Had a blast in Jax Beach this weekend, punctuated by a top-notch O.A.R. concert at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre [sic].
In my humble [cough] opinion, St. Augustine is a great place to catch a show, but I'd be remiss not to mention how bands sometimes treat their stops in the "Oldest City" as tune-ups for bigger and better venues in South Florida. Not so with O.A.R.
There was a full house on hand at the 4,000+ seat outdoor amphitheatre and the band seemed to feed off the crowd as it worked its way through a setlist of old staples and newer, radio-friendly hits. Favorites for me were About Mr. Brown, The Wanderer, Hey Girl, and the obligatory Crazy Game of Poker (played as an extended encore).
They also surprised the crowd (or at least this amateur) with an outstanding version of Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain (In Through the Out Door), complete with Marc Roberge blowing a dance whistle into the mic to mark the start and finish of the song's classic bridge. Another nice moment came near the end of the first set when the band thanked the audience and pointed out that they had a film crew on hand capturing the performance.
All in all, a strong showing from a fun band that's brought me a ton of joy since being introduced to them as a wet behind the ears freshman at WCU. If the tour stops in your neck of the woods, spring for tickets. The nostalgia alone is worth the price of admission.
Special props to Labuz for hospitality/navigation:
To Bib, Amy, Eric, and the Edwards clan for pre-show festivities:
And to Kris, who starved herself for the good of the group:
This was the first in a string of shows I'll be checking out in the coming month or so. Others include The Flaming Lips (St. Augustine), Dylan (Tally), and with any luck Roger Waters performing The Wall (D.C/Ft. Lauderdale). Stay tuned.
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