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    The Vanguard

    3.8 (23 reviews)
    ModerateMusic Venues
    Open 4:00 pm - 2:00 am (Next day)

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    Sarah M.

    I only watched a couple episodes of The OC in my teenage angst but being in this venue made me think I could see Seth Cohen walk by. The venue is intimate and in a great location in downtown Tulsa. Parking is tricky but with the Guthrie Green nearby more spots have become available. Upon entering, you walk down a mysterious dark hallway where you do your due diligence and have your ID ready to be checked and parooze the merch tables. The bar is stocked and the bartenders are quite friendly. The venue is two stories. I have never paid the extra money to be a VIP and explore the upstairs but I can certainly vouch for the lower level being awesome. The lighting creates the perfect live music ambiance and the sound is always a great balance of "I can sing to the top of my lungs to this song and not worry about my friend hearing me" and your ears not ringing the next morning. Thanks for bringing fantastic and reasonably priced shows to Tulsa, Vanguard! Now, let's work on Seth Cohen.

    Gen doing what she does best. The Genitorturers.
    James R.

    Went here for the Genitorturers show 5/17/2014. I like small clubs like this especially when they have bands that not many in Tulsa have heard of. The Genitorturers ALWAYS put on a great show and when you can be right up front to see what's going on it's even better. Drink prices aren't out of line and service was good.

    Names on the backs of chairs at the Dave Mason show at The Vanguard
    Jim B.

    I have had the opportunity to visit The Vanguard twice in the last week. I saw Dave Mason and Eli "Paperboy" Reed and they were both great shows. I paid $100 per ticket for Dave Mason and $15 a head for Eli. Big difference bit I'll explain. This place is small and I mean SMALL. Not a bad seat in the house. I know you have heard that before but here its really true. It has a large bar but no servers. If you want a drink you walk up and get it which was OK for these shows since neither one sold out. Dave Mason (member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) played on a Sunday Night with no opening act. I bought the highest price tickets ($100 each) that were offered mostly because all the other price tickets were posted as General Admission tickets which means you are standing for the entire show. My wife has bad knees and cant stand for too long without her knees hurting and therefore ruining my evening so i bought tickets that said "Reserved Seating" but had no seat numbers printed on the tickets. The door opens at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm. We were able to park right in front on the street since we were having a drink at the Hunt Club next door while waiting for the doors to open. At 7pm, everyone in the Hunt Club got up and went next door to The Vanguard. We were drinking among a bunch of other Dave Mason fans and didn't even know it. We walked down a long hallway finally came to the end where a guy put 2 (not 1) two wrist bands on us. One for the VIP area and one for being over 21. Now comes the weird part. We were told to go up front and look for our names on the backs of the chairs. Sure enough we found our names printed on 8x10 sheets of paper that was taped to the backs of the chairs and sat down. We were in the 4th row which was the last row of seats but was still only about 20' from the stage. The problem is that right behind us was a velvet rope that separated us from the GA section. In other words I could have paid $35 a ticket to stand about 3' farther back to watch the show and save me some cash. And since there was no opening act, the show only lasted about the usual Hour and a Half so we could have stood that long with no problem. Oh well. Live and learn. There is an upstairs area with chairs but I don't think the view of the stage was very good from there. I believe that they charged around $65 per ticket to sit up there. I couldn't believe that the place was not sold out but there had been some confusion with the ticket seller (Ticketfly) and the venue concerning the actual date of the show because Dave had cancelled an earlier show for health reasons and they had two different makeup dates posted. I can't think of any other reason why this little place wouldn't sell out for Dave mason. While standing in line to get in we looked at the schedule and saw that Eli "Paperboy" Reed was going to be their on the following Tues. So we decided to go back. This time there was no one in line to get in so we walked up to the security guy. We paid the $15 a head to get in. This time there were no designated seating. Only a few chairs on the perimeter and an area to dance in front of the stage. There was maybe 10 people in the entire place so we were able to sit down very close to the stage. I noticed that the upstairs area was not even open for this show. The show started with a singer/songwriter singing and playing guitar for about 1/2 hour. Then a quasi rock-a-billy/50's band from New York got up and played. They were pretty good but not exactly my cup of tea. By the time Eli and his band got on stage there was maybe 15 people in the place. I felt bad for the band. It didn't portray Tulsa as the great music city it calls itself. But it was a Tue and there wasn't much advertisement (if any) for the show so? It was so bad that if anyone got up to go to the bathroom or bar, everyone stopped and looked. Between songs it was very quiet. The show was good but would have been much better with a larger, louder crowd. There were no dancers on the dance floor. We were able to park right on the street again but I understand this is rare with the more popular shows. Mixed drinks at the bar run around $6. I'm not sure what beers went for. Obviously there was no waiting for drinks. I'm not sure if the place was decorated or not because it is pretty dark inside. The stage was a good size for this size venue and they had good lighting and sound. I would go back again especially now that I know what to expect.

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    1 year ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Concert area with a bar. Upstairs has places to lounge and sit. It has a dance floor and a place to sit against the walls if needed.

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    9 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    7 years ago

    I seen Julia Michaels last night and it was a great experience, the venue is comfortable and so cute!!

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    6 years ago

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    11 years ago

    Nice music just wished it had more of an "lounge" feel with comfortable cushion seating

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    8 years ago

    Love this place. Great music, great people, great location. First time I came here was the center of the universe music festival in 2015.

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    10 years ago

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    Ask the Community - The Vanguard

    Review Highlights - The Vanguard

    I have only been there for My So Called Band but the venue itself is great!

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    Cain's Ballroom - Georgia Parker, opening for Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, March 9, 2025

    Cain's Ballroom

    (94 reviews)

    $$

    Downtown

    throughout the years i've been at cain's ballroom, it's been on different occasions. one of the…read morefirst times ever was during a whiskey tasting called giving spirits. that was one of the first times being part of something like that & i really enjoyed myself. during that time, i started attending tastings outside of cain's ballroom & that event played a part. another occasion was seeing mac miller live in concert. his set alone was close to 2 hours, he absolutely crushed his set! outside of mac miller, cain's hosts A LOT of artists that you couldn't think of. if you ever want to come close to coming in contact with the performers, they usually hit the bars on the street to get a taste of how the city gets down (it's happened numerous times during open mic events at neighboring bars for the past couple of decades). something major is that local acts perform here as well, whether they're opening for another act or they're hosting their own show. one of the more recent occasions was being part of a fundraiser. that was maybe the the first time i've ever had people place bids on my artwork. it was a different experience that i enjoyed, seeing what all people had in-store (i wanna say the event was the chili cook off that cain's hosts yearly). all in all, i've had nothing but positive experiences here. when you ever get a chance, look up the history behind this place.

    Friendly staff and great music. Parking is free and the iconic venue is well maintained with plenty…read moreof areas to take a brief break from the music. Be prepared: while there are stadium benches available along with limited seats along with a private bar and bathroom on the mezzanine, the best views are available to the standing room only crowd in front of the stage. Drinks, merch and food are reasonably priced, lines are well managed, bathrooms are clean and tidy. Make sure you make time to view all of the posters, photos and memorabilia - you are surrounded by history in this amazing space.

    The Vanguard - musicvenues - Updated May 2026

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