Yes, The Turnpike Troubadours Just Booked an ARENA

Evan Felker of the Turnpike Troubadours

Well damn, we were all saying right after the Turnpike Troubadours announced their return and tickets were selling out immediately wherever they announced shows, that the boys from Oklahoma could probably sell out arenas at this point, or at least in certain markets. Well now it’s time to put that hypothesis to the test.

On Tuesday (6-21), the band announced they will be playing the cavernous Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on November 12th, and will be bringing along Blackberry Smoke and Morgan Wade for the party. This is the place Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Kenny Chesney, and George Strait play when they’re in town. This is no glorified field house. This is the big time.

Now of course, this comes with some caveats. Oklahoma City is right in the heart of Turnpike Troubadours land. It’s doubtful they could do this in Seattle or Brooklyn. Turnpike is gonna barely sell out some amphitheaters on the east coast later this year. Also, Blackberry Smoke and Morgan Wade are no slouches. They’re moving quite a few tickets themselves these days.

But this will be an interesting test to see just how far the Turnpike Troubadours appeal will reach. In fact, that is probably the whole point. With the way ticket demand has far outpaced supply, if they fill an arena to capacity in Oklahoma, they may be able to do the same in Texas, in Kansas City, and in Colorado. They already sold out Red Rocks on consecutive days.

And this isn’t all smoke and mirrors. The Turnpike Troubadours are on fire at the moment, turning in some of the best performances of their careers. And sure, playing arenas comes at the expense of the intimacy of smaller venues. But would you rather see them in a arena, or not be able to see them in a smaller venue in Oklahoma because there’s no tickets, and any left are going for $700 on the secondary market?

This won’t be the first time the Turnpike Troubadours have played a venue this size. They played Rodeo Houston a few years back that’s also held in an arena, and they also played a few other arena shows opening for … someone. But this is their own gig, not piggy-backing off of anyone, or another event.

In other exciting Turnpike Troubadours news, Evan Felker will also be appearing on the new Dropkick Murphy’s album This Machine Still Kills Fascists, which is a tribute to Oklahoman Woody Guthrie. Felker will appear on a song called “The Last One.” That project will be released on September 30th. More info on that soon.

Meanwhile, presale tickets for the Turnpike Troubadours at Paycom Center will go up Wednesday at 10 am Central, with the full sale starting Friday, June 24th.

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