Built in 1924 by Tulsa entrepreneur W. Tate Brady as a car garage, the building at 423 North Main Street was purchased in 1930 by Madison W. "Daddy" Cain and christened Cain's Dance Academy, a dime-a-dance establishment where couples waltzed and Charlestoned for ten cents a lesson. On New Year's Night 1935, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys made their debut at Cain's, and the ballroom became the crucible of Western swing -- a revolutionary fusion of country, jazz, blues, big-band, rhumba, and jitterbug that Wills forged during weekly dances, a daily noon radio show, and a midnight broadcast on KVOO. Wills held court at Cain's from 1935 to 1942, earning the building its enduring nickname: "The Carnegie Hall of Western Swing." Thousands packed the spring-loaded maple dance floor -- laid in a distinctive concentric "log cabin" pattern and lit by a four-foot neon star and a silver disco ball -- to hear what the press called "hot hillbilly music." The Sex Pistols played one of only seven North American shows here on 11 January 1978, and Sid Vicious punched a hole in the wall that the owners later framed and hung in the office. After years of decline, neurosurgeon James Rodgers and his wife Alice purchased Cain's in September 2002. The family shut down operations in May 2003 and invested in central heating and air conditioning, a new roof, a fire sprinkler system, modern sound and lighting, a mezzanine, all-new electrical and plumbing, and refurbished restrooms and bar areas. Dwight Yoakam headlined the reopening on 1 October 2003. The original dance floor was replaced in 2007, and a guitar crafted from the salvaged original maple has been played on stage by visiting artists. Today the 1,800-capacity Cain's is one of the most respected music rooms in the United States: the Los Angeles Times ranked it fourth among the 12 best places to hear live music in America in 2020, and Pollstar ranked it 13th worldwide for club-venue ticket sales in 2021. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003, the ballroom books 200-plus shows a year across country, red dirt, rock, indie, and Americana. Tickets are available through cainsballroom.com.

Type: Theater / Concert Hall

Address: 423 North Main Street, Tulsa, OK, United States, 74103

Website: https://www.cainsballroom.com

Capacity: 1800

Opening Date: 01/01/1924