Live Music Review: O.A.R. - No Missing Pieces for This Town
By Melissa LevinMonday, Aug. 31, 2009
Contributing writer Melissa Levin recently attended Hard Rock's Ambassadors Of Rock concert featuring O.A.R. Check out her experience as an Ambassadors VIP and find out more about the worldwide tour!
I enter a white room with a table full of chocolate-dipped yumminess. Gorgeous, half-naked girls pour seemingly limitless cocktails. I sit at John Lennon's pristine white piano and stare at the image of a legend. I am singing on stage with one of my favorite bands ever. No, this is not a dream (okay, it's possible that the last part was). In reality, I was at the V.I.P. party for the O.A.R. concert at Hard Rock Live Orlando. O.A.R.'s performance is part of Hard Rock's Ambassadors Of Rock Concert Tour 2009 and I was lucky enough to get insider access.
First let me say that Hard Rock knows how to throw a party. The cocktail pre-party was held in the Lennon Room and the Beatles Room (both on the mezzanine at the Hard Rock Cafe). For those of you not in the know, the Lennon Room is a super-plush, super-exclusive private room used for special events. It is chock full of Lennon memorabilia--and if you're super-nice to a Hard Rock Cafe staff member and profess your undying love and adoration of "the smart one," they might grant you a peek at the room (actually, all you have to do is ask--the HRC staff is quite accommodating).
Second, I was amazed at the fact that hundreds of people were eating and drinking in the Lennon Room--which is bathed in white. Head to toe. From the walls to the couches and carpet to the original white suit he wore on the Abbey Road album cover. White. Everywhere. Did I mention there was chocolate in this room also? Lots and lots of chocolate. Yet not a drop spilled. Amazing.
I was then directed to the Beatles Room just a hop, skip and a jump from the Lennon Room. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling with everything Beatles. From this door, I passed into a room with a spread fit for a...well, an ambassador. Don't expect the usual finger foods when you go to a special event at Hard Rock. No sir. Now I will say that some of their more popular cafe menu items made an appearance: a mini version of their amazing cheeseburgers and Tupelo Chicken Tenders are some of my favorites.
To give a little background: Hard Rock's Ambassadors Of Rock Tour is a live music program that raises money for charities all over the world. Each year they kick start the tour in London (home of the first Hard Rock Cafe which opened in 1971). This year, London's Ambassadors were The Killers, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Dave Matthews Band, to name a few. All of my fellow V.I.P.s are either partners of the program, lucky contest winners or select guests personally invited by Hard Rock. The O.A.R. show raised money for Global Angels, one of Hard Rock's favorite charities.
As an Ambassador Of Rock V.I.P., I was granted access to some pretty sweet seats in the "leathers." This is the upper level of Hard Rock Live that has a vantage point that was best described by Keely Wade, marketing manager for Hard Rock International: "It's like you're sitting in your living room watching the concert in HD." She was so right! No heads bobbing up and down; no drunken concert-goers bumping into you or stepping on your feet; no one giving you "the eye" as you easily try to maneuver (read: shove) past them, straining to get just one inch closer to the stage to be near the band. However, after the first song, I longed to be shoved and stepped on and glared at disapprovingly--this is O.A.R.! At Hard Rock Live! Not some garden party! So down to the floor I went.
Although I am a fan of the band in general, I tend to gravitate more towards their early albums: The Wanderer, Souls Aflame, Risen--but they did a great job co-mingling new songs with old and keeping the crowd jumping up and down for more. I was thrilled that they played one of my old favorites, "Night Shift," which--as with many of their songs--is about a man who can't get a girl out of his head. They also played "Love and Memories," a song about a lover's heart being torn out with unrequited love as evidenced by the lyrics: "Didn't you...Love me faster than the devil/Run me straight into the ground."
But not all of the songs are self deprecating and heart-wrenching. "Hey Girl" is a feel-good song about a guy and a girl who are complete opposites on a first date that keeps going until the next morning. And then there is my personal favorite, "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker." I don't think I was alone as the entire crowd was shouting, "POKER! POKER! POKER!" A couple to my right were first-timers to the O.A.R. scene and were getting ready to leave in order to beat the concert traffic, but I implored them to stay for the song. "You won't be sorry, I promise--this is their best song," I pleaded to them. The be-bop rhythm, acoustic-driven sound and lyrics just draw you in.
After the 8+ minute song, it was clear that the show was over. The band was making their way off the stage when I suddenly felt something lightly brush me and I heard a faint plink sound. I quickly realized what it was and reached down to scoop up the guitar pick tossed out into the crowd by lead singer/guitarist Marc Roberge. Upon my ascent, I noticed amazed and disgruntled eyes on me from some onlookers in the immediate vicinity and quickly decide that the time to leave would be now. I drove home with a stupid grin on my face the entire time.
The next morning, I still wondered: had it been a dream? Later on in the day, I reached into my purse to fish out a pen and felt a familiar rounded triangular object. The screaming yellow guitar pick with O.A.R. imprinted on it. The stupid grin returned.
- For more information on Hard Rock's Ambassadors Of Rock, visit www.ambassadorsofrock.com
