This was not your average radio giveaway.

For the Last of the Breed Tour with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price, the promotion went full Oklahoma.

There was an ag network sending reports to small-town AM radio stations across the state. Farm towns. Rural listeners. Country music people. The exact audience that understood how big this show really was.

So the idea was simple and wild.

Get front porch rocking chairs signed by Willie, Merle, and Ray.

Then give them away through stores tied into that farm and home crowd.

That meant sitting out in the heat, waiting for three legends to come sign rocking chairs like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Hey, can you sign my chair?”

That is radio promotion at its finest.

Not a poster.
Not a T-shirt.
Not a pair of tickets.

A signed rocking chair.

And somehow, they got it done.

That’s the kind of promotion you remember because it actually fit the show. Willie, Merle, and Ray Price at the Zoo Amphitheatre. Country legends. Small-town radio. Front porch rocking chairs.

Perfect match.

#HeresTheDealPodcast #WillieNelson #MerleHaggard #RayPrice #LastOfTheBreed #ZooAmphitheatre #MaxBakerJr #JeffBrownen #oklahomacity

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This was one of those stretches where every flyer got heavier.

Sevendust, Coal Chamber, Sepultura, and Downset. That lineup alone says everything about where heavy music was headed in 2000. Downset had a following. Sevendust was already becoming one of those bands people stayed loyal to for life.

Then came Static-X, Taproot, Deadlights, and Slaves on Dope.

That was the sound of the era. Industrial edge. Nu-metal energy. Packed rooms. Loud merch tables. Everybody trying to catch the next band before they broke wide open.

September 6, 2000 — Cannibal Corpse at the Diamond Ballroom.

That one had Max written all over it.

Then there was Living Sacrifice.

A Christian metal band from Little Rock, Arkansas, heavy as heavy gets. One of those bands you don’t forget once you see them live. Element and Fear the Clown were added as support, and the whole thing turned into chaos.

At Rogers State University, the room was provided in exchange for sound and lights on another show. Good deal on paper.

Until the first four rows of seats got destroyed.

Almost got kicked out of school over it.

That’s how wild those heavy shows could get.

Different bands. Different rooms. Same lesson.

When the crowd moves, the building better be ready.

#HeresTheDealPodcast #Sevendust #StaticX #CannibalCorpse #LivingSacrifice #CoalChamber #Sepultura #Taproot #DiamondBallroom #HeavyMusic #ConcertStories #MaxBakerJr #JeffBrownen #oklahoma #oklahomacity

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October 22, 1994.

Kansas at The Roxy.

Ten dollars in advance.

And according to Max, it was one of the best club shows he ever saw.

Kansas was locked in that night. Tight, powerful, and the kind of live performance that gives you goosebumps while you’re standing there. Some shows are good. Some shows remind you why you started chasing music in the first place.

That was one of them.

Fast forward years later, and Kansas is still out there playing rooms like Heartland Expo Center in Shawnee. That kind of longevity says everything.

Then the next night, October 23rd, The Roxy flips into a completely different lane.

Peter Criss.
36 Inches.
Cry Freedom.

Peter Criss from KISS in a club setting. Buck Bush and 36 Inches on the bill. Cry Freedom was another cool band from that era, with some names possibly crossing later into War and Peace circles.

That’s what made The Roxy calendar so wild.

One night you get Kansas giving you goosebumps.

The next night you get a KISS drummer in the room.

Two nights. Same venue. Completely different worlds.

That was 1994.

#HeresTheDealPodcast #KansasBand #PeterCriss #KISS #TheRoxy #ConcertStories #LiveMusicHistory #OklahomaMusic #ClubShows #MaxBakerJr #JeffBrownen #oklahomacity

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August 3, 2007.

ZZ Top.
The Pretenders.
Stray Cats.

That was one of those bills where every name on the flyer mattered.

ZZ Top always delivers. The Pretenders are legends in their own right. But that night?

Stray Cats stole the show.

As many times as Max had seen ZZ Top, and even after seeing The Pretenders a few times, the Stray Cats came out and absolutely blistered the place. Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker are hard to top when they’re locked in, and that night they proved it.

That rockabilly energy hit different live. Fast, sharp, loud, and tight as hell.

Some shows are great because the headliner brings it.

Some shows become unforgettable because the opener walks out and takes the whole room.

This was one of those nights.

#HeresTheDealPodcast #ZZTop #ThePretenders #StrayCats #BrianSetzer #LeeRocker #Rockabilly #ConcertStories #LiveMusicHistory #MaxBakerJr #JeffBrownen #oklahoma #oklahomacity

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Before online presales, verified fan codes, and digital queues, you had to earn your concert tickets.

Sometimes that meant camping outside in the snow.

