Concert Review: O.A.R. Leads A Revolution

Mid-evening amidst a gray, rainy, and altogether dreary day, hundreds upon hundreds of people gathered into The Lawn at White River State Park for what was about to be a long, eventful night of music, dancing, and alcohol (amongst other traditional concert goodies). Of A Revolution, better known as O.A.R., couldn’t have chosen a better date to play their set, as every day preceding the show had been plagued with overpowering rains (mostly five-minute rain showers, but unforgiving five-minute showers nonetheless). Paired together with openers Allen Stone and Andrew McMahon, members of the all-ages audience could stand confident that their money had certainly not gone to waste in buying these concert tickets.

Allen Stone was an immediate crowd pleaser. Known for his smooth, yet powerful R&B vocals, Allen and his band entertained with fantastic stage presence in an assault of funky music and rhythmic dancing; the entire performance was oozing with a 1970’s vibe. It was a fantastic way to get the crowd loosened up from the get-go. People couldn’t help but dance to the music, and the air was full of smoke, laden of carcinogens and euphoria alike. Allen had a smile on his face throughout the entire set, and kept engaged with the crowd in a way that felt genuine and ensured that both parties were having a good time. Following a cover of Bob Marley’s “Is This Love?”, the band closed with their song “Satisfaction.” Overall, they were very well-received and put on a great show.

The second band was… Less impressive. As soon as they walked onto the stage, Andrew McMahon and his band got right into their set, making no time for introductions. The bunch was an awkward blend of ‘90s grunge and new-wave hipster chic that, despite some common grounds (namely scraggly beards and skinny jeans), didn’t quite work together. Their music was a bit less of a mess, though their poor execution of synthesizers was awkward, to say the least. The set had somewhat of a Coldplay vibe, albeit with a more nasally voice. It’s worth mentioning, though, that McMahon didn’t miss a note. Terrific tonal control. The crowd seemed overall pleased with their performance, though many cringed each time the singer-songwriter stomped on the keys of his Baldwin piano. Halfway through the set, the band switched gears from teen feel-good movie soundtrack to electronic pop-rock; possibly the inspiration behind their mixed bag fashion sense. All sarcasm aside, Andrew McMahon and his backing band gave a decent performance leading to the main act of the night, Of A Revolution.

As purple headlights took the stage and the audience began to stir in anticipation, O.A.R. emerged from the sidelines and immediately started their set with Taking On The World Today. A quick spin-around made it clear that the crowd had doubled, if not tripled in size since Stone’s and McMahon’s performances, and from the moment O.A.R. began playing, every single person on the lawn was dancing. Despite their sectioned off location (minus Jerry the multi-talented saxophonist, who moved around from time to time to play guitar), the horn section was incredibly active; the three of them danced with enough energy to match the entire crowd. After playing a few fan favorites, such as Heaven and Night Shift, the band briefly intervened and frontman Marc Roberge thanked the audience for coming to the show, commenting that “We want to feel better than when we came here when we leave.”

O.A.R. picked up from their short intermission with “I Will Find You,” a song that built from a solo acoustic performance to an orchestral jam and brought life back into the crowd. The entire set was reminiscent of the 311 and Pepper show that graced White River’s lawn in the summer of 2011; loads of fun and dancing to alternative rock with hints of reggae and ska-punk. One of the highlights of the night was during “That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker,” when the sky turned from a muted blue to a stark white; nearly every member of the audience had been handed a deck of playing cards, all of which were launched into the air at the chorus of the song. Two songs later, the band walked off stage and built up anticipation amongst a roaring crowd for an encore, though everyone quickly quieted down when Roberge reemerged with soft ballad “Peace.” After tears and sweat were wiped away, the atmosphere quickly returned to feel-good as O.A.R. played hit “Love and Memories,” a song seemingly straight out of 10 Things I Hate About You. The final song to close off the night was a cover of the epic and ever-famous Wings song, “Live and Let Die.” As the crowd roared and applauded and the band took a final bow and exited the stage, it was clear that there could have been no better way to kick off the summer – the concert was a success.

The Good: All three bands stayed very engaged with the audience and put on fantastic performances that left everybody feeling good about having spent their evening at White River.

The Bad: At nearly four and a half hours total, most people who had attended the entire concert were visibly exhausted by the end of the night. It’s also hard not to include McMahon’s piano-stomping in the list of negatives. It’s a Baldwin, for god’s sake.