Road Trip Review: Turnpike Troubadours in Tulsa 3/8/14

For my 30th (Gross) birthday, Mike took me on a little road trip to Tulsa, OK to see one of our favorite bands--probably my FAVORITE country band, The Turnpike Troubadours. My sweet dude even booked us a fancy room on the top floor of our hotel near downtown.

It was really nice to get away from Springfield for a night, see some great music, and take a Sunday morning walk downtown to try out my new big girl camera. Because relying on your phone to take pictures is for people in their 20's.

Nice view.

This was my third time getting my country on with Turnpike Troubadours, and it was by far the best of their shows I've seen. This sold out gig was apparently a huge deal for them. Lead singer Evan Felker talked about how it was their dream to sell out Cain's Ballroom...and after they did that, they wanted to sell out the--much bigger--Brady Theater.

 

And they did. It's a 2800 seat venue! They genuinely looked stoked to be playing there. With the exception of some jackasses fighting in the front (where I, thankfully, was not), the vibe was really fun. I'm glad I got to be a part of such a special night for a band that I love. 

Chris Knight and John Fullbright opened up the concert. I have heard a lot of positive buzz about Knight in the underground country world. However, the sound during his set was horrible. I couldn't understand anything he said. Fullbright was impressive, though. He puts a very blues-y spin on folk. He reminded me of an Americana Jason Mraz. 

The Troubadours killed it. I've written about their music before, so I won't repeat myself. But they were tighter and had much more energy this time. 

This is a (record) version of one of my favorite Turnpike Troubadours songs, "Down on Washington." I love it because it's catchy and country. And when they played Springfield last year, Felker said this was written about "a place like--what was it called? Centerfolds!"

I did not bring my camera into the theater, but we took a nice, cool spring morning walk around downtown Tulsa and took some pictures the next day:

Every band playing that night--hilarious.

So I usually end my enthralling concert posts with a look at what musical madness is next for the Winchels:

Next month's road trip to Dallas will include some artists and venues I'm so pumped about: Wade Bowen at Billy Bob's Texas ("the world's largest honky tonk")...Anvil at Gas Monkey Bar and Grill (ran by Richard Rawlings, of the Discovery Channel show Fast and Loud)...and Alter Bridge at The House of Blues. 

Each one of these will require a very different outfit.

--Carrie