The concert calendar might be spreading out and thinning just a bit as we head into the penultimate month of 2024, but it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Following Chat Pile’s monstrous back-to-back sold-out nights at 89th Street at the tail-end of October, it’s still full steam ahead on stages (and in a library) all across town as audiences and energies rise just as the leaves outside (finally!) start to fall.
With the spooky season wrapping up, November’s shows are less about costumes and cover parties and much more about atmospheres, textures, and straight-up vibes, with post-rock, psycho-jamming, and electronic experimentalism rounding out the coming weeks behind a rousing celebration for the king of OKC hip-hop.
Jabee – Album release show – Beer City Music Hall – Saturday, November 2nd
When you’re talking about modern rap royalty in Oklahoma City, you’re talking about the one and only Jabee, hands down.
No other figure in the hip-hop game stays as visible and active in both the music scene and the greater community, and when he drops an album and books a launch party, there’s no question that it’s going to bring that community together and go wild.
Jabee’s hotly anticipated headline spot at Beer City is in celebration of his new short-play “The Spirit is Willing, but the Flesh is Weak,” his brand new, 20-minute rumination on humanism and spirituality that dropped early in October.
Joining the man of the hour on stage will be the soulful, sultry Bella Burns, rap scene breakout Trip G, and TooFat Troub celebrating his own album release simultaneously.
This is looking like it could be the OKC rap event of the winter season, so if you want to get in the game, don’t miss it.
For times, tickets, and more information, visit beercitymusichall.com.
Library Out Loud feat. Bird Drugs, Ut Mutem, Tired Ocean – Downtown OKC Library – Thursday, November 7th
What better place for a little audio/visual mind expansion than a library?
The 7th of November sees the inaugural installment of what’s eyed to be a new recurring series, Library Out Loud, bringing the full diverse range of the Oklahoma City music scene into the open arms of the Downtown Library to showcase the city’s creativity in a decidedly non-quiet way.
Kicking off the series is a trio of deeply experimental, densely atmospheric electronic acts from the loose collective known as Dissociation. They’ll be deconstructing the limits of instrumental music utilizing everything from glitched-out electro melodies to manipulated cassette tapes and swirling effects.
Tying the whole affair together will be Small Rock Media providing chopped up, experimental video accompaniment – a staple of Dissociation shows – adding a deeper layer to the disquieting rabbit hole darkly ambient sound collage.
All library events are always free, but for times and more information, visit metrolibrary.org/locations/downtown.
Original Flow and the Wavvez / Fair Weather Enemies / Cowtippers – Opolis – Saturday, November 9th
The artist-run Opolis is dropping one of the best multi-style bills of the season as pop-rockers Cowtippers and ska stalwarts Fair Weather Enemies join forces for the night with perhaps the most electrifying band on the beat right now, Original Flow and the Wavvez.
Flow and his untouchable band of indelible instrumentalists will be bringing their infectious, hard-hitting hip-hop/funk hybrid sound following the effortless fun of youngsters Cowtippers and the brass-blasting pop-punk stylings of Fair Weather Enemies, possibly the scene’s premiere ska faithful.
It’s set to be a wonderfully rowdy night, bringing diverse crowds and fans together in a way that I’ll champion in this scene on every opportunity I get.
For times, tickets, and more information, visit opolis.org.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – The Criterion – Tuesday, November 12th
One of the most unexpectedly and implausibly dominant bands on the global scene in recent years has been the all-out bonkers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the dizzyingly cross-genre jam-band ensemble hailing from the upside-down undergrounds of Australia.
Few modern bands command the same level of creative reverence or breathlessly celebrated weirdness, and the loving loyalty of their relentless fanbase is guaranteed to be on full display at The Criterion in November, with many in the crowd sure to be racking up Gizzard gigs in the double digits.
With more than 25 releases in just over a decade and a nightly shifting setlist, you never quite know what the Gizzard guys are going to play, but you can bet it’ll run the gamut from psychedelic funk to full-on metal to electro-pop and danceable indie.
If you’ve not yet taken your first steps into what the band’s diehards have termed “The Gizzverse,” then here’s your chance.
For times, tickets, and more information, visit criterionokc.com.
You can find out about local music and performance happenings in the OKC metro weekly in this music column by Brett Fieldcamp. | Brought to you by True Sky Credit Union.
Brett Fieldcamp is our Arts and Entertainment Editor. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for 15+ years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
