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Mudvayne The KATT’s “First Annual” Monster Ball Mudvayne headlined The KATT’s “First Annual” Monster Ball with V Shape Mind and Finger Tight on October 29, 2003 at the Bricktown Event Center. And yes, the show was sold out. But the real conversation turned into one of the great promoter rules of all time. Do not call your event the “first annual.” It has not become annual yet. You have to make it...

Gary Allan has been one of those artists Max has worked with year after year since 2004. Sometimes more than once a year. And there is a reason for that. Gary Allan is an incredible performer. You know what you are getting when he walks on stage. Ninety minutes to two hours of hits, a strong crowd, and a show that delivers every time. Back in 2007, Gary was hot. By 2024, he had moved into that cla...

The summer of 1997 had a little bit of everything. May 21st, Better Than Ezra played the Diamond Ballroom with The Boo Radleys. At that time, Better Than Ezra was riding high, and The Boo Radleys were a solid name on the bill too. Then June rolled in with a strange mix of shows. John Tesh at the Civic Center.  Reel Big Fish at Bricktown Live.  RATT at In Cahoots. Then came June 22nd. Matchbox 20 a...

Max had two KISS pinball machine glasses he wanted signed by the original members. Ace Frehley signed them at the Diamond Ballroom, then years later Max got Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons to sign Robin’s glass at Choctaw Casino. But Peter Criss was still the missing piece. Then Max found out Peter was appearing at Comic-Con, and his friend Danny Stanton was working as Peter’s manager and handler. T...

December 2003 had two wild shows just a few days apart. First, the show that did not happen on September 30th got rescheduled for December 6th at the Diamond Ballroom. Hatebreed.  Agnostic Front.  The Unseen.  Ringworm. 429 people in the room. $16 tickets. On a Saturday night. That is a heavy lineup. Hardcore, punk, metal, and a crowd ready to move. Looking back, it is wild to think about shows li...

Being deep in the Rolling Stones world opened a lot of doors. Max had the record store, he was plugged into the Stones network, and when big shows came through, people would show up. Collectors. Fans. Hustlers. Road people. Everybody had something. One day, these guys came into the store with bootleg Rolling Stones shirts. And they were badass. White long sleeve shirts, nothing like Max had seen b...

MXPX, The Hippos, and Ghoti Hook at the Diamond Ballroom. That was a Tooth & Nail tour with a $12 ticket, and for that era, that lineup made perfect sense. Punk rock, ska-punk, Christian punk, and that late-90s scene all packed into one night. The Hippos were on the bill.  Ghoti Hook was on the bill.  MXPX was leading the charge. And somehow, the date almost slipped through the cracks. That is...

Baby Bash Hates His Limo, Borrows Some Guy’s Limo Some runner stories go sideways before the artist even gets to the venue. This one started at the Sheraton by Bricktown Event Center. Baby Bash wanted a stretch limo. Not a regular runner vehicle.  Not a normal ride.  A stretch limo. So Max gets sent over there with a long stretch Jeep limo, thinking that should handle it. It did not. Baby Bash cam...

The Wallflowers were huge at this time. Jacob Dylan had his own thing going, the songs were strong, and for Max and Jeff, there was another layer to it. They both loved Bob Dylan, so getting the chance to meet Jacob Dylan after the show became a mission. But they still had to be professional. No fanboy stuff.  No crossing lines.  No making it weird. Jerry Bachman was running the show, Jerry Lewis...

The legendary Slipknot show at the Tower Theatre on January 11, 2000.  Next on the calendar was The Misfits with Speed Dealer and Element on January 14th, and that show was originally booked for the Tower Theatre too. But it could not happen there. So the show had to be moved to the Diamond Ballroom. That kind of move is never easy. When you change venues, you almost always lose ticket sales. Peop...

October 2003 at the Bricktown Event Center was stacked. October 3rd had AFI, Hot Water Music, and Bleeding Through. Sold out. That was one of those shows that reminds you how strong the Bricktown Event Center run really was. Big stage. Big sound. Big lights. The kind of room that could hold the energy of a show like AFI and make it feel massive. Looking back, there were a lot of great shows in tha...

March 1997 had two very different nights. March 14th, D Generation played Bricktown Live. Great band. Almost nobody there. The bill had D Generation, The Lunch Bunch, Lord High Octane, and The Camshaft Kings. It was a full package tour with no local support, and that made a difference. For a punk rock or glam-leaning rock show, a strong local opener could have helped bring people into the room. Bu...

