At least that’s over

Despite the difficulties brought on by the pandemic, there’s a lot to be optimistic about moving forward.

click to enlarge At least that’s over
Berlin Green
We celebrated Juneteenth. Pictured Concious Lee.

All hopes of having anything resembling a normal year were dashed a few days into it, but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future.

For one, Oklahoma City’s live music scene, which was swelling just prior to the pandemic, seems to be cresting once more. With a year packed with rescheduled dates and bands eager to get on the road again, 2022 dates have been announced well in advance.

click to enlarge At least that’s over
Berlin Green
We enjoyed live music at venues across the state. Pictured Foo Fighters at The Zoo Ampitheatre.

Additionally, the city will see the addition of another live music venue in March, Beer City Music Hall, which we’ll be discussing in depth in February. The venue is already booking acts like Antlers, Kat Von D. and Knocked Loose for the spring.

Its neighbor at the corner of NW 3rd and Klein Avenue, Fair-Weather Friend, is a perfect example of the treasures that new taproom-forward local breweries bring to their neighborhoods, with an artisanal pizza kitchen in house.

Beer City’s other neighbor has a story to tell as well. See? Told you there was plenty of cause for optimism.

Another avenue where the state made great strides was in film and television production. We’ve come a long way from Tiger King, baby. But not too far, really, with the second season and a Doc Antle miniseries already streaming on Netflix.

click to enlarge At least that’s over
Berlin Green
We finally got to experience the First Americans Museum.

Reservation Dogs has been renewed for a second season, while creator Sterlin Harjo has netted a broader deal with the FX Network itself. Principal photography on Flowers of the Killer Moon wrapped in October. A real city made its eponymous debut, Stillwater, while a fictional city was the scene of the action in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The latter may not have filmed here, but several other productions have, especially after the launch of Prairie Surf Studios and Green Pastures Studios here in the metro. Expect Oklahoma Gazette to be covering film productions more closely next year.

The cherry on top has been the rapid success of Oklahoma City’s auteur filmmaker Mickey Reece. With Agnes now making its theatrical run at Rodeo Cinema and available to stream on demand following its premiere at Tribeca Film Festival this summer, the buzz is already starting to build around his next feature, Country Gold. But we’ll tell you more about that later.

While Oklahoma City has been accelerating in leaps and bounds this year, Tulsa is also experiencing a rapid renaissance. Expect to hear more about things happening there next year as well.

click to enlarge At least that’s over
Berlin Green
We experienced Oklahoma City’s first ever all women’s mural festival with the Sunny Dayz Mural Festival. Pictured: @feahther

Recognizing its strength as a community leader of free news about vital Oklahoma topics, Oklahoma Gazette will also be syndicating selected stories from NonDoc. Tres Savage has spent the past several years crafting a news organization whose breaking news efforts are as thorough as their in-depth coverage and we’re proud to be working with them.

There’s plenty more to say, but that’s enough for now. All the best to you and yours.

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