Story & Photos
By Michael Kinney
It was a Tuesday night in February and an ice storm was sweeping across the Midwest. The temperatures had already begun to plummet when I arrived at the Beer City Music Hall in downtown Oklahoma City to cover the rock & funk band The Main Squeeze and their Panorama: Tour of a Lifetime.
Upon arrival at the Music Hall, before heading inside I watched for a few minutes as a group of homeless men began to dig holes out back for fire pits in preparation for what was coming as the evening progressed. It was going to be a long night for everyone.
Yet, I had no intention of missing out on the show.
The first time I had ever heard of The Main Squeeze it was by accident. Well, at least I thought it was.
But in actuality, it was a highly complex algorithm on YouTube that led me to discover the Bloomington, Indiana band. I hate to use the term discover when talking about a band that has been going strong since 2009, but that is the best description for how I first became aware of Cory Frye (lead singer), Ben “Smiley” Silverstein (keyboard), Reuben Gingrich (drums), Maximillian Newman (guitar) and Rob “Skywalker” Walker (bass).
While watching another band (Snarky Puppy) I had recently learned about during the COVID-19 pandemic, the site suggested I watch The Main Squeeze’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
More often than not, I ignore YouTube suggestions and go on with my own search. But I had heard Prince’s legendary rendition of the same George Harrison song, so I decided to check it out.
It’s not a stretch to say I was hooked. That began my deep dive down The Main Squeeze rabbit hole. I watched nearly every video I could find on the group then added many of their songs to my daily playlist.
Late last year the group announced they would be hitting the road for their Panorama: Tour of a Lifetime to promote their newest studio album Panorama. When the full schedule was released TMS was set to hit around 40 stops from late January through March.
It started in Bend Oregon on Jan. 23 and will conclude in Bentonville, AR. on March 28.
One of the tour stops included the Beer City Music Hall in Oklahoma City on Feb. 11. The show was sandwiched in between appearances at Denver’s Mission Ballroom and Club Dada in Dallas.
The Music Hall has a general admission capacity of around 500 people. The night the TMS pulled into town, the ice storm was hot on their trail, which might have been a reason for less than 200 patrons making the concert.
However, the ones who decided to brave the freezing temperatures and suspect road conditions were handed a musical experience. Along with their opening act Zach Person, the Main Squeeze performed at full velocity for more than three hours.
Even though TMS had just played in front of close to 4,000 fans in Denver, they didn’t hold back on what they gave a couple of hundred concertgoers on a freezing Tuesday night in Oklahoma.
Regardless of the size of the crowd or who is there watching, you do the job and give them what they want. That is the sign of true entertainers and their professionalism has along them to pick up friends throughout the music world. In other words, they are your favorite band’s favorite band.
In 2024, the music industry was worried that they were seeing a serious decline in live concerts. Major acts were canceling tours due to low ticket sales. That was especially true for the giant arenas and stadiums.
Unless they were Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Drake or Olivia Rodrigo, it appeared that entertainers were going back to their roots of playing clubs, dance halls and theaters.
That’s a strategy of The Main Squeeze adopted long ago and why they were in the middle of Oklahoma during a February ice storm on a Tuesday night.
TMS will undoubtedly play much bigger shows throughout the rest of the Panorama: Tour of a Lifetime. However, it is these performances in front of the smaller, intimate crowds that create a lifelong and dedicated fan base.
One fan from Lawton said he had been following TMS for years but never thought they would have an opportunity to see them play in his home state. He wasn’t going to let a two-hour drive and an oncoming ice storm stop him from seeing the group.
When the concert was over, he had a huge smile on his and said it had been worth the wait. He then proceeded to purchase memorabilia after meeting band members after the show.
He left the Beer City Music Hall personally invested and an even more dedicated fan. All because The Main Squeeze showed up in the middle of an ice storm on a Tuesday night in February.
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