I think there is another thread with info about this in it - but it deserves it's own thread. So here it is. :)

The First Annual - Norman Music Festival
Saturday April 26th, 2008
Downtown Norman
Cost : FREE FREE FREE

Headliner:
The Polyphonic Spree

Also confirmed for the main stage:
Chainsaw Kittens (re-union)
British Sea Power
The Octopus Project

Elsewhere in the festival:
Grupo Fantasma
Debris (re-union)
The John Arnold Band
The Starkweather Boys
Tall Cotton String Band
Dorian Small
The Neighborhood
Umbrellas
Colourmusic
Evangelicals
Ryan Lindsey
Cheyenne
Ghost of Monkshood
Terry “Buffalo” Ware and The Shambles
Klipspringer
The Wickers (re-union)
Citizen 5
Refuje
Gravity Propulsion System
Born A Number
Galvin and Wilson
Hoff The Monkey

MAINSITE Contemporary Art Gallery:
White Wall Series by Jon Mooneyham
Anvil Salute
Dreamer Concepts Studio Venue
(featuring Coach’s Brewhouse)
Camille Harp
Mama Sweet
Resident Funk
Gregg Standridge
Ivan Peña
TAJJ

Blue Fish Companion XXI
(after-party)
Mama Sweet
Black Christmas
DJ Bronzai

Note from Tyson Meade and information about NMF:

Hi there Everyone!

Below I have pasted the original post from the people who are bringing you the Norman Music Festival. If anyone has been a naysayer about this whole thing, I definitely have. I am so accustomed to people talking big and not coming through with the goods which is neither here nor there. I am not bellyaching just stating some facts.

Well, the Norman Arts Council and some Norman merchants and such are coming through with the goods. British Sea Power and the Polyphonic Spree playing on the same stage! Oh my Gawd! How cool is that ?! As a Kitten, I am honored to share the stage with both of these bands. This is a super cool event which they are trying to keep FREE of charge.

When I lived in Norman, I remember people always complaining that Norman never had cool stuff going on. Of course, these people were not people who were out trying to make something cool happen but they did like to complain as they loaded another bowl or opened another Lite. Well guess what, now it does; this is cool. This is so cool, that people are driving and flying from both coasts to see it. If you live in Norman or in the area, in this instance, you are one of the lucky ones.

And that it is free and you do not have to pay some crazy festival price, Are you kidding me?! This is great!

Okay, so this is the deal. The powers that be really need your support. I am sure that Polyphonic Spree do not come cheap. There are like 50 people in that band. And I love every single one of those people! Who knows Bowie may show up and sing a song with them. Who knows?! Enough of me gabbing, please read below and if you can help out please do.

(Also, this is not the place to bellyache because the band that you love to go see at the Deli every week is not playing. I love those bands as much as anyone, but you can see them at the Deli every week.)

Read Below! Do what you can.

I am only the messenger (not the ferryman, I don't think I am the ferryman anyway!)

Love
Tyson

Hey everyone, we are coming down to the wire. Less than 4 short weeks to the first annual Norman Music Festival! We've had much support, and feel very, very lucky. That said, it's quite expensive to pull something like this off and we find ourselves still needing about $5,000 to achieve our budget.

We need your help!

We are seeking any individuals willing to make a micro-donation through our Paypal account. One suggestion is to consider what you'd have to pay for a concert ticket of this sort, and then donate something in that area.

We want to keep this festival free!

How to do it? We have a link set up on our formal website.

Here's the location:

www. NormanMusicFestival.

com

Just click the link above, and you can find the donation area in the bottom right corner of the home page.

No amount is too small, and every donation is greatly appreciated!

We are also seeking more business support. If your are associated with a business, large or small, that might be interested in supporting NMF... please drop us an email!

nac@normanarts.

org

Thank you, thank you!

XXOO --
NMF

I'm not trying to deviate from the main topic, but does Norman still have their annual Jazz Fest?

Yes, every June, rain or shin .... nah, it usually rains :0

This promises to be a great event!

I'm excited to see how this goes. I'm looking forward to it.

Hi everyone. Hey, I just found this thread. I originally penned the myspace bulletin (regarding fundraising) that Tyson reposted (thanks Tyson!) in his note copied above. I wanted to let everyone know that we got many great micro-donations at paypal, following that push, and a few larger sponsors as well. The financial ends came nicely together. Everything is set and ready to go. I will no longer worry about money, and will instead start worrying about rain.

