photo: Darin Back
THE OCEAN BLUE
Performing First Two Albums - The Ocean Blue + Cerulean - On Tour in 2024-2025
Getting their start as teenagers in the late ‘80s in Hershey, PA, The Ocean Blue released their self-titled debut on the famed Sire Records that launched many of their heroes in the U.S., including the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen. Embraced by college radio and MTV, the band quickly made their mark with early singles “Between Something And Nothing”, “Drifting, Falling” and “Ballerina Out of Control” which notched them Top Ten hits on Modern Rock Radio. Early success set in motion a run of four successful major label albums, including Cerulean (1991), Beneath the Rhythm and Sound (1993), and See The Ocean Blue (1996), followed by a string of beloved independent releases, Davy Jones Locker (2000), Waterworks (2003), Ultramarine (2013) and Kings and Queens/Knaves and Thieves (2019). With eight albums and several EPs under their belt, the band continues to perform and record, with work underway on a new album. In 2024 and early 2025, the band will be performing their first two albums - The Ocean Blue and Cerulean - in their entirety in cities throughout the U.S.
The Ocean Blue is David Schelzel (vocals, guitar), Oed Ronne (guitar), Bobby Mittan (bass) and Peter Anderson (drums).
TOUR DATES
2024
Jan 27 Minneapolis, MN The Icehouse (Sold Out)
Feb 2 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Live - 3Ten
Feb 3 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Live - 3Ten
Jun 8 Harrisburg, PA ProudlyPA Festival
Aug 3 Minneapolis, MN Basilica Block Party
Aug 23 San Francisco, CA The Chapel (Sold Out)
Aug 24 San Francisco, CA The Chapel (Sold Out)
Sep 6 Los Angeles CA Troubadour (Sold Out)
Sep 7 Los Angeles CA Troubadour (Sold Out)
Sep 13 Philadelphia, PA Ardmore Music Hall (Sold Out)
Sep 14 Philadelphia, PA Ardmore Music Hall (Sold Out)
Oct 11 Salt Lake City, UT The State Room (Sold Out)
Oct 12 Salt Lake City, UT The State Room (Sold Out)
Oct 25 Chapel Hill, NC Cat’s Cradle (Sold Out)
Oct 26 Chapel Hill, NC Cat’s Cradle (Sold Out)
Nov 15 Tampa, FL New World Tampa (Sold Out)
Nov 16 Tampa, FL New World Tampa (Sold Out)
Dec 7 New York, NY Sony Hall (Sold Out)
2025
Jan 10 Houston, TX House of Blues
Jan 11 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
Feb 7 Denver, CO Marquis Theater
Feb 8 Las Vegas, NV Brooklyn Bowl
Feb 21 Santa Fe, NM Lensic Performing Arts Center
Feb 22 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
Mar 14 Hopewell, VA Beacon Theater
Mar 15 Towson, MD The Recher
Apr 11 Nashville, TN Chief’s on Broadway
Apr 12 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
Apr 25 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck
Apr 26 St. Louis, MO Delmar Hall
Apr 27 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
May 2 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
May 3 San Juan Capistrano, CA The Coach House
Jun 6 Boston, MA Arts At The Armory
Feature and Interview on NPR Weekend Edition
“Kings and Queens” Video Premieres in Billboard
“All The Way Blue” Video Premieres in Paste
“It Takes So Long” Premieres on KCRW
More Features and Interviews in Tape Op, Modern Drummer, Rhino Records Podcast, and KEXP
“Kings And Queens / Knaves And Thieves… is the latest entry into what appears to be their next trilogy of perfect albums — their dark and epic ”The Empire Strikes Back” if you will. Beneath the shimmering guitars, earworm hooks, and David Schelzel’s dreamy, lovelorn, and lamentful croon, are beautiful stories, abstract visions, easter eggs to previous albums, and eloquent social commentary.”
“The Ocean Blue’s seventh album Kings And Queens / Knaves And Thieves…efficiently co-opts the lush and airy artiness of Britpop’s more lavish leanings without sounding dated or redundant. Like much of the rest of the album, the title track “Kings And Queens” demonstrates the Ocean Blue’s continued proficiency as expert assimilators of all things strummy, Anglophilic and slightly world-weary. ”
“[H]ere they sound like masters of the genre. Cuts like “Love Doesn’t Make It Easy on Us” and “Therein Lies the Problem with My Life,” are immediately memorable anthems that make the whole notion of emulating your idols while somehow retaining your own style, sound deceptively easy... However, it’s the title track, with its shimmering synth-and-guitar backdrop and poetic ruminations on the fragility of life and the state of the world, that best represent how The Ocean Blue have updated their early teenage pop ennui, ably shifting forward for fans who’ve grown into middle age right along with them.”
“‘All The Way Blue’ is a continuation of the yearning nostalgic pop that makes them so instantaneously beatific. With sublime piano, hyper-melodic guitars, neon synths, melodramatic lyrics and understated vocals, The Ocean Blue achieve emotional potency without any bombast.”
“All The Way Blue”
“It Takes So Long”
“When indie pop darlings The Ocean Blue returned in 2013 with their excellent album Ultramarine it heralded a second chapter for the band. We’re happy to report that their new album finds them crafting the same brand of delicately nuanced indie pop you’ve come to love from them, featuring crystalline guitars, glimmering piano lines, and David Schelzel’s yearning vocals.”
“It’s fresh but also sounds like beautiful, vintage Ocean Blue.”
“Ultramarine isn’t just a return to form; it’s one of The Ocean Blue’s best albums.”
“The 12 songs on Ultramarine recall the sincere clarity of the band’s self-titled 1989 debut and 1991’s Cerulean with songs that soar with grace, blend cascading guitars and rich keyboards with lyrics that manage to evoke sentimentality, optimism and an appropriate romantic longing without being cloying or grating.”
“The band’s signature sound — jazzy, atmospheric pop — has aged nicely, as has frontman David Schelzel’s voice....The record is a nice return and the band’s signature, dreamy/melodic sound still plays well in 2013.”
“Ultramarine (four and 1/2 stars out of five) is a true return to form for fans of their two biggest albums while providing a perfect entry point for fans of heartbreakingly gorgeous, shimmering guitar pop…”