Seating Location: First row, 2 seats right of center
Show Rating: 4/5
Crowd Rating: 3/5

I was fortunate enough to get some pre-sale, front row tickets to O.A.R. and, after zero effort, convinced my friend Luke Shiver to join me. We left Columbus after work and headed south to Louisville. With a couple of hours to kill, I suggested we give Browing's Brew Pub a try. The place was packed because the Riverbats had a game, but it quickly cleared-out. I had two different beers (one was average, the other quite tasety, but I don't remember the names) but it was the Hot Brown I enjoyed the most. I'm definitely back in Kentucky now.

Parking was a cinch both outside the restaurant, and then again outside the Palace Theatre. In downtown Indy, there's no way I could have found free street parking 2 blocks for either a baseball game or a concert.

The last time I visited the Palace Theatre was for a Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds concert in February, 1999. It all came back to me as I walked past the ample bar area and peered into the auditorium. We grabbed a couple of drinks and headed to our seats. We initially sat in the first row of the orchestra section and I was bummed that there were 3 more rows in front of us. I then realized the tickets were for the first row of the pit section, just two seats outside the center, touching the stage. I was so close to the microphones that I could read the set list. Clearly, this is the best way to see a concert.

The average age of the audience was higher than any other O.A.R. show I've attended, and a lot of the mid-to-late-20s and older group was in the first few rows. Older (longer-term?) fans, nothing wrong with that. They were definitely the nicest, friendliest, and most energetic O.A.R. fans I'd met.

The band took the stage and the audience around me went absolutely nuts. The whole place was electric. Despite all the crowd excitement, I felt the first two songs of the concert (see setlist below) were a little boring. I was very excited when Delicate Few started, but apparently the front row were about the only one's who were. If you've ever been to an O.A.R. concert before, you know that some crowd sing-along is to be expected on Delicate Few, Black Rock, and Poker. If not for the 8 of us in the front row on the right side (especially the guy two seats to my right), it would have been total audience humiliation. Marc Roberge acknowleged this and even pointed the microphone our way.

I was very pleased by both of the new-to-me songs that were played: Road Outside Columbus and especially See You Cry.

Not long after, when some newer songs were played, it seemed to me that everyone behind the 5th row was almost asleep. To me, the best part of a live show it the energy and interaction between the band and crowd. This group didn't compare to what I'd experienced at Bloomington or The Lawn at White River last year.

Perhaps sensing the need for an energy boost, Marc Roberge took a fan request and changed the setlist (apparently, the song name was written on a bed sheet by bedsheetGIRL15.) He walked to band-only microphone and apparently communicated the switch, and the band started playing So Moved On. This is one of my favorite O.A.R. songs and one that I hadn't heard in quite some time. The chorus of the songs includes the lyrics "with my drink in hand, I got up to stand, and I was off to a regular day." Although most casual listeners take this to be a drinking anthem, it's actually about quitting the excesses that can overtake ones life. It has resonance and I digg it.

Hearing I Feel Home is always a treat, and the pre-encore finale of Love and Memories was perfectly placed. The finale was the traditional Poker. It's always a great, exciting, fantastic to an O.A.R. concert. The fans definitely appreciated it more than any other song. To me, it was great and not notably better or worse than any similar Poker finale I'd experienced.

My seating location, the fans in the front row with me, and being back in Louisville are what made this concert special.

Setlist: http://www.oarsa.org/features/viewsetlist.php?showID=1266
Palace Theatre 07.16.2007 - Louisville, KY

1. Set 1:
   1. Destination (Fire On The Mountain Tag)
   2. About Mr. Brown
   3. Delicate Few
   4. Missing Pieces
   5. The Stranger
   6. What Ever Happened
   7. About An Hour Ago
   8. Conquering Fools
   9. One Shot
   10. Road Outside Columbus
   11. King Of The Thing
   12. Lay Down
   13. So Moved On
   14. Heard The World
   15. I Feel Home &
   16. Love And Memories
2. Encore:
   17. See You Cry ~
   18. That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker (Officer Tag)

~ Marc solo.
& Marc and Richard.
Entire show with Mike Paris on keys, percussion, and vocals.

Nicole and I planned for one last concert together before Ainsley Day arrives. We arrive at Verizon Wireless Music Center around 9:00 and it was still another hour or so before John Mayer took the stage, a consequence of two opening acts.

This was the third John Mayer concert we've attended in the past 5 years and the musical growth of Mayer is evident. From roots as a soulful acoustic artist in 2000, to a somewhat over-produced top-40 star in 2003, to a mature and bluesy artist now, it's been an interesting and rewarding evolution.

I was surprised how much focus there was on the newest album in the set list, with only three songs from his first two albums (Inside Wants Out is still my favorite) being played. The focus is definitely on the newer and more blues-focused pieces. And this is not a bad thing. He is expressive enough and talented enough with a guitar to make it work.

