O.A.R. Tour Week 5

Whatup everyone!!! Week 5 of the tour has definitely been my favorite week so far. We started out  by playing at the Crossroads in Kansas City. It was another hot one but the show went real well. After the show I got into some free-styling shenanigans. I think I’d be able to keep up with Kelley James After Missouri, we jumped on the bus to head to Colorado.

Red Rocks Park/Amphitheater has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. There is something magical about it. Everywhere you stand is a breathtaking view! It’s hard to put into words what it was like to be on that stage even before the show when there was no one in the audience. Standing there Knowing that some of the greatest musicians/bands in history have performed on that stage was a lot to take in. When we actually did do the show, we were playing to a beautiful crowd of 8000+ people in the most amazing setting! That night was truly, truly incredible! Jumping on the front rail after the poker solo and being swallowed by a wall of screaming fans was one of the coolest moments of my life so far. After the show, there was a great party at a cabin on a hill with incredible view of Denver and the mountains around it. Made a new friend named Christine who is pretty great! She’s helping to start a music blog…check it out if your on twitter by following @Bars_and_Beats. It’s gonna be a really cool thing! The next night, we played Fox theater in Boulder. The venue only held about 600 but it was packed out and the intimate setting was awesome! Me and Evan sat in with Kelley James for a song which was a lot of fun. We’ll be sitting in with him every now and then for rest of the tour. Before we jumped on the bus to Chicago, I rode a mechanical bull…but only stayed on for about 5 seconds haha.

After a 15 hours bus ride, we finally made it to Chicago. We had a free night and another relaxing day off, and then it was finally time for the album release show at the Chicago House of Blues. The show sold out and it  was incredible! We played a lot of stuff from the new album, DJ Logic sat in on King, and 4 AMAZZZINGGG singers sang on “Heaven” and “Taking on the World Today.” We played for 2 and a half hours and the vibe was awesome the whole time! Met some cool people at the afterparty and then we headed to Lewiston, NY where we played a free show at Art Park. The weather was awesome! It rained towards the end but it worked out perfectly because we closed the set with a cover of Zeppelin’s “Fool in the Rain!”

The next day (lastnight), we played a show in Cleveland, Ohio. This show was like a homecoming for me (my hometown of Akron is only about 30 minutes down the road). A bunch of my very good friends and family were in the crowd. Definitely one of the coolest moments that I’ve had on the tour so far was seeing my parents in the crowd. They are one of the biggest reasons that I’m able to do what I do and to see them at a show was another one of those experiences that’s hard to explain. At the very end of the show I got to play a solo on “Road Outside Columbus” (Thanks so much Marc for making that happen!) It was awesome to be able to do that in front of a hometown crowd! After kicking it with friends and family after the show…we jumped on the bus and now we’re here in Canandiagua, NY. Really looking forward to the show tonight!

Here are some pics from the road and a video of  the last half of Poker from the Lewiston show…Thanks so much for reading and God Bless!!

PS-If you haven’t already, go make a new friend this week. I’ve met so many incredible people this summer all over the country…go meet someone!

-JL

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