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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...

October 22, 1994. Kansas at The Roxy. Ten dollars in advance. And according to Max, it was one of the best club shows he ever saw. Kansas was locked in that night. Tight, powerful, and the kind of live performance that gives you goosebumps while you’re standing there. Some shows are good. Some shows remind you why you started chasing music in the first place. That was one of them. Fast forward yea...

August 3, 2007. ZZ Top.  The Pretenders.  Stray Cats. That was one of those bills where every name on the flyer mattered. ZZ Top always delivers. The Pretenders are legends in their own right. But that night? Stray Cats stole the show. As many times as Max had seen ZZ Top, and even after seeing The Pretenders a few times, the Stray Cats came out and absolutely blistered the place. Brian Setzer and...

Before online presales, verified fan codes, and digital queues, you had to earn your concert tickets. Sometimes that meant camping outside in the snow. Max talks about waiting in line for Ozzy Osbourne tickets during the Randy Rhoads era with only a few people crazy enough to be out there. The police got called, Jim Dunn came out, and instead of just running them off, he realized they weren’t leav...

Max’s sister came to him with a job: two Taylor Swift tickets at AT&T Stadium. Not just any tickets either. They had to be good, because they were for the big boss. So Max called Ron. And Ron’s answer was exactly what you want to hear in that moment: “No problem. We’ll get it done. Don’t ask how. We’ll just get it done.” As the show got closer, Max had to drive down to Arlington, pay $60 just...

Powerman 5000, Static-X, and Dope at the Diamond Ballroom. 1,210 people. March 18, 2000. That was a hot bill for that moment. Powerman 5000 was moving. Static-X was on fire. Dope fit right in with that whole industrial, nu-metal, heavy radio wave that was taking over in 2000. At that point, 1,210 at the Diamond was probably a sellout or close to it. And then you fast forward 23 years. Powerman 500...

.The first time seeing Cheap Trick was when they opened for The Kinks, and even with The Kinks being legendary in their own right, Cheap Trick made a mark that never went away. Then the calendar keeps moving. September 27th — an alternative show at the Student Union Ballroom with The Judybats, Rob Rule, and Vibralux. That was the kind of bill that lived in the college-radio lane, where smaller roo...

Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, & Ray Price — Last of the Breed Tour August 17, 2007. The Zoo Amphitheatre. Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price on the Last of the Breed Tour. That wasn’t just a concert. That was country music history standing on one stage. Three legends. Three voices. Three completely different lanes of American music, all tied together by time, songs, and respect. It wa...

When you’ve seen The Rolling Stones as many times as Max has, picking one favorite show is almost impossible. Every one is different. Different stage. Different songs. Different city. Different people with you. Some shows hit because of the performance. Some hit because of the moment around it. But if you had to narrow it down? Paris or the desert. Paris was unforgettable. Eiffel Tower in the rain...

Some guests would be cool to have on the podcast. This one would mean something different. After years of stories, Jeff finally got to meet Max’s mom, and even with all the stories he’d heard, it still hit different. Then came Max Baker Sr. Stories started flowing, and the room knew right away there was history there. Max says having his dad on the podcast would be the biggest gift anyone could ev...

June 14, 2000. Disturbed was still in that early Sickness era, and the package came through twice. The Other Side in Tulsa.  The Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City. The lineup was stacked for that moment: Disturbed.  Deadlights.  Apartment 26.  Workhorse Movement.  Underside in Tulsa.  Element in Oklahoma City. Looking back, that bill should have been a monster. The Diamond show had 258 people. Not...

Max drove a wrecker. If he made a little money, he put it right back into the next show, the next ticket buy, the next opportunity. That was the cycle. It started young. At 14, he bought his own motorcycle and turned it into his motocross bike. He learned early how to work, how to build credit, and how to walk into a bank with a plan. If Fleetwood Mac was coming through on the Tusk tour, he’d go t...