As was hinted at in a Rusty Satellite interview with Downs president Kevin Flanery, Churchill Downs is not giving up on the music business.
O.A.R. with very special guests Allen Stone and Brynn Elliott at Churchill Downs Plaza
**TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, MAY 8 at 12pm**
LOUISVILLE, KY — Churchill Downs, America’s most famous racetrack, is excited to announce a unique live concert experience this Fall. See O.A.R. live on stage with guests Allen Stone & Brynn Elliott under the Twin Spires on Wednesday, Sept. 9, as we celebrate the start of September racing at the track.
“Music has had a presence at the home of the Kentucky Derby since our track’s earliest days, and we’re excited to partner with Live Nation to renew that tradition with this exciting appearance by O.A.R.,” said Ryan Jordan, General Manager of Churchill Downs. “Our Plaza stage offers an intimate and comfortable setting that’s perfect for both a special evening for O.A.R. and its fans and a wonderful return of live music to Churchill Downs.”
Classic American author Thomas Wolfe famously stated “you can’t go home again,” but don’t tell that to the members of O.A.R. On their eighth studio album, THE ROCKVILLE LP, the shape-shifting rock band found that returning home triggered a journey of creative renewal and inspiration.
“This isn’t about us going back to our musical roots per se,” says lead singer Marc Roberge, who founded O.A.R. in 1996 with his Rockville, Md. high school classmates, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, and bassist Benj Gershman (saxophonist Jerry DePizzo joined while the group was at Ohio State University). “It’s about us getting inspired by the place we came from. We’d drive the same roads, visit the old haunts, spend time with our people. Rockville was the catalyst then, and it’s the catalyst now.”
O.A.R. is renowned for its intense, vibrant live show —including selling out Madison Square Garden twice —and the communal feeling it shares with its fans. With each studio album, the band has endeavored to achieve that sense of immediacy, and Roberge says THE ROCKVILLE LP “comes the closest” to that goal.
“Every live band I know of always wants nothing more than to carry their live performance onto the album. It’s an elusive thing to capture, so I’ll never say we nailed it. But I can guarantee we put that same live show energy and passion into each minute of THE ROCKVILLE LP and we can only hope the audience feels that.”
GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, MAY 8 @ 12PM
