Little Rock, Arkansas
Every year, Little Rock plays host to Riverfest, a three-day music festival on the banks of the Arkansas River. The 2014 festival drew about 250,000 people to watch dozens of bands perform over Memorial Day weekend.
“It’s a huge, huge event,” said Alan Sims, vice president of sales and services for the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s one of the top festivals in the U.S.”
The festival has two primary stages: The First Security Amphitheater reopened in 2013 after being renovated, but it still has the river as a backdrop. Organizers also erect a second stage at Clinton Presidential Center a couple blocks away as well as several smaller stages throughout downtown. The festival “transforms the River Market District in downtown over a few days,” Sims said, and always includes a dramatic fireworks display.
The live music scene is big in Little Rock, Sims said. With the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the school’s medical sciences campus, “you can’t get that many students and people in one place without music being a big, big deal.”
The Afterthought is where then Gov. Bill Clinton would stroll in with his sax and his shades to play with whomever was there. SoMa is a revitalized neighborhood that’s home to South on Main restaurant, which often has live music. In the River Market District, visitors can hit up Stickyz Rock ’N’ Roll Chicken Shack for fried chicken, drinks and live music, or they can stop at the Rev Room, which books blues, country, rock and folk acts.
Groups “absolutely love” Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, Sims said. They get a buffet dinner and a show that’s usually a musical, but “almost always something funny,” he said. The playhouse operates every evening Tuesday through Saturday and has matinees on Wednesday and Sunday.
Oklahoma City
In Oklahoma City’s Bricktown neighborhood, visitors will find several music venues housed in historic brick warehouses, and they’ll also find Flaming Lips Alley. Bricktown’s Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Café has live jazz in the moody basement bar. Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill hosts country music bands every week. Michael Murphy’s Dueling Pianos is a rollicking rock ’n’ roll dueling piano show that runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
The American Banjo Museum in Bricktown does more than showcase banjos; the founder shows off banjo music. Groups can arrange to tour the museum and have a live performance by the founder, “who is a world-class banjo player,” said Sandy Price, vice president of tourism sales for the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
At the Rodeo Opry in historic Stockyard City, visitors will find country music and gospel acts every Saturday night. The Opry features a new lineup every week, backed by the Rodeo Opry band. Many groups pair a show with dinner at Cattleman’s Steakhouse, which is only half a block away, Price said.
The city is home to the Academy of Contemporary Music, a four-year accredited school that’s run by Scott Booker, who manages the Flaming Lips. In addition to supplying a steady stream of performers for area venues, the school has an alcohol-free performance venue three blocks from campus, Price said.
Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma puts on its Broadway series at the Civic Center Music Hall, but the company also has a small theater in the Plaza District. Lyric at the Plaza is where the company performs its smaller shows, such as a faux beauty pageant and murder mystery musical comedies.
