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Eric Clapton rocks the BOK Center.
Eric Clapton’s return to Tulsa tonight is being heralded by many (including this very publication) as a sort of homecoming. But make no mistake, there is nothing organic or heartfelt in the reasoning.
We made this happen, you and I. Not that Clapton doesn’t have a place in his heart for our fair city; I am certain that he does. But none of this would be happening if we hadn’t stepped up to the plate. By deciding to build and support the BOK Center, we have created our own opportunities. By making the venue one of the most successful in the nation, we have erased the excuses. We have always known the great things Tulsa has to offer, and now, through these efforts, we are able to share those things.
From a sheer financial standpoint, Eric Clapton couldn’t not play the BOK Center.
I don’t have anything new to say on the BOK Center itself. You know the story. Many doubted it from the beginning. Many ended up eating a big serving of crow. It’s kind of like those people who saw the first trailer for “Avatar” and said, “Who the hell wants to see a movie about blue aliens?” Bold moves fail sometimes, but that does not mean that they should not have been taken in the first place. Because the chance that you may get an “Avatar” or a BOK Center, for that matter, make the risk worthwhile.
Seeing how some of these new things are turning out, I wonder about the ill-fated Channels project that died a few years ago. The northern end of the river still remains sadly underutilized. If only we had seen what we can do when we dream big.
So, tonight, when you are rocking out to “Tulsa Time” or “After Midnight,” remember that you made that moment possible. And this is just the beginning.
Like me, you don’t have to be an indigenous rock ’n’ roll fanatic to enjoy “Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock & Roll Story” ($29.95), a coffee table-sized book complied by the Oklahoma History Center. All that’s required is a love of music and an appreciation of our state’s roots.
This compilation of 16 essays by Oklahoma’s music heroes is extraordinary. Last Feb. 16 at the Ida Red Boutique in Brookside, 16 authors (including John Wooley) gathered to sign copies of this recently published anthology.
One of the essays, “The Farm” by John Cooper, intrigues. Cooper is a vocalist and mandolin player for the Red Dirt Rangers. In the countryside west of Stillwater blossomed a breeding ground for musicians in the ’80s called The Farm. Here musicians gathered, jammed and made history. “Their sound is heard in every Jimmy LaFave song, Stoney LaRue show and Garth Brooks record,” the essay notes. The Farm burned down in 2003, but the music born there rages on.
The other essays are also engaging. Angie Devore-Green — who, with her husband, Tom Green, founded Dfest — writes about the beginnings of this musical extravaganza in the early 2000s. Her essay is the last in the book, rightfully so for this is the new wave of music and fans — 60,000 spectators listened to 150 bands last summer in the Blue Dome District. At the signing, she cradled her newborn baby while she autographed books — the next generation ensures that the Tulsa Sound lives on.
This is a book chock full of visual memorabilia, ticket stubs, LP label designs and radio logos that only the Oklahoma History Center could have amassed. If you attended the Eric Clapton performance at the BOK, you want this book.
