O.A.R. at SummerStage at Rumsey Playfield

DMC & Marc Roberge

Vocalist/guitarist Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, and bassist Benj Gershman formed the nucleus of O.A.R. (abbreviated from “Of a Revolution”) in 1996 while attending high school in Rockville, Maryland. Upon graduating, the four enrolled in the same university in Columbus, Ohio, where they met saxophonist/guitarist Jerry DePizzo of Youngstown, Ohio; he joined the band in 2000. O.A.R. started as a jam band and encouraged their audiences to record and share the performances. Over the years, the band evolved into a more traditional pop rock band, although live many songs continue to feature extended instrumental breaks. O.A.R. has sold more than 1.2 million albums. The band’s eighth and most recent album is 2014’s The Rockville LP.

WWE wrestler Paul “Triple H” Levesque and his wife, wrestling personality Stephanie McMahon, introduced O.A.R. at SummerStage at Rumsey Playfield tonight; the concert benefitted Connor’s Cure, a pediatric cancer research charity found by Levesque and McMahon. O.A.R. has not had a new studio album in four years, but thousands of New York fans have remained loyal, demonstrated by the nearly full venue. Joined by touring keyboardist Mikel Paris, a saxophonist and a trumpet player, O.A.R. performed a retrospective, with songs from each album. The band balanced pop with reggae, ska, and jam band influences, giving the horn section ample opportunity to re-dress the arrangements. The engine was the uplifting lyrics that united the diverse catalogue and the propeller was the good-time vibe with which the songs were executed. The surprise of the evening was the encore, when Roberge introduced rapper DMC and the band backed DMC on his version of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."

Visit O.A.R. at www.ofarevolution.com.

Setlist:

1. About Mr. Brown
2. Gotta Be Wrong Sometimes
3. Black Rock
4. City on Down
5. About an Hour Ago
6. Place to Hide
7. Dareh Meyod ("Pawn Shop" tag)
8. Over and Over
9. Delicate Few
10. I Feel Home
11. Love and Memories
12. Shattered (Turn the Car Around)
13. Dangerous Connection
14. Hey Girl
15. I Go Through
16. Just Like Paradise (with Eric “Barstool Nate” Nathan on percussion)
17. Peace
18. Heaven
19. Miss You All the Time
20. That Was a Crazy Game of Poker

Encore:

1. Walk This Way (Aerosmith cover, with DMC)