 

Again, I'm glad it drew big crowds this year. I'm disappointed it didn't draw what they were expecting. Hopefully, next year, they will be diverse. I truly believe it could be a Bonoroo type of festival here. Okc has the music history to be that.  Just have to get out of the thinking that country is all that is going to work here. The migration into this city is diverse. A music festival being as diverse as those that live here will be HUGE, in my opinion.

----------


## Urbanized

Perhaps you should volunteer for OKCfest '15 then.

----------


## warreng88

Was the ACM@UCO included in any way this year? It would be cool if they could have a stage for just that on Saturday afternoon in the Myriad gardens or something.

----------


## Swake

> Firefly festival in Dover, Delaware is having their 3rd annual music festival. They've done it. https://fireflyfestival.com/lineup/past-lineups/
> 
> That's in freaking Dover, Delaware. Trust me. I lived around that area. The fact they pull off a better lineup than okc says a lot.


Having more than 15 million people live within 100 miles of Dover might have a little to do with it.

----------


## warreng88

> Having more than 15 million people live within 100 miles of Dover might have a little to do with it.


Nope. No excuses, remember?

----------


## Mr. Cotter

> I'm not complaining. Just tired of the excuses. I didn't go, like many others, because of the lineup this year. I hope he sticks with his word by being more diverse. Left a lot of money off the table by being one-dimensional. Oh, and since I was stationed in Dover I can tell you that festival was put together in about 6 months. Spur of the moment by the Rollins Family. I volunteered and helped put it together. Timelines are excuses, too. 
> 
> Again, I'm glad it drew big crowds this year. I'm disappointed it didn't draw what they were expecting. Hopefully, next year, they will be diverse. *I truly believe it could be a Bonoroo type of festival here. Okc has the music history to be that.*  Just have to get out of the thinking that country is all that is going to work here. The migration into this city is diverse. A music festival being as diverse as those that live here will be HUGE, in my opinion.


Bonoroo has very little to do with its location's music history, but if it did, do you really want to compare OKC's musical heritage to central Tennessee's?

----------


## OSUFan

> Firefly festival in Dover, Delaware is having their 3rd annual music festival. They've done it. https://fireflyfestival.com/lineup/past-lineups/
> 
> That's in freaking Dover, Delaware. Trust me. I lived around that area. The fact they pull off a better lineup than okc says a lot.


Dover has a really good lineup. No arguments there. It is still nowhere close to the dream lineup you posted. The lineup you posted is just unrealistic on every level. Might as well added a reunited Led Zepplin, Kanye West. Let's go ahead and add Ringo so we can make it a mini-Beatles reunion. 

I just don't get the complaining. If you don't like it don't go. Plenty of people went and it sounds like it was a big success. Go support the music festival in Norman with a more diverse lineup. This was not put on by the city. This is basically one guy who put up his own money to make this happen. Oh and he is not making any profit. Any money made goes back to music charities in our city. So yeah, let's complain about someone who is actually trying to do some good for live music in our city because you don't like the style. 

You have better ideas? Put up your own money and time like this guy did and make it happen. You put up the 10s of millions it would take to bring in your fantasy lineup. Instead of complaining about how others are trying to make a difference start up your own festival. No one is stopping you.

----------


## Urbanized

> Was the ACM@UCO included in any way this year? It would be cool if they could have a stage for just that on Saturday afternoon in the Myriad gardens or something.


Yes, ACM was included in exactly the way you suggest. I'm answering straight because I'm not sure if you are funnin' or not LOL.

----------


## Bullbear

not sure why we are beating this thing to death..  he did with what he had connections to do. the attendance wasn't what they expected but I think if they make the lineup more diverse and get a bigger turnout it will lead to them going that route more and more. everyone wins with a more diverse lineup and I think they will see that. I have high hopes that this will grow into something great so I guess I am choosing to be optimistic. doesn't do much good to just complain that the first year wasn't to my liking.

Answering the ACM@UCO question. .they did indeed have a stage. the Myriad gardens great lawn stage was labeled ACM@UCO stage. that was the stage that Wanda Jackson played saturday night.

I saw this festival as a baby.. and think it has potential

----------


## ctchandler

Swake,
This really isn't my thing, I've just read the posts and am curious, where are these 15 million people within 100 miles?  I lived in the area, and Baltimore/Washington D. C. certainly don't add up to much more than a few million. Of course, that's still more than the OKC area, but it doesn't approach 15 million.  Now, if NYC was a little closer, you might have 10 million+ within 100 miles.
C. T.


