OKLAHOMA CITY — All the talk around the music industry is that touring is dying and that the classic kind of cross-country musical treks are quickly becoming a thing of the past, owing to skyrocketing staging costs, gas prices, and inflated ticket fees.
But if that’s true, you really wouldn’t know it from looking at Oklahoma City’s upcoming slate of major concert tours rolling through town in the coming weeks.
July is kicking off a stacked summer/fall season of high-level tour stops for OKC that’s set to continue long into September and October with some seriously big names from the pop, rap, and rock worlds blowing into our market.
But in June and July, it’s all about arena-sized folk, hard-rock heavyweights, indie icons, and the king of country-swing.
Modest Mouse – The Criterion – June 25th
After years spent rising through the ranks of the weirdo, dissonant-rock underground, hovering up blogosphere praise and indie cred, Modest Mouse unexpectedly broke big right around twenty years ago now when their inescapable “Float On” came to dominate summer airwaves.
What followed were a few years of mainstream flirtation and varying degrees of professional and artistic success before the infamously and coarsely strange Isaac Brock and his band settled into the role of indie-rock icons that they seem now to have always been destined for.
Now, Modest Mouse will be bringing all that baggage of the past, the prestige, and the pedigree of a few still-untouchable indie offerings when Brock and company carry their uniquely angular jangle-rock onto the Criterion stage on June 25th.
You never know quite what you’ll get from a Modest Mouse show, so fans and new initiates alike are bound to take home a story or two.
For tickets and more information, visit criterionokc.com.
Incubus w/ Manchester Orchestra – Zoo Amphitheater – July 7th
Summer in OKC means the Zoo Amp is back in business, kicking out the jams under the oppressive summer sun and well within earshot of the state’s biggest collection of exotic animals.
Kicking the tires on the Zoo’s summer season this year is the mighty Incubus, that most fluid and chameleonic of all California nu-metal acts, who have floated effortlessly through rap-rock, sharp-edged politicking, and surfer-adjacent, Cali-spiritual rocking on their way to becoming the respected old guard resurgers they are today.
Their brand of grooving, funky West Coast metal – equal parts sunny and seething – has been making a major comeback recently as a new generation rediscovers the nu-metal of two decades hence, and Incubus are right back on the front lines once more.
Joining them are Manchester Orchestra, who will be bringing their own kind of epically orchestrated emo-prog that they showcased to fantastic effect on 2021 standout “The Million Masks of God” and that brought through OKC in early 2022 for one of the best Criterion sets of the post-COVID era.
For tickets and more information, visit okczooamp.com.
The Avett Brothers – Paycom Center – July 11th
Now that the Oklahoma City Thunder have completed their domination of both the NBA and OKC’s entire multimedia attention span, the city’ Paycom Center can shift its focus fully to the summer’s arena-sized concert slate, kicking off with folk powerhouse The Avett Brothers.
The Avetts are one of those acts that might not exactly be a household name across the full pop cultural landscape, but they’re a gravitational force in their own Millennial-folk universe, enough to easily fill an arena like the Paycom Center.
Way more than another stomp-clap nu-folk also-ran, The Avett Brothers spent years grinding on their style of deeply genuine and beautifully considered indie-folk songwriting, blending big acoustic strums and aggressive cello-ing with gorgeous harmonies and some legitimately affecting lyricism.
If you already know, then you already know. But if you aren’t familiar with The Avett Brothers just yet, then trust me when I say that live is the way to discover them.
For tickets and more information, visit paycomcenter.com.
Lyle Lovett and his Large Band – The Criterion – July 16th
It’s safe to say there’s probably no greater name in the fields of traditional suit-and-bolo country or western-swing than the great Lyle Lovett, and he’s bringing his sound and his stature as a living legend to The Criterion on July 16th alongside his Large Band.
And that’s definitely not just a funny name or a throwaway reference to his own 1989 album title.
Lovett’s live band is huge, featuring multiple guitarists, backing vocalists, horns, sax, percussion, you name it. It’s a full country orchestra of a size that demands a stage as big as The Criterion.
It’s also a chance to catch the very definition of professional musicianship in person, so young players should take note right alongside any diehard country music purist.
For 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.
