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Organizers announced today that Tim McGraw’s Swampstock 2008 has been postponed until next year because of the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav in the state of Louisiana.

The Rayville area, where McGraw grew up and Swampstock takes place, has been drenched with more than 20 inches of rain in the last few days, according to a news release. The state has been declared a disaster area by government officials and critical resources are being directed towards relief efforts.
       
“It’s more important for the community to focus on the clean up efforts than putting on a concert right now,” said representatives of Neighbor’s Keeper Foundation, the presenters of this year’s event, in the release.  “So many people in that area have been affected by the hurricane or have relatives who have been affected and we don’t want to detract from the process.”
       
“We have spoken with local officials and Neighbor’s Keeper Foundation wants to lend its support to those relief efforts,” McGraw said in the release.  “Although Faith and I are personally disappointed, we understand that the priority is people’s homes and livelihood in this challenging time.  Our prayers are with our friends and neighbors and God bless them.”      

The foundation’s funding for the ongoing programs in the Gulf Coast Region include commitments for the Community Initiatives Foundation in Louisiana and continuing support to the Children’s Health Fund in Mississippi.

NKF’s commitment in Rayville, La., is a $50,000 donation to Habitat for Humanity of Ouachita for restoring the Rayville community recreation facility.

Fans who purchased Swampstock tickets are instructed to return to that same location for a refund during normal business hours starting Monday.

-BAM

“Scarred Sorrow” by Elena Dorfman will be on exhibit during Photo Fest at JRB Art at the Elms in the Paseo Arts District.

The Paseo Arts District will show work by top national and local photographers and mixed-media artists this month during the first Photo Fest on Paseo.

Most of the Paseo art galleries will feature photography during the month of September, with several new shows opening tonight during the Paseo Arts District’s monthly Gallery Walk.

The Paseo Arts Space, 3022 Paseo, will show this month the juried exhibit “Focus on Photography,” with an opening reception tonight. The exhibit will include a wide range of photographic styles, from traditional black and white photos and digital images to alternative styles and mixed-media works. Photographers and mixed-media artists from across Oklahoma have submitted work.

“We have had an overwhelming response to Photo Fest and we are excited about featuring this fine and diverse medium. … Because of the enthusiasm, our hopes are to continue to expand the program,” said Lori Oden, Paseo Artists Association executive director, in a news release.

Gallery Walk hours are from 6 to 10 p.m. today and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday in the arts district. 

For more information, call 525-2688 or go online to www.thepaseo.com.

-BAM

Excellent Oklahoma alt-pop band Colourmusic, which was founded at my alma mater, Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, is celebrating the release of its new CD with a pair of shows this weekend.

The new uniquely titled CD, “f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13,” comes out Tuesday.

The band is playing at 7 tonight at Guest Room Records, 125 E Main in Norman. For more information, call 701-5974.

The group’s second show will be at 10 p.m. Saturday at VZD’s, 4200 N Western. For more information, call 524-4200.

If you aren’t familiar with Colourmusic, I encourage you to educate yourself now because they deserve to be rich, famous and widely heard. Go to www.myspace.com/colourmusic to learn about the band.

You can also click here to read today’s column by The Oklahoman Entertainment Editor Gene Triplett, which is all about this Oklahoma band and its colorful origins.

In addition, check out Colourmusic’s song and video “Yes!,” one of the cuts from the new album. It’s an invigorating, exclamation-point worthy track with a video that offers a speedy tour of Oklahoma, including several points of interest to current and former Stillwater residents like myself.

The video appears here courtesy YouTube and George Lang’s Staticblog. My fine colleague Mr. Lang included “Yes!” in his Random 10 earlier this week.

-BAM

Patty Loveless (Associated Press photo)

Country music star Vince Gill, who grew up in Oklahoma City, has a supporting role on singer Patty Loveless’ new CD, “Sleepless Nights.”

The CD, Loveless’ first in three years, comes out Tuesday.

According to a cut-by-cut breakdown of the album, Gill sings with Loveless on the title track.

“Oh man, when I heard Vince Gill singing that harmony, I wanted to cry. It
just felt so good to hear him singing with me again. And this song is perfect for that,” Loveless says in the cut-by-cut release.

Vince Gill (Associated Press photo)

Gill told the Associated Press he is a friend of Loveless and enjoys singing with her.

“I like the honesty of her voice, the purity of it,” Gill told the AP. “It’s distinctive, and the blend of our two voices is unique. That doesn’t always happen. You can sing with everybody but it’s not always the blend of all blends, and hers to me is reminiscent of what George and Tammy and Conway and Loretta had together.”

