To quote Kevin Bacon’s character in the 1984 film Footloose (and more importantly the Bible) “”Ecclesiastes assures us that there is a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to laugh and a time to weep. A time to mourn and there is a time to dance.” Rocklahoma, the nation’s longest-running annual rock shindig also assures us there is a time to rock.
Rocklahoma itself has long since been the gold-standard when it coms to successful rock festivals in America. It has been an ever-evolving event that began as an 80’s rock Woodstock of sorts in this little town of Pryor, OK back in 2007. Now presented by AEG Live, Rocklahoma boasts 3 stages, countless vendors and eclectic acts that span the entire diverse rock n’ roll universe.
Whether you spend most of your time at the main stage or venture out to people watch, or take in some of the more exciting sets at the side stages, Rocklahoma has something for everyone and acts symbolically as a true bastion of American freedoms and exceptionalism.
While live music fell by the wayside for the better part of the year during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was extra refreshing to see the event back with a vengeance in 2021. Previously held on Memorial Day Weekend, the new Labor Day dates seemed to work really well as over 20,000 people per day tromped their way through the festival grounds. This particular festival wasn’t necessarily about dissecting the lineup with a fine tooth comb (although there were ample top-notch performances). 2021 was about the celebration of the true spirit of the festival itself and each band seemed to be the recipient of over-enthused audiences that had previously been starved of their live music addiction.
Several bands that had been advertised pulled out of the festival and the promoters must be applauded for scrambling to fill these slots. In truth, I spent a lot of my time at the DEB Concerts stage which provides a club-like atmosphere (although there is little air movement so multiple drink purchases at once is highly recommended).
Liliac shines at Rocklahoma
The most underrated band from the weekend were the wicked little beings in Liliac, a family metal act that completely shredded the DEB Concerts stage on Friday evening. Singer Melody Cristea is a legit hard rock vocal goddess as her voice stood out during the band’s covers of classics like “The Trooper,” “Rainbow in the Dark,” and “Enter Sandman.” It’s performances like these that truly make Rocklahoma a spectacle to behold.
Shock-rocker Rob zombie closed out the main stage on day 1 delivering a mind-bending, psycho-metallic performance more than worthy of the Rocklahoma Freedom stage. Slipknot would follow suit the next night as the event’s daily-dose of heavy rainfall and storms reared their ugly head on Saturday afternoon.
While Limp Bizkit would fail to close out Rocklahoma on Sunday night, it was rock stalwarts Hailstorm that would be more than up to the task. But this weekend would not be about the bands that didn’t show up, rather the ingenuity of the festival itself. Thousands of people begrudgingly made their way back to their destinations after a weekend of rock and debauchery knowing that there are better days ahead. Let’s do this again Rocklahoma, and let’s not wait 800 days ever again.
