Better start saving up for that $0.00 entry free, because Norman Music Festival has announced its headliners for the 2015 edition. Ra Ra Riot and Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires will top the bills of the two main stages on the Saturday of the festival’s eighth incarnation, scheduled for April 23-25 in downtown Norman. More bands will be announced in the weeks to come, and Oxford Karma will make sure to let you know who they are as those names trickle out.
Syracuse product Ra Ra Riot got its start in 2006, steadily building a following for its string-inflected brand of chamber pop through the 2008 release of the band’s universally acclaimed, debut full-length, The Rhumb Line. Its sophomore album, The Orchard — which included bubbly single “Boy” — followed in 2010. A third studio album, Beta Love, came in 2013, toning down the baroque elements in favor of a more dance-friendly synth sound. Frontman Wes Miles is also known for his collaboration with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij for the R&B-leaning electronic act Discovery. Ra Ra Riot last played Oklahoma City in 2011 over at the ACM@UCO Performance Lab, returning for a gig at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa in 2013. This is the five-piece’s first time in Norman.
Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires (Photo: Wes Frazer)
Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires blazed onto the scene in 2014 with Deconstructed, a ramshackle concoction of all things good ol’ American rock ‘n’ roll: whiskey-soaked guitar riffs, cocky swagger, and a heavy twang. Sub Pop Records released that sophomore album, and the Birmingham-bred band spent much of the past 12 months out in the road in support of it, earning the reputation as one of the United States’ best (and rowdiest) live bands in the process.
Tickets won’t go on sale this Friday, because it’s free for everyone, dummy. But if you want to become a member of the festival’s sustaining base and earn yourself VIP credentials in the process, you can do so now.