Max talks about waiting in line for Ozzy Osbourne tickets during the Randy Rhoads era with only a few people crazy enough to be out there. The police got called, Jim Dunn came out, and instead of just running them off, he realized they weren’t leaving.

So he opened the door and let them stay inside a small area.

That moment turned into something bigger.

Jim Dunn became one of those people who took Max under his wing. A mentor. A building guy. A ticket guy. Someone who knew the rooms, the systems, the angles, and the history behind how concerts really worked.

But mentorship only matters if you’re willing to listen.

Max listened.

From camping in the snow for Ozzy tickets to learning how buildings operated, how ticketing worked, and how the concert business moved behind the scenes, that relationship helped shape the next chapter.

Sometimes the education doesn’t start in an office.

Sometimes it starts outside in the cold, refusing to leave the ticket line.

#HeresTheDealPodcast #OzzyOsbourne #RandyRhoads #ConcertTickets #OldSchoolTicketing #JimDunn #ConcertStories #MusicBusiness #TicketLineStories #MaxBakerJr #JeffBrownen #oklahoma #oklahomacity

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Max’s sister came to him with a job: two Taylor Swift tickets at AT&T Stadium. Not just any tickets either. They had to be good, because they were for the big boss.

So Max called Ron.

And Ron’s answer was exactly what you want to hear in that moment:

“No problem. We’ll get it done. Don’t ask how. We’ll just get it done.”

As the show got closer, Max had to drive down to Arlington, pay $60 just to park at a hamburger stand, and walk into the madness around AT&T Stadium. Thousands of people. Ticket hustlers everywhere. Every corner packed with someone trying to flip seats.

Then came the instructions.

Go to will call.

Meet the guy.

In a crowd of 60,000 to 80,000 people, that sounds impossible.

But somehow, out of nowhere, a guy walks up and says:

“Are you Max Baker?”

That was it.

Exchange made. Tickets handled. Mission complete.

Taylor Swift tickets for the Reputation tour weren’t just tickets. They were a full operation.

And sometimes in this business, the answer really is:

Don’t ask how. Just get it done.

#HeresTheDealPodcast #TaylorSwift #ReputationTour #ATTStadium #TicketStories #MaxBakerJr #JeffBrownen #oklahoma

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Powerman 5000, Static-X, and Dope at the Diamond Ballroom.

1,210 people. March 18, 2000.

That was a hot bill for that moment. Powerman 5000 was moving. Static-X was on fire. Dope fit right in with that whole industrial, nu-metal, heavy radio wave that was taking over in 2000.

At that point, 1,210 at the Diamond was probably a sellout or close to it.

And then you fast forward 23 years.

Powerman 5000 comes back to the same room in 2023.

Same Diamond Ballroom.

Different decade.

Same kind of crowd memory.

Then April 23rd at The Myriad:

Slipknot.
Mudvayne.
Ultraspank.

953 people.

That number sounds low now, especially when the memory feels closer to 2,500. But that’s what happens when a room is full of chaos. Sometimes 953 angry people can feel like 3,000.

And that’s where the joke comes in.

“They were all mad at Max.”

Mad at Max.

Madd Maxx.

The name had already been around, but that night sure made it fit.

Some shows are remembered by ticket counts.

Some are remembered by the noise, the crowd, and the stories that never leave.

This one had all of it.

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#HeresTheDealPodcast #Powerman5000 #StaticX #Dope #Slipknot #Mudvayne #Ultraspank #DiamondBallroom #TheMyriad #NuMetal #MaddMaxx #MaxBakerJr #JeffBrownen #oklahoma #oklahomacity

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.The first time seeing Cheap Trick was when they opened for The Kinks, and even with The Kinks being legendary in their own right, Cheap Trick made a mark that never went away.

Then the calendar keeps moving.

September 27th — an alternative show at the Student Union Ballroom with The Judybats, Rob Rule, and Vibralux. That was the kind of bill that lived in the college-radio lane, where smaller rooms still carried real scene energy.

October 4th — Eagles on the Hell Freezes Over tour at The Myriad. That was a major one. Reunion-era Eagles. Big room. Big production. Classic songs everywhere.

Then October 14th at The Roxy — Prong, Clutch, and Drown.

That’s a completely different world.

Harder. Heavier. Dirtier. A club show with teeth.

The range is what makes it great.

Classic British rock.
Power-pop perfection.
College alternative.
Arena legends.
Heavy club chaos.

That’s not just a concert calendar.

That’s a music education.

#HeresTheDealPodcast #CheapTrick #TheKinks #Eagles #HellFreezesOver #Prong #Clutch #TheJudybats #ConcertStories #LiveMusicHistory #MaxBakerJr #JeffBrownen #oklahoma #oklahomacity

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