Teenage Juggalo vs. Police Officer This ICP cancellation story somehow got even crazier. After the show was called off at The Myriad, a police officer came back inside covered in clown makeup. He said one of the Juggalos attacked him. Turns out it was a kid. Maybe 13, 14, or 15 years old. First concert rookie mistake, and it was a big one. The kid had been beating on the big glass windows after th...

Ween & Twiztid Shows Ween at the Diamond Ballroom in 2003. 701 people in the room. That one was underground, weird, and exactly what it needed to be. Ween had that cult following, the South Park connection, and songs that lived in their own strange little world. “Piss Up a Rope” was one of those moments. All-access pass. Poster. Diamond Ballroom energy. That was a good one. Then September 21st...

The Offspring at the Diamond Ballroom. October 15, 1997. Sold out. This was the Ixnay on the Hombre era, and The Offspring were huge. That mid-90s punk rock wave was rolling strong, and when they hit the Diamond, the room was packed. The Voodoo Glow Skulls were on the bill too, bringing that fast ska-punk energy that made the night even wilder. But backstage had its own story. There was a cool bac...

The Rolling Stones in 1981. Or as Max calls it, their first farewell tour. That week was unbelievable. Houston for two nights, then straight into Dallas for the Cotton Bowl shows. October 31st was rainy, but when they added November 1st, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful November day. Max saw The Stones four times that week. That alone is a story. But the part everybody remembers is...

November 1994 at The Roxy had a little bit of everything. First up was Pro-Pain, M.O.D., and Spud Monsters on November 5th. Great bands, but not a great turnout. That was one of those nights where the lineup was heavy, the names were solid, but the room just didn’t fill the way it needed to. Looking back, it felt like one of those early warning signs for The Roxy. You hit a dud, and in the club bu...

Steve Howe unplugged at The Roxy. November 11th. Or as Jeff remembers it, the show from hell. Everybody knew Steve Howe could play guitar. That was never the question. The man is a legend. But this night started rough before the show even had a chance to breathe. He and the tour manager pulled up in a Vega station wagon, and Jeff stepped forward like any promoter rep would. “I’m Jeff, I’m the prom...

November 2, 1994. Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. Nine Inch Nails.  Marilyn Manson.  Jim Rose Circus. That was the show of all shows. Jim Rose Circus was coming in hot from the Lollapalooza era, and at that time, it fit perfectly. Strange, wild, uncomfortable, and exactly what that crowd wanted. Then Marilyn Manson walks in during the Portrait of an American Family era. Before the full mainstream ex...

September 27th. Destiny’s Child at The Myriad. This one pops up in the middle of the conversation almost like a missing piece. Everybody is looking through the dates, trying to figure out why it isn’t listed, and then there it is. Destiny’s Child. Say My Name era. That was a major moment. Before Beyoncé became Beyoncé on the level we know now, Destiny’s Child was already a machine. Huge radio sing...

 February 12th at The Myriad. Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid. Cancellation number two. This one got all the way up to the doors. The band was in the building. Box office was ready. Ushers were ready. Merch was set up. The line was wrapped around The Myriad with Juggalos in full clown makeup downtown. Then the show fell apart. The setup was already strange. Hockey in the main hall. Fellowship of Ch...

Rob Halford Headlines Madd Maxx’s Metal Bash 2000 July 22, 2000. Rob Halford at the Diamond Ballroom. Madd Maxx’s Metal Bash. And yes, it was Max’s birthday party. 418 people in the room for the Metal God himself. For Max, this one hit different. Early Judas Priest meant everything to him. In the late 70s and 80s, he traveled all over to see Priest, so when David called and said he had a headliner...

May 2000 at the Diamond Ballroom was loaded. May 7th: Staind, Dope, and Primer 55. 1,034 people in the room. That was a strong $22 ticket. Staind was rising fast, Dope fit that heavy early-2000s lane, and Primer 55 brought the kind of energy that made them a perfect match for bands like Element. That whole show had the sound of the moment written all over it. Then three days later, May 10th, the D...

This was not your average radio giveaway. For the Last of the Breed Tour with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price, the promotion went full Oklahoma. There was an ag network sending reports to small-town AM radio stations across the state. Farm towns. Rural listeners. Country music people. The exact audience that understood how big this show really was. So the idea was simple and wild. Get...

This was one of those stretches where every flyer got heavier. Sevendust, Coal Chamber, Sepultura, and Downset. That lineup alone says everything about where heavy music was headed in 2000. Downset had a following. Sevendust was already becoming one of those bands people stayed loyal to for life. Then came Static-X, Taproot, Deadlights, and Slaves on Dope. That was the sound of the era. Industrial...