Maryland rockers bring sax-heavy sound to Grandstand Saturday

The sounds slowly grew.

Dark orange lights shined down on the S.C. State Fair’s Pepsi Grandstand Stage, and the crescendo built to a bleacher-rattling explosion of “Can’t Stop.”

The Red Hot Chili Peppers blared through the speakers as O.A.R. picked up their instruments Saturday night.

It was different than the other shows thus far — there was no opening act, and the roots rockers didn’t run to the front with one of their famed singles. It was, in the most basic description, a two-hour jam session.

“Dangerous Connection” was the set-opener. The deep orange lights continued to shine as Jerry DePizzo stole the sound with his long-running saxophone solos. It was a sea of saxophone and guitars — the instruments carrying most of the set — with pockets of singing by lead vocals, Marc Roberge: “When it hurts to love you / I just numb the pain.”

The lights turned to a cool blue and purple and the band moved through “Missing Pieces” and “Destination.” Little bits of lyrics were rolled into the swelling beats, each defining easy listening in the vibes they sent through the swaying, completely wooed crowd.

Their set held a certain effect: Three songs seemed to go by without a word from Roberge or any real break in the music. Ten minutes would go by, and you’d realize they were still wrapping up the same song, stretched out with solos and added saxophone.

It was, in fact, 20 minutes into the show when the audience heard the first real introduction from Roberge: “It’s not often that we get to play under these kinds of lights. It’s a happy place.”

O.A.R. is from Rockville, Md. and has been playing as a band for 16 years. Roberge wove his Maryland roots throughout the evening, starting with, “Every time someone from Maryland comes down here, we lose them.”

It’s the warm weather. And the scholarships.

The audience was full of diehards. The standing pit didn’t miss a word as they sang the favorites, and the songs written a “long, long time ago,” like “Anyway.”

Fans moved from the bleachers into the standing room as the show wore on, drawn to the completely in sync mass — each with one arm in the air, falling side to side as the rush of mellow rock echoed through the stands.

One couple stood at the back of the pit, with the mother holding her newborn baby to her chest. The baby wore a pink-striped onesie and oversized noise-blocking earphones, as her parents held their spot as some of the most devoted O.A.R. fans.

Halfway through the two hours of what felt like an intimate affair, perhaps what you would hear in a practice space or a smaller-scale acoustic bar, O.A.R. pulled out the chart-toppers.

There was “Shattered” and “Heard the World,” and then “Love and Memories.”

“It’s the song!” a teenage girl screamed, as she and her pack of six friends jumped from their bleacher seats into an arm-linked sway. They’d been waiting for the classic, and left for a few more passes through the fair lights as soon as it came to a close.

Then there was “Heaven,” another single that’s spent time on the top charts. The audience cheered in approval as Roberge sang “I don’t wanna go to heaven if I can’t get in.”

It’s a line only O.A.R. could pull off at the South Carolina State Fair.

The band played just past the two-hour mark, and told fans they could, “Go, if they have somewhere to be.” 

But though they were missing the start of the Gamecocks’ football game at LSU, most just checked for score updates on their cellphones and stayed until the last wave of the saxophone. 

The music stopped, “Hey Soul Sister” by Train began to play through the speakers and Roberge stepped down, in front of the stage-front amps, to shake hands and speak with fans.