Well, the O.A.R. Campus Consciousness Tour just concluded last night in Columbus, Ohio at the Newport Music Hall, a venue we grew up playing while attending the Ohio State University. As a band, we greatly appreciated this run. We’ve done our fair share of college tours, and to do another one with an environmental sustainability component was very meaningful to us. We were able to visit fifteen college campuses of various sizes all over the United States. For a long time, we’ve done what we can to ‘green’ our tours, but we have always felt that there was more that could be done. Having Reverb out with us seems to be the pinnacle of what is possible for a touring band to actually do and accomplish on the road. This tour was a great learning experience for all involved.
From the backstage to the front of house, we were a very green operation. You really couldn’t go anywhere in any of the venues we played without seeing a recycling option by a trash can. It was rad! We were able to provide options for our concert-goers, thanks to Reverb, its staff and the volunteers from all the schools we visited. It was pretty impressive to see people join the effort and become vested in it with us. This is what community is all about!
On top of all this, there were some educational elements incorporated into this tour which added some very cool value to the experience. Reverb set up a badass Eco-Village (pardon my french) for our concert
attendees to visit, learn from, and get involved with. They showcased a number of eco-friendly programs including ways for students to off-set CO2 emissions for a semester through Native Energy (this only cost, on average, $3 per student). Also, there were other organizations in this village besides Reverb which students could engage and become involved with.
What I really enjoyed about this is that we provided info, resources, and personal experiences through the representatives of these organizations. Students could actually walk away from the village with a
sense of what is really happening through these organizations. Which, by the way, have multiple levels of impact on our society and environment. We had Oxfam, a global humanitarian non-profit organization which focuses its efforts on relief of poverty and injustice; we also had Climate Counts, an organization that measures big corporations 'greenness' and provides resources and petitions through its website making it very easy to voice your opinion to the corporations they've ranked; we also had local organizations from each campus come out and represent themselves appropriately. What was really amazing about this is that we were engaging students on a local, national and global level. This meant the world (pun intended) to our band. So, what happens when you get all these groups together and hold a discussion/forum with students in order to bring issues to light? The answer: Empowerment. We heard from many students how great it was to hold a daily discussion group in order to inform them of each organization's goals and how they affect the world at large. The efforts of Elliott May, Josh Glasheen, Erin Gorski, Vanessa Lanza, Bob Ferguson and Ria Knapp really went a long way to make this happen! Can't say enough how much it meant to the rest of the O.A.R. guys and me.
So, from this tour I know my band has learned a great deal, and also has discovered some new easy-to-utilize habits, which will only benefit our lives and touring business in the future.
Many thanks to Silk (delicious Soy Milk), StonyField Farms, and Clif Bar for sponsoring this tour, it was great of them to do so!
Keep an eye on O.A.R.'s Green Dream which will be working to continue the mission of this tour throughout O.A.R.’s career in the future! If you’re interested in additional information, check out www.saic.com/oar, or email greendream@everfinerecords.com to sign up to become involved with our program.
Take care, all the best to you from our band. Thanks Reverb!!
- Benj