Cain's Ballroom is a historic

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. ...

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

that was built in 1924 as a garage for

W. Tate Brady Wyatt Tate Brady (January 20, 1870 – August 29, 1925) was an American merchant, politician, former Ku Klux Klan member, and a founder of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Early life Brady was born in Forest City, Missouri, in 1870. His family moved to Ne ...

's automobiles. Madison W. "Daddy" Cain purchased the building in 1930 and named it Cain's Dance Academy. Cains Ballroom Tulsa Night

In 2021,

Pollstar ''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017. History and profile Founded in 1981 in Fr ...

ranked Cain's Ballroom at number 13 worldwide for ticket sales at club venues. The venue played a prominent role in the development of

western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

in the 1930s and 1940s, when

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

broadcast a near-daily show and performed live weekly.

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

and his band were regularly booked at Cain's when it was owned by Larry Shaeffer. It is also notable as one of only seven venues played by the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

in 1978 during their only North American tour. The band appeared 11 January 1978. After the show, a frustrated

Sid Vicious John Simon Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at age 21, he remains an icon of the ...

punched a hole in the drywall of the green room. The wall section with the hole has since been removed and is preserved and on display at Cain’s.

References

External links

Official site

Cain's Dancing Academy
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Tulsa, Oklahoma Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Music venues in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Tulsa, Oklahoma Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Tourist attractions in Tulsa, Oklahoma Culture of Tulsa, Oklahoma Economy of Tulsa, Oklahoma Western swing