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Arlo Guthrie, Leon Russell, & Presidents of The United States January 17th was Arlo Guthrie at City Blues, and it ended up being the very last show at that venue. Then February 23rd, Leon Russell played The Boar’s Head, marking part of that shift north in the Oklahoma concert scene. A few days later, February 27th, Presidents of the United States of America played the Diamond Ballroom. 1,095 p...

Rob Zombie at the Zoo Amphitheatre became legendary before he even hit the stage. The story goes that he paid a $10,000 fine up front so he could say whatever he wanted during the show. Then he walked out and did exactly that. He told the crowd he was there to rock, be loud, and say what he wanted because he had already paid for it. Some people might call that a waste of money. But in rock and rol...

Reba, Brooks & Dunn, Metallica, & COC May 1997 had a wild mix of shows in Oklahoma. May 8th, Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire played The Myriad. That was a huge country bill for that era. Then May 11th went in a completely different direction. Reverend Horton Heat played The Boar’s Head, while Metallica and Corrosion of Conformity played The Myriad Gardens on the Poor Touring Me tour. T...

October 14th brought Prong, Clutch, and Drown.  October had a strong run of shows at The Roxy. That was one of those snap-your-fingers kind of lineups. Heavy, tight, and a great deal at only $8 in advance or $10 day of show. And Clutch for ten bucks? Money well spent. The very next night, The Roxy flipped into southern rock mode with Molly Hatchet. Seven dollars. Danny Joe Brown was still with the...

RATT, Steven Pearcy, & Scott Johnson RATT at In Cahoots June 17th, 1997, Oklahoma City That venue tells part of the story. By the late 90s, some of the 80s hair metal bands were in their lean years, playing rooms people might not expect. In Cahoots was a country bar. But RATT still did not disappoint. The show had Warren DeMartini and Robbie Crane in the lineup, Hair of the Dog as special gues...

KISS and Aerosmith at the Ford Center. 15,000 people. With a production that big, the stage had to be pushed up, nobody sat behind it, and there were no restricted-view seats sold. So 15,000 in that setup was basically a sellout. That bill was massive. KISS and Aerosmith together made sense. Big songs, big production, and a packed arena. Then the conversation turned to Ace Frehley and Peter Criss...

October 2003 had a loud run of shows. October 20th, Dropkick Murphys and The Casualties played the Diamond Ballroom with 473 people in the room. That number feels low now, but back in 2003, Dropkick Murphys were still building their crowd. Then there was Static-X at Cain’s Ballroom with Soil, Scrape, and Twisted Method. Wayne Static always brought that industrial metal energy, and that show was a...

John Mayer Show & Drowning Pool With Saliva Show February 2007 had two completely different shows back to back. One night was John Mayer at the Cox Convention Center. Max says he did not really pay much attention to Mayer at first, but that changed after seeing him play with legends like Eric Clapton, J.J. Cale, and B.B. King. That was the moment he realized John Mayer could really rip. Then t...

December 14, 2003 was a loaded night in Oklahoma City. At the Bricktown Event Center, it was All American Rejects, Something Corporate, Blue October, and Headroom. All American Rejects were taking off, Blue October was on the bill, and Headroom brought in the local side. But across town at the Ford Center, KISS and Aerosmith were playing the same night. And here is the trivia. That OKC show was ju...

Ace Frehley At The Diamond & Tyler, Texas Ace Frehley at the Diamond Ballroom was one of those shows that should have had way more people in the room. The show was amazing. But hardly anybody was there. It was around 2008, and even with a light crowd, Ace still brought it. Then years later, there was another wild Ace Frehley memory in Tyler, Texas. Ace Frehley and Enuff Z’Nuff played inside a...

Early 2007 had two very different rock shows back to back. One night had 3 Days Grace, Buckcherry, and Red. Buckcherry was making the rounds, Red was still tied strongly to the Christian rock scene, and 3 Days Grace still had Adam Gontier in the band. But the next night was the one Jay really remembered. February 2, 2007. Slayer and Unearth at the Bricktown Event Center. No local opener. Just Unea...

Roar Festival hit the Zoo Amphitheatre on July 8, 1997, with a stacked lineup. Gravity Kills, Sugar Ray, Sevendust, Bloodhound Gang, Iggy Pop, Sponge, Reverend Horton Heat, and The Nixons. Tickets were only $15. The first half of the bill almost felt like a TVT Records tour, with Gravity Kills, Sevendust, and Bloodhound Gang all tied into that same scene. But the wild story happened the day before...

Making Tee Times For Alice Cooper Jay tells this one from the Zoo meet and greet. He had been working Sports Animal radio stuff all day and was wearing a Masters hat from Craig Humphreys. Craig goes to Augusta every year, broadcasts live, and brings back official Masters hats for the station. They call it Masters Christmas Day. Later, Jay is backstage wearing the hat, and the guys in Slayer lock i...

Mushroomhead, Avenged Sevenfold, and The Agony Scene played the Diamond Ballroom. November 29, 2003. 452 people showed up. Tickets were $19. And Avenged Sevenfold? They were only $100 as an add-on. At the time, nobody knew what that band would become. They were just routing through, added to the bill, and playing in front of a few hundred people. The Agony Scene was also on the show, coming out of...

There Were A Couple Of Times... Some shows had bigger reputations than actual problems. Marilyn Manson, ICP, and the Juggalos all came with a lot of hype, but most of the time the crowd was not the issue people expected. When ICP came through, even the police knew the deal. Let the Juggalos do their thing, keep an eye on it, and do not go looking for trouble. That same idea showed up at the Gather...

KISS at the Civic Center with Mountain Smoke. March 4, 1976. This was the first time Max ever saw KISS, and it was also the first time he camped out for tickets. He ended up third row. Mountain Smoke was on the bill, which included Vince Gill before he became a country music legend. That night, Vince got booed by a KISS crowd that was not there for bluegrass. Max and his friend Ronnie Thomas even...

Dokken Concert With All Original Members July 29th at The Brink in Tulsa. Dokken played the Dysfunctional Tour with the original lineup: Don Dokken, George Lynch, Jeff Pilson, and Mick Brown. The Brink was a Brookside club better known as a dance club and cover-band room, but that night it had original Dokken on stage. KMOD presented the show, and tickets were only $13 in advance or $15 at the doo...

Tech N9ne has played the Diamond Ballroom so many times, he might be one of the most frequent artists to ever hit that room. Headlining, opening, coming back again and again, Tech built a serious history there. But one part of his show started getting extra attention. Some local police officers heard about the “Areola” song, and when Tech came to town, a few of them would show up just to watch it....

Jack White, Loretta Lynn, & Wanda Jackson Some shows become legendary before anyone realizes it. The White Stripes at the Bricktown Event Center was one of those nights. They had played the Green Door before that, and somehow half of Oklahoma City claims they were inside that tiny room. But the Bricktown Event Center show was the one that really put a stamp on that year. Max had seen The White...

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...