O.A.R., 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

Back to the Black Rock

A lot of time has passed since my carefree high school days of driving around Harrisburg in my white Honda Accord, listening to O.A.R., which for a time I thought was pronounced as an instrument to row a boat rather. So going to an O.A.R. show always brings back a few of those memories. The experience this time around was amplified by the presence of Ben Summers, a childhood friend who was often riding shotgun during those days back in the suburbs. We had not seen a show together in quite a while, so it was a treat to have him along, especially for O.A.R. when so many other bands that we listened to back in high school had since fallen by the wayside.

Their set started off with “Ladanday,” from their 1997 debut album, The Wanderer. We of course were hoping to hear as much pre-2003 O.A.R. as possible and they certainly threw in plenty. We would have liked to hear nothing but selections from their first three albums, but seeing as how they’ve steadily released albums every two to three years since then, it wasn’t really a reasonable expectation. They did grace us with quite a few including “Missing Pieces,” “Dareh Meyod,”Delicate Few, and “Night Shift.” And of course there were regular O.A.R. staples like “Hey Girl” and “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker.” Though they (and we) have aged quite a bit, it was still a good, long set filled with much of the same energy that I remember. Though an O.A.R. show doesn’t hold the same appeal for me now as it did over a decade ago (their September 4, 2001 show at Crocodile Rock in Allentown, Pennsylvania still ranks as one of my favorite concerts ever), it was still great to get to take a little trip down memory lane.

Setlist:
Ladanday

Missing Pieces

Heard the World

Lay Down

Taking On the World Today

Dareh Meyod

One Shot

Gotta Be Wrong Sometimes

Hey Girl

Road Outside Columbus

The Last Time

Heaven

Woke Up an Uncle

Wonderful Day

Favorite Book of Poetry

That Was a Crazy Game of Poker

Over and Over

Shattered (Turn the Car Around)

Encore:

Delicate Few

Night Shift