It’s here. Norman Music Festival is finally upon us. Sure, Thursday doesn’t demand the same crowds that Friday and Saturday do (and this year gets to compete with a sold-out Brand New concert), but there are always some sneaky gems that might well end up being your favorite of the whole weekend. Here are some of the performances we think have the best shot of being just that:
Lord Buffalo
1 a.m. Friday
The Bluebonnet Bar
For fans of: Tom Waits, Other Lives
A little spooky, a little swampy and a whole lot of Southern, Austin product Lord Buffalo travels up I-35 to cap off a strong Thursday night with their brand of orchestrated, countrified despair.
The Copperheads
12 a.m. Friday
Opolis
For fans of: Black Flag, Bad Brains
Blue-collar punks The Copperheads were a little quiet through late 2013 and 2014 on the heels of their excellent 2012 record Apocalyptic Behavior, yet they are anything but on stage. With new material in the works and an ever-growing reputation as one of Oklahoma’s deadliest bands, this could be the Norman Music Festival set everyone talks about after the last note rings on Saturday night.
Beach Language
11:30 p.m. Thursday
Red Brick Bar
For fans of: Generationals, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Oklahoma City’s Beach Language hasn’t been around for long and has been playing live for even less time, but they’ve made the most of it by producing a super-sleek debut record of ’80s synth-pop meets hook-heavy ’00s indie in Ludwig that’s impossible not to nod along to.
Sex Snobs
11 p.m. Thursday
Opolis
For fans of: Metz, Iceage
No one in Oklahoma marries visceral energy and memorable guitar riffs the way these post-punk saviors do, taking something combative and finding a way to make it inviting. The band has a record called Pop Songs & Other Ways to Die due this year, so expect to hear some new material.
Nervous Curtains
11 p.m. Thursday
Brewhouse
For fans of: Archers of Loaf, Polvo
Dallas act Nervous Curtains is more than a little indebted to the ’90s college-rock wave. Add in some synthesizers and you have music that makes you want to think, dance and brood all in the same moment.
Oklahoma Cloud Factory
10 p.m. Thursday
The Bluebonnet Bar
For fans of: The Dodos, Dr. Dog
Oklahoma is something of hotbed for freak folk, and Oklahoma Cloud Factory is just another name adding to that lineage. They effortlessly shift from twee pop jams to dusty-trail rock ballads with the best of them, melding prairie landscapes and humble city skylines like nobody’s business.
Larry Chin
9 p.m. Thursday
Brewhouse
For fans of: Broken Social Scene, Menomena
Larry Chin — the brainchild of music scene veteran Kyle Mayfield — can be a little bit of everything to everyone. His albums cover the full spectrum of mind-tripping psychedelia to ethereal pop and stripped down folk, and he does all of them well.
Paul Varghese with Cameron Buchholtz, Ryan Drake, James Nghiem & more
8 p.m. Thursday
Sooner Theatre
Thursday night comedy at Sooner Theatre has become somewhat of an institution. The past few years have brought the Sklar Brothers and D.C. Pierson through, and this year’s quality touring comedian offering is as strong as ever. Last Comic Standing alum Paul Varghese has toured with and opened for Dave Chapelle, Gabriel Iglesias, Russell Peters and Joan Rivers, to name a few.
Tonne
7:30 p.m. Thursday
Red Brick Bar
For fans of: The National, No Age
Tonne came out of nowhere with a killer EP in October last year, and they’ve been diligently playing shows and releasing still more new material in the months since. Norman Music Festival might just be their big coming out party. Let’s hope it is.
The Pizza Thieves
7 p.m. Thursday
Opolis
For fans of: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, The Thermals
There’s probably no better way to launch into NMF8 than with the no-holds-barred garage rock of Norman trio The Pizza Thieves, whom you might recognize from throwing toilet paper from the Main Stage for Diarrhea Planet at last year’s festival.
Others to consider: Regg (12:30 a.m. at Red Brick Bar), Admirals (12 a.m. at Brewhouse), Robert Hoefling (12 a.m. at The Bluebonnet Bar), Junebug Spade (10 p.m. at Brewhouse) Foxburrows (9 p.m. at The Bluebonnet Bar), Easy Lovers (8:30 p.m. at Red Brick Bar), Brother Gruesome (8 p.m. at Opolis), Autumn Ray (6 p.m. at The Bluebonnet Bar)
For a full lineup and map, visit the Norman Music Festival website.