To read the AP story on Loveless’ new CD, click here.

To read more about Loveless and the CD, including the cut-by-cut listing, go to www.saguaroroad.com.

-BAM

OSU’s Dez Bryant catches the ball on a punt return in last week’s victory over Washington State. (Photo by Nate Billings/The Oklahoman.)  

In this weekend’s football action, my Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-0) play Houston at 6 p.m. Saturday at the spiffed-up Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. The game won’t be televised.

The University of Oklahoma Sooners (1-0) also will be playing at home. The team will play Cincinnati at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on Owen Field in Norman. The game will be on ABC (KOCO-5 in Oklahoma City).

Elsewhere, the McDonnell family’s traditional favorites the University of Florida Gators (1-0) will play in-state rival Miami at 7 p.m. Oklahoma time. The game will be on ESPN.

NFL football also gets started in earnest this weekend, with a full slate of games on Sunday. The pro league kicked off the season Thursday night. Not surprisingly, last year’s Super Bowl winners, the New York Giants, beat the Washington Redskins 16-7 on Thursday.

To get the full report on how the Cowboys, Sooners and other noteworthy college and pro teams play this weekend, be sure to go to www.newsok.com/sports.

-BAM

When the curtain goes up Saturday at Tulsa’s BOK Center, the Eagles will be the band opening the sparkling new $178 million, 18,500-seat arena.

Perhaps the quartet of Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt should be declared the official first musical act of arenas throughout these parts.

The Eagles, which has consisted of the current quartet since 2001, was the first band to play in Oklahoma City’s Ford Center back on June 29, 2002. (The first show there was actually the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus a few weeks earlier.)

The classic rockers also performed opening act honors at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver back in summer 2001.

Why are the Eagles such a popular choice to open arenas across the heartland?

“I think the Eagles are a great choice because they appeal to so many generations; whether you’re a 17-year-old or a 68-year-old, everybody really likes The Eagles. It’s kind of a great open-building act because they have such mass appeal, and they don’t tour a lot,” John Bolton, BOK Center general manager, told me in a recent interview.

The band certainly has a gift for selling out its opening shows. The 2002 Ford Center concert was a sell-out.

Demand for tickets to Saturday night’s sold-out Tulsa show has been so high, the Eagles actually have added a second BOK Center concert to their tour schedule.

The second Eagles show at the BOK Center will be on Nov. 11.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

They are available by phone at (866) 7BOKCTR, online at www.bokcenter.com, and at area Homeland and Reasor’s stores and Arby’s Box Office.

Ticket prices are $187, $87, and $52.

-BAM

Carrie Underwood (Associated Press photo)  

Upcoming events at the BOK Center

Eagles: Sept. 6

Kenny Chesney with LeAnn Rimes: Sept. 10

“American Idols Live!” Tour: Sept. 13

Lil Wayne: Sept. 19

“Get Motivated” with Colin Powell, Joe Montana and Rudy Giuliani: Sept. 22

Rascal Flatts with Taylor Swift: Sept. 25

Jeff Dunham: Oct. 3

2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars: Oct. 9

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City NBA exhibition game: Oct. 13

“So You Think You Can Dance” Tour: Oct. 14

Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus: Oct. 17-19

Neil Diamond: Oct. 21

Tulsa Oilers vs. Oklahoma City Blazers hockey: Oct. 25

Janet Jackson: Oct. 26

Carrie Underwood: Oct. 29

Eagles: Nov. 11

Celine Dion: Nov. 13

Metallica frontman James Hetfield (AP photo)

Metallica: Nov. 18

Celtic Thunder: Nov. 19

Nine Inch Nails: Nov. 22

Casting Crowns Christmas Celebration: Nov. 30

University of Tulsa vs. University of Oklahoma men’s basketball: Dec. 7

Cirque du Soleil’s “Saltimbanco”: Dec. 10-14

Radio City Christmas Spectacular: Dec. 22-24

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Dec. 29

Harlem Globetrotters: Jan. 3-4

Lipizzaner Stallions: March 1

Joyce Meyer Ministries: May 14-16

For more information on Tulsa’s new BOK Center, go to www.bokcenter.com.

-BAM

Tulsa’s new BOK Center. (Photo by Brandi Simons/For The Oklahoman.)

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Tulsa’s BOK Center creates 1-2 punch for state  

TULSA - When classic rockers the Eagles bring their “Long Road Out of Eden” tour to the new BOK Center this weekend, it will be the end of the long road to bring an arena in Oklahoma’s second-largest city.

When the Eagles take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the sold-out show will be the opening event at the $178 million, 18,500-seat arena. Construction started in 2005 on the venue, the largest project of the county’s Vision 2025 economic development plan.

