Marc Roberge of O.A.R. performing at the Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, 11/29/02. Photo by Glenn Emerstone © 2002 NY Rock.

At one of their two recent sold-out NYC shows, I caught O.A.R. pumping up the jammies in sync to the shakes, hoots and hollers of the band's fanatical followers. Borrowing from fourth-generation jammie clones such as the Dave Matthews Band and String Cheese Incident, O.A.R. cooked up a stew of user-friendly beats and rhymes, set to the confessional overtones of '70s singer-songwriter folk rock. Throw in a few Bob Marley-isms and you get the pic.

Singer Marc Roberge has those hometown boy-next-door looks (a la Matthews) and strums his acoustic guitar center stage (a la Matthews). The gurlies lined up so close to the photo pit where I was busy shooting, you could smell the Clearasil and firing hormones as the band plowed through its likeable easy-going ska-inflected riffs – though somewhat as if on autopilot.

Marc Roberge of O.A.R. performing at the Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, 11/29/02. Photo by Glenn Emerstone © 2002 NY Rock.

The Maryland touring outfit has been ripping it up stateside in support of their new one, Any Time Now, hot on the heels of last summer's outing with Sheryl Crow, Ziggy Marley and Train, as part of the Jeep World Outdoor Festival. At NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom, fans were spirited, belting out the band's name in sporadic bursts of loyalty, reminiscent of a high-school football game.

The teenaged cuties in the crowd were the highlight of the evening's shake-athon, moving their collective rears on time to the pulsating boom of Benj Gershman on bass and Chris Culos on drums. Guitarist Richard On had the placid look of a stone-faced Buddhist monk as he tore through leads that reverberated throughout the majestic ballroom's roomy expanse.

For the opening number, O.A.R. teased the crowd with a psychedelic swirl that morphed into "Night Shift." They then took off on a reggae-flavored flight into jamband heaven with Marley's "Stir It Up." During "Hey Gurl," Roberge turned on the charm with his plea to "let yourself go." The crowd obliged, flicked Bics held high, with the house lights on as guitarist On and saxophonist Jerry DePizzo's sounds sliced through the crowd's choral glee.

The band stumbled upon a few covers for the evening that included takes on "Louie Louie" as well as bits of Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er" and U2's "With or Without You" (used as intro to their song "City on Down"). On Denis Leary's "Asshole," the crowd chimed in with O.A.R., belting out the song's chorus. Marley's "Redemption Song" was the first of many encores and "Get Away" was the closer that, needless to say, everyone went wild over.

For a non-alcoholic all-age show, it was interesting to see so many concertgoers escorted outside after they puked their Happy Meals on the Ballroom's esteemed floors. That said, I didn't even get a contact high at this one since the heaviest shit smoked was some Marlboros. Nancy Reagan would've been proud. Me, I'm not so sure.