O.A.R. at the Raleigh Amphitheater

Recently my husband and I got to experience a concert at one of the area's neatest venues, the Raleigh Amphitheater. Right in downtown, this venue had great parking, is close to a ton of restaurants and bars, and is overlooked by this pretty tree art installation that reflects the sky and moves with the wind.

We were there to see O.A.R., one of my favorite bands, and we got there early to be in the front row. I'd read on Yelp reviews that the seated sections don't have a very steep slope, so it's hard to see the stage when seated, so we opted for the general admission pit tickets. If we were going to be standing the whole time to see, might as well be closer to the stage!


The evening had an interesting start though. The opening band, Rebelution, was pretty good, but we were distracted by dark looming clouds headed our way.

The reflection in the tree showed just how dark it was getting, at only about 7pm!

Once it started raining, they started evacuating everyone over to the convention center for cover. Luckily the storm was timed perfectly, and it didn't start raining until just after the opening band finished.

But like a lot of summer storms, this one passed quickly, and it stopped raining before we even made it inside. My husband was smart, and had me stick two garbage bags in my purse, which we put on like ponchos so we didn't get too wet. Even once the rain stopped, I kept my bag handy, just in case it started raining again.

But it actually turned into a beautiful night. Nothing a cold beer and a rainbow couldn't fix!

We were even treated to a sunset as O.A.R. got set up to start playing.

We couldn't remember if this was the 5th or 6th time we've seen them perform live, but they were just as good as ever. And being in the front row is always fun at a concert!

Jerry DePizzo, my favorite. I have a crush on his sax skills.

I'm amazed I was able to get a few decent zoom shots with my little point and shoot. Marc, the lead singer:

The Raleigh skyline in the background.

The highlight of the concert was toward the end, when Jerry hopped up on speakers right next to me.

See? Right behind me, haha!

But every time we've seen them live, Jerry always has something funny going on with his outfits. One time in Golden Gate Park he was wearing a jean jacket that matched his jeans. This time, it was rolled up pants. Dude sure can play, but needs a little help in the clothes department.

It's ok, Jerry, I still love you

We weren't sure how good this concert would be, since we're not as crazy about O.A.R.'s newest album, but luckily they played almost all of their old stuff. Including That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker as the finale. Best. Song. Ever. We even played it at our wedding reception, along with a few of their other songs.

Overall, great concert, at a really great venue. I'm looking forward to attending more concerts here in the future!

Do you have any fun outdoor venues near you? Anyone else O.A.R. fans?