Well, it’s been a whole year already, and the entire Central Oklahoma music scene is once again preparing to launch its biggest week of the year as the Norman Music Festival kicks off this Thursday and runs through late Saturday night.
For eighteen years (if you don’t count the two dark years of COVID-era preemption) the city of Norman has seen its streets, bars, and restaurants overrun by the indie world for a multi-day blowout bringing together a slew of homegrown rock, pop, and hip-hop acts with some poised-to-pop international headliners.
And this year will be no different, assuming that Oklahoma’s angry and unpredictable spring weather doesn’t throw another tornadic wrench into the plans like last year.
But even with the forecast already calling for three solid days of rain, the show is set to go on, and that means you’ll need to know about all the can’t-miss acts that’ll be causing some buzz and commotion this time next week.
So strap on your rain boots and dig out your umbrella, because these are just a few of the performers you need to catch at NMF this year, rain or shine.
Prom Mom – Resonator – Thursday, April 24th – 8:00 pm
Irrepressibly energetic with a rabbit-eared ski mask and an arsenal of synths stacked up to eye level, Prom Mom is surely one of the most exciting and wild acts on the scene right now.
This one-man electro-punk battletank doesn’t just skirt the line between high-energy punk rock and distorted hard-house EDM, he also keeps his audiences on their toes with an ever-precarious performance style that always feels like he could either pass out or kick over his whole rig at any moment.
Party Water – Opolis – Thursday, April 24th – 11:59 pm
Speaking of wild electro-pop, if you’re not already turned onto Party Water – Norman’s newest indie-synth dance duo – you should change that at midnight on the fest’s first night.
The union of singer-songwriter Kyle Reid and engineer/graphic designer/software developer Galadriel Althea Lynn, Party Water has been quietly dropping singles and less quietly burning up the dance floors at underground venues since last year. But this time around, they’ll be kicking off a late-night Opolis dance party followed by Laine Bergeron.
Locust Grove – Monster Alley Stage – Friday, April 25th – 6:30 pm
The Alley Stage is set to stay heavy this fest, with guitar-blasters like Rainbows are Free and Sisteria, hardcore hitters like Honor Choir, and psych-rockers like LABRYS and L.A.’s Levitation Room all storming the stage in turns.
But the Friday evening festivities will be kicked off by one of the heaviest acts of the weekend as OKC’s Locust Grove brings their downtuned groove-metal to the open airs of Norman, recalling southern-friend rockers like Black Label Society and late Pantera.
If you’re looking to bang your head this weekend, this where you should be.
Lust Online – Opolis – Friday, April 25th – 10:00 pm
Featuring some giants of the OK music scene, like singer-songwriter Maddie Razook and drummer Donald James (AKA Don Data of KOSU’s “No One Man”,) Lust Online are turning out some of the city’s tightest and most sonically creative indie-rock.
2024’s “Go Outside” was a showstopper of infectious melodies and laser-focused dream-pop, and they’ll be bringing that same chilled edge to soften the ground beneath the Opolis stage before LABRYS and Helen Kelter Skelter take things subterranean.
They’re also set to kick off the Main Stage early Saturday afternoon, but their style is just so perfect for the late-night mood and the newly shiny stage ambience on the Opolis.
AUGMNTD – Norman Arts Council West Stage – Saturday, April 26th – 2:00pm
Maybe more than ever before, NMF is going all-in on rap and hip-hop this year, with practically the entirety of Saturday’s West Stage lineup embracing and celebrating the sound.
The stage’s evening headline slots boast some of the scene’s leaders like Josh Sallee, Original Flow, and Jabee alongside Apollo Brown, but things will get kicked into gear in the afternoon by punk-rap gatecrashers AUGMNTD.
With a sneering, anti-authoritarian attitude as a aggressive as their beats, AUGMNTD is the kind of grimey, ground-level act rarely elevated to “outdoor stage” status at NMF, and I can’t wait to see how they grab the opportunity and run with it.
stepmom – Garage/Winston Main Stage – Saturday, April 26th – 7:00pm
Any regular reader of this column will know that stepmom isn’t exactly a little-known act or an upstart band in the scene, but it’s just awesome to see them land the highest-profile local slot on the festival’s Main Stage this year.
After a year that’s seen an epic push of tours, local showcases, and the groundbreaking EP and immersive art experience “Profitopia,” these hometown “dream-punk” heroes have earned their spot representing the OKC rock scene on our biggest local festival’s biggest stage.
Plus, it means we get to see the beloved characters of stepmom lore like Pip and TV Head dancing on the big screens.
For more information, including the entire three-day lineup and schedule, visit normanmusicfestival.com or download the Norman Music Festival app.
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 has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 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.