“I think the excitement is everywhere, and while the outside is spectacular, particularly at night as the lights are on, the inside is phenomenal. … It will be a wonderful place to hold concerts and sporting events, but it’s frankly just a wonderful place to tour,” said Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor.

Taylor said the arena is the most important Vision 2025 project to the city’s economic future. When she took office in 2006, the project faced budget challenges, so to see it finished on time and under budget is exciting.

“Oklahoma City and Tulsa are really the twin engines of economic growth in Oklahoma, and for both cities to have premiere entertainment venues is important to draw crowds from outside of our state,” she said. “Anything that puts Tulsa or Oklahoma City on the map puts Oklahoma on the map, and that’s good for us all.”

Ticket sales have been booming for the new arena, which boasts an impressive lineup for its first few months. The demand for Eagles tickets has been so great, the band last week announced a second Tulsa stop in November.

“I think the Eagles are a great choice because they appeal to so many generations, whether you’re a 17-year-old or a 68-year-old, everybody really likes the Eagles. It’s kind of a great open-building act because they have such mass appeal and they don’t tour a lot,” said BOK Center General Manager John Bolton.

Other events coming soon to the arena include Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Metallica, Janet Jackson, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and the first Oklahoma exhibition game for Oklahoma City’s new NBA team.

“We worked really hard to create kind of a grand opening season September through December that really had a broad diversity,” Bolton said.

The arena’s features a curtaining system that allows seating arrangements to be tailored to different types of shows, high-end finishes throughout the building, lapendary banners to improve acoustics and a distinctive curved glass and stainless steel exterior.

“It’s a pretty unique looking building. We’re really happy with it,” he said.

Bolton said the state can support both the BOK Center and Ford Center, and he doesn’t think Tulsa’s new arena will be detrimental to Oklahoma City’s venue.

“I think a rising tide kind of elevates both cities and both buildings,” he said. “I think people in Tulsa are as excited about the NBA coming to Oklahoma City as hopefully they are (in Oklahoma City) about us having a great new arena in Tulsa.”

He said Oklahoma City and Tulsa markets are separate, with Tulsa pulling from the north and east parts of the state as well as Fayetteville, Ark. and Joplin, Mo.

Tim Linville, marketing director for the Ford Center, said he anticipates many touring events will include one of the Oklahoma arenas on one leg and catch the other one on a different leg.

“Both facilities are managed by SMG … and we do a good job of working together to try to make sure both buildings are more than successful,” he said. “It’s competition but it’s friendly competition.”

Oklahoma City’s new NBA team will be filling 41 dates in the Ford Center, not including any possible playoff games, he said, so the Tulsa arena will provide another chance for the state to land big shows.

The BOK Center will go through a “honeymoon period” in which acts will want to play at the new arena, but he said the Ford Center is gearing up for one of its busiest October-March concert and sporting events seasons ever.

He added that the $100 million Ford Center upgrade, which is underway, will make the building one of the best in the NBA.

“I think both facilities can be extremely successful,” he said. “I think this state is lucky to have two really great facilities.”

For more information on the BOK Center, go to (918) 894-4200 www.bokcenter.com.

-BAM

Docent Jeanne Jackson and a group of children check out ” Roman Art from the Louvre”  this summer at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. (Photo by Paul B. Southerland/The Oklahoman Archives.)

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Family activities at library, museum to celebrate art from Louvre

Families can celebrate the special exhibit Roman Art from the Louvre Sunday with a gladiator parade, free pizza and an array of hands-on art activities.

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library are teaming up for Sunday’s Roman Art Family Day.

“We’re just trying to really build up the enthusiasm in downtown Oklahoma City for the Roman exhibit, and it just seemed a perfect fit with the library just across the street,” said Chandra Boyd, the museum’s education curator.

The museum’s activities will begin at noon with free pizza from Little Caesars.

The museum will provide face painting, a dress-up area and exhibit scavenger hunts. Local artists will offer a variety of hands-on activities, including paper mosaics, frescoes and theater masks.

At 1 p.m. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre performers, along with a Roman soldier on horseback from Remington Park Racetrack, will march into the museum in a gladiator parade. The theater group will perform a Roman-theme play at 1:15 at the museum. The group then will reprise the parade and performance at the library.

Puppet group Balcum Rancum and storyteller Michael Corley will perform shows based on Roman mythology at both venues.

Other activities at the library include hands-on sculpture and mosaic sessions, face painting and Olympic Games for the Nintendo Wii.

