The live music scene in Oklahoma City has never been healthier due to the opening of several venues over the past two years. From arena shows, to outdoor amphitheaters, intimate listening rooms and mid-sized venues for indie darlings, Oklahoma City now has a home for any act crisscrossing the country. Here is a rundown of places to see live music in OKC. However don’t take this as an exhaustive list. If you know of a great place to catch music in OKC that we didn’t mention give us a shout in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook.
Chesapeake Energy Arena – While it is most famous as the home to the Thunder, the ‘Peake is also where the biggest names in music make their stops in Oklahoma City. Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Billy Joel and Elton John are just a handful of artists who have played there over the years. James Taylor, Thomas Rhett and Justin Timberlake are just a few of the artists with concerts announced in the coming months.
The Criterion – Opening in 2016, The Criterion is located in east Bricktown. This 4,000-capacity venue is across the street from the Steelyard development in a suddenly hot quarter of OKC’s premiere entertainment district. My Morning Jacket, Explosions in the Sky, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, The xx and Lil Wayne have all played there. On April 25, music legend David Byrne will be making his lone Oklahoma stop at the venue.
The Tower Theater – a lot of excitement has surrounded the resurrection of one of the “grand old dames” of OKC’s early movie house scene. The main space has room for 700 standing on the main floor and an additional 264 (seated) in the balcony, and a smaller “studio” space handles 100 standing or 50 seated. One of the Tower’s strengths is the diverse acts the venue books. Acts from Bowling for Soup to Chief Keef and Shakey Graves have concerts there in the next month.
The Jones Assembly – opening last year with a concert by The Wallflowers and Better Than Ezra, The Jones Assembly is a renovated, 100-year-old, 20,000-square-foot space on Film Row (just south of the 21C Museum Hotel) featuring a 1,600-capacity performance venue as well as a true dining destination. Vince Staples, Willie Nelson, Old Crow Medicine Show and Lake Street Drive have all graced the stage at the Jones.
ACM@UCO Performance Lab – this performance space in Bricktown hosts plenty of touring acts in addition to ACM@UCO gigs (which is itself a pretty cool story, speaking of music), seating 200 and 500 standing. The Lab has hosted Dr. Dog, Sean Lennon, Okkervil River and Ben Taylor.
In addition to the new venues, stalwarts like the Zoo Ampitheater, the Diamond Ballroom and indie-focused venues Opolis and 89th Street Collective are still booking great shows and adding diversity to OKC’s live music scene.
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