OKLAHOMA CITY – The summer of 2025 is likely to be one for the live music history books in Oklahoma City.
After kicking off with one of the wettest, wildest, most inspiringly diverse Norman Music Festivals that we’ve ever seen, this season has brought some serious local heat to stages all over the Metro just as it’s brought the actual heat to the temperatures outside.
Since NMF, we’ve seen Johnny Manchild, Coat, and Brandon Birdwell join indie-rock forces and Finite Galaxy’s long-awaited return in May. We’ve seen Tulsa breakouts Wilderado fill Scissortail Park and Jabee, Trip G, K.A.L.F.O. and more provide the soundtrack to peace at Resonant Head in June. We’ve seen Original Flow open the doors on his House of Wavvez and some major tours flow through in July (even though Incubus got washed out at the Zoo Amp.)
And just this month alone, we’ve seen Beau Jennings & The Tigers rock for a good cause and the living legends Sativa Prophets blow some minds one last time. And we’re still waiting on the crushing noise of Plague of Carcosa at Bookish and the once-in-a-lifetime night of “Juno” soundtrack covers at Factory Obscura later this week.
Suffice to say, it’s been a wild season of live music already, but the scene is seeing out the summer with a citywide blowout week of shows, featuring country-folk, indie-rock, art-pop, and more for the final, sweltering stretch of August (even if we all know it’s going to stay hot until mid-November.)
Lust Online – Stonecloud Brewing – Saturday, August 23rd
As one of the most consistently tight, funky, and exciting bands to spring from OKC’s dreamy psych-pop scene, Lust Online have been on a roll this season, with two separate star-making sets at NMF and a string of buzzmaking support spots and house shows.
But now, Lust Online is set to usher out the month at Stonecloud to help celebrate the release of a new special beer brewed alongside reps from KOSU to raise some cash to help weather the current storm of slashed funds for public media.
And that’s a great get, too, as Lust Online drummer Don Data is himself a radio star on KOSU’s weekly “No One Man.”
For more, visit stonecloudbrewing.com.
Rachel Lynch & Griffin Wade w/ Matt Woods – Blue Note – Thursday, August 28th
If you missed out on the chance to see high-energy country-folk outlaw duo Rachel Lynch & Griffin Wade cut a full album live on stage at the Blue Door, then here’s your chance to get raw and rowdy with the couple at the city’s other Blue venue.
While the Blue Door is all about chill vibes and respectful quiet, we all know that the Note is a place to turn up, drink, and give back the same intensity that the artists are giving from the stage. And that’s just the way that Lynch and Wade love it.
They’ll be celebrating a new single drop that night, so show up and prepare to hoot, hark, and holler, along.
For more, visit okcbluenote.com.
Burl / Heartspace / Brainwasher – 51st Street Speakeasy – Friday, August 29th
If you’re looking to get appropriately sweaty and strange to see out a season already loaded with sweaty strangeness, then Speakeasy has just the late-summer lineup for you with three acts of electro-tinged alt-pop.
Burl brings the kind of bouncy throwback art-pop that you might find crate-diving for 60s psych records, Heartspace plays in sensual electro-pop snapshots built on romance and blip beats, and Brainwasher sprang from a couple of Flaming Lips support members hell bent on stoner-y weirdness.
With their powers combined, it’s bound to be a night full of starry-eyed swaying and glittery grooves.
For more, follow @the_speak on Instagram.
Lunar Division /Em & the Mothersuperiors / Mister Mandala / daychaser – Resonant Head – Saturday, August 30th
Rounding out the week, the month, and arguably the whole summer is a night ready to crank up some guitars and rock out properly at Capitol Hill’s unstoppably colorful Resonant Head.
Alt-rockers Lunar Division lead a lineup of guitar-slinging power alongside the epic, bluesy Em & the Mothersuperiors, the spacey, star-burned Mister Mandala, and the hard-driving emo of daychaser, all for a decidedly good cause.
The bands are teaming up with TEEM, a local non-profit dedicated to social services for people experiencing poverty and re-entry after incarceration, and they’ll be on hand at the show to accept donations of much-needed hygiene items like shampoo, toothpaste, and more.
What better way could there be to cast off the blistering heat and hardships of August than by aiding those most in need in your community?
For more, visit resonanthead.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.
