No place within 50 miles of Stillwater houses big name bands on a consistent basis. We desperately need someone to rescue us and build us a decent concert venue.
Don’t get me wrong, I love those places that host local gigs like Vault Video and Eskimo Joe’s, but we need something that will bring us the higher profile bands.
I am forced to trek to Tulsa or Oklahoma City any time I want to see a decent show. Every time I go to Tulsa for a concert, I hate it. Cain’s Ballroom is the trashiest venue in the state. It is like going to a bar that just happens to have Ryan Adams playing. I will never forget the people loudly chatting in the middle of the set.
Last week, Tulsa’s Brady Theatre wasn’t much better. The atmosphere was way better and nicer, but the concertgoers are just idiots. Seriously, where does Tulsa find its people?
The Swell Season, the band from the movie “Once,” was performing, and front man Glen Hansard was trying to explain the meaning of the upcoming song. Some lady had the nerve to loudly interrupt him with rude comments.
“No one cares, and we’ve heard that story before,” she yelled. She actually said that to a man on stage singing his heart out. Gladly, Hansard told the woman to shut up.
Simply put, Tulsans need to learn how to attend concerts. They are ruining my experience.
Tulsa has three major venues, including the new BOK Center, which opened a month and a half ago and has featured the Eagles and Lil’ Wayne.
Oklahoma City has five major venues — Bricktown Events Center, Ford Center, Zoo Amphitheater, Diamond Ballroom and Farmers Market. All these places host big bands and draw large crowds.
Granted, Tulsa and Oklahoma City are huge markets, while Stillwater has a tenth the population of OKC. Other college towns manage to host decent concerts.
The University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond has a variety of concerts a year, other than the annual homecoming celebration. They had Ben Kweller just last week for no reason other than to have a concert.
Stillwater’s biggest venue, The Tumbleweed, resurrected Lynyrd Skynyrd from the grave a few years ago and hasn’t done anything since. Unless, of course, you count some of the country acts they try to pass as legitimate.
I think Stillwater has plenty of people that would go out to see their favorite bands perform. Some of the shows I’ve seen in Tulsa had less than 1,000 people. We need an Orange Peel once a month, but one with a talented cast that people would actually want to see.
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Totally . . . bands . . . venues . . . Tulsa . . . stuff . . . right on, bro
Yea, Cain’s sucks so much dude, it isn’t historical or anything like that. I don’t understand how you can think Cain’s sucks. They charge decent prices for their beer when they have a show, and their venue all in all is pretty damn good. I have been to a lot of concerts all over the U.S., minus Hawaii and Alaska, and the Cain’s is pretty much par for the course.
Why does Edmond get concerts and we don’t? Because Edmond is close enough to Oklahoma City, that the bands can still draw people who are not just college students.
Maybe the writer should stay in his small town; he iss obviously not used to the “big city.” The Cain’s is considered one of the best venues in the country. Beck recently claimed that the Cain’s is his favorite venue in the United States. Loretta Lynn, a few years back suffering pneumonia, canceled her entire tour that year save for The Grand Ole Opre and the Cain’s, her two favorite venues. (I saw her show that year; it was awesome as she sang from a big magnificent chair.)
I was also at the Swell Season and the Lindsey Buckingham show afterwards, and the concert audiences were by far very appreciative. I sat near the stage for both shows. I don’t recall anything yelled out that terribly offended Glen, who could tell that some of the fans were a bit drunk. In fact, their website playedlastnite.com terms the Tulsa show a great success and I have downloaded the recording to the show. (Best concert souvenir ever.)
I agree sometimes audiences get on my nerves. The only fight I ever saw at a concert was at the Brady during a Tori Amos concert. (Ironic, huh?) But Tulsa has premier concerts sites that are noted nationwide and now the BOK is garnering attention.
Tulsans are proud of the Cains and Stillwater would be happy to have something like the Cains if given half the chance - or for that matter, the Brady — which got a few shoutouts during the concert from the audience and Glen Hansard too. I know I have the recording to prove it. He loved it and said so and you could tell he was not faking his sincerity. I’m sorry you didn’t.
We could always do like OU does in Norman and rent out Gallagher-Iba to host concerts. The Lloyd Noble Center often hosts concerts, sporting events, traveling shows, etc. And even better yet, that would let the university have another source of income besides Boon Pickens and the students. Heck, maybe we could have concerts that people would drive in from across the states to see (how many of us have driven to Texas or Kansas to see a show) and then make even more money since it wouldn’t just be for the students.
Just a thought.
i live in tulsa and have for most of my life(all of my concert going life) and i have to agree with you that alot of tulsans are terrible concert goers. more than once ive been in the pit at the cains and had someone get pissed at me for “getting in their space” which is absolutly mental.