Billy Idol, then three at Cain's

The one thing

Billy Idol plays the BOK Center on Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30 pm. The tour is called It's a Nice Day To Tour Again, it opened in Scranton on August 7, and it leans on Dream Into It, the 2025 record that was his first album of new songs in more than a decade. Opening night started with "Still Dancing" off that album, which tells you he is not treating this as a nostalgia run, even though the back half of the set is still the songs you already know by heart.

He is 70 and he has been doing this since the Generation X days in London. Steve Stevens is still next to him on guitar, which matters more than it sounds. That guitar tone is half of what makes "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding" work in a room this size.

Two housekeeping notes for the BOK Center. It is cashless everywhere except the box office, and the clear bag policy is strict, so one clear bag no bigger than 12 by 6 by 12 inches plus one small personal item that does not have to be clear. A Tuesday arena show downtown means parking is easier than a Saturday, but leave time anyway.

Live music and comedy

The week starts quiet and then Cain's takes over. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are three completely different rooms' worth of music stacked into one building on North Main.

• •Dan LaMorte plays Bricktown Comedy Club on Wednesday, September 23 at 7 pm.
• •The Expendables play The Vanguard on Wednesday, September 23 at 7:30 pm. Santa Cruz reggae rock, out on a Texas swing that hits Dallas, Austin, Corpus Christi and Houston in the four nights after this one, so Tulsa gets them fresh.
• •The Toadies play Cain's Ballroom on Thursday, September 24 at 7:30 pm, with Local H and Olive Vox. This is The Charmer Tour, named for the new album, and the night is billed locally as The Edge Fall Brawl. All ages, doors at 6:30. Local H opening is not a throwaway, they have been a two person wrecking crew for thirty years and they will not go easy on an early crowd.
• •JMSN plays The Vanguard on Thursday, September 24 at 8 pm.
• •Josh Blue runs Bricktown Comedy Club on Thursday, September 24 at 7 pm and twice on Friday, September 25, at 6 pm and 8:45 pm.
• •Judah & The Lion play Cain's Ballroom on Friday, September 25 at 7:30 pm, with Colby! and Band of Silver. All ages, doors at 6:30. The banjo and mandolin are still in there under the big choruses, and this is a band that has always gotten louder in a wooden room.
• •Sara Evans plays Hard Rock Live in Catoosa on Friday, September 25 at 8 pm. "Born to Fly," "Suds in the Bucket," "A Little Bit Stronger," in a theater that seats a fraction of the sheds she used to play.
• •Zac Townsend plays Loony Bin Comedy Club four times, Friday, September 25 at 7 pm and 9:30 pm and Saturday, September 26 at 7 pm and 9:30 pm.
• •Straight Tequila Night brings its 90s country tribute to The Vanguard on Friday, September 25 at 9 pm.
• •Liverpool Legends play the Mabee Center on Saturday, September 26 at 7 pm. The Beatles tribute that Louise Harrison, George's sister, put together and vouched for, and they have been at it long enough to have played Carnegie Hall.
• •Radel Ortiz plays Bricktown Comedy Club on Saturday, September 26 at 6 pm and 8:45 pm.
• •The Midnight play Cain's Ballroom on Saturday, September 26 at 7:30 pm, with Bonnie McKee. The Time Machines Tour is behind Syndicate, which came out in October 2025 and got a deluxe edition in May with six more songs on it. McKee sings on "Runaways" from that record, so expect her back out for it. Synthwave in a 1924 dance hall should not work as well as it does.

See the full concert calendar for everything on sale.

Festivals and free stuff

• •Hip Hop 918 brings Digable Planets to Guthrie Green on Friday, September 25 at 7 pm, and it is free. They are out on the 30th anniversary run for Blowout Comb, and "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" won a Grammy back in 1994. A free show of that size on the lawn does not happen often. Get there early if you want grass.
• •Black Wall Street Nation holds its first weekend Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27 at OSU Tulsa, 700 North Greenwood Avenue. Film, music, beauty, sports and business programming across three days, with MC Lyte and Aluna on Friday and Erica Campbell and a gospel superjam on Sunday. The summits are ticketed.
• •Parla Creative Festival takes over 100 North Greenwood on Saturday, September 26 from 5 to 10 pm and Sunday, September 27 from 6 to 10:30 pm.
• •Outdoor Movie Time at Gathering Place screens The Little Prince on Saturday, September 26 at 6:30 pm. The park is free, the movie is free, bring a blanket.
• •Jurassic Quest is at Expo Square Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27. Animatronic dinosaurs and rides, ticketed, and the best bad weather backup plan on the list.
• •The Tulsa Farmers' Market is at 1 South Lewis on Saturday, September 26 from 7 to 11 am. Late September is peak pepper season and the start of the greens.

Sports

The Tulsa Drillers are done. Springfield swept the Texas League North Division series in two games and finished it at ONEOK Field on September 17, so the ballpark goes quiet for the winter. It was the second straight playoff appearance under Eric Wedge, and it ended fast.

Tulsa Golden Hurricane football is 3 and 0 after beating Oklahoma State, Sam Houston and East Texas A&M, the last one 42 to 0 at Skelly Field on September 19. That is the best start this program has had in years. Saturday, September 26 is the real test, at Arkansas at 7 pm, on the road against an SEC team. They come home on October 1 against North Texas.

FC Tulsa is at El Paso on Friday, September 25 at 8 pm Tulsa time, their fifth straight match away from ONEOK Field. They sit fourth in the USL Championship Western Conference with 36 points from 23 matches, which is comfortably inside the playoff places. The long road trip ends on September 30 when New Mexico United comes to town.

On the horizon

The Tulsa State Fair opens Thursday, October 1 and runs through October 11 at Expo Square, and the Oklahoma Stage lineup is the real draw. Drake White on October 1, 49 Winchester on October 2, Blake Whiten on October 3, Jay Sean on October 4, then Colt Ford and Waka Flocka Flame later in the run. VIP seats are sold separately for each one.

Before the fair opens, Cameron Whitcomb plays Cain's Ballroom on Wednesday, September 30 and Built To Spill is at The Vanguard the same night. Then October 1 gives you Foreigner at The Cove and Brit Floyd at Tulsa Theater on the same evening, and Koe Wetzel headlines the BOK Center on Friday, October 2 with Corey Kent, Bayker Blankenship and Logan Jahnke.

Full rundown next Monday.