June 27, 2019

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O.A.R. made its yearly summer stop to Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica on Tuesday.  With a new album and new beer collaboration with Great Lakes Brewing Company in tow, the band brought another high-energy set on a beautiful Cleveland summer evening.

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As O.A.R. shows go you never fully know what you’ll get throughout the show (expect hits “Love and Memories” and “Shattered (Turn This Car Around,)” “Hey Girl” and set staple “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker.”  The new album, The Mighty only made up for four (“Miss You All the Time,” “Peace,” “Free” and “Knocking at Your Door” of the 23 songs the band belted out. “So Moved On” and “Dareh Meyod” got the crowd going crazy early on.  Tallmadge-native John Lampley, who pulled double duty as an opener with the Huntertones, had his other band mates join the stage for the high-energy previously mentioned new song “Knocking at Your Door” and added a rich, new sound and flavor to “This Town.”

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Before …Of a Revolution took the stage American Authors played a fun, catchy 10-song set including their hits “Best Day of My Life” and “I’m Born to Run.” The crowd was still filing in through the bands performance but with the reaction to their cover of The Killers “Mr. Brightside” you would have thought The Killers themselves where on the stage. Lead singer Zac Barrnet made the most of the time they had and spent a few songs on the barricade into the crowd. AA played perfectly to set up for O.A.R.

 

Huntertones opened the show with a very fun set.  The trio features a tuba, a saxophone and a who primarily beat boxes. They played a fun medley of Stevie Wonder and Queen songs as well as a cover of The Beatles "Blackbird" sung by John Lampley.  This band has a ton of energy and they are clearly having a blast on stage. 

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There aren’t many cities like Cleveland for O.A.R., the bands fan base is vast and wide here.  People travel all-over the state each summer to check the band out and Tuesday nights near-capacity crowd was no different.  The the band closed their two hour set with “Road Outside Columbus.”

 

All six members of the band don’t slack on the show with energy and getting the crowd into the show. They took a request from long-time fan for “Zion Goes I,” a rarity that hasn’t been played in over three years. Seeing O.A.R. for the fun, energy and good vibe is one thing, but the little nuggets you may get each night is another.

 

The show was another great summer evening filled with The Mighty Lager.

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Photos by Greg Drugan

Review by Troy Smith

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