Celebrating their fifth performance at Summerfest, OAR has enjoyed a successful summer so far.  On June 5th the 11-year old Ohio ground released the recording of the sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden this past January.  The second day of the 2007 Summerfest festival saw OAR drawing nearly 20,000 fans to the new-ish Miller Oasis, where two large screens embellished the band's performance with close-ups of the musicians and shots of the audience.

The performance lasted ran just under 2 hours, outlasting even the lengthy Violent Femmes concert the night previous (but seeming much shorter).  More or less a jam band, OAR played just 15 songs but embellished each with their island-vibe rock talents, beginning the night with "City on Down" and playing other hits such as one of their personal favorites "Love and Memories."   The popular "Hey Girl" re-captured the attention of many attendees who had turned to the beer tents but the first song the encore (after a very brief exit), "I Feel Home" was too slow to keep the young audience's interest.  However, Just like ttheir show wo years ago at the Harley Davidson stage, OAR concluded with a bang and the devoted listeners in the front threw cards into the air and onto the stage during the well-known "Crazy Game of Poker".  The song lasted roughly twice as long as the CD version at 15 minutes and the audience roared and sang throughout.

Overall, the performance appealed mainly to the die-hard fans (situated in the front bleachers), and the group cleverly saved their biggest songs for the finale.  Their interaction with the audience, however, was unremarkable if not non-existant (much like their 2005 performance).  Thanks to the talent of the light and sound technicians at the Miller stage, the show was nice to watch and listen to, but it did not live up to my expectations - again.