My wife has been a avid INXS fan since high school. INXS and Genesis were my favorite bands then, but I didn't have her same level of devotion. When I found out that there were going to do a reality show to find a new lead singer, I was excited. When my wife found out, she was ecstatic.

Fast-forward a few months and we're in Florida and the show is about to being. Nicole is hoping the the show will measure up to previous show from she'd seen in the 80s and 90s. I'm hoping they don't sound like a cover band of album-version tuner. To my surprise, the first note plays and the hair stands up on the back of my neck. The remainder of the show was just as exciting.

The new lead singer is great with all of the old songs. Their new songs are surprisingly fantastic. Their stage presence is everything one would expect from a band with this much history.

Although I haven't heard most of the songs in years, I remember the lyrics perfectly and help from singing along.

I was expecting a nice vacation with my wife and an enjoyable concert. Instead, I had a perfect honeymoon-like week with my wife and got the rare opportunity to stunned by a band that hasn't been together in years. Their comeback is well-deserved.

Link to thread discussing this show

Opening Act - Love Hammer opening: With all of the Love Hammer t-shirts we saw before the show, I assumed that they would be pretty descent. They were terrible. There was one song that was tolerable and that was the best one. I hope to never have to sit through something like that again.

Seats: Row 1, Section B, Seats 107 and 108
Attend with: Nicole
Setlist: link (O.A.R. Setlist Archive)

I was first introduced to O.A.R. at the 2004-06-20 concert in Noblesville, IN where they opened for Dave Matthews Band. Although I thoroughly enjoyed DMB, it blended into the many others shows I'd attended; what made the impression was the opening act. I've since purchased several O.A.R. albums and finally tonight, saw them perform live again.

I'm very impressed with how the band has grown, matured, and blended over the past year-and-a-half. Lead singer Marc Roberge retains the same crackling and raspy voice, but has improved dramatically in the delivery. Although I'm sure some may miss the continuous rise-and-fall phrasing, I found the smoothly refined delivery much more listenable. This change is symbolic of the band as a whole. The Jamaican/rasta sound is no longer a required ingredient in every song and I find the increased range vastly more appealing. Although this can be heard by comparing their two live albums (2002's Any Time Now vs. 2004's 34th & 8th), it was more even apparent at this concert.

I skimmed over the letters section of the latest Relix magazine and noticed some noise about O.A.R. abandoning their true fans. Whatever. I don't see how any long-time or newly acquired fan could not enjoy this entire concert. I think it was just a case of overly-critical readers dwelling on out-of-context remarks.

My favorite parts of the show included Hey Girl in the extended form. O.A.R. has too strong of a reputation as a live act for this song not to have grown past the 4-minute version that first got them noticed on the national scene, and it has now apparently gone through multiple iterations. The new-to-me lyrics made me enjoy the song even more. If I had to pick a single favorite, it would be Black Rock, with the What I Am interpolation (from Eddie Brickell and New Bohemians) and the prominent keyboard feature at the end. I also enjoyed City on Down, perhaps my favorite O.A.R. song, as well as Love and Memories, which is a new favorite.

There were some uniquely memorable events at the concert. The first was the ninja in black with white ski goggles playing the tambourine during Love and Memories. He quickly disappeared and was never seen again. What was up with that? Also, Marc Roberge had constant problems with his acoustic guitar throughout the first half of the show before finally getting a working replacement. A guy across the aisle and one row behind us got the gift of his life when Roberge asked if there were any guitar players in the audience and then proceeded to give his "bad karma" guitar to the guy. The look of astonishment on his face indicated how deserving we was of the instrument.

In all, this was a concert I was looking forward to atteding but didn't greatly anticipate. However, the muiscal growth of the band has changed that. O.A.R. has made it into my inner circle along with a very few other bands. I'm now frantically trying to figure out how to get tickets to the 2006-04-04 concert at Butler University in Indianapolis.