O.A.R/ Guster/ Howie Day/ Matt Nathanson 7/26/2004

O.A.R. has done something special in its six plus years of existence. They have gone from a local college bar band in Columbus, Ohio into a touring machine playing to packed or near-packed theaters across the country almost nightly, and they have done it their way. Their music is positive feel-good music, along the lines of early Dave Matthews Band meets ska-flavored dance music in the 311 and Sublime spirit. How did this band, not unlike the hundreds of other college bands out there still waiting for their chance, “make it?” Relentless touring, excellent marketing strategies, a huge internet presence, plugging into the college radio waves, and plenty of word-of-mouth praises passed through many fraternity and sorority houses throughout the Midwest and beyond all helped get O.A.R. (stands for Of A Revolution, and please don’t pronounce it “ore”) where it is today.

The all ages crowd at the Roseland on Thursday night was amped and ready from the get-go but would have to wait patiently for three opening bands over the course of four hours. All of the openers were good, which made the waiting easier. Matt Nathanson, a singer/songwriter/comedian from the Bay Area, was well received by the Portland crowd as he mixed in surprisingly hilarious stand-up comedy between his heart-wrenching acoustic pieces accompanied by two fine musicians playing acoustic guitar and up-right acoustic bass (to which a girl behind me called the perversion of a classical instrument).

Howie Day was up next. Born in ’81 in Bangor, Maine, Day has found a place in the music world touring the country solo, usually opening for the likes of David Gray, The Wallflowers and other bands of the like. His voice is mature beyond his years and he captivated the crowd Thursday night with tales of love, loss and everything in between. Although playing solo, the soundscape was often filled by Howie playing a line and looping it and playing over it or hand-drumming different places of his guitar to create rhythms he could then solo over or sing over, sometimes creating five or six loops which would cycle through an entire song to give the feeling of an entire band. The results were often wonderful, and perhaps garnered the loudest applauses of the night until O.A.R. took the stage.

Without a doubt, Guster and O.A.R. sharing a bill seems to be a perfect match. Both bands have written tight pop-rock songs with catchy lyrics that young crowds simply love to sing along to. Guster, also like O.A.R., has built its fan base with a huge internet presence and a tiring road schedule, but breaking onto the scene more than five years before their counterparts in the early nineties out of West Somerville, Massachusetts. Guster’s set was energetic at times and unpredictably solemn at times. Guster features ridiculously tight harmonies and simple guitar hooks provided by the two singer/guitarists Ryan Miller and Adam Gardner, with Miller chiefly responsible for the poignant lyrics. The highlight of this Guster show, and presumably all Guster shows, was watching the impossibly tireless percussionist Brian Rosenworcel work the kit like Animal from Sesame Street. I literally locked in to Brian from the first notes of the first song through the final note of the final song and he, to my amazement, never broke a sweat. A true un-sung hero.

Once Guster left the stage, a noticeable buzz began to circulate throughout the theater. The time had finally come for the band it seemed everyone was here for to take the spotlight. The few people old enough (or with convincing enough ID’s) for the 21-and-over balcony section, but young enough that sitting in a balcony seat during O.A.R.’s set was unfathomable, scrambled downstairs to pick that perfect spot where they had a few square inches of floor space to dance on and a crack between the two heads in front of them where they could almost see the top of the drum kit.

O.A.R. is comprised of five band members; lead singer/rhythm guitarist Marc Roberge, lead guitarist Richard On, saxist Jerry DePizzo, bassist Benj Gershman, and drummer Chris Culos. They play with a certain familiarity with one another that is refreshing and reassuring as a listener. Their songs feature tight, intensely arranged sections with unusual changes, often playing two completely different styles of music throughout the course of one song. Even though O.A.R. often is associated with jambands, and occasionally even referred to as a jamband, their music rarely is experimental or free form and is played with the same spunk as it has on the albums, however their shows don’t lack inspiration because of it. In fact, one of the things that made this O.A.R. set so fun was that every single person in the room seemed to anticipate the changes and sing every lyric with as much pizzazz as the band.

The second song they played, “Hey Girl,” with it’s lyrics “my friends say I’m crazy and I agree / but that’s okay because that’s the way she likes to be / hey girl come with me and let yourself go” exemplify the carefree nature of the band and it’s shows. Other highlights included the road trip tale, “About An Hour Ago,” and a cover of U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” with help on vocals from Nathanson. The encore of “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker” had the crowd in a frenzy as it is the group’s most popular song, the song probably more responsible for the band’s success than any other as it was the one getting heavy radio airplay throughout college towns in the late 90’s. As fans danced their way through the familiar quasi-reggae ditty, it eventually segued into Bob Marley’s true-reggae classic, “No Woman No Cry,” giving a nod to the band’s heavy ska influence.

By the time the show, with all four of its acts, had come and gone, hundreds of sweaty Izod shirts and foggy J-Lo shades filtered into the streets of Portland’s Chinatown district, returning to their cars talking on their cell phones informing their friends that they just missed a sick show. More word-of-mouth advertising!