Concerts

[Roadhawg]

I'm sure this has been posted before and I'm too lazy to search through all the posts... How come OKC doesn't get a lot of good concerts? The BOK in Tulsa seems to get more than OKC does. I know there have been several big name ones here but it just seems Tulsa gets more.

[onthestrip]

This has been discussed before but here are the reasons again:
A) Many of these acts have already come through OKC within the last several years. So instead of coming here again, they go to Tulsa, a new and willing market. I imagine the acts that went there last will come to OKC next time.
B) The arena has been unavailable for extended periods of time while undergoing renovations
C) The Thunder having 41 home dates can create scheduling conflicts.

I could care less about the acts that go to BOK, because as Ive said they have probably come through OKC in the last decade, I just want a portion of the acts that Cains gets.

[skyrick]

This has been discussed before but here are the reasons again:
A) Many of these acts have already come through OKC within the last several years. So instead of coming here again, they go to Tulsa, a new and willing market. I imagine the acts that went there last will come to OKC next time.
B) The arena has been unavailable for extended periods of time while undergoing renovations
C) The Thunder having 41 home dates can create scheduling conflicts.


I could care less about the acts that go to BOK, because as Ive said they have probably come through OKC in the last decade, I just want a portion of the acts that Cains gets.

Big acts only come through OKC once every several years? Must be a population or demographics thing. Dallas gets the Eagles annually; AC/DC twice in one year a couple of years ago. And this is just at AAC, which has NBA and NHL home games to schedule around.

Whatever happened to the Fairgrounds Arena, did they tear it down? What about Lloyd Noble, no concerts there anymore? Zoo Ampitheater? In the '70s and early '80s I remember going to big concerts at least monthly; seeing Yes, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake & Palmer; ZZ Top; Zappa; the Kinks; U2 and others multiple times over a period of several years, if not annually, at these venues.

[Snowman]

Must be a population or demographics thing.

That is it exactly, their are like 15 cities/regions in the US that most every tour will hit at some point after that it start depending on where their fan bases are, what promoters are offering and several other factors on where they can make money.

[bluedogok]

We get very few big tours here in Austin, they usually opt to play in San Antonio if they play somewhere other than Dallas or Houston. I saw Rush on the Snakes & Arrows tour a couple of years ago, it was the first time they had played Austin in something like 20 or so years. They are playing here again on the current tour as they are focusing again on the markets they played for many years before the trend of only playing larger markets became so prevalent. Years ago they used to alternate tours between OKC and Tulsa, of course, the Erwin Center is no Ford Center or BOK Arena.

They haven't had concerts much at Lloyd Noble since the early 90's. I heard that the LNC manager in the 80's was pretty aggressive going after shows and would routinely bid under the Myriad rental, only the bigger tours played the Myriad since it held a few thousand more. The only ones that I went to at LNC in the late 90's/early 00's was Melissa Etheridge and Third Day.

[Easy180]

Much prefer the bands that play at Cains as well...Gaga and Bieber can stay up da turnpike

[dismayed]

We have very few small and medium-sized venues. I can think of two that consistently have national acts... Conservatory, and the Diamond Ballroom. That's part of the problem. I think the other part of the problem is that the airwaves here are really strange. The only station that really caters to the demos that typically go to a lot of concerts is a pop station... so I am not really sure where one advertises if they are a *modern* rock band.

[MikeLucky]

Big acts only come through OKC once every several years? Must be a population or demographics thing. Dallas gets the Eagles annually; AC/DC twice in one year a couple of years ago. And this is just at AAC, which has NBA and NHL home games to schedule around.

Whatever happened to the Fairgrounds Arena, did they tear it down? What about Lloyd Noble, no concerts there anymore? Zoo Ampitheater? In the '70s and early '80s I remember going to big concerts at least monthly; seeing Yes, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake & Palmer; ZZ Top; Zappa; the Kinks; U2 and others multiple times over a period of several years, if not annually, at these venues.

Well, first off... you can't compare OKC to Dallas. lol. DFW is the 6th largest metro area in the US, so of course they get more acts than we do.

And secondly, there isn't really a shortage of concerts in OKC. Quite the opposite in fact...