But rain or Shine, this thing is happening!

And it's gonna be free.

Join us!

Bring a friend!

Bring 10 friends!

Be our myspace friend too, if you like:

MySpace.com - Norman Music Festival !! April 26 !! FREE - NORMAN, Oklahoma - Other / Other / Other - www.myspace.com/normanmusicfestival (http://www.myspace.com/normanmusicfestival)

Yep!

YAY Quentin!

I'm so excited!! Rain or shine, I'll be there. Happy.

Glad your finances came together. How's the volunteer status?

Any changeups for the lineup?

Hey, let me answer both questions here in one note.

First, on volunteers... we could use a few more! There's a blog on our myspace site, and links in the body of the profile, with all the details. If you're interested, please consider volunteering. (myspace.com/normanmusicfestival)

On the lineup, there is one change that I haven't published yet. Our final act on the second stage (grupo fantasma) got an offer they couldn't refuse. Get this... Prince wants them to open a string of shows for him! Obviously, they gotta take that - and the Norman Festival wishes them all the best. Hope it boosts their career even further. So.... there will be some very small changes on that stage coming soon. Other than that, it's all pretty much done.

I was fortunate enough to have a radio feature on Buzz last night, with Chainsaw Kitten members Tyson Meade and Trent Bell there with me. (thank you Lacey Lett, and The Buzz) It was fun, and those guys are as stoked as we are about the whole thing. They have friends/fans coming from many states from coast to coast. This reunion will be their first show in roughly 7 years.

Weather forecast is looking good. Fingers crossed!

This was an awesome event! Big shout out to everyone involved! Here is to next year!

Obviously the Kittens were great, and I really enjoyed British Sea Power. Fun show. And the Spree was incredible as well.

My wife and I went down after working the arts festival all day and got there just in time for the Kittens. Great turnout, and great music. Polyphonic Spree was incredible. Norman needs to do this every year. We go up to DFest in Tulsa, and really love it. I'd love to see Norman continue to have this festival. We bought a couple of tshirts to help support the show!

> Polyphonic Spree was incredible

Missed them and I regret it

I'd love to see Norman continue to have this festival. We bought a couple of tshirts to help support the show!

Hey man, first of all thank you for the attendance - and for the t-shirt support. It does help! Not to get too commercial, but if anyone else wants to support the fest, check out our myspace blog for details about paypal micro-donations:

MySpace.com - Norman Music Festival 2008 Was Fun! ------ THANKS! - NORMAN, Oklahoma - Other / Other / Other - www.myspace.com/normanmusicfestival (http://www.myspace.com/normanmusicfestival)

Obviously we couldn't have pulled off this thing without our sponsors, both big and small.

We've already begun discussions about next year. Our plan is to make this thing annual, and we couldn't have asked for a better first year. The community support at the event makes all the difference in the world.

Oh yeah... some newspapers are reporting 6000 attendance, but we think that's wrong by a factor of two.

Thanks everyone...

you think it was off by being more or less than what they reported?

We estimate total attendance to be between 10,000 and 12,000.

By the way, in re-reading the article the claim was that 6,000 watched the Polyphonic Spree. My bad. That's actually probably pretty close to being right. The crowd peaked during the Kittens set, overall - but by the later night hours we had lost some of the young and family type crowd. There was also turnover during the day.

We've very comfortable saying 10,000 attended. Probably more, but that's the safe guess.

I m glad Norman did this and hope that it will be successful next year, hope there is a plan for next year??


This was great to see in norman, I know the GrooveFest has been the only real fest here for years
(which was ironically the sunday after NMF) hope that planning gets better next year.

I m glad Norman did this and hope that it will be successful next year, hope there is a plan for next year??


I think we have our first meeting on NMF 2009 next week.
As for Groovefest, I do believe they intentionally picked the day after NMF to make a weekend of free music - which is cool.

By the way, we made a post-event release today and put the attendance number at 13,000. Check out this pic!
The Polyphonic Spree at NMF:
http://www.doubleweb.com/nmf/spree.jpg
(photo by Christian Pitt)

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this

This year's lineup looks promising again. I'm excited to be a part of it again this year!!

Just noticed Tea Leaf Green is in the lineup...Saw them with Moe last year in Dallas and they put on a great show

One of the top jam bands out there right now...Looks like they are on the Jagermeister stage at 9PM

Full line-up is now up on the website. Saturday, April 25th, Main Street in Norman.

