O.A.R. (Of A Revolution)
5/1/09 4th Street Live, Louisville, KY
O.A.R. is a band that has acquired the perfect amount of praise, the perfect number of fans, and the perfect number of infectious radio singles. Nothing more. They aren't a bad band by any means, as well they'll never be mistaken as a great one either. They can draw a massive crowd but maintain the fan appreciation that goes with their pseudo-underground following. All of this combines to make a perfect concert going event because a) their die hard fanbase will show up no matter what and force the crowd into a good time, while b) even the most casual listener of their music can go, have fun, and recognize at least a handful of songs from their setlist.
Last night the band was on and rolled through their catalog of crowd pleasing favorites. Highlights included pretty much everything you assume they would "Hey Girl", "This Town", "Love and Memories", "Shattered", and of course "Crazy Game of Poker". The unexpected shocker was when the band pulled out a nearly flawless, note-for-note cover of The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" (they of course did the classic Joe Cocker/"Wonder Years" arrangement of the song).
The sad affair of the whole night was the fact that the steel and concrete interior of 4th Street Live is not designed well acoustically speaking, therefore anywhere further than fifty feet from the stage sound pretty distorted. But the band was playing on point last night, they were talkative, and obviously in a good mood - while fairly restricted by sound issues that were out of their hands.
Opening band Parachute left much to be desired. They are the kind of band that you hear live and feel immediately underwhelmed, however, at the same time in your mind you're thinking "I'll be their album sounds really good." But during their performance last night everything meshed together and ended up sounding like one really long song.
5/1/09 4th Street Live, Louisville, KY
O.A.R. is a band that has acquired the perfect amount of praise, the perfect number of fans, and the perfect number of infectious radio singles. Nothing more. They aren't a bad band by any means, as well they'll never be mistaken as a great one either. They can draw a massive crowd but maintain the fan appreciation that goes with their pseudo-underground following. All of this combines to make a perfect concert going event because a) their die hard fanbase will show up no matter what and force the crowd into a good time, while b) even the most casual listener of their music can go, have fun, and recognize at least a handful of songs from their setlist.
Last night the band was on and rolled through their catalog of crowd pleasing favorites. Highlights included pretty much everything you assume they would "Hey Girl", "This Town", "Love and Memories", "Shattered", and of course "Crazy Game of Poker". The unexpected shocker was when the band pulled out a nearly flawless, note-for-note cover of The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" (they of course did the classic Joe Cocker/"Wonder Years" arrangement of the song).
The sad affair of the whole night was the fact that the steel and concrete interior of 4th Street Live is not designed well acoustically speaking, therefore anywhere further than fifty feet from the stage sound pretty distorted. But the band was playing on point last night, they were talkative, and obviously in a good mood - while fairly restricted by sound issues that were out of their hands.
Opening band Parachute left much to be desired. They are the kind of band that you hear live and feel immediately underwhelmed, however, at the same time in your mind you're thinking "I'll be their album sounds really good." But during their performance last night everything meshed together and ended up sounding like one really long song.
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