Eagles and AC/DC???? lol. Do you really need to see THEM every year????

You need to view Oklahoma as one concert destination... becuase that's kind of how the promoters seem to view it. Between OKC (OKC Arena, Coca-Cola Events Center, Zoo Amp, and Diamond Ballroom), Tulsa (Cains and BOK), and Rocklahoma in Pryor.... we have a pretty great sprectrum of all the best acts in the country.

[Lord Helmet]

Much prefer the bands that play at Cains as well...Gaga and Bieber can stay up da turnpike

Amen. Tulsa gets the best shows simply due to the history of Cains Ballroom. No venue like that anywhere in OKC.

[OkieHornet]

i don't mind making the drive to tulsa to see someone special, especially at cain's. so many of the bands that play there know the history and seem to step it up when they play the historic venue. wilco a few years ago comes to mind specifically...

UCO's academy of contemporary music venue in bricktown is drawing some good names to play there - mountain goats, dr. dog, the sword, heartless bastards, black angels... but i think they probably would've played here anyway, either at conservatory or opolis.

bok's getting a lot of the big names because it's fairly new and promoters hit it pretty hard. it happened with the ford center when it opened - rolling stones, mccartney, eagles, elton john/billy joel, britney spears...

i like the vibe of the diamond ballroom, but man, it's in the middle of nowhere.

[RadioOKC]

Agreed with everyone here. On Zoo Amp, it's pretty much the same ole. Couple of Mayhem tours, Heart/Journey, Tim McGraw, Red Dirt Day. Cains is great. I would love to see someone do a venue in OKC like The Granada Theater in Dallas. It's a good mix of shows.

Chris
http://www.radiookc.com

[mark]

steely dan at brady's theater on july 12th. another one in tulsa because we don't have a nice theater in the city.

[OkieHornet]

that's not true. we've got a nice 2000-seat theater - steely dan would've been a perfect show for the civic center. i do think they're playing tulsa instead of okc because of the show at winstar in thackerville (too close to okc).

is the civic center leery of the crowds that would show up for a rock concert? i know they've had some since the remodel - coldplay, joe bonamassa, and some others i can't recall off the top of my head.

i can understand not bringing in some heavier acts, but steely dan's fans shouldn't scare anyone.

lucky star and first council casinos are getting a bunch of oldies lately (bret michaels, meatloaf, crosby/nash, moody blues). riverwind's concert scene seems to have dried up... winstar in thackerville's getting a bunch of shows, and big names too - kid rock, duran duran, robert cray, steely dan, tim mcgraw.

[skyrick]

Eagles and AC/DC???? lol. Do you really need to see THEM every year????

Nope not me, just replying to "big acts every several years". They are "big" as far as guaranteed butts in every seat.

[bluedogok]

We have very few small and medium-sized venues. I can think of two that consistently have national acts... Conservatory, and the Diamond Ballroom. That's part of the problem. I think the other part of the problem is that the airwaves here are really strange. The only station that really caters to the demos that typically go to a lot of concerts is a pop station... so I am not really sure where one advertises if they are a *modern* rock band.

The lack of decent mid-sized venues has always been an issue in OKC. There was a short period where they had concerts at the old Quicksilver's (NW 10th & MacArthur), I think it was known as The Roxy at the time). I saw Dream Theater/Fates Warning, Kansas, Molly Hatchet, Motley Crue (w/ John Corabi) and others and the tickets were at reasonable prices compared to arena shows. That is how country has made it for years, the large bars help keep the ticket prices lower than normal, I would hope the casinos could do the same thing. Riverwind should be able to have decent venue and get good crowds there.

[SoonerQueen]

The WinStar casino gets a lot of the best acts. Oklahoma City just isn't getting them.I like the BOK way better than the OKC arena, but since I live in OKC, I don't get up to Tulsa much. I'm amazed at the shows that go to WinStar.

