Starting Next Week: Stories from the road as I retrace the steps of early man in New Mexico…
Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale
Welcome back. I first introduced the Fabulous Mid Life Crisis Band to Bartlesville when I hired them for a fund raiser that the local YMCA and I called “The YMCA Rocks Woolaroc.” The band was a huge success that first year and some twelve years later they are still playing at the event every fall.
My relationship with the band goes back way before their first trip to Bartlesville when I saw them at the Nature Conservancy’s Wild Brew fund raiser in Tulsa but even I didn’t know the whole history of how they got started until recently. It was 1995 when the original five Tulsa musicians, all of whom were middle aged, got together for the first time. Back in the ‘60s they had each played in different bands during high school and had continued to play when they went to college. After college things changed when careers and families took center stage and music was pushed to the side. Some thirty years went by before the five self proclaimed “old guys” started playing together and they practiced for three years before their first real gig at American Heat & Air’s 1997 Christmas party. After that they knew they were on to something and soon hundreds of fans knew it too. That something is garage band music and it has made Mid-Life Crisis one of the most popular bands in the area
Nowadays the Fabulous Mid Life Crisis Band is still hot with gigs all over the area, including Utica Square in Tulsa. Every summer different bands play outdoor shows during Summer’s Fifth Night as its called at the square and it is one of my favorite places to see Mid Life Crisis. For the record, here’s the scoop on Utica Square:
The shopping center opened in Tulsa in 1955. At the time the suburban shopping center was a new concept and Utica Square was Tulsa’s first. Miss Jackson’s, which was founded in 1910, moved to the center in 1965 and continues to be an anchor store today.
Although many older readers may remember TG&Y, C.R. Anthony’s and Renberg’s, they are gone now and have been replaced by Banana Republic, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn and many more. Utica Square is always a fun place to shop and hang out but tomorrow night (June 6th) the place will be a zoo. It happens once a year when Mid Life Crisis plays this gig. Hundreds of people bring chairs, pop-up tents, ice chests and their dancing shoes and they turn the parking lot into Woodstock. Its back to the 1960s with peace & love starting at 7PM and one more thing, it’s all free. The stars line up right for this party and I suggest you get there early.
Back in Bartlesville, next week kicks off OK Mozart and you’ve got to love it when the town fills up with visitors coming for this renowned festival. There’s another reason a hotel room will be hard to find that week and that’s a big family reunion that taking place at the same time. If you live in Wales and your last name is Jones it would be pretty common as that is the most popular last name in that country. In England it is the second most common last name. Well guess what, according to Wikipedia it also the fourth most common last name in the U.S. Wikipedia also tells me that records in England show the use of the name Jones goes back as far as 1279. So if you run into a bunch of Jones you’ll know it’s not an OK Mozart event, it’s a Jones reunion event.
Next week its back on the road with famed photographers Jerry Poppenhouse and Kelly Kerr to the land of enchantment. For me this area is the closest place I know of where all cares drift away, where troubles magically disappear and life is how it should be and I’ll tell you all about it.
Till next time I’ll see ya down the road……