By Wil Barnes
Audio of interview with O.A.R. drummer Chris Culos
This September, San Diego and the Del Mar Fairgrounds will host for the first time KAABOO, a three-day music festival September 18-20. With such giants as No Doubt, The Killers, Snoop, Zac Brown Band, Cheryl Crow and a smattering of other great bands, this first year festival is gaining some serious steam.
One band that will bring a great crowd and enthusiasm will be O.A.R. After spending the summer traveling mostly in the East and Midwest before returning to So Cal for KAABOO in late summer, the band will have visited college campuses, theaters and big gig events. “Our summers are mostly playing on the East Coast or Midwest,” said drummer Chris Culos who when you watch him looks like he’s having more fun than anyone. “”We love Southern California. We record in LA, have musician friends out there. In fact our bass player recently moved to Encinitas.”
They’re used to be a band that opened the Bird’s Nest at the PGA Tour’s crazy Waste Management Phoenix Open called Duck Soup and they were excellent. Tour player Peter Jacobsen who regularly sat in with the band referred to them as the “unofficial band of the PGA Tour.” Today you could almost award that title now to O.A.R., a band from Rockville, Maryland.
After rocking the Bird’s Nest for 6 years, this year the band pulled off something completely different. Back in February, O.A.R. performed at the Northern Trust Open on the driving range at prestigious Riviera Country club in Pacific Palisades, CA. The band performed for a crowd of maybe 3,000 who were singing along, dancing and quite frankly, really having a great time, and why not? The third round of the tournament was completed at about 3:20 so after play festivities were underway. “You have a captive audience who have been enjoying the day and already having a good time,” said Culos. “Choosing to play there was a no-brainer.”
Six years ago at the Phoenix Open when after the second round everyone was heading to that’s night Bird’s Nest show, I heard the band was O.A.R., a band that I was totally not familiar with. I had heard earlier in the day when interviewing PGA Tour star Rickie Fowler when fellow pro Bubba Watson walked by and asked Rickie if he was going to the show that night. “Oh yeah,” yelled Fowler. “I’ve been waiting for this one.” Being totally unfamiliar with them, I was intrigued. The house was packed and fans were chanting the bands name over and over when they finally appeared to a thunderous welcome. If my memory serves me well, they opened with one of their hits, “City on Down.” My viewpoint was about thirty feet from the stage standing next to two absolutely gorgeous young twins who had graduated from ASU a couple years back. Three or four songs into the show I couldn’t help but notice the pair knew every word to every song. I was thinking to myself, “Where have I been?” O.A.R. was absolutely fantastic and I hadn’t heard of them so I felt slightly embarrassed, then again I am sort of ancient.
O.A.R. became a regular at the WM Phoenix Open over the next four – five years, selling out each time. That’s why after arriving in Scottsdale this year, I was disappointed to find out that the boys with such hits as “Hey Girl, Shattered and Crazy Game of Poker” were not appearing. Kid Rock was the top bill that rocked the house.
After noticing that at this year’s Greenbriar Classic in West Virginia was hosting some excellent music for those attending the tournament that included Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and the Band Perry. That’s a strong lineup. It’s hard to believe more tournaments haven’t gotten on board. Earlier this year Donald Trump held a Saturday concert at the WGC Cadillac Classic at his Doral Resort that featured longtime legend Santana. It’s easy to see others are stealing what the crazy WM Phoenix Open has long embraced, but more events are realizing its significance. In 1985 those crazy, philanthropic Thunderbirds of Phoenix started it all in north Scottsdale. For years covering the tour I have often wondered why more tournaments haven’t accepted this successful formula. but now it looks like many have.
O.A.R recently released their eighth album, “The Rockville LP,” a fitting title since the majority of the band is from Rockville, Maryland. The band was founded in 1996 in Rockville by guitarist and lead vocalist Marc Roberge a terrific front man and joined by guitarist Richard On, drummer Chris Culos and bassist Benji Gershman. Saxophonist Jerry DePizzo joined the band after meeting them while attending The Ohio State University. “If people haven’t heard us they need to know we’re known for playing live,” said Roberge. “We create a positive attitude.”
The band also finds time to get in some much, needed time on the links. “ We really don’t play when we are on the road,” said drummer Chris Culos. “We’re pretty focused on the shows. We play a lot of shows!” There is times when the band is in LA for instance when they are recording and after they are wrapped up, it’s a while until they have to appear and it’s during this time they golf. Chris said that even though he doesn’t have a current registered handicap he’s honestly around 18. He and lead singer Marc are the two most avid golfers. “We’ve been lucky to get invites to some awesome courses,” said Chris. “ We played the Sanctuary in Colorado that was incredible. Played Rich Harvest outside Chicago, unreal. Our favorite so far though is Spyglass, on man!”
If you haven’t seen O.A.R. live you definitely should and that opportunity for So Cal music lovers is coming this September at KAABOO. The band is used to big moments. “We couldn’t believe we played New Years Eve in Times Square for the ball dropping,” said Culos. “That is definitely one of our highlights.”
Great tickets remain but are selling fast so visit kaaboo.com for the entire lineup for the weekend. Pick all three days or one. I’m an old time rocker and find this band to be entertaining and an awesome experience. That’s why I’ll definitely be in Del Mar on Sunday.