Good Love is On the Way is one of Mayer's better song in recent years and was one of my favorites from this concert, but Gravity is the one that could listen to again and again. Why Georgia was a crowd favorite, although the beginning where he played 10 second clips from 4 other songs from the same album was a bit confusing and anti-climactic.

After the underwhelming Tower of Power-style horn section of the Heavier Things tour, I was a little worried by the Sax and Trumpt player on stage. But they were welcome additions after hearing them play. The trumpet especially added some mood to the more bluesy tunes.

The encore was somewhat anti-climactic. It was mostly acoustic, which is generally a good thing, but they were not the songs I was hoping to hear.

Based on an interview on 92.3 WTTS, John Mayer's next album with be solo acoustic. Now that, I'm looking forward to hearing.

Set list: link
Vultures
No Such Thing
Good Love is On the Way
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Neon
Bigger Than My Body
Dreaming With A Broken Heart
I Don't Need No Doctor
Belief
Why Georgia
Waiting on the World to Change
Gravity
– encore –
Slow Dancing (acoustic)
Stop This Train (acoustic)
I'm Gonna Find Another You

Nicole and I arrive and hear the opening act from the outside. The singer sounds like Dave Matthews with a different band, but we realize it's Mat Kearney when he closes with his song with radio play. He finishes as we find a place on the lawn. Too bad we didn't catch the whole thing.

We meet-up with Nicole's co-worker Erin and his wife and later run into my MBA classmate Pierre-Alexander Brault. Friends and concerts and a good pairing.

Sheryl Crow takes the stage and start playing through her long and well-earned list of hits. She's like a fine bourbon that keeps getting better with age. She sings, she plays, she chats-up the audience. She can do no wrong. Hearing songs brings back memories over the past 12 or so years I've been listening to her music. I'd definitely like to catch a show in a smaller venue with closer seats. Not surprisingly, the audience is a little older and the stadium is not quite full. Heavy radio play must be a requirement for high-school/college audience attendance. She deserves a packed house.

The youth crowd shows up, it gets dark, and John Mayer takes the stage. He's become my favorite solo artist over the past 5 years and I'm hoping for a better concert than when last I saw him (it got a little boring in the middle.) His band is quite different now (no horn section) and it's tight. This setup, including members from the John Mayer Trio, are a much better fit.

John Mayer is the real deal. Soulful, reflective, and an absolutely amazing guitar player. Songs from his Inside Wants Out release have always been my favorite, but I'm really into the John Mayer Trio tracks.

• In the right mood, the Daughters is a great song, but I'm usually cynical and was a little distraught by all the teenage girls holding each other and rocking to the music.
• Slow Dancing in a Burning Room had a great groove to it.
• My favorite part of the show is the ending to Victoria. John Mayer decides to an impromptu solo/acoustic transition to Love Soon becaue he's feeling the vibe. But he forgets the lyrics a couple of lines in. He's human. He's fun. It's great. I love that he felt like playing it and did, it it leaves me wanting to hear an up-temp solo acoustic version of Love Soon.

I'd be remiss if I did mention another performance by Indy's own Aisle Dancing Dude. He rocks the aisle like no else can. He even picked-up a little aisle dancing honey!

John Mayer Setlist:

Why Georgia
Good Love is On the Way
Bigger Than My Body
Belief
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
My Stupid Mouth
Vultures
Dreaming With A Broken Heart
Daughters
Neon
Waiting on the World to Change
– encore –
Victoria –> Love Soon
No Such Thing
I'm Gonna Find Another You

Seeing Hootie and the Blowfish has become a Labor Day tradition for Nicole and me. We head downtown, eat ribs, enjoy the show, and spend a great evening together.

This year, we had to pay and entrance fee, which was a little disappointing. We then had to go buy tickets so that we could trade them in for ribs and drinks. We picked a tent, picked some ribs, and and had a great dinner before making our way through the lawn. We were about an hour early and it looked like we were going to have a great location — until we walked into the fence. They created a special "premium seating" area that you had to pay for to get in to. They were out of tickets.

No worries, we still have a great location and show started before we knew it. The band is always seems to be upbeat and happy to play and this year was no different. Their old favorites are great, their newer songs continue to grow on me, and their cover of the REM tune Losing My Religion was fantastic.

My only complaint is that the set list was little lower-energy than the previous year, but hey, there's always next year!

Setlist
Concert download

It's July and perfect July evening and Nicole and I meet-up Luke and Michelle Shiver for our trek to downtown Indy. Michelle and Nicole grab chairs to take out to the grass while Luke and I park at the Zoo and walk back.

We arrive fairly early but center section of The Lawn is already pretty well packed. No worries, we sit close to the front on the right hand side, with easy access to refreshments and restrooms.

The show is great. Being in the front row at an small indoor venue is my favorite way to see a concert. But relaxing in the grass and enjoying a nice summer evening has it's own advantages.

