HINT: There are some venues that provide great alternatives to beat the heat!
Are you visiting Hell or OKC?
Let’s face it, the Midwest and South are just miserable places to be from May to October. Oklahoma City gets about a week of spring and a week of fall. In between is what we call the endless sauna. It’s just brutal here….except for that one single day in July or August where the temperature freakishly dips to 76 degrees and the wind only blows about 25 mph; the operative phrase being one single day!
Standing outside for hours upon hours at a concert is just not fun. But alas, there are some alternatives venues hosting some great acts coming to OKC! A couple of new venues have opened up to make your concert going experience is bearable this summer.
Beer City is a great new venue with a fantastic “grassed in” patio where you can grab a drink and wait for the show to start. I shot the One Two Ten Farewell Show at this venue last weekend. It’s standing room only, but it ‘s a fantastic venue with a great permanent sound system and spectacular lighting, at least from a photography perspective. What makes this venue great is watching local acts that can’t afford to buy or rent that type of sound or lighting.
While not new, per se, the Jones Assembly is a great place to see a show, especially if you have the wallet to pay for reserved seating and waitress service. Jones brings in major international touring acts that might not be able to sell enough tickets for the Paycom Center. And the best part is the dual room setup. They open the huge garage doors and allow the crowd to experience indoors and outdoors at the same time.
I’ve gone ahead and listed some shows coming to the Zoo Amphitheater because some of you actually do want to stand in the heat. While I really hate working in the heat…or just opening the front door and feeling any part of it…some fun shows are coming to the Zoo that might be worth it. I will be shooting the Black Crowes show on probably the hottest day of the year. So if you’re out there, run down to the pit during the first three songs and toss me a cold beer.
Summer Shows in OKC
- 6/18/2022 – Broncho, Labrys, & Twiggs – Tower Theater
- 6/25/2022 – ZZ Top – Zoo Amphitheater (outdoors)
- 6/26/2022 – Cannons w/ Windser- Beer City Music Hall
- 6/27/2022 – Pale Waves w/ Gatlin- Beer City Music Hall
- 7/19/2022 – Kendrick Lamar – Paycom Center
- 7/21/2022 – James Taylor – Paycom Center
- 7/30/2022 – Rise Against – Criterion
- 8/1/2022 – Third Eye Blind – Zoo Amphitheater (outdoors)
- 8/1//2022 – Strfkr – Tower Theater
- 8/2/2022 – Bowling For Soup – Tower Theater
- 8/6/2022 – The Head and the Heart – Criterion
- 8/8/2022 – Father John Misty – Criterion
- 8/9/2022 – Halestorm – Zoo Amphitheater (outdoors)
- 8/14/2022 – Local Natives – Jones Assembly
- 8/20/2022 – My Chemical Romance – Paycom Center
- 8/24/2022 – The Black Crowes – Zoo Amphitheater (outdoors)
These are just some of the summer shows coming to the city. I will post more in the coming months, especially for the fall shows where the weather gets nice (other than 30 mph winds).
Get out and see some live music this year. COVID is almost a thing of the past and the crowds are building. Plus, most of these venues have great drinks, even though the lines might be long. No more are the days of watered down Bud Light or Coors!
