Resonant Head

[SEMIweather]

New music venue, bar, and kitchen coming to Capitol Hill in April 2023, located at the SW corner of SW 25th & Hudson in the old Oklahoma Opry snack bar space. Looks like they already have about half a dozen good shows lined up, mostly with one touring band headlining and then a couple of local bands opening. I’ve become very frustrated with how a few touring venues in OKC have recently started to be run, so it’s nice to see a positive development in that regard, and also exciting to see some more forward movement in Capitol Hill which I think has as much untapped potential as any part of the city.

[SEMIweather]

First show is on Friday and is already sold out. Many other good shows scheduled thereafter: https://www.resonanthead.com/

[TheTravellers]

First show is on Friday and is already sold out. Many other good shows scheduled thereafter: https://www.resonanthead.com/

Crap website design, no links to band info, just a list (and no ticket prices unless you click on the "buy" link). I've only heard of one band (I'm not up to speed on local bands), and would be interested in at least knowing about the rest, but I'm not gonna copy/paste every band name into a search engine in a new tab just to find out about them. See, I hate other websites just as much as I hate Sauced's. Glad there's a new venue, would be nice to see pics of it on the website too.

[jccouger]

Crap website design, no links to band info, just a list (and no ticket prices unless you click on the "buy" link). I've only heard of one band (I'm not up to speed on local bands), and would be interested in at least knowing about the rest, but I'm not gonna copy/paste every band name into a search engine in a new tab just to find out about them. See, I hate other websites just as much as I hate Sauced's. Glad there's a new venue, would be nice to see pics of it on the website too.

Are you on mobile or desktop? Literally everything you complained about is available on desktop. You literally just have to click the bands picture and it brings up their bio. Click "tickets" and pricing comes up.

[TheTravellers]

Are you on mobile or desktop? Literally everything you complained about is available on desktop. You literally just have to click the bands picture and it brings up their bio. Click "tickets" and pricing comes up.

Desktop, but didn't click on the band pics, that's the one thing I didn't mouse over, my bad. All the other venues I frequent here have the band name text as a link too, so I'm used to clicking on the name.

[soonerguru]

Yes the mobile site leaves something to be desired

[soonerguru]

I got to check out this space recently and I will go on record to say it's my favorite small music venue / bar space in OKC. They really did everything right for this, AND, there is potential growth because the ownership group has access to renovate the adjacent 800-seat theatre. Capitol Hill looks like it's about to pop.

[jccouger]

I got to check out this space recently and I will go on record to say it's my favorite small music venue / bar space in OKC. They really did everything right for this, AND, there is potential growth because the ownership group has access to renovate the adjacent 800-seat theatre. Capitol Hill looks like it's about to pop.

Great to hear. Tickets are so cheap might go to just check out a random band to see how it looks.

[soonerguru]

Great to hear. Tickets are so cheap might go to just check out a random band to see how it looks.

I went to a free show with cheap cocktails. Really brilliant marketing that is paying off because they are getting the crowd they want into the room.

It’s smaller than Beer City but way cooler and more intimate. The design finishes and vibe are also much more in the zone.

[amocore]

I thought it was just a small concert hall but it is actually a bar opens every day except Monday from 3pm.
It is pretty courageous in this part of town and certainly something different from the rest of the area.
I’ll try it soon for a drink after work.

[SEMIweather]

Oklahoma Gazette article on this venue: https://www.okgazette.com/music/the-...-door-10913765

I have been to four shows here since they've opened, and I think it's a first class venue in every regard. The lighting and overall design is incredibly unique, and really makes the most of the space. It is very difficult to make any new venue stand out immediately, but this place has a sort of "eternal sunset in purgatory" vibe that's a perfect fit for the chill, dreamy types of bands that they seem to be trending towards booking most often. Acoustics are also excellent. Drink prices are good for a venue, IMO...standard cocktails are $7-$9 and specialty cocktails are $9-$11. Their house lager is $5 and definitely on par with Beer City's house lager, if not slightly better. As an above post mentioned, they are doing everything right to get good word-of-mouth from the 50-100 OKC indie scene diehards, while also creating a welcoming atmosphere for the much larger group of people who just like to catch one or two shows per month. This place reminds me a lot of 51st Street Speakeasy in that regard. It's perfect timing as OKC has really been yearning for a second venue that fills that niche. Post-COVID, there have been a lot of really talented local indie rock bands hitting their stride, as well as new ones immediately making their mark on the scene, but the Speakeasy has really been the only venue that consistently books indie rock shows with one touring band and 1-2 local openers. 89th Street, the Blue Note, and the Sanctuary all dabble from time to time but largely focus on other genres. Ponyboy had made some real inroads in the local indie scene before abruptly halting the vast majority of their programming a few months ago. Opolis is once again an excellent indie venue under their new co-operative ownership but the OKC and Norman indie scenes seem to really be growing into their own separate things (similarly to Dallas and Denton). All that to say, I think that Resonant Head has really positioned themselves well to fill a niche that should be large enough to allow them to succeed.

