Of a Revolution
, better known as O.A.R.
, American rock band consisting of Marc Roberge (vocals, guitar), Chris Culos (drums, percussion), Richard On (guitar, backing vocals), Benj Gershman (bass guitar), Jerry DePizzo (saxophone, guitar, backing vocals). Due to massive online distribution over campus networks, the band has become a hit among college students, with many songs relating to the band members' personal lives at Ohio State University (Columbus) and growing up in Rockville, Maryland.
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O.A.R. TICKETS
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Band History
Early years
The band was founded in 1996 by Marc Roberge and Chris Culos, inspired in part by Roberge's older brother who plays drums for the band
Foxtrot Zulu. They then recruited Richard On and Benj Gershman. The four of them graduated from
Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School in
Rockville, Maryland, then moved to
Columbus, Ohio to attend
The Ohio State University. While at Ohio State, they met
Jerry DePizzo, from
Youngstown, Ohio.
Without any formal marketing or advertising plans, news of their songs such as "
That Was a Crazy Game of Poker", "City on Down" and "Night Shift" spread by
word of mouth alone. Over the years, the band played as many shows as they could, expanding from the fraternities and sororities of Ohio State to any audiences that cared to listen. This exposure paid off; their third album
Risen
debuted at #11 on the
Billboard
top internet sales chart. The following year, their fourth album
Any Time Now
debuted at #156 on the
Billboard Top 200 list. They received offers from various major labels, but signed with
Lava Records because they promised not to change the band.
[1]
Mainstream success
In 2005, O.A.R. released their fifth album,
Stories of a Stranger
, which debuted at #40 on the Billboard 200. The album produced the singles "Love and Memories", "Heard the World", and "Lay Down". "Love and Memories" was the band's first single to chart and receive significant radio airplay, peaking at #98 in the
Pop 100, #30 in the
Modern Rock Tracks chart and #18 in the
Adult Top 40. The music videos for "Love and Memories" and "Lay Down" also received airplay on
VH1 and
MTV.
On
January 14,
2006 O.A.R. reached a new peak of popularity by drawing roughly 18,000 fans and selling out New York City's
Madison Square Garden, which earned them a review in the
New York Times
[2]. On October 5, 2006, a press release declared that O.A.R. had officially sold in excess of 1.2 million albums over their career.
[3] The band attributes much of its popularity to the taping and subsequent trading and downloading of their live shows.
O.A.R. performed the theme song for the
ABC show
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
. During a two-hour special that aired on
December 11,
2005, they provided a street-side concert, including a live performance of "So Much", the
Extreme Makeover Home Edition
theme, in front of the newly redesigned
Los Angeles Free Clinic.
O.A.R. performed at the 2006
Major League Baseball All Star Game in Pittsburgh during All Star Sunday, singing one of their top hits, "Love and Memories". They also performed at a rally to benefit
Darfur in
Central Park on
September 17,
2006.
O.A.R. received a "Woodie" award from MTV in 2006; their video "Lay Down" won the Woodie for streaming video.
O.A.R. made a return trip to
Madison Square Garden and performed on
January 27,
2007, supported by
Gomez and
Matt Nathanson. This show closed out their 2007 Winter tour which started in Ohio only a few weeks earlier. On
June 5,
2007 the concert was released as a DVD/Double Live CD.
In June 2007 the band's songs "Wonderful Day" and "One Shot" were used extensively by
ESPN during its coverage of the
2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament and
College World Series.
The band conducted a
USO tour around the Persian Gulf in late August 2007.
[4] [5]
In early 2009 O.A.R. released their second single off of "All Sides". "This Town" has begun to pick up steam and see air play on multiple stations across the states.
Recent activities
In the summer of 2008, O.A.R. launched the "All Sides Tour" to promote their
new album of the same name, which began June 15 in Manchester, TN at Bonnaroo and concluded August 31 at
the Gorge as an opening act for the
Dave Matthews Band.
The first radio single for
All Sides
, "
Shattered (Turn the Car Around)", was released for download on June 13th. It has been the band's biggest hit to date, surpassing "Love And Memories".
In June 2008 the song "This Town", also from
All Sides
, was used extensively by
ESPN during its coverage of the
2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament and
College World Series.
O.A.R.'s song "Wonderful Day" is currently being used on nationally airing Ford commercials.
In December 2008,
VH1 named the music video for "Shattered" as number 18 on their Top 40 Videos of 2008, saying that "O.A.R. is no longer this well-kept secret; they finally have broken through to mainstream."
O.A.R. performed three songs for
Fox News Channel's 2008 New Year's Eve uParty coverage live in Times Square in New York City on December 31, 2008. The filming took place on Sunday December 27, 2008. The three songs played and also aired were: "Shattered", "Living In The End" and "This Town".
On January 9, 2009 O.A.R. lead singer, Marc Roberge, did a charity concert to benefit the
Connecticut National Guard at
Hopkins School in New Haven, CT performing many of the band's hit songs solo (accompanying himself with an acoustic guitar) including Love and Memories, Shattered, and This Town.
On March 1, 2009 The song "This Town" was used in a
Nascar racing promotion featuring the band.
O.A.R. has done a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Fool In The Rain" available on iTunes and all the proceeds from the song go directly to charity.
Members
- Marc Roberge (1996–present)
- Chris Culos (1996–present)
- Richard On (1996–present)
- Benj Gershman (1996–present)
- Jerry DePizzo (September 21, 2000 – present)
- Mikel Paris (2006-present) (Touring Only)
Discography
Studio albums
- The Wanderer
(1997)
- Souls Aflame
(2000)
- Risen
(2001)
- In Between Now and Then
(2003)
- Stories of a Stranger
(2005)
- All Sides
(2008)
Live albums
- Any Time Now
(2002)
- 34th & 8th
(2004)
- Live from Madison Square Garden
(2007)
Compilations
Compilation name (year, song title)
- Bonnaroo 2003
(2003, "Risen")
- National Heads-Up Poker Championship 2005
(1997, "That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker")
- Rock For Relief
(2006, "James")
- MLB '06: The Show
(2006, "Of A Revolution")
- Mixclusives: Volume 6
(2006, "Love & Memories")
- The Target Red Room Volume: 5
(2006, "One Shot (live)")
- Kyle XY Soundtrack
(2007, "Wonderful Day")
- Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
(2007, "Borrowed Time")
- For the Kids Three
(2007, "Itsy Bitsy Spider")
Singles
| Year
| Title
| Peak chart positions
| Album
|
| US
| US
Pop
[6]
| US
Mod
| US
Adult
[7]
|
| 2005
| "Love and Memories"
| 116
[8]
| 98
| 30
| 17
| Stories of a Stranger
|
| 2006
| "Heard the World"
| —
| —
| —
| 24
|
| "Lay Down"
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
| 2008
| "This Town"
| 119
[9]
| 97
| —
| 20
| All Sides
|
| "Shattered (Turn the Car Around)"
| 36
| 35
| —
| 2
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or have yet to chart.
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Notes