OKLAHOMA CITY — As crowds gathered at the historic Zoo Amphitheatre Monday evening – braving the oppressively muggy July heat in anticipation of a set from California rockers Incubus – no one foresaw the torrential rains and lightning that would force the show’s abrupt cancellation before the band ever took the stage.
But the fans that arrived early to enjoy the opening acts and stake out their best spot on the open general admission lawn became the first concertgoers to see the results of more than $1 million worth of renovations and updates to the 89-year-old venue.
That’s all thanks to the amphitheatre’s new operators, Gate 52, the Los Angeles-based, nationwide music venue and tour promotion conglomerate formerly known as SaveLive, and the same company that now operates Tower Theatre, Beer City Music Hall, The Criterion, and Ponyboy.
Their partnership with the city that allows them to exclusively operate the 7000+ capacity Zoo Amphitheatre gives them their largest foothold yet into the OKC concert industry and affords them a significant level of influence in the city’s middle-tier touring market.
“I like to say a rising tide lifts all boats,” Gate 52 marketing exec Jenny Oppenheimer told Free Press during a media tour of the newly renovated Zoo Amp on Thursday. “And Oklahoma City is such a great market, and it’s so centrally located for touring.”
Major renovations
It’s that central location that makes the Zoo Amphitheatre such a hot prospect for a nationwide concert tour network like Gate 52, providing a convenient high-capacity link between their owned venues in St. Louis and Fayetteville and their collection of partnered “network venues” in Texas and New Mexico.
But to make the decades-old Zoo Amp just as appealing to bands and performers, it needed a lot of work.
“When Incubus was here back in 2023, they had to bring their own tents and kitchen setup and everything,” Oppenheimer said. “But when we were advancing the show this time, we just sent them pictures of the new catering building and the full new backstage area, and they were just like ‘wow.’”
While significant attention (and money) was spent on upgrades for the massive stage, the green rooms, lounge areas, and production spaces that cater to the artists and their teams, the public areas have also seen major renovation.
“As you go through, you’ll see that it’s all paved throughout now,” Shelley Rowan – marketing director for The Criterion, and now the Zoo Amp – told the tour. “All of it, including the backstage, used to just be dirt. And as we’re an outdoor venue and we have weather, that’s not great.” They’ve also paved a large, new dedicated seating area in front of the stage.
The Zoo Amphitheatre has a distinctive, rugged look, with seating tiers and other parts of it constructed with native red sandstone. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a project of the Works Progress Administration, or WPA, a New Deal Program in the 1930s that put unemployed youth and adults to work constructing local civic spaces like parks and other public structures.
Gate52’s improvements to the Zoo Amp restored and added to that stonework with stones brought in from Colorado to match the nearly hundred-year-old red sandstone pieces used in its original construction.
They’ve improved restrooms and even substantially improved and increased the ADA-compliant accessible seating section.
And, as has become standard for modern concert venues, they’ve also increased the higher-dollar VIP sections, with a full, exclusive lounge and VIP bar area to stage right featuring the venue’s classic campsite/lawn chair aesthetic.
“Anything we can do to just honor the history of this venue,” Rowan said.
‘On the ground’
It’s all part of a $1.5 million commitment to renovations made by Gate 52 in early 2024 to the City-run Oklahoma City Zoological Trust, which remains the owner of the venue, in addition to the $350,000 that Gate 52 pays to the City each year for use of the amphitheatre.
“This is still a city-owned amphitheatre,” Rowan said, “with 90% of the renovations funded by Gate 52 to really encourage live music in Oklahoma City.”
With the addition of the Zoo Amp to their OKC venue roster, Gate 52 now operates more concert venues in Oklahoma City than any other organizing or management team, and more venues in Oklahoma City than in any other city in which they operate.
And if you ask the team, that’s all good news for the city and the music community as a whole.
“Gate 52 has committed to bringing really good talent and experiences to Oklahoma City,” Oppenheimer told Free Press following the media tour. “And it’s run locally, you know. Everybody who runs things on the ground is local and decisions get made here.”
‘Growing’ artists
One of the things this kind of multi-level engagement with the touring market allows is the ability to help grow and develop young artists from smaller venues onto larger stages.
That includes artists like country singer Charley Crockett, who Rowan explained played the Tower Theatre multiple times before headlining The Criterion last year and soon taking the Zoo Amp stage in support of soul star Leon Bridges this coming September.
That’s one way that Rowan says Gate 52 wants to continue helping to grow and develop acts utilizing their full range of venues, hoping to eventually grow young artists all the way from Beer City to their own headlining spot at the new, bigger-than-ever Zoo Amphitheatre.
“Just growing those live music experiences is so great,” Rowan told the tour. “You don’t have to drive all the way to Dallas. You can have it right here in Oklahoma City.”
They’re just hopeful that Oklahoma’s historic weather doesn’t keep making surprise appearances at OKC’s most historic venue like it did on Monday night.
“We have meteorologists on call,” Rowan said, “literally.”
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.