> Having more than 15 million people live within 100 miles of Dover might have a little to do with it.

----------


## warreng88

> Yes, ACM was included in exactly the way you suggest. I'm answering straight because I'm not sure if you are funnin' or not LOL.


I didn't know so thanks for answering straight up. I didn't have any interest in going because it was not my thing, but look forward to seeing it change over the next several years.

----------


## Swake

> Swake,
> This really isn't my thing, I've just read the posts and am curious, where are these 15 million people within 100 miles?  I lived in the area, and Baltimore/Washington D. C. certainly don't add up to much more than a few million. Of course, that's still more than the OKC area, but it doesn't approach 15 million.  Now, if NYC was a little closer, you might have 10 million+ within 100 miles.
> C. T.


Its actually quite a bit over 15 million. 

Washington-Baltimore is a lot larger than a few million and you left out Philadelphia, which is as large as DFW all by itself. Dover is actually part of Philadelphias combined metro statistical area. According to the US Census 2013 estimates the Washington-Baltimore combined metro area has 9,443,180 people and Philadelphia has 7,146,706.  Its not going to be long before the Washington area is larger than Chicago. 

You go out to 150-200 miles and you do get New York which adds another 23 million all on its own.

----------


## Swake

Anyway, if OKCfest wasn’t your style, the successor to D-Fest, the 2nd annual Center of the Universe Festival, is in three weeks and will have 111 bands over two days, 70,000 people were there last year. The headliners are:
AWOLNation
Young the Giant
Capital Cities
Cold War Kids
Fitz and the Tantrums
Twenty One Pilots
DJ Jazzy Jeff
DJ Z Trip
Big D and the Kids Table
Clear Plastic Masks
Fly Golden Eagle
Greensky Bluegrass
Max Frost
Space Capone
Spoonfed Tribe
Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band

Tickets are $50 for the weekend
Center of the Universe Festival -

----------


## Bullbear

> Anyway, if OKCfest wasn’t your style, the successor to D-Fest, the 2nd annual Center of the Universe Festival, is in three weeks and will have 111 bands over two days, 70,000 people were there last year. The headliners are:
> AWOLNation
> Young the Giant
> Capital Cities
> Cold War Kids
> Fitz and the Tantrums
> Twenty One Pilots
> DJ Jazzy Jeff
> DJ Z Trip
> ...


I can't wait!.. purchased my VIP tickets when they went on sale!

----------


## coov23

> Having more than 15 million people live within 100 miles of Dover might have a little to do with it.


Dover isn't really that easy to get to. From DC or Baltimore you'd have to take a bunch of back roads to make it less than 100 miles. Most would go up the 95 toll road. That'd make it, at least, a 2 hr drive. Wilmington and Philly are fairly easy to get from. Since you'd go down Highway 1 directly from 95. 

Okc can pull from Dallas, Tulsa,Wichita and NW Arkansas fairly easy. That's got to be above 10 million within a 2-2.5hr drive.

----------


## adaniel

> Dover isn't really that easy to get to. From DC or Baltimore you'd have to take a bunch of back roads to make it less than 100 miles. Most would go up the 95 toll road. That'd make it, at least, a 2 hr drive. Wilmington and Philly are fairly easy to get from. Since you'd go down Highway 1 directly from 95. 
> 
> Okc can pull from Dallas, Tulsa,Wichita and NW Arkansas fairly easy. That's got to be above 10 million within a 2-2.5hr drive.


I was actually in Philly two weekends ago and Firefly was covered extensively in the local media. They repeated how people "all over the northeast and Midatlantic came."

FWIW, Its 1:50 from DC, 1:40 to Baltimore, 1:30 from Philly, and just for kicks, 2:50 from Lower Manhattan. Obviously these are off peak times but doable on a weekend. 

There is nowhere near 10 million people from OKC in a 2:30 drive. Unless you are a speed demon, you barely reach the northern reaches of DFW in that time frame.