Welcome to the Frontpage (http://www.normanmusicfestival.com)

I too am looking forward to Tea Leaf Green. And Todd Snider is before them. I actually already have a full day's schedule planned out! If anyone is out, say hello. Here's where you can find me:

11:45AM - Resident Funk - Jager Stage
1:00 PM - Lemma - Sooner Theatre
2:30 PM - Press/Media Area
3:00 PM - Gabriel Marshall - Sooner Theatre
5:00 PM - Vandevander - Studio 360
7:30 PM - Todd Snider - Jager Stage
9:00 PM - Tea Leaf Green - Jager Stage
10:30 PM - Of Montreal - Main Stage

I saw on Norman Music Fest's twitter (Norman Music Fest (NormanMusicFest) on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/normanmusicfest)) that there's a contest to win $$, hotel stay and more for the 2009 NMF,

Sounds like fun! I didn't go last year, but I will be there this year for sure. Hope it doesn't rain...

It was a great event last year.

For those who wish to cool off inside with coffee or smoothies, Mike Krawczyk and I'll be performing and signing books at Winan's Coffee and Michelangleos 207 E Main from 2:30 to 3:30.

Stop by. I'd like to meet anybody from the board.

If you don't know Mike Zyk, he's my cartoonist and partner in four books.
He used to do political cartoons for the Gazette and a super guy.

Just a reminder this is tomorrow!!

Over 90 performers this year and it's all free!

Bring the kiddos - it's a family friendly environment. You can bring your own drink and food as well.

Hope to see everyone there.

pretty bummed the Black Angels cancelled.
still looks to be a good time though, last year was great.
Man Man should be pretty entertaining & locals Rainbows Are Free are always a good show.

who the hell are these groups? i'm all for supporting local live music, but i'd rather drive to austin and listen to groups i know.

Missed last years so can't compare but it's a helluva setup for a festival

Tea Leaf put on a great show which wasn't a surprise. Did you catch it kmf?

Promising beginning for this festival and I'm sure the bands will only get bigger as time goes on

Missed last years so can't compare but it's a helluva setup for a festival

Tea Leaf put on a great show which wasn't a surprise. Did you catch it kmf?

Promising beginning for this festival and I'm sure the bands will only get bigger as time goes on

All of the bands did an excellent job and the crowd was very well behaved considering there were about 25000 of us. The only complaint I have about the entire day would be the lack of trash cans. The ones we did find were off the path and hidden. Need big ones in the middle of the street like at the fair, IMO. Also the crowds blocking the sidewalks along the gate by the main stage. The cops and firemen tried to move people along, but they were overpowered. Something else needs to be done along this area to allow traffic flow. Other than those 2 minor things, everything else was fantastic.

Tea Leaf was amazing. Todd Snider was probably my favorite. He was incredible. Mama Sweet really had the Sooner Theatre up and moving - that was fun to watch from the balcony. Plus the Sooner Theatre was a great place to escape the wind and to use the restroom. Awesome day.

I loved all of the vendors this year! Didn't have those last year and it was really good to have a variety of food to choose from. Ray's BBQ was fantastic! We got food there quite a bit throughout the day.

I would say the biggest differences between last year and this year Easy180 would be the crowd was about triple throughout the day, the food vendors were added, more bands and variety of music, and a couple of venues added. I don't think they anticipated as many people showing up this year. Which is good for them, but I kind of liked the smaller crowd last year.

You are right about the event needing many more trash cans, especially on a windy day. Jazz in June is pretty ready with the receptacles, NMF needs to catch up. I'd think triple the amount to be sufficient next year.

I heard almost everyone was wearing the "communist" shirt in honor of the Flaming Lips, was this true and if so does anyone have a pic, I'd like to see and send to my State Legislator.

I saw quite a few of them Metro. I wouldn't say everyone though, maybe 25ish. I haven't seen any pics floating around. But I didn't see anybody in a group where it would be significant. Just a wanderer here and there.

2010 Bands so far:
Dirty Projectors
Grupo Fantasma

Also, this year the festival will be two days!! Friday 7pm - 2 am, and Saturday as usual.

Electric Six has been added also.

and The Sword.
Leon Russell's website has him playing NMF also.
James McMurtry, the Gourds, and Those Darlins are listed on pollstar.com.

Triumphrider, the dates are actually sat, april 24 (mainly club shows) and sun, april 25 (the big outdoor event).

