Liberty native, O.A.R. take a different stage here Thursday

The last time O.A.R. played in Youngstown, things were different.

It was in 2000 at the Varsity Club, the short-lived rock’n’roll club on Market Street in the Uptown.

When the bar got packed and the crowd was jumping, the floor would undulate in a way that was kind of scary.

O.A.R. – which includes Liberty native Jerry DePizzo on saxophone – will return to the Mahoning Valley tonight but the floor will not be doing the wave.

Instead, O.A.R. will headline a concert at Packard Hall in Warren, where there will be a lot more fans, and more stable footing.

DePizzo, a 1997 Liberty High graduate, has been living in Columbus for about 20 years now.

But Ray Vitullo, who was the band director at Liberty High in the ’90s, hasn’t forgotten his former student-musician.

“He was a leader, a role model for the program,” said Vitullo. “He helped me move the program forward. He was the type that I wanted the others to emulate.”

Read more about DePizzo and his band in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.