It’s not uncommon for beloved bandleaders to spawn successful side projects. Jack White had The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. Maynard James Keenan had Tool and A Perfect Circle. Scott Weiland had Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. Antonio Laster may not have been the front man before, but the bassist for Stillwater favorite Mayola […]
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Posted inArts & Culture
Thoughts on ‘boombastic’ Thunder trades
One of the big movers and shakers of the day was our own Oklahoma City Thunder. They made two surprise moves, and according to most of the analysts and pundits, came out as big winners. Let’s take a look at what happened: 1. OKC traded forward Jeff Green, center Nenad Krstic and a draft pick […]
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Oh (big) brother
I went to a national shoe store chain in northwest Oklahoma City to exchange a gift (size change). The exchange was going well until we were asked for a driver’s license. When I asked the manager why my driver’s license was needed, we were told “it’s store policy.” After further questioning and not receiving an […]
Posted inMusic
Space invaders
Sometimes the band name defines the band, and in others, the sound defines the name. In the case of Oklahoma City trio Aliens Vs. Robots, it’s a little bit of both. “It came from our music, from what I thought the music sounded like,” bassist David Steele said. “We were playing our song ‘Invasions’ and […]
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Hop, skip and a jump
Garage punk’s rabbit-masked Nobunny hops into The Conservatory on Saturday night for a return gig that he had no intention of making. Local Nobunny fan Clint McEwen noticed something wasn’t right when the Oakland, Calif.-based act’s winter tour dates were posted on Twitter recently: no Oklahoma City stop. This irked him, because he had seen […]
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Poster art
Photography capturing candid scenes of city life and major motion pictures are essentially the same thing, according to Steven Poster. The cinematographer should know, having worked on cinematic touchstones like “Blade Runner,” “Donnie Darko” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” “The act of making a photograph, as opposed to the art of shooting a […]
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Ground floor
Sometimes the best solution is a fresh start. Fort Worth post-punk purveyors The Burning Hotels have always had a lot going for them: an established regional fan base, numerous awards, opening slots with bands like The Toadies and Ladytron, a magazine cover and even an appearance in a feature film (2009’s teen-rock flick “Bandslam”) as […]
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Divine Grace
It’s been a banner year for Grace Potter, who has too many highlights to pick just one. There were the duets with Kenny Chesney and Sharon Jones; her meeting with her personal idol, Robert Plant; the performance with Heart on “VH1 Divas”; taking the stage at Austin City Limits; and even helping formulate her own […]
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Bob Macy: A look back
Two weeks after he was sworn into office in 1980, Oklahoma County District Attorney got the call to which he’d promised to respond. It was a police detective from the south side of Oklahoma City. “He said, ‘We just had a triple homicide at a south side motel and thought you might want to be […]
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Games afoot
If video killed the radio star, many of today’s video games seem determined to bring him or her back. Since several musically inclined game titles may be on your loved ones’ lists this Christmas, I enlisted my kids to help tackle a couple, pre-Yule. First up? “Rock Band 3,” the latest in MTV Games’ venerable […]