It was bound to happen, but this sucks.
What Not to Bring (http://normanmusicfestival.com/home/index.php/day-of-details/what-not-to-bring)

One of the coolest things about this festival was the openness. Having the freedom to bring the cooler, chairs, the dog and come and go as you please. No more. I understand wanting to be safe. But what's unsafe about a cooler full of brews?

And am I the only one that is getting a headache from the annoying smilies flashing as I type a reply??!!

Dang!

I need a beer. . .

Electric Six has been added also.

Wha? At the GAY BAR?

It was bound to happen, but this sucks.
What Not to Bring (http://normanmusicfestival.com/home/index.php/day-of-details/what-not-to-bring)

One of the coolest things about this festival was the openness. Having the freedom to bring the cooler, chairs, the dog and come and go as you please. No more. I understand wanting to be safe. But what's unsafe about a cooler full of brews?

And am I the only one that is getting a headache from the annoying smilies flashing as I type a reply??!!

Dang!

I need a beer. . .

what not to bring:

Outside alcohol, food and beverages, with the exception of bottled water

that sucks the fun out of a free festival where u could bring ur own brews...bah, the first 2 years were fun, don't think i'll be goin back after looking at the bands this time around.

Oh, and it looks like the organizers caved to the whiny furniture dealers who had a hissy fit last year because old ladies couldn't find easy door front parking to buy a sofa during the festival last year. Having main street blocked off on sunday instead of saturday makes the festival a little less cool.

have fun if you go!

Definitely sux.....pretty much killed a good thing they had going...think I will pass as well

Does that mean that everyone is going to quit going to OU football games because they can't bring their own brews into the stadium? The organizers of this event have financial liabilities that can be substantial if something unfortunate should happen because they allowed someone to bring alcohol into their event and an accident occurred. That could spell the end of the event entirely.

Did somebody say that Leon (The Man) Russell was scheduled to play this gig? His website doesn't show this.

who the hell are these groups? i'm all for supporting local live music, but i'd rather drive to austin and listen to groups i know.

I beg to differ, some of the best singers/musicians are people or groups you've never heard of. I attended this festival last year and was treated to some awesome music.

You state you only like to listen to groups you know, if everyone had that attitude, how would bands get their big break!!

I'm not attending either. Not shutting down the street on a Saturday is a mistake. Having the headliners on a Sunday is a mistake. And the lineup severly lacks. Majorly this year. And the idea of not bringing our own liquor and chairs? That blows. It's not about some liability BS because they still sell it. It's about the vendors whining about their prices for spots to sell product that we are allowed to bring. What's next? They going to set up an entry point and start charging?

Nope. It's poorly planned and I knew it would happen.

I'm not attending either. Not shutting down the street on a Saturday is a mistake. Having the headliners on a Sunday is a mistake. And the lineup severly lacks. Majorly this year. And the idea of not bringing our own liquor and chairs? That blows. It's not about some liability BS because they still sell it. It's about the vendors whining about their prices for spots to sell product that we are allowed to bring. What's next? They going to set up an entry point and start charging?

Nope. It's poorly planned and I knew it would happen.

It is a shame....killed some good momentum after last years festival

Man, this blows, I might actually have to support the arts.

After all this is the Norman Music Festival, not the Norman B.Y.O.B. Fest.
This festival is the best thing that has happened, culturally, to the OKC metro area in years, and it's still trying to get its feet under itself.

Come on guys, just because they introduce a few rules doesn't mean we should abandon it; besides eventually, if this gets big enough, they won't have to listen to angry furniture dealers. I know there are a lot of great local and regional bands out there that would really appreciate it if you showed up.

Also, great concert coming up this coming Friday, April 9th, Shearwater (Okkervil River side project) w/ Wye Oak and Hospital Ships - at the Opolis in Norman.

Wow, talk about taking a step backward.

I'm not attending either. Not shutting down the street on a Saturday is a mistake. Having the headliners on a Sunday is a mistake. And the lineup severly lacks. Majorly this year. And the idea of not bringing our own liquor and chairs? That blows. It's not about some liability BS because they still sell it. It's about the vendors whining about their prices for spots to sell product that we are allowed to bring. What's next? They going to set up an entry point and start charging?

Nope. It's poorly planned and I knew it would happen.

You're totally wrong about liability. When they control the sale of alcoholic beverages they can refuse to sell to someone who appears to be overly intoxicated. When people bring their own there is absolutely no control and they still have liabililty over anything that might happen. If people can't attend and have a good time without getting drunk, it's no better than Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras.

