It Happened in OKC: Turnpike Troubadours Sell Out an Arena
The Turnpike Troubadours have played some big venues in the past. Performing at Rodeo Houston in March of 2019 at the cavernous NRG Stadium was definitely a career highlight, even if it was still very much a built-in crowd surrounding the rodeo. They’ve also played in arena-sized venues opening for bigger names in the past, and they played in front of some 20,000 patrons at Under The Big Sky Fest in Montana earlier this summer as headliners.
But on Saturday night, November 12th, the wild popularity that the boys from Oklahoma have been enjoying ever since they came back from an indefinite hiatus was given it’s ultimate test. Could they headline an arena on their own? Not only did the Turnpike Troubadours fill Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center, they officially sold it out.
It was only back on April 8th when the Turnpike Troubadours officially reunited at their familiar haunt, Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, capacity 1,800. At that time, it was still a hypothetical if the band could hold things together, let alone succeed in a new era. But during their hiatus and the pandemic, the appetite for the Turnpike Troubadours only grew exponentially. Then when they began playing shows again, their energy level and the enthusiasm of the crowd was at an all time high, propelling them forward.
Turnpike did have a little help filling all the seats at Paycom Center on Saturday. Opening the show was Morgan Wade, who is enjoying her own swelling success. Blackberry Smoke are no slackers either, regularly drawing large crowds in their own right. But another stat that reflects just how massive the Turnpike Troubadours have become is how the band broke the all-time sales record for merch during the show. According to the venue, no band has ever sold more merchandise at the arena in 20 years than Turnpike did Saturday night.
The Turnpike Troubadours performed 19 songs total at Paycom, and left the crowd sanctified. It was the cap off to a big weekend for Turnpike, who on Friday (11-11) were officially inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame along with Wade Hayes and Jim Paul Blair. The band played “Every Girl,” “The Bird Hunters,” and others for the capacity crowd at the Muskogee Civic Center.
It might be a while before the Turnpike Troubadours are able to fill arenas to capacity in places further out from the Red Dirt homeland. But right now, there is no hotter band in that world, despite having been around for going on 15 years. In fact, they just announced they will be playing the 18,000-capacity Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas on February 24th with The Avett Brothers and The Wood Brothers. From here on out, it may be more arenas than less for Turnpike.
Saving Country Music contributor Rob Brown of Brofoto Productions was at the Paycom Center Saturday night to capture the spectacle. You can find his photos below.
Set List:
Every Girl
7&7
Before The Devil Knows We’re Dead
The Bird Hunters
Good Lord Lorrie
Morgan Street
Shreveport
1968
A Tornado Warning
Winding Stair
Pay No Rent
Gin, Smoke, Lies
Whole Damn Town
Kansas City Southern
Diamonds and Gasoline
All Your Favorite Bands (RC Edwards)
Long Hot Summer Day
House Fire
Something To Hold On To
November 15, 2022 @ 9:11 am
We ever going to get new music from them?
November 15, 2022 @ 9:22 am
I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear a new single before the end of the year.
November 15, 2022 @ 9:15 am
Love to see it. They have sounded so good live since their reunion.
As a side note, I saw Blackberry Smoke in Austin last week and damn they were great live.
November 15, 2022 @ 9:37 am
Was at the show. It was great and they sound just as good as ever!
November 15, 2022 @ 10:28 am
I was at the show and I’ll admit… i didnt expect much. I didn’t think their music would translate well into an arena. I was there simply for nostalgia. Boy was I wrong. They absolutely slayed. I was so thankful to see Evan on top of his game. He was incredible and the whole vibe of the place was electric. It’s by far the best show I’ve seen them play.
Blackberry smoke was really good but I felt like they played too long.
We didn’t get there in time for Morgan Wade
Also one thing I want to comment on was the number of people there on their phones the entire time. We sat up high so we could really see the whole arena while it was dark. I wouldn’t be surprised if 1/4 of the crowd was guilty of this. Especially during the Blackberry Smoke set. They are missing out on the full effect of the music and it really pissed me off
November 15, 2022 @ 10:29 am
I saw them at the Ryman Friday night show and it was like a religious experience. I saw them again a couple of weeks ago in Tuscaloosa and they absolutely destroyed it. I love the band but didn’t really know what to expect seeing them live. But hearing an entire audience singing every word to every single song……..I’ve never experienced that.
November 15, 2022 @ 10:54 am
Also, Kyle Nix has dropped a ton of weight fast. He’d looked like he’d been #eatinbigtime in his first shows back (according to YouTube videos) but is looking fit as a fiddle now
November 15, 2022 @ 11:01 am
Apparently I was sitting close to Rob Brown. Were you the one smoking a cig near the end of the show? The smell gave me flashbacks to the Wormy Dog.
Can confirm the merch situation. Lines were so long it prevented me from overpaying for a Tshirt.
November 15, 2022 @ 11:58 am
Saw them in Jacksonville a week ago. Stood in the pit. That crowd got LOUD encore time. Seemed liked the whole crowd was singing most of the songs. Band had a ton of energy. They’re on a roll right now live. I hope some new music comes soon, some good momentum to ride here.
November 15, 2022 @ 12:26 pm
Great group of guys. I met RC Edwards and Hank Early a couple weeks ago at the Tulsa airport. Super down to earth, RC invited me to sit next to him, drink a beer, and we talked shop for about 20 minutes. It’s awesome that their success hasn’t gone to their heads.
November 15, 2022 @ 1:17 pm
Exciting news, for many reasons, and many congratulations to the band! This is another of the many great bands that I’ve learned about, and become a fan of, through SCM, but of all of these bands, the Troubadours are one of my very favorites. Such a great country sound and great songs!
