O.A.R. Continues to Move Onward and Upward With "All Sides"

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O.A.R. Continues to Move Onward and Upward With "All Sides"
by Nick Law - November 7, 2008

The first time I heard O.A.R. was in high school. I wasn’t crazy about them. The only song they seemed to have was “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker,” a catchy tune I’ll admit, but it seemed to go on and on forever while I got drunk off of two beers and a hard lemonade. Man those were the days…

You can see the predicament I was in when I got to college at Ohio University and people started to ask, “Hey, have you heard that new band? Um, I think they’re called Oar.” Always the douchebag, I was quick to let them know that yes, I had. No, they’re not new. And it’s pronounced O.A.R., short for Of A Revolution.

Then came something I hadn’t counted on. More and more people started to ask me if I’d heard of them. The band itself lived very close at the nearby Ohio State University. It seems that without any money for a formal marketing or advertising plan, the band and its music seemed to spread by word of mouth alone.

O.A.R. starting playing as many shows as they could, expanding from the fraternities and sororities of Ohio State to any audiences that cared to listen. One of my fondest memories is listening to the band play in somebody’s back yard when my friend’s brother jumped up on stage and tried to give the bass player a hug.

Now that the group is all grown up, they have left Ohio to return to their native Maryland. Just recently, the band has grown in size from 5 members to 6. Back when I knew them, there was only Marc Roberge (vocals/guitar), Chris Culos (drums/percussion), Richard On (guitar/backing vocals), Benj Gershman (bass guitar) and Jerry DePizzo (saxophone).

In 2006, O.A.R. welcomed it newest member Mikel Paris, and hasn’t looked back. It was during this time that the band reached a new peak of popularity by drawing roughly 18,000 fans and selling out Madison Square Garden, which earned them a review in the New York Times.

O.A.R. performed at the 2006 MLB All Star Game in Pittsburgh, singing one of their top hits, “Love and Memories.” The song has also been featured on MTV and VH1, as well as becoming their first radio hit.

Just a little while ago, the band released “All Sides,” their sixth album, which features the hit single “Shattered.” The unique thing about this group is that every album seems more mature, but not necessarily better than the last. Every CD the group has released is good, but this latest installment makes it obvious that they’ve come a long way since “The Wanderer” was released in 1997.

Without getting away from what made them so popular among college students in the first place, “All Sides” says what it needs to say, but with less effort that it seems to have taken them before. As the group becomes established among an older following, longtime fans can rejoice that O.A.R. is still the same band that they fell in love with while drinking Natty Light at a house party in college.

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