OK, I guess it's time again to start posting blogs. I get in spurts as you already know. Mostly that is because of when I have the time to blog.
A couple weeks back, we had the chance to go to a sort-of mini music festival in Simpsonville, SC. It was billed as the first annual Third Day Family Picnic. Well, whatever you call it, it was well worth the money we shelled out. Now, for those of you who don't know who Third Day is, I think it will suffice to say that at the current time, they are the most popular and successful band in Christian Music. If you want to go back and have a debate on the greatest band in Christian Music history, I bet we could spend a lot of hours in that discussion - but that's another discussion for another time.
Now, normally when you go to see a concert, there will typically be 1 or 2 opening acts. Teasers, if you will, for the headline act who will close out the evening. And even with that, you can get a pretty good show, if long. This particular event was outdoors, open air, with chairs setup towards the front, and a grassy knoll (i.e., the "picnic" area) at the back where you could bring a blanket to lay out on, etc. In short, if you ever get the chance to see a concert at this outdoor ampitheatre in Simsonville, SC, I highly recommend that you go. The sound was actually pretty well accessible from everywhere on the property, which is definitely a good thing. The night was not your typical concert, with no less than I think 7 different bands playing, which is awesome, even if you only go to hear 2 of them. We got a bonus in the fact that at least half of the bands playing were worth it to go see.
The night opened with Audio Unplugged. They are a rather new band, a stripped-down version of the former Audio Adrenaline. Same lead singer and also one of the guitar guys was also the same. We didn't know they were going to be there however, and probably missed 2-3 of their numbers as we didn't get there until about 6:45, maybe 15 minutes after the show started. But, they did not disappoint. And the memories of all their classic hits got the evening off to a great start.
After what I'll call a "throw-away" band or two, a group called "Glory Revealed" came out. In truth, they're not so much a band as a group of individuals from other bands who recorded an album together. All very talented, their purpose is to write directly from scripture, and thus invoke scripture memory by listening to the songs. Most of their numbers were bluegrass-infused, and Mac Powell of Third Day even sang on a few of the tunes. I came away very impressed. Enough so, that I may buy their albums this holiday season.
There was also a "pastor" there and he encouraged us to reach out to the church (global meaning) all around us and partner with the body to maximaize our effectiveness. That, and he shared his heart for writing songs to invoke the scripture memory because he (and I share his view) believes today's modern Christian music is a bigger vehicle than ever for commincating scripture to those who are listening.
After another break, the first of the "double-headliners" came out. To my eyes, Jars of Clay seemed to effortlessly roll through 10 - 12 numbers. I'll call it a half-concert compared to what I think Jars would do if holding down the anchor spot. They did several new songs from their recent album "The Long Fall Back To Earth", as well as a few from their early self-titled album, and one or two others from "Good Monsters". I wished we had another 30 or 40 minutes of Jars, as they really had a bit more of a "electronic" vibe than I remember from them in the past. Excellent, for sure. Lead singer Dan Haseltine was in excellent voice, and had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Even on lyrics I wasn't familiar with, he was fairly understandable (which was not the case when the lead singer of Thousand Foot Krutch was screaming out (not kidding) vocals during their set - I know he was screaming because his face was red practically the entire night). One thing I also noticed is that I think Dan Haseltine looks about the same weight now as he was back when Jars got started. I think he had picked up some "baby fat" over the past few years. On this night, he looked slim and trim, and was bouncing all over the place.
There was another break as they set up for Third Day. I think they must have cranked out 18-20 numbers, maybe more, over the course of about 80 or 90 minutes. I'll call it a 3/4 concert for Third Day. Maybe slightly shorter than what you typically would see if they had a full set. One number they played which I wasn't expecting was "Consuming Fire". I don't remember them playing it since Brad Avery left the band for unspecified reasons a little over 1 year ago. Everything sounded great, and they have definitely stepped up their overall concert performance with 12 video screens, more lights, and the like. They even squeezed in an acoustic set, ala U2, in the middle of the performance. This mini-set came just after a brief 5-10 minute rain shower, which left the majority of the crowd standing the remainder of the evening. They even took 1 or 2 requests from the audience during this part. They brought out some of the Glory Revealed folks to help out on different tunes throughout the night, and to add in some variety. They did not disappoint. Towards the end of the show, I was expecting the Jars guys to come back out for a performance of "When Love Comes To Town" (U2) since they had done this number on the recent "Live Revelations" album with additional help from Robert Randolph. What we got instead was a real treat - the "bonus baby" I'll call it. Mac came out on stage and said he had a surprise for everyone and it definitely caught us off guard. He was talking about how the band was from GA and how they had recently been inducted into the GA Music Hall Of Fame. So anyway, he says they've only practiced it a few times, and it was kinda the "official" song of GA, that if you were from there, you kinda had to know this one. And the folks from Glory Revealed are all back out on the stage. The music starts and they break into "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" (Charlie Daniels). They definitely got us on that one! But, it sounded great. Mac still didn't know all the words yet, but it didn't matter because one of the other singers from GR had his back on the last verse and picked up seamlessly. It brought the house down - easily the highlight of the evening. And thinking back, I really didn't "miss" Brad Avery not being there. I think the guys are doing just fine as they are.
So if this is what the modern concert is gonna look like in Christian music, I applaud the effort and look forward to many many more.
That's my blog and I'm sticking to it!
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(That's Cronkite behind the news desk, with the green wall in the photo and Disney in B&W.)
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