----------


## warreng88

> I was actually in Philly two weekends ago and Firefly was covered extensively in the local media. They repeated how people "all over the northeast and Midatlantic came."
> 
> FWIW, Its 1:50 from DC, 1:40 to Baltimore, 1:30 from Philly, and just for kicks, 2:50 from Lower Manhattan. Obviously these are off peak times but doable on a weekend. 
> 
> There is nowhere near 10 million people from OKC in a 2:30 drive. Unless you are a speed demon, you barely reach the northern reaches of DFW in that time frame.


Exactly. What you have is basically the state of Oklahoma and Wichita. Joplin is over three hours away as is everything outside of Fort Smith, AR in Arkansas and Dallas. I will say if the festival is big enough and there are enough big named acts, people will drive from further away than that to come see it. I have friends from OKC and Tulsa who go to ACL every year and also drive up to Lollapalooza in chicago. That is just their thing. But again, with Austin, you have Dallas three hours away, Houston two and a half and San Antonio at just over an hour. Also, Austin is the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World.

----------


## Bullbear

> Exactly. What you have is basically the state of Oklahoma and Wichita. Joplin is over three hours away as is everything outside of Fort Smith, AR in Arkansas and Dallas. I will say if the festival is big enough and there are enough big named acts, people will drive from further away than that to come see it. I have friends from OKC and Tulsa who go to ACL every year and also drive up to Lollapalooza in chicago. That is just their thing. But again, with Austin, you have Dallas three hours away, Houston two and a half and San Antonio at just over an hour. Also, Austin is the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World.



Think Gentlemen of the Road festival.   it was attended from people from all over the united states.

----------


## coov23

> I was actually in Philly two weekends ago and Firefly was covered extensively in the local media. They repeated how people "all over the northeast and Midatlantic came."
> 
> FWIW, Its 1:50 from DC, 1:40 to Baltimore, 1:30 from Philly, and just for kicks, 2:50 from Lower Manhattan. Obviously these are off peak times but doable on a weekend. 
> 
> There is nowhere near 10 million people from OKC in a 2:30 drive. Unless you are a speed demon, you barely reach the northern reaches of DFW in that time frame.


Lived in the Philly metro for 4 years I'm well aware of how many people live in the area. Those that say Dallas is close to Austin are pretty contradictory. Okc metro is actually closer by 4 miles. Also, I've made it to Dallas in 2.5 hrs numerous times.

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## Just the facts

We just had Florida Country Music Fest here in Jax a few weeks ago.  We had people from all over the country attend - I gave them a lot of Uber rides.  Fifth Third Bank even moved some employee meetings here so their employees could attend (I know because I took a couple of Cincinnati-based Fifth Third employees to the concert).

Performers included:

Luke Bryan
Jason Aldean
Eric Church
Miranda Lambert
Florida Georgia Line
Little Big Town
Big & Rich
Easton Corbin
Colt Ford
Joe Nichols 

See more at: Florida Country Superfest | | JaxEvents.comJaxEvents.com

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## warreng88

> Lived in the Philly metro for 4 years I'm well aware of how many people live in the area. *Those that say Dallas is close to Austin are pretty contradictory.* Okc metro is actually closer by 4 miles. Also, I've made it to Dallas in 2.5 hrs numerous times.


I understand that Dallas is closer to OKC than it is to Austin, but it is also a mental block from the Texan stand point that they could come to OKC to see a show, but then they would be traveling to Oklahoma, where they could go to ACL and keep everything in Texas. Not sure if that makes sense or not. But again, if the lineup were right, it wouldn't really matter where it was, people would still come from all over. Like bullbear said, think Gentlemen of the Road tour... If we could get artists that are so frequently playing the festival circuit like Outkast, Foo Fighters, Beck, Lorde, Foster the People, Weezer, Arcade Fire and Artic Monkeys, it could end up being a great show. Not sure even Dallas would top that.

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## Bullbear

> I understand that Dallas is closer to OKC than it is to Austin, but it is also a mental block from the Texan stand point that they could come to OKC to see a show, but then they would be traveling to Oklahoma, where they could go to ACL and keep everything in Texas. Not sure if that makes sense or not. But again, if the lineup were right, it wouldn't really matter where it was, people would still come from all over. Like bullbear said, think Gentlemen of the Road tour... If we could get artists that are so frequently playing the festival circuit like Outkast, Foo Fighters, Beck, Lorde, Foster the People, Weezer, Arcade Fire and Artic Monkeys, it could end up being a great show. Not sure even Dallas would top that.


OKC can definately pull a Dallas audience, but it will take a great lineup.