I haven’t been able to catch a show yet, but if any TT fans reading here live in, or close to, the Maryland/DC area, please don’t be hesitant to reach out, and help a fan who can’t drive (due to a physical disability) get to one of their shows! (I haven’t been to a concert, *any* concert, in many years, due to lack of transportation, and I miss seeing good shows so much.)
November 15, 2022 @ 2:02 pm
Wanted to see them at Red Rocks in Colorado but the ticket prices were $800 per head. Did they ever make it more affordable?
November 15, 2022 @ 7:17 pm
It’s an issue with the venue. I was in the digital waiting area for those tickets 30 minutes before they went on sale, and they were all gone before my request was processed. Then immediately on the third-party sites for hundreds over the retail price. What a scam.
November 17, 2022 @ 9:45 am
Just another form of insider trading.
November 15, 2022 @ 2:13 pm
Saw them in Oregon this past summer. Top 5 best shows I’ve seen in 25 years. I won’t miss them anywhere west of Colorado
November 15, 2022 @ 4:02 pm
Had 2 people text me set list from HoF induction:
Every Girl
7&7
Before the Devil Knows We’re Dead
The Bird Hunters
Good Lord Lorrie
Winding Stair Mountain Blues
Pay No Rent
The Housefire
Gin Smoke & Lies
Kansas City Southern
Is this wrong? I’m not familiar with Cherokee co. line.
November 15, 2022 @ 4:51 pm
Well deserved success. Turnpike is the band I introduced to people who don’t like country music. They lean quite a bit on the rock sound as well so it makes them pretty accessible and they have some amazing albums.
Turnpike at Under The Big Sky was one of my top shows to this point in my life.
November 16, 2022 @ 2:08 pm
And can we all agree that “Every Girl” and “Gin,Smoke,& Lies” are much better appreciated live!.
November 16, 2022 @ 8:15 pm
Saw them in Iowa earlier in the summer and they were fire! Sound better than ever. One small nit pick, they’ve pretty much been playing the same set list for a few months, right? Based on what I’ve seen and the set list from the Iowa show, this is pretty much the same. Am I just being overly picky, or should we expect more variety from them?
November 17, 2022 @ 7:05 am
They’ve been mixing it up some. At the Tuscaloosa show, they played Wrecked, Pay No Rent, and Before the Devil Knows We’re Dead, which they didn’t play at the Ryman show I went to. I think the advantage with them is that the songs that they do play, they absolutely blow them out. They do what they do very well.
November 17, 2022 @ 8:58 am
I’ve attended four Turnpike Troubadours shows this year in person, and reported on two others where I had photographers present. Yes, they make sure to play some of the same basic crop of “hits,” but there is a lot of variation after that. If they didn’t play “Every Girl,” “7&7,” “Good Lord Lorrie” or “The Bird Hunters,” there may be a riot. This is what fans want, and we’ve seen Tyler Childers catch hell this year for not playing his hits. On paper, it may look like the same songs over and over, but there is a decent amount of variation in the back half of the set list. This will all change as soon as they release new music, which is very likely to happen early in the new year.
November 17, 2022 @ 9:15 am
My comment got a reply from Trigger. Now that’s pretty cool. Thanks for everything that you do on this site.
When they played Wrecked in Tuscaloosa, I nearly lost my mind. It was one of two songs that I was hoping for, along with Easton & Main (outside of some deeper cuts that they very rarely play). The guys have certainly found their groove and I hope they continue to reap benefits for years to come.
November 16, 2022 @ 9:06 pm
If anyone’s interested, I recapped their show a few weeks ago in Raleigh. Similarly raucous occasion: https://caughtsteeling.substack.com/p/review-turnpike-troubadours-in-raleigh
November 17, 2022 @ 1:29 pm
What song is Cherokee County Line??? New song? Cover?
November 17, 2022 @ 1:40 pm
Sorry, it was “The Bird Hunters,” which early one was called “Cherokee Country Line” by some before they recorded it. Was relying on other reporting from the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
November 17, 2022 @ 3:32 pm
Saw RC Edwards and his band play early this year/last year? Play at Hernando’s Hideaway, tiny little tucked away historic honky tonk in Memphis (now owned by Dale Watson). There was maybe 20 people witnessing a stellar show. So weird. He seemed bummed so I didn’t want to pry about his future plans. What a whip lash.
Nice guy and an extremely friendly band, the female lead was an amazing singer who needs her own outfit if she doesn’t have one already.
November 17, 2022 @ 11:12 pm
I was thrilled, I took my 11 Year old and my twelve-year-old
We sat in the nose bleeds
It was the 1st time I got to see them live, my kids hear me singing along to the music in the barn
It will always be a special night for me
November 18, 2022 @ 1:44 pm
I’ve gotten to see Turnpike a few places before tickets were what they are including Red rocks and Cains for NYE and they’re memories Ill take with me forever.
Arena level turnpike might have passed me by, and thats ok. I’m so happy that new people are getting to see them and they’re getting compensated like they deserve.
November 19, 2022 @ 9:06 am
Just got tickets to see them in Little Rock in February. We tried to see them at one of the last shows before the hiatus, but it was cancelled at the last minute. Only a handful of people showed up for that one, but a bigger crowd (and the band) is expected this go ’round.
November 22, 2022 @ 3:46 pm
They are the only band to sell out a standing room only crowd at the new amphitheater in Waite Park (St Cloud suburb) Minnesota. Had a little help from the Old 97s and Steve Earle. It was a great show all the way around!