ACM@UCO Performance Lab

The Performance Lab has a lot of potential to be an intimate little venue in Bricktown. Right now, yes, it is a large room in which you can only stand to enjoy the music, but that seems to suit the purpose since it’s my understanding it’s also a practice space for the ACM students.
I caught Saint Motel and their opener The Moth & The Flame here, and the small, stark space was well-​suited. The acoustics were terrific for a small space, and there was plenty of room to walk around to catch the bands from different sides of the stage — granted, that is dependent on how packed the audience is.
I was actually surprised to see alcohol being served here, since it is UCO-​owned property and there are Rules about alcohol on campus (and yes, ACM counts as campus). But it appeared that an outside person sells it and that alcohol is not actually kept on premises, so there’s some loophole in there somewhere, I’m sure.
It’d be nice if the space were a little more polished if it’s going to be used for touring acts along with the kiddos’ practice, but hey, budget times are tough. For the time being though, it seems to fulfill the needs of the space quite fine.

Great experience but it’s really just an old brick building with a big room. The acoustics seemed ok but the deal breaker for me was that there was no seating. My feet were very tired by the end of the concert.

ACM@UCO is in better shape than some of its counterparts here in OKC. It has a convenient downtown location so you can enjoy the area before or after a show. I had a pretty good experience here when seeing DEERPEOPLE and Horse Thief the other night and was happy to see they had a bar with reasonably priced drinks. I’ve been to shows here before that didn’t have a bar and it definitely makes a difference with the crowd as far as weeding out some of the youngins. There were a surprising amount of older adults at this performance actually. This performance lab offers some good, cheap shows that you can almost certainly say in the future you saw a band here before they got ‘big’.

acm@uco is an amazing place.
if you’re interested in pursuing music as a career i have to recommend taking a look at the place. while i’ve not gone to school here, i have worked with many of the students and faculty on various projects through my business (pertaining to music for advertising) and have personally worked with many of the schools bands through the norman music festival and various concerts in norman and oklahoma city. these experiences have always been positive and left me coming back for more.
the faculty is comprised by an incredible group of genuinely caring people who are committed to putting oklahoma on the map as a place where music thrives. many of them come from the music industry as the head of acm@uco is the manager of the flaming lips, british sea power, colourmusic, and others.
i have taken a tour of the facility (call ahead to arrange) and it is well worth the time if you find yourself in downtown oklahoma city.
they operate the acm@uco performance lab just a few blocks away which hosts some of the cities best concerts. lately they have brought through swans; black angels; of montreal; the sword; why?, and many many more.
it truly is a special place that is making great strides in conrtibuting to oklahomas creative culture.