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## bchris02

> OKC can definately pull a Dallas audience, but it will take a great lineup.


It could, but is there any promoter here that can make it happen?  OKC takes a back seat (and a very far backseat at that) to Tulsa when it comes to getting big-name current acts.  OKC is a long, long way from being able to pull such an event off in my opinion.

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## OSUFan

I ask this not knowing the answer. Does OKC fall behind getting big acts because of the availability of the arena? Maybe I just didn't pay attention but I never remember Tulsa being much more of a draw for the big concerts before the Thunder came. I imagine having the arena tied up as much as we do for the NBA hurts our ability at some concerts.

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## Bullbear

> I ask this not knowing the answer. Does OKC fall behind getting big acts because of the availability of the arena? Maybe I just didn't pay attention but I never remember Tulsa being much more of a draw for the big concerts before the Thunder came. I imagine having the arena tied up as much as we do for the NBA hurts our ability at some concerts.



It does hurt the availability and SMG manages both facilities BOK and the Peake.. however we lack a good promoter as well to aggressively book acts as well in my opinion.

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## warreng88

> It could, but is there any promoter here that can make it happen?  *OKC takes a back seat (and a very far backseat at that) to Tulsa when it comes to getting big-name current acts.*  OKC is a long, long way from being able to pull such an event off in my opinion.


Where specifically are you talking about? 

The DT Airpark is pulling in a lot of big name tours like Rascal Flatts and Sheryl Crow, the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival with Avenged Sevenfold, Korn and many others, the Summer Nationals Tour with The Offspring, Bad religion and Pennywise, Chicago and REO Speedwagon, The Mystik Sanctuary Festival with Bassnectar and Krewella and Foster the people. None of those acts are playing Tulsa this year, at least that has been announced. 

The Zoo Amphitheatre is hosting Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss, Fall out boy and Paramore, ZZ top and Jeff Beck, Panic! at the disco and the Rockstar energy drink uproar festival with Godsmack, Seether, Buckcherry and others. 

The Peake is hosting Steely Dan, Michael Buble, James Taylor, Motley Crue and Alice Cooper, Five Finger Death punch and Volbeat and Justin timberlake. 

The Diamond Ballroom is getting Machine Head, Blessthefall and Amon Amarth. 

The Conservatory and the Chameleon Room are getting a bunch of acts I have never heard of. I think, over time, the Chevy BT Events Center will become our hybrid Cain's Ballroom/Brady Theatre. 

I really hate the idea that Tulsa gets all the great big name current acts when we get different acts and do it well. Tulsa used to host Edgefest every year which all the current hard rock bands loved to play and now it has been replaced by Rocklahoma which feeds off of Rock on the Range, Rockfest, Carolina Rebellion, Welcome to Rockville and Fort Rock. 

Rocklahoma had Five Finger Death Punch, Staind, Kid Rock, Twisted Sister, Deftones and Motorhead as the headliners. 

Rock on the Range had GNR, Staind, Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock and Five Finger Death Punch as headliners. 

Carolina rebellion had Avenged Sevenfold, Rob Zombie, Five finger Death Punch and Kid Rock as headliners. 

Rockfest had Sammy Hagar, Five Finger Death Punch, Aerosmith and Rob Zombie as headliners. 

Welcome to Rockville had Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death punch, Korn and Rob Zombie as headliners. 

Do you see a pattern here? A lot of the acts are playing the same set at a different festival that is set up by the same company.

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## bchris02

> I ask this not knowing the answer. Does OKC fall behind getting big acts because of the availability of the arena? Maybe I just didn't pay attention but I never remember Tulsa being much more of a draw for the big concerts before the Thunder came. I imagine having the arena tied up as much as we do for the NBA hurts our ability at some concerts.


I think its because the same company manages both arenas.  They take no issue with simply funneling most concerts into Tulsa because they know most OKC residents will drive there without thinking twice.

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## Jeepnokc

Nine of the Best Summer Music Festivals Around the World - SmarterTravel.com

Best summer festivals according to smartertravel.com  Take it for what it is worth.

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## adaniel

> I ask this not knowing the answer. Does OKC fall behind getting big acts because of the availability of the arena? Maybe I just didn't pay attention but I never remember Tulsa being much more of a draw for the big concerts before the Thunder came. I imagine having the arena tied up as much as we do for the NBA hurts our ability at some concerts.


