St. Vincent To Play Cain’s Ballroom — Finally!
Tulsa-born Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, performs at Cain’s Ballroom at 8 p.m. May 15. Tickets go on sale Jan. 27: $19 in advance, $21 day of show. Get your tix here.
We’ve waited patiently, though some less so, and now it’s finally happening.
Carney, they probably have your photo posted near all the entrances, so no funny stuff.
– Lang
This Sunday: See Josh Sallee Tape the Season Premiere of STATIC
Rapper Josh Sallee, who recently landed on the cover of LOOKatOKC, will be the first artist featured on the new season of STATIC, and we will tape the performance before a live audience at 5 p.m. Sunday, at VZD’s, 4200 N Western. Admission is free. We want a big crowd for this first installment, so drop all your other Labor Day Weekend activities and take a break with Josh for a couple of hours of great local music.
Other Lives with Mates
Stillwater’s Other Lives apparently impressed Mates of State when they opened for the group during a show in Norman this past spring.
Other Lives is set to open nine shows for the San Francisco native Mates of State, starting with a show in Columbus, Ohio in October.
For a full list of shows with Mates of State, click here.
Those shows will come after the band plays six shows with Indie Folker Bon Iver in September.
Other Lives released its second album, Tamer Animals, on May 10 and so far has drawn positive reviews from music sites Pitchfork and Paste Magazine.
Plus, the band made perhaps one of the greatest music videos in the history of music videos that take place in space… (Probably only edged out by Michael Jackson’s Scream video. You just can’t beat Pong in space.)
Greyson Chance continues his ascent, performs Saturday in Edmond
Not all teen pop stars are created equal, and in the nine months since Edmond’s Greyson Chance achieved ubiquity with his heavily YouTube’d performance of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi,” it is becoming increasingly clear that the 13-year-old singer-songwriter will not be following anyone else’s prefabricated paths.
Chance proved this on Monday, when he took a break from his tour with Miranda Cosgrove to perform on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.”
Without question, Fallon is running the best nighttime music lab on network television. With Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and the Roots as the house band, the show isn’t in the business of suffering lightweights.
Chance took the stage with a full band to perform his single, “Waiting Outside the Lines,” a mature piano-rock ballad that clearly aims for all ears, not just young ones, and he earned respect. Not only did he attack “Waiting” with skill and passion, Chance proved he could command a stage, stepping away from the piano midsong and belting it out to the audience.
Shortly after Chance’s performance, ?uestlove — whose Twitter account identifies him as “your favorite twitterer’s favorite music snob,” took to social media to fully endorse the young star to his 1.4 million Twitter followers.
“Man. @greysonchance gave us an engaging and compelling performance on @latenightjimmy. I co-sign this kid,” ?uestlove tweeted.
The drummer/bandleader does not hand out compliments lightly. A tweet like that holds power. Sure, Chance gained millions of pop fans with his strong voice and piano work last year, and that is no mean feat. But ?uestlove’s endorsement means credibility in the minds of people who might not otherwise pay attention, and Chance earned it.
Since the YouTube frenzy and his subsequent appearances on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show, Chance has returned home several times, performing at his brother Tanner’s fraternity at the University of Oklahoma and appearing last month at a family-oriented inaugural event for Gov. Mary Fallin. But this weekend, the former Cheyenne Middle School student will return to Edmond for two special benefit concerts.
Chance performs at 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday at Edmond Santa Fe High School, with proceeds benefitting the Children’s Miracle Network. This week, in an e-mail interview, he talked about how his busy performance schedule and the process of recording his forthcoming debut album improved his stage presence and musical ability.
“I can tell my songwriting ability is getting stronger as I’m writing more,” he said, e-mailing from Atlanta. “Of course, being on tour I’m improving as a performer. I love feeding off the energy of the crowd. It’s like artist ‘boot camp’ — my writing, my performing, my vocal abilities will all improve the more I practice.”
Chance said the album is progressing and will arrive later this year with a pop-rock sound that he has previously compared to Coldplay.
“The story behind the album is about going through a heartbreak,” he said. “I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.”
