Merriweather Post Pavilion came alive with friends, family, and fans of O.A.R., welcoming the band home after their summer tour with American Authors on Saturday, September 7th. O.A.R. have been on tour in support of their latest album, The Mighty O.A.R. which was released in March of this year.
This “homecoming” was evident as fans, along with a surprising number of children, lined the front of the stage and filled the lawn. There was even a large section set aside on the stage for special guests to get the best view. To make this night even more special, the band recorded this performance for an upcoming live release which you can pre-order on their website, here.
O.A.R. played a solid set consisting of 24 songs. Throughout the night, they filtered in all but one song (“Be Easy”) from their latest album. The band made sure to include their fan favorites such as “Peace”, “Hey Girl”, “Shattered (Turn the Car Around)”, and “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker”. Given that this was a special show, O.A.R. pulled out some rare live songs such as, “I Will Find You” and “So Good So Far” both from the Rockville LP. O.A.R. made sure to thank their friends and family for their years of support. Lead singer, Marc Roberge, joked and said they’ve been doing this since the 8th grade talent show and made reference to writing some of their songs in the basement with drummer Chris Culos.
What is remarkable about O.A.R. is that the band has kept the same line-up since their beginnings, going back to 1997. In addition to Roberge on lead vocals and Culos on drums, the band includes Richard On, lead guitar/backing vocals and Benj Gershman on bass. In 2000, Jerry DePizzo joined the band rocking the saxophone. Regularly joining them on tour is Mikel Paris on keyboards, percussion, and backing vocals, as well as, the amazing Jon Lampley on trumpet.
The band was on point Saturday night and the crowd loved every minute of their outstanding performance! This live recording will definitely be an album to add to your O.A.R. collection! Get a little taste of this performance by watching the video of “Hey Girl” below!
American Authors joined O.A.R. on this summer tour and got the evening off to a great start with their power pop set of hits such as “Best Day of My Life” and an acoustic cover of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside”. Enjoy photos from both O.A.R. and American Authors performing at Merriweather Post Pavilion on September 7th. All photos copyright and courtesy of Shantel Mitchell Breen.
