The Deli hosts Norman bands Subterranean Hummingbird Committee, Monte, Burl as musicians return to live concerts

Norman bands Monte, Burl and Subterranean Hummingbird Committee performed at 10 p.m. on July 2 at The Deli to a crowd of 100 people.

Monte guitarist and singer Noah Petrie said the band most frequently performs house shows, and this was the band’s first time performing at The Deli after being invited by Reece Carmen, or “the wiz kid drummer who plays in Burl and Subterranean Hummingbird Committee.” Monte can be followed on their Instagram page, and their music is available Youtube and Bandcamp.

Subterranean Hummingbird Committee last played at The Deli on May 29, according to their Instagram page. Singer and guitarist Will Gibson said the band is inspired by old Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoons directed by Tex Avery, an animator who worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. Studios.

Gibson said the band formed four months ago and is not currently on any streaming platform. They can only be followed through their Instagram, where they keep fans updated on future shows.

“We just formed in earnest in the past four months, so we’re still doing a lot of writing and figuring stuff out as a band, but the idea is to start demoing for a full length record as soon as it’s done getting written,” Gibson said.

Subterranean Hummingbird Committee will perform next at Blue Note in Oklahoma City on Aug. 7. Gibson said the band will have more shows in Norman once the fall semester begins.

Burl played their third show at the Deli. As a musician, guitarist Kameron Duncan said he and his band are inspired by obscure films such as The Greasy Strangler.

“It’s the story of a dysfunctional father-son relationship that is complicated by the father’s double life as an oily murderer and his son’s new love interest. Cult films are very inspiring to me. There’s a lot of beauty in eccentricity. I think our song 'Everything You Ever Ate' feeds into that idea.”

Duncan said the band had not performed in a year and a half, but in that time, they have been practicing and recording. He said their Friday performance was the best show they have ever played, despite demoing a new set of songs which they hadn’t played in front of a live audience.

Burl has three singles available on Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes and Youtube. Duncan said fans can be expecting a full-length album soon.

Bob McIntosh, The Deli’s manager, said admission is free to see musicians perform at 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The bar charges $5 for admission to see live performances on the weekend.