The best surprise of the show was the cover of Elvis Costello's Watching the Detectives. O.A.R. brings a great sound this song and the show download it worth it for that alone. The rest of the song was pretty much as expected and the crowd was obviously having a great time.

Luke was disappointed by the omission of Black Rock and we were both a little surprised with Poker was played and it wasn't the finale, but you can't expect a band to play ever song in the same order every concert, so who cares.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention a showing by one of our favorite local performers, Aisle Dancing Dude. Yes, we've seen him more than once at local concerts we've attended. He's always dancing up and down the aisles. You go Dude!

It was a fun summer evening with a beautiful sunset behind the stage. An enjoyable performance from a great band made it a perfect night.

Setlist
Seating Location: Section D, 5 rows from the back

Our good friends Bryan and Tammy Willett came to visit us for the weekend and go to the show. They are professional UK tailgaters and brought all of their gear. We tailgated at Huggy Bear for a few hours, eating, drinking, playing corn hole, and being merry, before heading to the concert.

Our seats were a couple of rows apart, but there were some empties in between so we all sat together and people-watched before the show.

My summary of the night's perforce: an awesome setlist that seemed to be more geared to what the fans would pick. That alone can make for an great show, but the performance was as well done as ever. Adding trumpet player Rashawn Ross gave an extra dimension to their sound that I never would have predicted would work, much less great. I have high expectations before I see my first show each year and the band never fails to impress and exceed.

Setlist

Dave Matthews Band
June 3, 2006
Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN
One Sweet World G1 G2
Grey Street G1 G2
Everyday G1 G2
The Idea Of You G1 G2
Dancing Nancies …> G1 G2
Warehouse G1 G2
Steady As We Go G1 G2
So Much To Say G1 G2
Jimi Thing G1 G2
Crash Into Me G1
JTR G1 G2
Grace Is Gone G1
Tripping Billies G1 G2
Digging a Ditch G1 G2
Two Step G1 G2
Encore:
Sister + G1
#40 (Tease) G1
The Dreaming Tree G1 G2
Louisiana Bayou G1 G2
Guests:
G1 Butch Taylor
G2 Rashawn Ross

Seating Location: Third row in the center.

This is my second INXS concert in two months. I never thought I'd be doubling-up on INXS, but the first concert was a total surprise and I'm back for more.

I was expecting the concert to be pretty much identical to the previous concert. I was impressed that it wasn't. These guys are a real band. Not only was the setlist extremely different, but the songs they did play were not the same. They weren't afraid to stick an extended bridge in here and there. The music was just as great as the first show, but the added perception of how they approach it made it even better. I respect any band that can write their own lyrics and music and perform it well live. These guys are the real deal.

After the show, I talked to one of the concert hall workers and found out where the stage entrance was. Nicole and I headed out there and she befriended a security guard and able to get a very favorable spot. She respectfully got all of the original band members to sign her vintage 20-year-old KICK World Tour t-shirt. It made her night and mine as well. I was very proud of her for doing it.

Link to thread discussing the show.

Opening Act Dirte Blonde: Great voice from the lead singer, great harmonies with the bass player, great band. Too bad the album samples didn't sound very similar.

Setlist

After attending a great O.A.R. concert in Bloomington a couple of months before, I really looking forward to a repeat. My sister-in-law Wendy, who works at Butler, was kind enough to stop by the box office the day tickets went on sale and got Nicole and I some great seats.

Unfortunately, there was some confusion about the start time because the Clowes Box Office can't figure out Daylight Saving Time. The Clowes website has one time, the ticket another, and the O.A.R. website another. We pick what we think is the correct time but arrive about 30 seconds after the O.A.R. starts playing; we missed the opening act (Scratch Track) completely. I hate arriving late. What I hate even more is people in my seat.

People in our seats: The Clowes staff decided not to enforce seating much, if at all. We try to walk into our row and there are more people than seats. We're not going to the back, so we push our way to our assigned seat and tell the two young ladies there they'll have to fend for themselves elsewhere (they move forward a couple of rows.) Not a great start to a show you were looking forward to seeing.

So how was the show? Well, pretty good but not great. First of all, it started a bit too early. It was way to bright outside to be in concert mood. Also, the tickets were cheap for students and I think most were seeing O.A.R. for the first time. Bands feed off of crowd energy and vice-versa. The crowd started off somewhat low key. Black Rock, with starts-off with a well-known crowd sing-along, started off with weak audience participation that died before reaching the part where Mark Roberg was supposed to jump back in. I swear a sang solo for a bar. A dude in front of me yelled to the audience "you all are lame!" But he wasn't singing either.

After that, there was very little audience involvement or interaction until the finale of That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker. The band was still great and delivered a clean and enjoyable performance, but they didn't have much to work with audience wise. The show seemed somewhat rushed and abbreviated and I thought that was a good thing.

I enjoyed the concert, but not as much as I should have. For the beneift of everyone involved, I hope O.A.R. does not return to Butler University.

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.