[Hypon]

I really appreciate your insight here, SEMI!

[SEMIweather]

I really appreciate your insight here, SEMI!

No problem. The local music scene is probably the one corner of OKC that I'm involved enough in to feel comfortable offering up detailed opinions of new happenings (not that I don't also try putting in my two cents worth into some of the other threads on this board, lol). In any case, I really do like what I'm seeing from this venue so far and think that it's an important addition to an already burgeoning local scene. There have already been a couple of local bands (Husbands and Chat Pile) that have really broken out nationally in the last year or two, with at least one more that seems likely to do so once they release their debut album later this year (Mad Honey). Beyond that, as I mentioned above, there are quite literally dozens of other bands based out of OKC and Norman that are consistently putting together fantastic live sets at the moment. I think the touring scene is better than ever as well, I mentioned most of the DIY touring venues above but even beyond that, the Criterion and Jones Assembly are consistently bringing in more established bands as well. I'm admittedly still quite bitter about a lot of the changes that the Tower group has made over the past few months, but objectively speaking it does seem like they've successfully pivoted to their new business model and are still booking a lot of good up-and-coming bands. All in all, it's definitely an exciting time to be an OKC music fan. Feels like a lot of promising local bands that would have taken off for Austin or Nashville 5-10 years ago are instead choosing to stick around and build a following in a city with a lower cost of living where more and more people are getting invested in the local scene. On the touring level, it seems like we finally have dedicated venues at most of the important capacity levels. (51st Street Speakeasy, Blue Door, Blue Note, Opolis, The Sanctuary at 100 cap. Resonant Head at 250 cap. 89th Street and Beer City at 500 cap. Tower at 1000 cap. Jones Assembly at 1500 cap. Criterion at 4000 cap.) Really, all we still need is something on par with the Toyota Music Factory down in Dallas. Would be a dream if something like that venue eventually came to fruition in Chisholm Creek, I think that would be the perfect spot for it.

[soonerguru]

Man I can't believed Resonant Head's cap is 250. Pretty awesome. Great review and comments as well, SEMI.

[SEMIweather]

Man I can't believed Resonant Head's cap is 250. Pretty awesome. Great review and comments as well, SEMI.

Thanks. I'm going off of the blurb on their website in terms of the capacity. It does seem smaller than 250 but they do have a lot of room off to the side (though I'd still advise getting there early if/when a show is sold out as I'd imagine that side area doesn't have a great view of the stage). I didn't go to the Sports show that sold out there on opening night so I don't have an idea of just how jam-packed it gets when it's at full capacity. The four shows I've been to there have all had roughly 50-75 people in attendance. Would hope that they can ultimately average more than that once word of mouth really gets around but it's not a bad starting point. Towards the end of Ponyboy's run, they had some fantastic touring bands playing there with maybe a few dozen people in attendance at most (the Sloppy Jane and Ratboys shows at Ponyboy last October come to mind in particular).

They recently announced AJJ and Open Mike Eagle. Looking forward to that show.

That will be a good one. If anyone is wanting to check out a show without spending very much money on a ticket, I would recommend Audio Book Club, Coat, and Love Seats on Friday, June 2nd. Three excellent local bands and looks like ticket + fee is $11.

[baralheia]

If anyone is wanting to check out a show without spending very much money on a ticket, I would recommend Audio Book Club, Coat, and Love Seats on Friday, June 2nd. Three excellent local bands and looks like ticket + fee is $11.

Oooh yeah ABC is pretty dang excellent. Looks like they're also gonna have Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards, along with Ratf!nk, on Friday, June 16. Should be a pretty great show as well, and tickets for that one are only sightly more expensive - ticket & fee is $15.

Seriously considering grabbing tickets to both shows!

[soonerguru]

Towards the end of Ponyboy's run, they had some fantastic touring bands playing there with maybe a few dozen people in attendance at most (the Sloppy Jane and Ratboys shows at Ponyboy last October come to mind in particular).

It's unfortunate, but the layout of Ponyboy makes it a less-than-excellent place to see a live band. I've been to several shows and it just hasn't ever seemed to have the right vibe.

[jackirons]

They recently announced AJJ and Open Mike Eagle. Looking forward to that show.