Every summer hundreds of bands put out new albums and go on the road. However, one place you will not see on their tour calendar is Norman, Okla.
Usually, colleges are hot spots for bands to visit because of the amount of young people located in such a small area.
But Norman has lost its ability to draw bands in because of the lack of a venue big enough to raise enough money to make their trip worthwhile.
Currently, Norman has only one main stage where out-of-town bands usually visit.
The Opolis, run by local musicians The Starlight Mints, used to be able to host concerts with bands people may have actually heard of. Now, instead, they are filled with the same type of indie bands every week.
If you are not a hipster, there is always The Deli, but then again, if you are not a hippie, and do not want to see a jam band every night, you may not like that place either.
Now, all these bands that used to come to Norman are going to Oklahoma City and Tulsa. In fact, the only concert worth even noting coming to Norman anytime soon is U2 in October, and the only good a U2 ticket would do me is to earn me a few bucks off of an eBay sale.
Besides that, it is either a 25-minute drive to Oklahoma City for a concert, or for bigger bands you probably have to go to Dallas.
The Norman Music Festival is a prime example of how the local music scene is quickly dwindling. During its first year the event was able to bring in a wide variety of bands from across the nation. While this past festival seemed like a local music showcase, with the exception of Of Montreal and a few others, .
A better music venue – and by better, I mean bigger and preferably air conditioned – could point Norman on the map for musicians. A bigger venue would also allow for ticket prices to go down, which would make it more affordable for everyone.
It would also help local bands in getting their name out there to the public.
It isn’t impossible. The Flaming Lips were able to build a career out of Norman. During that time, there were venues such as the American Legion Hall, which I doubt any of us even knows where that is located.
These days local bands mostly see Norman as a stepping stone before moving on to another city in hopes of getting a record deal. Touring for a band is more important than ever now for earning money.
Bringing in bigger bands and having more concerts would provide all of us with something fun and exciting to do on the otherwise mundane nights in Norman.
Dara Mirzaie is an economics senior.
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Bubba 2 years, 10 months ago
But, if we had this, Sarah Palin would fill it. My fear is a venue like this would prove too tempting a target for terrorists. Extreme evangelicals would add Norman to their list of Mega-Church events. It would be nice to think the venue would be filled with either, "Peace and Love" or "Anarchy", but radical right-wingers? I say we are safer to let them congregate online, and not concentrate them- Especially now that the fruits of their labors have spoiled their trees, they pose to big a security risk.
-Bubba