OKLAHOMA CITY – With the cost of a concert ticket recently rocketing up right along with food, gas, electricity, and everything else that’s (arguably) more important than live music, you might sometimes find yourself choosing between catching your favorite national headliner and supporting your local artists and bands.
It can be a tough call. If you’ve only got the cash – and let’s face it, the energy – for one show, do you take the opportunity to see a great, boundary-pushing touring star, or do you reserve your resources for the locals that lead our scene?
Well, luckily, there’s a trio of shows coming up over the next three months that’ll be offering the best of both worlds, with some of our straight-up best and brightest locals opening for some can’t-miss national tourers.
Com Truise w/ Softaware – Beer City Music Hall – Friday, August 21st
Chilled-out electro mastermind Com Truise makes the kind of synthwavey, glitchy output that feels tailored specifically to soundtrack a neon-soaked nighttime drive, all verb-drenched pads, deconstructed sequencers, and retro drum machines.
So it’ll be a vibe when he takes over the Beer City stage and brings that retro-futurism into the neglected hardscape of the Ironworks District along with his hyper-graphical visuals and locked-on intensity behind the boards.
But what makes this show particularly special for Oklahomans is the long-anticipated presence of local Softaware opening up the bill.
One of many disparate alter egos of OKC-based electronic experimenter Colin Nance (also of Modern Slasher, The Gentle Art of Floating, and more,) Softaware is Nance’s musical mind and inclinations on full display, incorporating electro-pop, epic emotionalism, and widescreen cinematic scale each in full measure.
It’s set to be Nance’s first official show as Softaware in more than seven years, even as he’s still been slow-dripping albums, EPs, and singles under the name over recent years. So here’s hoping that this is the kickoff to a full, continuing resurgence.
For tickets and more info, visit beercitymusichall.com.
Sweeping Promises w/ stepmom & Lust Online – Resonant Head – Wednesday, September 9th
You know a band is buzzing and burning when they can roll through town and pick up an undercard as stacked with banner-bearing locals as this one.
Sweeping Promises are a Boston-by-way-of-Lawrence, Kansas post-punk powerhouse, boasting minimalist, hard-driving instrumentation and maximalist high-intensity energy, perfect for unloading whatever summertime angst will be peaking by early September.
But this is also set to be one of the hottest local lineups of the season as two of OKC’s best bands fill out the bill.
Lust Online have built up an already indelible name for themselves turning out dreamy, earnest, textual indie-pop anchored by the heart-swelling songwriting of singer Maddie Razook.
And then what more needs to be said about stepmom? They’ve just about conquered OKC with their blend of punky psych-pop, unapologetic politics, and hot-pink aesthetic aimed at proving that there’s nothing more fearless than unleashing the chaotic girl inside you.
With their powers combined, this is bound to be one wild Wednesday night at Resonant Head.
For tickets and more info, visit resonanthead.com.
Old Crow Medicine Show w/ Ken Pomeroy – The Jones Assembly – Friday, October 30th
At this point, Old Crow Medicine Show is something of an unhinged underground American institution, as likely to espouse the power and refined legacy of downhome bluegrass and traditionalist country music as they are to toss off all pretense and barrel through some whiskey-blasted, hard-stomping honky tonk.
There’s no tellin’ what they might trot out for the day before Halloween. Could be costumes, covers, or even just an especially caution-casting set of blazing fiddle and boot-scootin’ Americana.
But for the OKC audience at The Jones Assembly, the real star of the night will be the steadily ascending Ken Pomeroy.
One of the most recently poised-to-explode Okies on the national stage, Pomeroy has been carving a path all up and down the map, gracing festivals, club dates, soundtracks, and sharing bills with everyone from Ora Cogan to Iron & Wine.
When she takes the Jones stage right here in OKC, it’ll be as a returning hero, spreading the Oklahoma gospel across the country with her brand of sharp-edged alt-folk and her sleeve-worn heart.
For tickets and more info, visit thejonesassembly.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 the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
