NMFX overcame rain delays, stormy weather during three-day stretch
hen Norman Music Festival performersthanked patrons for attending Saturday, they meant it.
Ceaseless rain and looming storms lingered above hundreds of soaked patrons instead of the many thousands of people who usually crowd the streets of downtown Norman during the festival’s big finish. Conditions weren’t ideal and the bad luck plagued several sets from going as planned. But those same difficulties made the devotion of fans, bands and organizers all the more impressive during NMF’s 10th rendition.
With the sheer volume of events happening last weekend (OKC’s Festival of the Arts and Memorial Marathon as co-headliners) it was a literal marathon weekend between Friday and Sunday, with a massive storm sandwiched in between. Straight-line winds, tornadoes, snow and floods delivered a state of emergency for all 77 Oklahoma counties last weekend. You know, your run of the mill, borderline apocalyptic weather.
Rain or shine
When my co-worker Graham Lee Brewer shared this recap, it made NMF feel like a testament to a festival that people cared about. One that’s doing things right and attracting talents passionate enough to care right back:
Just a few blocks away, Brianna Bailey caught this moment at the festival’s train track-hugging Depot stage:
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Show goes on
Nearby lightning stalled outdoor stages Saturday afternoon. That’s normally when NMF crowds start to swell, so it was disheartening to see something that went off so smoothly nine years in a row not be able to catch any breaks. Organizers were quick to urge patrons to find shelter during the storm’s more intense moments. The festival picked up again later in the evening.
It was a weird, wet ending to a normally triumphant celebration of local and national talent. Truly, it wasn’t your run-of-themill NMF. However, if you braved the chilly elements then there was still plenty of fun to be had.It's always unfortunate when sets have to get canceled or moved but at the end of the day hundreds of bands still performed at the festival. That's remarkable.
Conversation of the impending forecast was rampant between Thursday and Friday’s festival sets but luckily weather didn’t shut down any concerts. On Friday, NMF’s hip-hop stage radiated talent from Okie acts New York-based rapper
was my festival highlight. She introduced herself as a Ph.D. student studying at Cornell University, strapped on an arm cannon prop inspired by the Nintendo game she is anamesake of and didn’t miss a beat, even when a quick burst of rain spooked the crowd.
Nearby, Oklahomabased songwriters
and playedthe indoor Sooner Theatre stage and provided a well-soundtracked shelter from the short Friday shower.
Just a couple of streets east, Opolis showcased a strong collection of indie rock talent including
The night ended close to midnight when the stage’s headliner, performed a sultry set of chillwave-drenched, pop gems. Backstage, a lone saxophone player named waited patiently to be invited onstage with Sports for a thrilling solo during the set's last song. His friends and family rushed to the side stage barricade to congratulate him after the performance. He
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shouted, “Oh my God” in a bewildered celebration, as if he’d walked offstage with The Beatles and won a lottery jackpot twice. It looked like the best night of his young life. That’s the combination of fun and community that’s bound NMF together from the start and hopefully sustains for another 10 years.
Night one
On Thursday night, I sat just a few feet away on the Opolis patio. It’s typically the most relaxed portion of the festival. Oklahoma City-based musician
talked to me about curating the evening’s lineup alongside Opolis co-owner Andy Nunez and NMF organizer Joshua Boydston.
He was happy to invite people to check out acts they might not normally see and jumped at the opportunity to play and help organize the evening under his Tape Gun Records moniker.
“I love music like most humans do,” Lusk told
“I wanna help people record and express themselves with music.
“I think it’s a great festival. It’s free. A lot of people come out. It’s exhausting, but it’s fun . ... It’s nice to have a system built in to where people will come and experience something that a lot of people work really hard toward.”
Next year, let’s hope the hard work scores three days of luck.