In terms of bigger concerts, no. With that in mind concert bookings are bigger than just date availability. I stated this in a previous thread, but the Peake is much more profitable than the BOK because it has a major tenant. So if an act really isn't hellbent on performing in OKC, SMG will typically steer them to the BOK. I would argue that the peake holds its own even with the Thunder, just looking at their calender.

IMO the advantage comes in the smaller venues. Cains, Brady Theatre, etc. They have more established promoters, compared to say the Diamond Ballroom. Tulsa also has 3 pretty big casinos in their city limits alone while OKC has zero. One advantage with them is they can thow cash at possible acts. FWIW I am completely opposed to casinos within OKC, but with that we do not have that ability.

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## Just the facts

> I ask this not knowing the answer. Does OKC fall behind getting big acts because of the availability of the arena? Maybe I just didn't pay attention but I never remember Tulsa being much more of a draw for the big concerts before the Thunder came. I imagine having the arena tied up as much as we do for the NBA hurts our ability at some concerts.


The arena in OKC has been under construction the last 3 off-seasons.

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## warreng88

I am curious what the lineup will be for this year. Cornett and Hall said last year they had plans for it going forward. I know these bands are available (via pollstar, they are either in the area or don’t have anything set in stone) and would be a good mixture for festival with different genres. My idea would be for a Labor day weekend festival as most artists have a tour already scheduled through summer.

Saturday, September 5th: The Who, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Reverend Horton Heat, Yellowcard and Bowling for Soup
Sunday, September 6th: Imagine Dragons, Barenaked Ladies, George Clinton and the P-Funk all-stars and Avett Brothers
Monday, September 7th: Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker (Hootie) and Pat Green

This would give a little more variety to the lineup and almost specify a rock, pop and country night. But it would cost an arm and a leg, that's for sure.

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## bradh

Good Lord that's a hell of a lineup, probably a pipe dream but yeah that would be giant

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## gopokes88

> I am curious what the lineup will be for this year. Cornett and Hall said last year they had plans for it going forward. I know these bands are available (via pollstar, they are either in the area or don’t have anything set in stone) and would be a good mixture for festival with different genres. My idea would be for a Labor day weekend festival as most artists have a tour already scheduled through summer.
> 
> Saturday, September 5th: The Who, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Reverend Horton Heat, Yellowcard and Bowling for Soup
> Sunday, September 6th: Imagine Dragons, Barenaked Ladies, George Clinton and the P-Funk all-stars and Avett Brothers
> Monday, September 7th: Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker (Hootie) and Pat Green
> 
> This would give a little more variety to the lineup and almost specify a rock, pop and country night. But it would cost an arm and a leg, that's for sure.


LOL. There's no way in hell they are going to go against OU football home opener and the last lake weekend of the year. It should stay the exact same weekend it was to help people get into a rhythm and establish itself. There's a reason festivals don't change weekends.

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## warreng88

Ok, so the last one was on the third weekend in June. Using that same weekend, this is the unrealistic lineup I came up with:

Friday, June 26th: Aerosmith, Filter, Bowling for Soup and Reverend Horton Heat
Saturday, June 27th: Foster the People, No Doubt, Third Eye Blind and Kool and the Gang
Sunday, June 28th: Florida Georgia Line, Stoney LaRue, Reckless Kelly, Merle Haggard and Randy Rogers band.

Again, this specifies a rock, pop and country night and would be completely out of the rhelm of possibilities of booking all these people on a budget.

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## gopokes88

> Ok, so the last one was on the third weekend in June. Using that same weekend, this is the unrealistic lineup I came up with:
> 
> Friday, June 26th: Aerosmith, Filter, Bowling for Soup and Reverend Horton Heat
> Saturday, June 27th: Foster the People, No Doubt, Third Eye Blind and Kool and the Gang
> Sunday, June 28th: Florida Georgia Line, Stoney LaRue, Reckless Kelly, Merle Haggard and Randy Rogers band.
> 
> Again, this specifies a rock, pop and country night and would be completely out of the rhelm of possibilities of booking all these people on a budget.


I don't even care who they book I'll go regardless. I'm sure when the lineup is announced 75% of the board will complain and 25% will be happy, as per the norm on okctalk. 

I can promise you they are not going to try and compete against the other options on Labor Day.

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