As for the performances and meet-and-greet appearances at Edmond Santa Fe, Chance doesn’t want to give anything away. It’s all for a good cause.
“I have a couple surprises for the show,” Chance said. “You will just have to come to see what they are.”
One element that will not be a surprise: Greyson Chance is not the standard teen idol. He is taking chances.
IN CONCERT
Greyson Chance
With: At Long Last, Theater Breaks Loose and Sherree Chamberlain.
When: 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Edmond Santa Fe High School, 1901 W 15, Edmond.
Tickets: $20 to $30 for the concerts, $25 for the meet-and-greet appearances.
Information: www.stubwire.com.
Photos: Flaming Lips NYE Freakout #4
I don’t know where I found the energy to post these pictures.
The latest Flaming Lips show was beautiful, energetic and the most exciting NYE show to date.
-Poppe
“The Static Holiday Sessions”
Since its inception in February 2009, Static has showcased some of the most talented musicians in the area, including The Flaming Lips, Maggie McClure, the Pretty Black Chains, Jabee, Graham Colton and Colourmusic, but with the Static Holiday Sessions, the music series takes a new turn in time for Christmas.
Taped at Urban Roots in Deep Deuce and sponsored by Fowler Volkswagen, the Static Holiday Sessions features inspired duet pairings between past Static guests and a few future performers, as well. These performances include Jabee and Dr. Pants on the Run-DMC classic “Christmas in Hollis,” Daniel Walcher and Skating Polly on John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” Matt and Joe Stansberry doing “White Christmas,” Sherree Chamberlain and Brine Webb on “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” K.C. Clifford and Jami Smith on “Draw Near,” and Cami Stinson, Cara Black and Jeremy Thomas on “Silent Night.” This special debuts Wednesday in the video section of NewsOK.com and at static.newsok.com. In addition, audio files can be heard on Ferris O’Brien’s thespyfm.com.
I’m so proud of this episode, and would like to thank Jonathan Fowler of Fowler Volkswagen, Dave Morris and our amazing video crew at NewsOK, Nathan Poppe for shooting photos during the session, the good people at Urban Roots and the amazing collection of talent that showed up and celebrated the holidays with us.
Dr. Pants and Jabee, “Christmas in Hollis”
Cami Stinson and Cara Black, feat. Jeremy Thomas, “Silent Night”
Daniel Walcher and Skating Polly, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
Matt and Joe Stansberry, “White Christmas”
Sherree Chamberlain and Brine Webb, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
K.C. Clifford and Jami Smith, “Draw Near”
Photos: Static Christmas Special
Here’s another reason to get excited about local music.
George Lang and the Static film crew headed to Urban Roots in downtown Oklahoma City and invited several bands to perform Christmas classics.
Here’s a list of the songs and local artists.
• Matt Stansberry & Joe Stansberry — “White Christmas”
• Dr. Pants & Jabee — Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis”
• Daniel Walcher & Skating Polly — John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
• Sherree Chamberlain & Brine Webb — “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
• K.C. Clifford & Jami Smith — Their original song “Draw Near”
• Cami Stinson & Cara Black — “Silent Night” feat. Jeremy A. Thomas
You can check out videos from all these performances on Wednesday Dec. 22.
-Poppe
Photos: Skating Polly CD release show
Kelli Mayo, 10, and Peyton Suitor, 15, are Skating Polly. The duo from Edmond rocked Guestroom Records in Norman on Friday night.
The band’s debut album “Taking Over the World” was released at the show and it’s nothing short of a punk rock gem.
Keep your eyes on this band. By the time they hit high school, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are halfway around the world melting faces.
-Nathan Poppe
Photos: The Pretty Black Chains CD release weekend
The Pretty Black Chains caused quite the ruckus this weekend.
The Oklahoma City-based quartet performed to a sold out crowd at Cain’s Ballroom on Friday in support of The Smashing Pumpkins.
On Saturday, the band packed The Conservatory in Oklahoma City for its CD release.
Here are a few photos from the 20 hours I spent following the band around.
Now, to get some sleep.
-Poppe
Photos: Ariel Pink performing at The Opolis
-Poppe
