Excitement grows for O.A.R. performance
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 10/30/2009
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O A R (Of A Revolution) is at Purdue tonight and wants to “officially apologize” for canceling last semester’s show.
Jerry DePizzo, the band’s saxophone player, said the members are excited about being back at Purdue; the last time they were here they were ending their 2001 tour.
“We played at some frat – I don’t remember the name – but that capped off that first tour as a band outside of Ohio,” he said. “It was kind of a really special and surreal moment for us and our career.”
After recalling the crowd that came to see them perform in 2001, DePizzo guessed how tonight’s show would be.
“You were crazy then, in 2001, and I expect nothing less in 2009,” he said to students.
DePizzo said the band has three major influences: Bob Marley, Dave Matthews Band and Bob Dylan.
“Put it in a big salad bowl, mix it up, and you’ll probably get O.A.R,” he said.
With success comes fans, and sometimes crazy ones, as DePizzo described some of his most memorable fans.
“Early on (in our career), a guy was in a wheelchair and took off his leg and asked us to sign his prosthetic leg,” he said. “Or one girl got a job at an airline to follow us around.”
But with or without overzealous fans, the band enjoys making feel-good music.
“It’s all about making people feel good. ... That’s what we’re shooting for on the next record,” he said. “We just want to make cool grooves people can dance to.”
Because the concert is the day before Halloween, the Student Concert Committee is hosting a costume contest before the show.
“It starts at 5:30 p.m.,” said Erika Earl, a senior in the College of Consumer Family Sciences and president of the committee. “Whoever is coming is encouraged to dress up. There will be awesome prizes O.A.R. has sponsored, like a signed drum head and apparel.”
O.A.R. is working with an organization, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which supports the troops and veterans.
“Our goal by the end of November is to have 11,111 people to sign up (for the organization),” DePizzo said. “Whether you believe the in the war or not ... it’s not about the war, it’s about the warriors.”
There will be a table to sign up at the concert.
O.A.R. will perform at 7:30 p.m. at the Elliott Hall of Music. Tickets are still available and the box office will be open until the start of the concert.
“We understand how important and how valuable our audience is to us,” he said. “And we appreciate everyone coming out to the shows.
“I’d like to officially apologize on behalf of the band – but we did come back, a year later, sorry it took so long – but we came back.”