As most of you know, I'm probably the Peach Pit girl from the smallest town. Hearing of antics in Atlanta, New York, Chicago and the like can induce jealousy in a little southwestern girl such as myself.
But you know what? I realized my town SO doesn't suck, especially recently. Every few years, Tulsa is really great for concerts and we draw some great people in...
...and even when we don't, I'm really so proud of the music scene here. I was reminded of this tonight when my girls dragged me out to one of my favorite more-underground venues The Monolith to see Juneaux, which a few of my friends are in.(Inside note: The Monolith is so great because it's cheap and in a more run-down part of town, so anything goes around here. It's a really, really young venue and you can tell by the lack of furniture and all that, but having fun here is a given. My favorite recurring event here is the Milk and Knives dance party, which might be the only venue-supported dance party I can go to legally at my age. Shit goes down.)
Anyway, I totally forgot how amazing some local acts can be here-- for example, my friend Toad's band Guardant is really, really fucking good (my exact words to him afterward, except there were a few more "really"s. I was VERY impressed). I'd heard them before, but their music is CRAZY (imagine if The Rapture was around in the '80s and you'll get a good idea) and I was totally feeling that shit! Nathan, who sings for Juneaux, thinks they're "a better version of Hot Chip". I might agree. It seems almost DFA-worthy (which BTW, if you're reading this, you should sign these boys, kay?).
After Juneaux was another really great band called Hot Sauce Koalas, who seemed a lot like how U2 might sound if they became a jam band-- and I won't lie, I do love Bono, douchery ignored. This was music I really freaked out to and had an ambient quality that just made me want to float away into it at the same time. My hair was everywhere (screaming infidelities. Sorry).
We've also got a lot of other great acts with people I know around here, including Here is There, David "Benjamin" Lyman, the maverick Mason Remel and the more nationally famous Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, who live around here. Talented acts are very easy to find here. If any of you kids for some strange reason ever decide to head down here, I don't think you'll be disappointed by some really fun acts we have!
In other words, this town's got a great little scene, and we bring out some cool kids-- for example, ex-Polyphonic Spree babe St. Vincent is from here (Aqueduct and the Flaming Lips are Oklahoma natives, too)! Celebrated acts like Girl Talk and Rufus Wainwright love Tulsa (the latter even has a song called "Tulsa", written after his amazing concert at The Brady a few years back), and back in the '70s Eric Clapton and John Cale were known for some pretty crazy parties downtown. And with Project 2020 existing to improve our city's quality of life, this little town of mine is on the up and up...
Plus, I think I'll get to see Ratatat, Beck and MGMT next month-- which, of course, I'll totally fill you guys in on (Valentina knows where I'm going with this) once it happens.
Another year around here just might not be so bad.
P.S. Right now, you can give my friend's sister the opportunity to play at Austin City Limits this year! A contest called The Sound and the Jury is letting kids vote for their favorite band from a slew of nominees, and her band (Fiawna Forte and Mama's Fairway Revue) are in the top 50! Help them go higher? You know it'd be so cool.
Vote here and spread the word. It'd mean a lot :-)
Vote here and spread the word. It'd mean a lot :-)
2 comments:
Aw, that sounds like so much fun girl! I don't know, your town may be small but it does sound like it's actually pretty cool as far as small towns go. I mean your night beats my third wheel experience by like a thousand, so see, NYC isn't always where it's at!!
I'll totally go and vote for your friend's sister's band! How awesome would it be to actually play Austin City Limits?!
Tulsa is really nice. It's definitely not Party Central, but I'm lucky to have grown up somewhere like this. It's a good thing.
Aww, it probably wasn't THAT bad! But everybody has their days, y'know? And I can relate, because up until last night I was having a pretty socially depressing weekend. Plus, sooner or later, your plans'll be totally knifing mine. I'd totally be throwing you a goodbye party right about now if I were in NYC.
Thank you for doing that! It's true, something like this makes a person's career. Gotta help my city get on the map :-)
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