Who: O.A.R with the Lost Trailers
When: May 17, 2003
Where: The Tralf/ Buffalo, NY
With: Matt, Andy, Pete
Of Note: Pete getting stuck in the crawl space above the Hell House porch, standing right up against the stage, all my favorite songs in one night
Man, who didn't love O.A.R. in college? Their story is relatable (they started by playing frat parties!), their tunes are infectious (you can't help but yell along to, "It's 3am and I want to go to be-e-ed!"), and they know where their bread is buttered (closing every concert ever with "Crazy Game of Poker").
Matt said that he, his brother & their buddy Pete were coming up to see O.A.R. play in Buffalo and invited me along. I found some crash-space at the Hell House for them and it was quite the week-end.
There was some drama with tickets, I think - Matt & Pete had them; Andy & I didn't? It wasn't really a big deal; we went to the ticket office a few hours before the show and bought them no problem.
The opening band was the Lost Trailers. Ohmyword, I LOVED the Lost Trailers. I bought their obviously burned on a computer with Avery label affixed EP. I listened to it over and over and over and over for years. 'Long Fall', 'Battery', and especially 'Bad Habit' - those songs cut right through me. At the time, it seemed like the perfect answer to modern southern rock, with just enough twang to be authentic. Imagine my disappointment, when years later, I found their major label debut and it was cookie cutter country. More Rascal Flatts than Lynyrd Skynyrd. Broke my heart.
But! As far as their performance that night in Buffalo, they were amazing and I was captivated.
Looking back on that night, it was a really cool thing. I was seeing a band I've since seen headline a major amphitheater tour in a small jazz club that houses 300 people. The four of us got right up to the stage and rocked out hard.
In preparation for the show, I had bought their most recent album, 'In Between Now and Then'. Though 'Risen' is classic and everybody loves it for a reason (you can't argue with 'Night Shift' and 'Hey Girl' after all), I LOVE 'In Between Now and Then'. From the opening sound of a roll of thunder to the fact that the first track is called 'Now' and the last track is called 'Then' to 'Dareh Meyod', I love everything about it.
This show was a good mix of tracks from both albums and the O.A.R. guys were rocking hard. The crowd was really into it the whole night, with lots of singing along. "If Only She Knew" and "Hey Girl" were particularly energetic.
Then, for the second to last song, they played 'James'. It's such a sweet, hopeful song and, because we were so close to the stage, it kind of seemed like Marc was singing to me. (Despite the fact that my name is not James.) They ended with a great cover of 'Sunday, Bloody, Sunday'.
The encore was the rousing 'Crazy Game of Poker', obviously, and the place went absolutely nuts. The whole way back to the Hell House, while wandering to the neighborhood bar, and pretty much for the next 24 hours, the only thing Pete was able to say (yell) was, "I say OF!"
The rest of the boys' visit to BUF was spent...drunk. There's really no way around that.
The only other story of note was when Beth & Melissa decided that the boys needed to be helpful. There was this roof thing over the porch area of the Hell House and because the light turned on and off randomly and because of the weird thumping that came from up there, we determined there were animals up there. Which, gross.
I can't remember everything that led us to this point, but I just remember Pete having his head, arms and shoulders in the crawl space while Matt & Andy held him up and he banged around a billy club (why?!) trying to get the animal out. It was entertaining, though not particularly effective.
Oh college.
When: May 17, 2003
Where: The Tralf/ Buffalo, NY
With: Matt, Andy, Pete
Of Note: Pete getting stuck in the crawl space above the Hell House porch, standing right up against the stage, all my favorite songs in one night
 |
| From Remembering the Encores |
Man, who didn't love O.A.R. in college? Their story is relatable (they started by playing frat parties!), their tunes are infectious (you can't help but yell along to, "It's 3am and I want to go to be-e-ed!"), and they know where their bread is buttered (closing every concert ever with "Crazy Game of Poker").
Matt said that he, his brother & their buddy Pete were coming up to see O.A.R. play in Buffalo and invited me along. I found some crash-space at the Hell House for them and it was quite the week-end.
There was some drama with tickets, I think - Matt & Pete had them; Andy & I didn't? It wasn't really a big deal; we went to the ticket office a few hours before the show and bought them no problem.
The opening band was the Lost Trailers. Ohmyword, I LOVED the Lost Trailers. I bought their obviously burned on a computer with Avery label affixed EP. I listened to it over and over and over and over for years. 'Long Fall', 'Battery', and especially 'Bad Habit' - those songs cut right through me. At the time, it seemed like the perfect answer to modern southern rock, with just enough twang to be authentic. Imagine my disappointment, when years later, I found their major label debut and it was cookie cutter country. More Rascal Flatts than Lynyrd Skynyrd. Broke my heart.
But! As far as their performance that night in Buffalo, they were amazing and I was captivated.
Looking back on that night, it was a really cool thing. I was seeing a band I've since seen headline a major amphitheater tour in a small jazz club that houses 300 people. The four of us got right up to the stage and rocked out hard.
In preparation for the show, I had bought their most recent album, 'In Between Now and Then'. Though 'Risen' is classic and everybody loves it for a reason (you can't argue with 'Night Shift' and 'Hey Girl' after all), I LOVE 'In Between Now and Then'. From the opening sound of a roll of thunder to the fact that the first track is called 'Now' and the last track is called 'Then' to 'Dareh Meyod', I love everything about it.
This show was a good mix of tracks from both albums and the O.A.R. guys were rocking hard. The crowd was really into it the whole night, with lots of singing along. "If Only She Knew" and "Hey Girl" were particularly energetic.
Then, for the second to last song, they played 'James'. It's such a sweet, hopeful song and, because we were so close to the stage, it kind of seemed like Marc was singing to me. (Despite the fact that my name is not James.) They ended with a great cover of 'Sunday, Bloody, Sunday'.
The encore was the rousing 'Crazy Game of Poker', obviously, and the place went absolutely nuts. The whole way back to the Hell House, while wandering to the neighborhood bar, and pretty much for the next 24 hours, the only thing Pete was able to say (yell) was, "I say OF!"
The rest of the boys' visit to BUF was spent...drunk. There's really no way around that.
The only other story of note was when Beth & Melissa decided that the boys needed to be helpful. There was this roof thing over the porch area of the Hell House and because the light turned on and off randomly and because of the weird thumping that came from up there, we determined there were animals up there. Which, gross.
I can't remember everything that led us to this point, but I just remember Pete having his head, arms and shoulders in the crawl space while Matt & Andy held him up and he banged around a billy club (why?!) trying to get the animal out. It was entertaining, though not particularly effective.
Oh college.
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