The Ocean Blue built their catalog out of the same lush, melancholy aesthetic as the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen — no coincidence, since Sire Records signed all three. Their 1989 self-titled debut landed early singles on college radio and MTV; Cerulean followed in 1991, deeper into atmosphere, with “Ballerina Out of Control” reaching the Modern Rock top 10. Nearly four decades in, David Schelzel and his bandmates are still recording and touring. They play the Clemens Center in Elmira on Friday, March 19.
About the Show
The band’s current lineup: Schelzel on vocals and guitar, Oed Ronne on guitar and keyboards, Bobby Mittan on bass, and Peter Anderson on drums. Eight studio albums mark their run — the Sire era (The Ocean Blue, Cerulean, Beneath the Rhythm and Sound) led to Mercury’s See The Ocean Blue (1996), then independent releases across two more decades. Three singles from those first two albums — “Between Something and Nothing,” “Drifting, Falling,” and “Ballerina Out of Control” — each hit the top 10 on college and Modern Rock charts. Beneath the Rhythm and Sound also produced “Sublime,” whose video was filmed in Iceland.
In 2013, the band returned via Ultramarine on Korda Records, a label cooperative they helped establish; All Music Guide called it “one of The Ocean Blue’s best albums.” Kings and Queens / Knaves and Thieves, the 2019 follow-up, earned PopDose’s top record of the year; Magnet described it as a record that “efficiently co-opts the lush and airy artiness of Britpop’s more lavish leanings.” NPR Weekend Edition, Paste Magazine, and Billboard all covered the release. Pure Honey Magazine described the album as blending “Smiths-era jangle-pop” with “the contemporary dream pop of Beach House.” “Between Something and Nothing” turned up in the 2026 Zara Men’s Studio Collection — a signal these songs still circulate beyond the record-collector market.
Their 2025 touring included sold-out dates and performances of the debut album and Cerulean in full. The 2026 leg added sold-out nights at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia and Daryl’s House in Pawling, New York. The Clemens Center show falls in a 2027 stretch that also includes dates at performing arts centers in Concord, New Hampshire and Cedar Falls, Iowa. No support acts have been announced.
Venue & Logistics
The Clemens Center is a performing arts theater at 207 Clemens Center Pkwy in Elmira, in the Southern Tier. For anyone making the drive from Binghamton, Ithaca, or Corning, it is a proper room for this kind of show.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Buy tickets through the Clemens Center’s event page.