I'm not attending either. Not shutting down the street on a Saturday is a mistake. Having the headliners on a Sunday is a mistake. And the lineup severly lacks. Majorly this year. And the idea of not bringing our own liquor and chairs? That blows. It's not about some liability BS because they still sell it. It's about the vendors whining about their prices for spots to sell product that we are allowed to bring. What's next? They going to set up an entry point and start charging?

Nope. It's poorly planned and I knew it would happen.

I can understand the lawn chair issue (would be nice to sit and relax), but does one need easy and cheap access to liquor to enjoy music!!

My thanks to all who state they are not going because of a couple of changes (liquor and lawn chairs), last years festival was very crowded at times and there were many that were more interested in booze then good music. Hopefully there will be more that share your opinion, making more room for us that attend to enjoy the music.

Did somebody say that Leon (The Man) Russell was scheduled to play this gig? His website doesn't show this.

Oklahoma Rock lists him as playing in Tulsa that night.

Saturday, April 24
Norman - Norman Music Festival: Day One feat. Evangelicals, Rainbows Are Free (10pm), Tony Romanello & the Black Jackets (9pm), Traindodge (8pm), Stephen Rawlings (7pm) & Student Film (6pm) @ Sooner Theatre
Norman - Norman Music Festival: Day One feat. Bear Colony (2am), Native Lights (1:15am), Ishi (12:30am), Odis (11:45pm), The Orbans (11pm), The Burning Hotels (10:15pm), Radiant (9:30pm), Chase Pagan (8:45pm), Beau Jennings (8pm) & Jesse Aycock (7:15pm) @ Blackwatch Stage

Tulsa - Leon Russell @ Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino
Tulsa - Nickelback w/ Breaking Benjamin, Shinedown & Sick Puppies @ BOK Center. 6:30pm. $35-$85
Thackerville - Darius Rucker @ WinStar Casino. 8pm. $35-$60

Leon Russell is going to close the Jagermeister Stage on Sunday the 25th.

I can understand the lawn chair issue (would be nice to sit and relax), but does one need easy and cheap access to liquor to enjoy music!!

Yes

I can understand the lawn chair issue (would be nice to sit and relax), but does one need easy and cheap access to liquor to enjoy music!!

Need and want are two different things. I like to have a beer or two while relaxing and listening to music. I don't NEED it but I WANT it. I've attended many Groovefests and Summer Breeze's where alchoholic beverages were allowed(no vendors selling it) and I've never seen any problems with people getting out of control. Maybe Groovefest and SB attracts a calmer crowd than the NMF.

I have to ask whether this is a festival of music or a venue for vendors to hike prices for profit? I see no other reason to not allow lawn chairs and your own ice chest. Doesn't matter, I've not gone to it yet and this year won't be an exeption.

Don't know about the beer sales, but the last year the coke sales were not done by vendors, but were done by volunteers, and the proceeds went to the Arts Council to support the show and keep it free. Could be the same with the beer sales.

Dissapointed the main day is Sunday this year. Shocking - but some of us actually have to go to work the next day. Kind of tough to stay out late on a Sunday night.

My thanks to all who state they are not going because of a couple of changes (liquor and lawn chairs), last years festival was very crowded at times and there were many that were more interested in booze then good music. Hopefully there will be more that share your opinion, making more room for us that attend to enjoy the music.

I didn't drink either. It's the Sunday thing more than anything for me on why I'm not going. But there isn't anyone worth going to see this year anyway. So enjoy!

ill probably go even though there are only like 5 bands i really care to see. And i like indie music but i think they really need to open it up to more than just one or two genres of music.

I will still go, but the way the event is being managed has taken a huge turn for the worse. The bottom line is that if the event coordinators don't consider what will get people to the event, then it won't last. That is my concern. I agree that NMF is the best thing to happen in the metro for years. I want to see grow to it's full potential and this years changes are a huge step in the wrong direction.

On a positive note, the NMF has some side attractions this year. The Dustbowl Arts Market is nearby and the Lions Carnival is moving back to downtown after being elsewhere for 15 years. Here's an article from the Transcript.
Eight events make city a staycation destination Headlines The Norman Transcript (http://normantranscript.com/headlines/x1001051492/Eight-events-make-city-a-staycation-destination)

i was down at the Diner last week and got to thinking that the Vista building needs to reopen. i'd like to check the view during the festival. anyone know what's up with that building? the weather looks great for the weekend!