“One of our most popular programs that we’ve been doing is video games,” said Lisa Wood, children’s services coordinator for the Metropolitan Library System. “It just gets teens and kids involved in the library and makes it a fun and safe place for them to hang out.”

The museum offers a family day with each of its special exhibitions.

“It’s a festival type event, but it is complementing the exhibition, providing an extended interpretation that’s on the level of families with children,” Boyd said. “It’s family fun and we’re kind of sneaking learning in.”

The event proves that downtown doesn’t close on the weekends and offers many activities for families with children, Wood said.

“It’s an once-in-a-lifetime thing to have this exhibit here,” she said. “It’s such a valuable experience to get to see this exhibit. I mean, it’s from the Louvre.”

The exhibit, which opened in June, has attracted thousands of visitors from across the state, country and even some foreign countries.

“The response has been incredible to it. We’ve had just long lines; I think our average attendance daily is about 500. All our school tours are booked. It’s just been pretty much across the board; all ages love it,” Boyd said.

GOING ON

Roman Art Family Day

Hours: Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, 300 Park Ave.

Activities: Free pizza, hands-on art activities, puppet shows, gladiator parade, Oklahoma Children’s Theatre performance and more.

Cost: Museum activities are free with admission; library activities are free.

Information: Call 236-3100 or go to www.okcmoa.com.

-BAM

Children ride the barrel train at Septemberfest 2007. (Photo by Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman Archives.)  

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To hear an audio clip of Oklahoma first lady Kim Henry, click here. 

Oklahoma’s first family gears up for free Septemberfest

Oklahoma’s first family is celebrating the arrival of fall by throwing a party for the whole state.

Gov. Brad Henry, first lady Kim Henry and their three daughters are hosting the yearly Septemberfest free family festival. The 12^th annual event, organized by Friends of the Mansion, will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Governor’s Mansion and Oklahoma History Center.

Kim Henry said this is her family’s sixth year to host the event, and it has become a favored tradition. First daughters Leah, 19, Laynie, 17, and Baylee, 11, have grown up helping out with the event and wouldn’t dream of missing it.

“They really enjoy Septemberfest, and sometimes I’m not sure what they enjoy more is the few days leading up to it when all the venues start to come on the grounds and they can go out there and play on everything before the crowds come, or really interacting with the crowds and seeing all the other kids,” said Kim Henry, who is chairman of the Friends of the Mansion board of directors.

“It’s just a day of fun for the entire family.”

The event celebrates the heritage and history of Oklahoma, said Septemberfest Chairman Jim Ö Hasenbeck.

“It’s a true free fair,” he said. “It’s an event parents can take their kids to and they don’t have to say no the whole day. It’s completely, 100 percent free.”

Families are encouraged to bring picnic lunches to the mansion grounds, and free treats will be provided, including cinnamon rolls from the state Wheat Commission, roasted peanuts from the Peanut Commission and chuck wagon cooking from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Boy and Girl Scouts will operate complimentary water stations. A few vendors will offer fare foods for purchase.

Favorite attractions include the bungee trampoline jump, rock climbing wall, hay bale maze, inflatable laser tag, Oklahoma City Blazers’ hockey shoot, carriage rides, antique tractor display, petting zoo, barrel train rides and a life-size chalk drawing demonstration. A two-lane bungee race is among this year’s new attractions.

Children can engage in fun, hands-on learning with historical crafts, old-fashioned games and the governor and first lady’s yearly story time.

Live entertainment will include African drumming, Vietnamese dragon dancers, American Indian dancing and storytelling, Mexican folkloric dancing and more.

The mansion, which is celebrating its 80^th anniversary this year, will be open for tours. The Oklahoma History Center also will be open and offering free admission plus special activities inside and on its grounds, including Celtic dancers, a 19^th century magic show and trick roping.

Part of NE 23 Street will be closed during the event to allow people to walk safely between the mansion and history center.

Kim Henry said 30,000 to 40,000 people are expected to attend Septemberfest.

“It’s the people that I’ve really grown to be very connected with, and how enthusiastic they are that there’s a festival going on that’s free for them, that they can bring their kids to, and just to be able interact with everyone all day long,” she said. “It makes all the work that goes into it and the fundraising worth it.”

GOING ON

Septemberfest

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Governor’s Mansion, 820 NE 23, and Oklahoma History Center, 2401 N Laird Ave.

Admission: Free, including free admission to Oklahoma History Center.

Parking: Free at the state Capitol, Oklahoma City-County Health Department and the mansion lot west of Phillips Avenue.

Road closing: NE 23 will be closed between Lincoln and Kelley for the event.

Information: 557-0198.

-BAM