2 Minutes To Tulsa
Vanguard and Cain’s Ballroom
March 29 and 30, 2024
A few years back, Swedish old-school metallers Screamer popped into Tulsa, and my band, Blind Oath, took them to Olive Garden. Yes, they wanted and asked for this, and as heavy metal family, we obliged. Bread (in the form of sticks) was broken, laughs were had, and Italian margaritas were slammed. Screamer’s nine-foot-tall drummer, Henrick, vomited immediately after, but he knew he “was family.”
And that story is a micro to heavy metal’s familial macrocosm. Metal is a global family affair, and at 2024’s 2 Minutes To Tulsa Festival, this was beyond apparent.
2 Minutes To Tulsa—named after the classic Iron Maiden track—was dreamed up last year by Tulsa nonprofit Horton Records as a Midwestern link in America’s metal fest chain mail. Last year’s success saw this year expanding to two full days and a Sunday brunch, with patrons flying in from Germany, Denmark, Sweden and further-flung expanses like Wichita, Kansas.
Tulsa’s rising teen titans She Hates Me Not kicked off Friday at Vanguard. This band of middle schoolers represents the new blood in Tulsa’s growing metal scene. Arizona’s Intent hit the stage right after, their blistering beatdowns solidifying “thrash” as a dominant theme in this year’s curation.