OKLAHOMA CITY – So maybe the metro’s summer music festival season is over (and with these temperatures lately, that’s a good thing) but you still wish you could roll up to a show and catch a whole slew of awesome artists in one go.
Well, worry not, because there are still some great showcases and single-day mini-fest events blowing up the music scene this summer, platforming everything from high-tech(nicality) math-rock and emo to full-on noise and experimental intensity.
And it’s all capped off by the annual showcase of talent and creativity for some of the next generation’s coolest upcoming stars.
Dissociation presents: NOISE CHURCH – Resonator – Sunday, July 5th – 2:00pm
I’ve written plenty about Dissociation here and how committed they are to elevating the strangest, darkest, most brain-warpingly experimental artists that Oklahoma has to offer.
Well, they’re launching a new showcase that takes all of that late-night, darkened-room, isolated experimenting and moves it right out to where it belongs: Sunday afternoon!
It’s NOISE CHURCH, a new recurring gathering of dark ambient, noise, and avant garde artists joining forces to offer an intriguingly idiosyncratic alternative to that other popular Sunday activity that Oklahomans are so fond of.
So if you’d rather ditch the pews and enjoy deliciously weird, unhinged sonic experiments, this first installment is set to star some of Dissociation’s heaviest hitters, including dark synth droner Wet Skeleton, tape-loop deconstrctionist Ut Mutem, joyously chaotic scramble-sampler Too Hands, and the soul-stirring, baroque layering of Abbess.
And of course, like any church, it’s free (and you won’t even have to choke down cheap wine and paper crackers.)
For more, visit resonator.space
Math Rock vs Midwest Emo, presented by The Math Rock Times – Resonant Head – July 18th – 4:00pm
Are you the type to split stylistic hairs over the differing definitions of chiming, high-intensity, Midwestern-styled guitar-rock? Have you argued over what’s more accurately called “math rock” as opposed to “Midwest emo?” Do you regularly drop references to Rites of Spring into otherwise civilized discourse?
Well, buddy, have I got the all-day mini-fest for you!
OKC-based math-rock media hub and super-blog The Math Rock Times is celebrating their 10th anniversary by lining up a mammoth slate of acts on either side of the math rock/Midwest emo divide and taking over Resonant Head for an overloaded evening of big feelings and even bigger riffs.
The all-day slate features (deep breath) Lilac Kings, Halftime Show, Monte, Letters to Part, Speak, Memory, Celebration Guns, Channel Changer, Fighting Sleep, Plastic Smile, Bugjuice Blues, Painted Light, and A Day with Iris.
So the occasion is an inarguably worthy one and the lineup is absolutely stacked. The only question that remains is just how on Earth Resonant Head is going to pull off two stages?
Guess you’ll have to be there on the 18th to find out.
For more, visit resonanthead.com.
Rock & Roll Camp for Girls Showcase – Tower Theatre – August 1st – 11:00am
One of the consistently coolest and most radically empowering organizations in the state is OKC’s Rock & Roll Camp for Girls, a workshop/class/summer camp experience inviting girls, young women, and non-binary kids to learn music, songwriting, camaraderie, and most importantly, self-confidence.
But the campers don’t learn the ins and outs of rock from just anyone. They get to learn from a team of the most awesome women in Oklahoma music, with instructors, tutors, and organizers over the years featuring Elektra Stanislava of SUM and Make Oklahoma Weirder, Lindsey Cox of the mighty stepmom, folk breakout Carter Sampson, the great Penny Pitchlynn of LABRYS, and many, many more.
And best of all, it all culminates in the girls getting to rock the historic Tower stage in a blowout concert showcase each year, giving them a taste of the power and presence that can only come from playing alongside your friends and commanding an audience with your own music.
This year’s camp-capping concert is set for August 1st on the legendary stage, and you can bet there’s going to be some seriously empowered electricity coursing through that room, and likely a lot of names that’ll carve out a place of their own in the OKC scene in coming years.
For more, visit girlsrockokc.org and towertheatreokc.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.
