Student Activities Board pulled it off. There, I said it.

Be it poor planning, poor booking or just plain poor luck, SAB
hasn’t been able to plan an event that would produce widespread
praise from the student body. On Tuesday night, the SAB brought
…Of a Revolution to the Busch Student Center multi-purpose room,
and things went off without a hitch.

Opening the night was the eclectic jam group Michael Franti and
Spearhead. Franti started his musical career with the political
hip-hop group the Beatnigs, which gained prominence in the late
’80s. After his work with the Beatnigs, Franti started Disposable
Heroes, another politically-active music group. His current band,
Spearhead, has expanded its view from simply political subjects to
the meta subjects of love, hate and sadness.

In an interview a few weeks before the concert, Franti said a
lot has changed in the music industry since he started.

“Labels aren’t concerned with good music as much as the
shareholders,” he said. “They aren’t looking for Bob Dylan, they’re
looking for Britney Spears.” Franti said that this mindset is only
good for the indie record labels, who now have the opportunity to
pick up quality artists.

Franti has some experience with major labels, as Spearhead was
on Capitol Records until 2000. However, Franti decided to leave the
label to release his own records.

“There was a point when [the label executives] said, ‘If you do
a song with Will Smith … ‘ At that point, I decided to
leave.”

From the very start, Franti seemed to lure the audience into the
palm of his hand, and he kept them there for the remainder of the
set.

What was especially surprising was the fact that a scant few
even knew who he was. This didn’t matter, as his unbounded warm
energy permeated the room, creating a chamber of good vibes and
happiness.

It is hard to nail down Franti’s style of music. Mixing elements
of rap, reggae, punk and jam rock, Franti’s sound could best be
compared to Wyclef Jean or even Bob Marley, though this is a loose
association at best.

When not toting an acoustic guitar, Franti was constantly
hopping around the stage, revving up the audience to a fevered
pitch. By the end of his one hour-plus set, the crowd looked to be
exhausted in the best way possible. For many, it wouldn’t even
matter if O.A.R. even came out on stage; this one was enough.

After a quick breather, the crowd grew restless, incessantly
calling out for O.A.R. to come on stage. Their wish was soon
granted, as the group came onstage to tremendous applause. O.A.R.
really does have an easy job: Every night they play to big crowds
who know every word to every song and could never imagine the band
having an “off night.” This kind of adoration can lead to
complacency, which could cause the group’s downfall.

Tuesday night’s set was fine. It wasn’t bad, in that they played
the song that everyone wanted to hear, and they played like
seasoned tour veterans.

Still, there was an energy lacking in their set, as though this
were just another concert. The crowd didn’t care, though.

When vocalist Marc Roberge took a pause from singing, the
audience picked up right where he left off, sometimes singing
louder than Roberge did with the sound system. Every song ended
with thunderous applause, as did the beginning of every new song.
It was almost routine.

Of course, the band played such fan favorites as “Delicate Few,”
“Mr. Brown,” an O.A.R.-ized version of Bob Marley’s “Exodus” and,
the biggest one of all, “Crazy Game of Poker.”

These songs seemed to last forever, as the band built them up,
only to bring them down repeatedly, until the crowd could not take
it any more.

In this respect, they did their job; they played the exact set
that the crowd wanted.

The casual observer might have a different opinion. The band
itself had minimal stage presence, which was compensated by the
spectacular lighting effects. Except for a precious few, most songs
staggered between mid-tempo and lethargic, a stark contrast to the
bombastic energy of Spearhead.

For O.A.R. though, this did not matter; they have their audience
already, so why try and get a new one?