"O.A.R.! O.A.R.!" chanted the spirited crowd Wednesday night, arms waving high, as they waited for the heroes to take the stage.
Thousands of fans lined the rain-soaked streets outside of the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center to see the increasingly popular rock/reggae/jam band O.A.R.
The concert began just after 8 p.m., as the opening band, Telegraph, played a formidable set. But it wasn't long before fans got anxious and expressed their impatience like an obese man with irritable bowel syndrome waiting to use the stall at Ralph Wilson.
When the house lights dimmed and O.A.R. took the stage, the impatient crowd erupted, and the band wasted no time getting the rooting fans right into the mix with their hit "Night Shift," or, as casual fans may recognize it, "3 a.m. and I wanna go to be-e-ed/I got a lady running through my he-e-e-ad."
O.A.R.'s music is an unpolluted concoction of rock, with a shot of reggae on the side. They released their first album "The Wanderer" in 1997, which featured the band's ever-popular song, "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker," and serves as the namesake for the band: "I say of, you say a, I say revolution..." words that echo invariably in the ears of their generation-spanning fan base.
Singer Marc Roberge's voice was nearly drowned out, however, by the enduring fans that matched him throughout the night, lyric for lyric.
As the night went on, a thick cloud of smoke arose from both of the fog machines and the blazed-out concertgoers, enhancing the music and atmosphere. The band played an increasingly satisfying set, which included a heap of lesser-known songs, as well as obligatory hits such as "Heard the World," "Hey Girl" and "Love and Memories."
While the crowd often tinkered on the brink of insanity, audience members never strayed from their easy-going, positive vibes.
"Everyone was just real nice and cool," said Shaun Puro, a UB biomedical science major. "We just chilled and enjoyed the music. No words could describe it."
The band played off the energetic crowd, and gave it to them in every way possible. They began to feed off each other-the band and the crowd, that is. The more the crowd shook the ground with their feet, the harder the band shook the stage with their sound. Rumor circulated that four girls were impregnated during the show, but no one was hurt.
O.A.R returned for an encore to appease the pleading audience members and their gambling habits. Closing out the night with "Crazy Game of Poker," O.A.R left no fan unmoved.
