The Virgin College Mega Tour was a success on the college circuit but when a popular TV teen drama’s story line along with a couple of the show’s actors is added to the lineup you get an impressive stage show enjoyed by a much broader audience of preteens, high school kids, and college students. This description fits the scenario of the One Tree Hill Tour which is currently traveling across the nation. The tour plays off Haley’s (Bethany Joy Lenz) decision to go on tour with Chris (Tyler Hilton) as well as The Wreckers rather than staying with her husband, Nathan. In addition to these performers, Gavin DeGraw, the genius behind the One Tree Hill theme song, also makes an appearance on several tour dates.

Lee Norris, known as “Mouth” to One Tree Hill patrons, introduced Bethany Joy Lenz to the stage first. While it’s hard to believe the transition of a singer to an actor could possibly ever be successful (note: Britney Spears, American Idols), Lenz proves that she breaks the mold by showing that she’s quite capable of handling both professions. Her simple grace and fun loving stage presence enchants the young audience who previously were entertained by sexually provocative spectacles featuring performers who base their career off image rather than talent. She performed a total of three songs off her independent release, “Come on Home” and later appeared with Tyler Hilton to sing the duet, “When Stars Go Blue,” featured on the show’s soundtrack.

Next to appear on stage was Tyler. Although he plays the bad blamed for Haley’s departure from Nathan, his demeanor was nothing shy of a gentleman since he was often smiling and complimenting the audience during his set. The most energetic number performed by Hilton was his single, “When It Comes” which can currently be found on on both mainstream radio and TRL. Tyler acknowledged this new found fame by thanking One Tree Hill for exposing him to new fans. A few other songs off his debut Maverick release, “The Tracks of Tyler Hilton” including “Pink and Black,” “Glad” and “Picture Perfect” were also notable performances that night.

After Tyler departed the stage, fans were introduced to the Wreckers. Some were a bit apprehensive about this band since Michelle Branch was already a successful solo hit. It’s not often that duos last beyond one hit but the crowd was willing to give the girls a chance. Appearing in vintage clothing, the girls took over the stage with their guitars and showed the crowd that country can rock if performed correctly. Although their musical talent was evident, the girls joked about their experience as actors on One Tree Hill by assuring the fans they wouldn’t see them acting anymore since they “couldn’t act worth sh*t.” Since the audience was already familiar with Michelle, she left the stage to allow Jessica to prove herself worthy by performing a song called “Memphis.” Then, Michelle returned to give a special treat to fans of her solo career by performing “All You Wanted.” The Wreckers set was a bit longer than the others but it included a few of the songs (Tennessee, Crazy People, etc) off their upcoming album called “Stand Still, Look Pretty.”

Finally, to wrap up the night, our bad to the bone boy, Gavin DeGraw entered with a ton of energy to share. There’s something about DeGraw that’s charming- possibly his boyish character or his honest storytelling are two things that sparked my interest in DeGraw besides his amazingly raw talent that can’t be imagined without seeing him perform live. Fans placed their hands in the air and surrendered to DeGraw during “Cop Stop.” He then continued on to play “Chariot” and then finished off his set by performing the song that started it all, “I Don’t Wanna Be” which was featured as the theme song to the hit show.

Check out our photo album for more pics from the show!