Norman Music Festival

[trousers]

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.

[Nixon7]

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.

[Easy180]

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

[kmf563]

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.

[Stan Silliman]

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.

[metro]

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.

[kmf563]

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.

[triumphrider74]

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.

[dop]

Electric Six has been added also.

[OkieHornet]

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).

[triumphrider74]

It was bound to happen, but this sucks.
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. . .

[Caboose]

Electric Six has been added also.

Wha? At the GAY BAR?

[blangtang]

It was bound to happen, but this sucks.
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!

[Easy180]

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

[ljbab728]

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.

[gen70]

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

[rcjunkie]

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!!

[kmf563]

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.

[Easy180]

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

[ugly]

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.

[Andrew4OU]

Wow, talk about taking a step backward.

[ljbab728]

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.

[rcjunkie]

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!!

[rcjunkie]

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.

[trousers]

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