 NEW YORK (EverFine Records) - Critically acclaimed O.A.R. will wrap up 2004 in grand style with two performances at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom, the same place where they recorded 34TH & 8TH, the double live CD they released earlier this year on their own Everfine Records. 34th & 8th entered the Billboard album charts at No 80 after its August 24 street date. Launching October 30 in Cincinnati, this 15-show trek marks the end of another year of heavy touring for the band - MARC ROBERGE (lead vocals/guitar), CHRIS CULOS (drums), BENJ GERSHMAN (bass), RICHARD ON (electric guitar/background vocals), JERRY DePIZZO (saxophone) - which ranked in the Top 40 of Pollstar magazine's highest grossing acts earlier this year. The Hammerstein concerts will represent a return to one of the group's favorite venues. "It's got New York City energy unlike anyplace else in this town," Marc says. "I've been to every venue in New York, and it's either a Broadway feel, a grungy little club feel, or Madison Square Garden, where you're a mile away from the crowd. At Hammerstein I feel like the fans are right on top of us. I love this place." O.A.R.'s new CD (their six releases have sold over 700,000 copies combined) has been acclaimed for capturing the group's infectious live energy. Chris Blagg wrote in the Boston Herald (9/16/04): "...it proved hard not to bob and weave along with the rest of the crowd when their Caribbean grooves and bright, cheery choruses hit. The reggae pulse of 'Dareh Meyod,' the breezy soul of the new 'Something Coming Over' and the joyful bounce of 'Hey Girl' were hard to resist..."
In the September Bass Player, Brian Fox said, "Like many of O.A.R.'s shows, the album closes with the epic crowd favorite 'That Was a Crazy Game of Poker.' Throughout the track's multiple shifts in feel, Benj locks with drummer Chris Culos, taking listeners on an 18-minute odyssey that demonstrates his varied vocabulary." Beyond headlining their own tour this summer, the group recently performed as the backing band for The Dead's Bob Weir and Mickey Hart at a Washington, DC fundraiser. They were also joined onstage at various shows by Dave Matthews Band's Boyd Tinsley (O.A.R. opened several shows for the DMB), Robert Randolph and John Popper of Blues Traveler.
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