I went to the Rodeo Opry in the Stockyards a couple of weeks ago to see a friend of mine perform. I expected an old, run down auditorium because it is in an old movie theater. I was pleasently suprised the building has been totally remodled and is really nice on the inside including a comfortable auditorium with nice chairs. The bathrooms were some of the nicest and cleanest in the city.

The show costs $12.00 for adults and I believe, $6.00 for children. It includes numerous local acts that perform between 2-4 songs, a good house band, and fun MC's. The night I went, Lynn Waggoner and Owen Pickard from KKNG 97.3 were the MC's and were a lot of fun. Owen also performed some songs admirabley. He is a talented guy. The shows are being broadcast on KSBI 52 at 8:00 Fridays and Sundays.

I was surprised at how much fun I had. I love live music venues including the Blue Door. The Rodeo Opry is another local live music venue I will visit in the future.

Bigray in Ok

I've seen a few from KSBI (well, I've seen dvr of the KSBI broadcast.) Not bad, but the broadcast values are a bit lacking. I'd probably enjoy it far more if I drove in for a performance.

I went to the Rodeo Opry again last night. Wanda Jackson was one of the performers. I had never seen her perform live before. At 73, she sounded great! I really enjoyed her performance. It's funny, I think she is more well known on the east coast and in Europe than she is in Oklahoma City. Bruce Springsteen is a huge fan. Until she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a couple of years ago I heard very little about her except seeing an occasional ad about a local church appearance. I am well versed in popular music from the 50's-90's but I had never heard one of her songs in my life until two years ago. I grew up listening to WKY, KOMA and other OKC stations from the 70's on and do not remember ever hearing one of her songs on local radio or anywhere else. Ironically, they played Lets Have a Party at the end of the Vegas Tuna show I saw two years ago in Dallas. That was the first time I had heard the song.

I have read a lot about her since and learned some things about her from the Hot Oklahoma Nights exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center. She has a new album called The Party Isn't Over that Jack White of the White Stripes produced. I have not heard all of the recording but what I have heard is good.

Bigray in Ok

I went to the Rodeo Opry again last night. Wanda Jackson was one of the performers. I had never seen her perform live before. At 73, she sounded great! I really enjoyed her performance. It's funny, I think she is more well known on the east coast and in Europe than she is in Oklahoma City. Bruce Springsteen is a huge fan. Until she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a couple of years ago I heard very little about her except seeing an occasional ad about a local church appearance. I am well versed in popular music from the 50's-90's but I had never heard one of her songs in my life until two years ago. I grew up listening to WKY, KOMA and other OKC stations from the 70's on and do not remember ever hearing one of her songs on local radio or anywhere else. Ironically, they played Lets Have a Party at the end of the Vegas Tuna show I saw two years ago in Dallas. That was the first time I had heard the song.

I have read a lot about her since and learned some things about her from the Hot Oklahoma Nights exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center. She has a new album called The Party Isn't Over that Jack White of the White Stripes produced. I have not heard all of the recording but what I have heard is good.

Bigray in Ok

I guess it depends on what age demographics you're looking at when saying she isn't well known in OKC. I listened to her when she first started recording so I know her work well and I think she is well respected here.

Here are a couple of examples of her recent work with Jack White:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzytDURM7dU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnULGVbhPcY

Is she as good as she was 50 years ago? No
Can she still deliver a great performance? Absolutely.