Bands, temperatures generate heat at music festival in Tulsa
Entertainment: Seventh annual Dfest includes national, state talent
Bands, temperatures generate heat at music festival in Tulsa

By George Lang

Published: July 26, 2008

TULSA — The sun blazed over downtown Tulsa on Friday as organizers set up stages for the Dfest 2008 Music Conference and Festival. But fans, musicians and professionals stayed cool before the shows by networking and attending conferences at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and ramping up anticipation for performances later that evening by Paramore and Stillwater's The All-American Rejects.

Now in its seventh year, Dfest now attracts national acts to go with the scores of Oklahoma artists performing and vying for industry exposure — more than 150 new or unsigned bands are taking part in this year's event. Jordan Coon, lead singer of the Tulsa punk band First Lady Assassins, said he's been attending Dfest for several years, but now that his band just released its debut disc, the stakes are higher.

"It's just cool watching it grow, and this is my first year to really take advantage of the panels,” said Coon, who attended several discussions with the band's guitarist, Brian Bolton. "We just put out a record in May, and we're trying to do regional touring, so I have more questions now to ask that I did previously.”

Madalyn Sklar, founder of the Sugarland, Texas-based music organization GoGirlsMusic.com, billed as the oldest and largest network of independent female musicians in the U.S., said she knew Dfest founders Tom Green and Angie DeVore-Green before they started the festival. Sklar has set up booths at the event for the past five years.

"I come here every year to support them — what they've done with this conference is amazing, and the festival has grown tremendously,” Sklar said.

The two-day festival bowed Friday with scheduled performances by Phantom Planet, Paramore and The All-American Rejects on the main stage, with The Roots, Zappa Plays Zappa (Dweezil Zappa's tribute to his father, Frank), and Tulsa's Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey playing on Saturday. Dfest operates 11 stages in downtown Tulsa.

J. Damany Daniel, 26, moved from New York when he was a teenager.

Attending as a fan, Daniel said he looked forward to performances by Paramore, the Rejects and The Roots, and he sees Dfest as emblematic of the pride Oklahomans have in their music.

"Tulsans and Oklahomans in general are rabid about their music, and that energy draws other people to Oklahoma,” Daniel said. "It's that viral spread of the music culture that exists in Oklahoma that is drawing people to Dfest.”

Being at Dfest in its early years, just as it emerges as a nationally known event, is a major part of the excitement for Daniel.

"It's an exciting opportunity to be a part of that, to be able to say when you're 30, 40 or 50, ‘I was there in its inaugural 10 years,'” he said.

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