grace potter and the nocturnals at barton hall, ithaca new york

Jerry from O.A.R. weighs in on the sound issues via the O.A.R. Discussion Boards after some complaints about the sound of the show.

Sorry to anyone who left early due to the band’s performance, but I have to say that leaving a bit early may have been a premature response to the night’s events. I want to explain this show and 1st shows of tours in general. The band usually after taking a significant break off the road is not going to be in top form from note one. It takes us a few songs back up to steam. Try and equate it to you meeting up with some friends or family you haven’t seen in awhile. The first few minutes of such a meeting are spent catching up and getting back up to pace and then things are as they always have been. I happen to love 1st shows and I believe they are unique in every way. For me, I know generally what I do for every song but forget the finer details of what I have done in past shows–I’m out of my routine. The first show is spent familiarizing myself with everything again and inevitably, finding new and different ways to play the same part. This is time spent experimenting and listening to the other boys on stage and, traditionally, making the songs better. Ithica was especially unusual since our monitor engineer of the past few years left the road to be with his newly blossoming family. No one impacts (and generally has a bad day) more his first day than a new monitor engineer. Think about it. You have six people, whom you have just met, vying for your attention and requesting adjustments at the same time. This happens for two hours straight. From our end, the entire show sounds completely different than it has for the past several years and you are unable to communicate your issues in the manner in which you have for quite some time. To sum it up, its a blood bath. In no way is this an excuse for a poor show, but it is certainly a variable that throws a serious curve ball into the equation. Jason, the new engineer, did a very good job despite all of this and I know he will be great with a few more shows under his belt. I, personally, was very happy and proud of the band’s performance in Ithica. We certainly did not play a perfect show, but the monitor situation forced us to listen to eachother more intently instead of relying on what has always been there. This caused us to play off of eachother much more and provided us and you with some interesting moments and new directions with old songs. This brings me to my next point. This spring tour will be the time for the band to totally rethink and retool all of our old material. We want these songs to feel new and fresh and we want you to hear someting different and special everytime you make it to a show. We know you guys come to several shows a year, we appreciate it, and want to reward you with great moments every night. For years we have been trying to make a record that lives up to the band’s live performance. We have, and in may ways, it surpasses it. We are going to make these songs and shows something special and great and we want to take this band’s music to the next level. Get ready. Its going to be a good year everybody. See you out there, Jerry

Looks like the folks in Ithaca agree.

Bad for them . . .

Sunday’s show marked the kickoff of O.A.R’s tour that will extend into the summer, and Roberge promised the crowd there would be “lots of sing-alongs.” Yet for most of the night, the group failed to bring the audience into the show. With the exception of perpetual favorite “Crazy Game of Poker,” as well as “About an Hour Ago” and “Anyways,” the crowd listened as politely as it could, with only token cheering and dancing.

Good for us . .

Openers Grace Potter and the Nocturnals showed a much different energy level than the headliners, launching into one country/blues-influenced rock song after another. Potter showed her musical versatility, moving back and forth between her Hammond B3 and guitar. The crowd, which at first seemed slightly apathetic toward the group, was quickly won over with the band’s genre-bending performance. The climax of the nearly hour-long set was a massive drum solo featuring every member of the quartet hammering away on Matt Burr’s kit.