[lake hefner breeze]

I don't understand why more bands don't come to the Coca-Cola Bricktown Events Center. There have been some good concerts there in the past but from looking at their website not much is going on. Go here: http://www.brewerentertainment.com/events.asp and click on the event calendar. It's empty. If I'm missing something they shouldn't make it so hard to find. Crappy acoustics aside, this should be the go-to venue in OKC for bands that can draw enough to pay the rent. Great parking, safe environment, easy access, upscale restaurants nearby (except IHOP, but it is a nice one), plus there is a clean; urban feel to the area. I guess the capacity is just too high or they charge too much to rent it. I know that 'Sound Tribe Sector Nine' was scheduled to play there but was cancelled due to an illness in the band. I wonder how that was selling.

For my money though, the best place to see a concert in OKC is the Civic Center. Coldplay in 2003 there was perfect all around.

[Easy180]

I just don't see many Cains bands wanting to play in the fancy shmancy Civic Center

[bluedogok]

I just don't see many Cains bands wanting to play in the fancy shmancy Civic Center

Nope, it really isn't the venue for rock bands.

I have never really heard good things about the Bricktown Events Center, I did think they would have many more shows than I had seen there before I moved. Crappy acoustics will keep a some acts from playing in a venue, word of bad acoustics gets around. I saw a show once at one of the exhibit halls in The Myriad (when it was still The Myriad), once you got past the 15th row you had the sound bounce back from the concrete block wall behind the crowd, it made the show pretty much unbearable. There are things you can do to make acoustics better, it just takes some engineering fees (acoustical consultant) and money to put the acoustic modifications in place. In the overall scheme of things it is something that is rather inexpensive to create a much better environment for the listener....but then the owner has to care about such things.

[lake hefner breeze]

I just don't see many Cains bands wanting to play in the fancy shmancy Civic Center

That is just stupid.

Any band that is at the level of playing at Cain's is either there because they are on their way up or on their way down. Who are these bands you speak of that wouldn't want to play in a "fancy shmancy" place? Name one. Because if they could they would.

And don't come at me with the legendaryness of Cain's. I know all about it. Just because a band finds it cool that the Sex Pistols played there doesn't mean that that is the only type of venue they are interested in playing at.

[lake hefner breeze]

Nope, it really isn't the venue for rock bands.


I have never really heard good things about the Bricktown Events Center,

It's not the venue that makes a great "rock" show. It's the band. I've seen great shows in parking lots, in warehouses, and in nice places like the Civic Center, too.

Rock snob elitism is boring.

I've been to concerts at the events center and aside from some acoustical problems (which most wouldn't notice or mind) it is a cool place to see a show.

[TheTravellers]

I've been to concerts at the events center and aside from some acoustical problems (which most wouldn't notice or mind)...

I find this to be untrue - quite a few people do notice and mind if there are sound problems and there are some that won't go back to a place with bad acoustics after having been there once. And bands certainly notice and mind if they sound bad while playing in one of those venues.

As far as comparing the Civic Center to Cain's - it's *very* similar to comparing the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago to Martyr's. One has seats and politely clapping patrons with a little bit of energy and the other has people standing (and some sitting at tables), clapping loudly with lots of energy. I've seen a guitarist play both places in Chicago and he really didn't like playing at Old Town - he said it was too stuffy, he feeds off the energy of the crowd, etc. Way back, I saw a few bands at the Civic Center, but it wasn't the ideal place to see a band.

[Easy180]

All about the seats and atmosphere...Just don't see Gov't Mule,STS9, Umphrey's McGee playing in the civic center...Not saying they never would but it isn't really a place that jam bands and many other Cains bands would seek out...I am sure if the money was right they would make it work but it wouldn't be high on their list

[Matt]

What's the "adult beverage" situation at the Civic Center? Do they allow beer in the auditorium? The only show I've seen there since the remodel was Coldplay and I don't remember seeing any beer during that show, but that was a long time ago.

If they don't, that may also be a factor in the difference of the atmospheres of the CC and places like Cain's and Bricktown Events Center.

[RadioOKC]

I'm not sure the Civic Center would be too receptive to some of the bands mentioned here playing there. I think bands are
pretty open to play anywhere there is cash especially in today's economy. Not sure that they would like it if something got messed up and put them in a bind with Celebrity and the Broadway series.

Chris
www.radiookc.com