Phoenix. Joplin. Omaha. Just a few of the cities people traveled from to see The Ocean Blue’s two-set concert at Delmar Hall in St. Louis on April 26, 2025.
No matter where they were from, the mostly 55+ crowd was in for a treat. The late ’80s band that never quite exploded onto the scene but hovered just below, despite their mix of new-wave, jangle, dreamy, sublime sound that still resonates today.
Since late 2024, the band has casually been making their way around the country and landed in St. Louis on this Saturday night, where they fully performed their first two albums. They began with the 1991 release, the ethereal, more dreamy Cerulean. This 70-minute set saw the members mostly awash in deep blue (cerulean) lights, with lead vocalist and guitarist David Schelzel being the most animated of them. His voice still sounding exactly the same as it did 35-plus years ago. Schelzel took time to introduce and share memories and stories about some of the songs with the sold-out (or nearly sold-out) room.
Before “A Separate Reality” and “When Life Was Easy,” Schelzel said, “some songs take you back. And when you write the songs, it’s even more so. These next two songs have taken on new meaning for me.”
At one point, the slide show imagery began listing some of the previous places they’d performed over the years and the crowd erupted when up popped “Mississippi Nights February 8, 1990” (when they opened for The Mighty Lemon Drops and John Wesley Harding) and again when it read “Delmar Hall April 26, 2025.”
With only a 5-minute break between sets, the band came on strong for part two of the night and perfectly captured the feel and tone of their first self-titled album, which the die-hard fans danced, swayed, and sang along to, as there’s just a bit more happy jangle to this album. Opener Brian Tighe joined in for a few songs on sax or keys, as did Tighe’s bassist (and wife) Allison LaBonne on accompanying vocals.
Speaking of Tighe, he and LaBonne performed a 35-minute set to a growing crowd that included the love song “Maybe for Love” and a spectacular cover of The Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody.”
The night concluded with a three-song encore that ended on a stripped-down cover of The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” which we’re pretty certain everyone at the show got what they wanted out of the concert.
The night emanated a gentle love—from the songs being performed to the energy radiating from joyful fans.
See more photos from the night here: https://bit.ly/OceanBlue25cz
