I love going to concerts...love, love, love me some concerts. I think they're a ton of fun, you get to see some bands you like, hear music you love, and enjoy an atmosphere with (hopefully) like-minded people. I don't go to as many concerts today as I used to because now I don't have as much time and concerts are getting ridiculously expensive. Right now Third Day is on tour featuring Robert Randolph & The Family Band, two of my all-time favs...but tickets are like $110 and I'm sorry, I'm not paying that kinda money to go to a concert. Anyhow, concerts are fun and I always seem to have a good time; so here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite concerts:
1. Come Together and Worship Tour; Third Day, Michael W Smith, Max Lucado: Fall 2002
This concert was a blockbuster, I'll tell you what. It featured Third Day, Michael W. Smith, and Max Lucado as the guest speaker and was held at West Point Military Academy in New York. It was a night of 100% worship and since it was held on a military facility after 9/11 and the start of the war in Afghanistan, emotions were running very high. It was my first Third Day concert and we drove a couple hours up a mountain to get there. Our seats stunk, but that didn't matter as the atmosphere of worship was so overwhelming. I love reading Max Lucado's books, so having him speak was an awesome treat, and Michael W Smith was fantastic, which was a surprise considering I didn't really pay too much attention to his music prior to that. It was definitely cool to be in a concert with regularly-dressed fans as well as army cadets in their dress uniforms...at one point Michael W Smith came out dressed in one of the uniforms and did a couple songs. It was a great evening and I'm so glad I went.
2. Weathered Tour; 12 Stones, Jerry Cantrell, Creed: Summer 2004
I admit it, I was a big-time Creed fan...loved them. So when I heard they were coming to CT, I saved up and bought myself a ticket in the General Admission pit section. I didn't really know what to expect, so I drove up to Hartford right after work so I can be there early and wait in line at the gates. All the GA people had to wait in another line to get a VIP wristband to let them into the pit section (how cool is that?!). Then they finally let us in and it was a stampede down the steps into the pit. Somehow I made it past a ton of people and got to the front row right up against the guardrail, yeah boy! So the first act came out - 12 Stones - and I wasn't a big fan. The bass player was wearing these huge, borderline parachute pants and kept kicking his feet back and almost kept kicking himself in the head. The singer did the robot a lot, which was weird...the only highlight was their lead guitarist, who definitely shredded that night. The next act was Jerry Cantrell, who you will know as the guitarist from Alice in Chains. His music is heavy, sludgy, kinda dark (but not creepy), and occasionally weird. But he's very talented and puts on a great show...I'd seen him in concert before and he was even better this time as he closed out with "Man in a Box". FINALLY Creed was set to go on...they came out to "Bullets" with lots of pyrotechnics and whatnot and even this huge screen with pillars and stuff in the background. They played for just over 2 hours and played all their great stuff. At the end Mark Tremonti - their guitarist - threw me one of his guitar picks (which I still have) and Scott Stapp tossed the set list into the crowd...I reached over a pack of screaming girls to grab it...they SO hated me for it! Hardy har. I still have that too. Needless to say, I stood on my feet either in line or at the show for well over 7-8 hours and my feet were KILLING me...and I had a 90 minute drive home. I was exhausted but it was worth it, I had such a good time.
3. All is One Tour; Rusted Root, Santana: Summer 2004
Santana is the BOMB. Far and away my favorite artist, I could listen to his stuff all day. This was my first Santana concert, so I was definitely amped. The opening act was some weird hippie band called Rusted Root...they stunk. Aside from this drum solo thing they did, I wanted to sleep through their show. There were a few dreadlocked, high, stinky hippies out in the crowd dancing to their stuff, but I mostly ignored them. After intermission, the real show started. Santana's intro played and he came out to play the opening to "Day of Celebration" when he stepped out into the spotlight I literally got goosebumps. I know that sounds corny, but I was excited. He tore through a lot of his more recent hits, jammed a lot, and even did his "re-connecting the molecules to the light" mumbo-jumbo. He ended the show with "Jingo", which rocked as everyone in the band did their own solo. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't play "Black Magic Woman" or "Oye Como Va", but it was still a cool show. I bought a shirt at that concert and, unfortunately, I have no clue what happened to it.
4. Santana World Tour; Salvador Santana Band, Los Lonely Boys, SANTANAA!!: Summer 2005
This was my third Santana concert and I was way excited because I had tickets in the 6th row, which was the best I could possibly get. On the way in to the concert, I got a free Dunkin Donuts iced latte in the lobby, which gave me the hint it would be an awesome evening. I picked up a Santana shirt and then took my seat near the stage. The opening act was the Salvador Santana Band, which featured Carlos Santana's son, Salvador, on keyboards. They were ok...pretty much a mix of Santana with hip-hop. They needed a better rapper, for the most part. After a quick bathroom break, Los Lonely Boys took the stage...let me tell you this, if you haven't seen them live, you need to. Those 3 brothers are absolutely amazing and very talented. At the end they played this sick blues jam and even played each others instruments at the same time...it's hard to describe but it was hot. They had everyone on their feet the whole time. After that awesome set, the only thing that could possibly follow is Santana. This concert featured a new stage setup, which was really cool...lots of colors and decorations and a massive screen in the background. The band came out and started right off the bat with "Jingo", which kicked serious butt that night...Carlos came out and pretty much tore the roof off the place. Raul Rekow was out of the country for some reason or other, but they had some dude named Bobby Allende on congas (why I remember his name, I don't know)...he definitely wasn't as good as Raul and it showed, but the band still sounded great. They played a few songs off their upcoming album (which was "All That I Am"), and even played some old-school stuff like "Batuka", "No One to Depend On", and finished with "Evil Ways." Again, no "Black Magic Woman" or "Oye Como Va", which was disappointing, but the concert was by far one of my all-time favorites. In case you can't tell, I love seeing Santana in concert...I could go see 20 of those concerts and still not get enough!
5. Sonfest; Disciple, Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys: Summer 2006
Sonfest 2006 was probably one of my favorite concerts ever. Seriously. This was my 2nd date ever with my wife. Oddly we set it up before our first date, go figure lol. I picked her up at her place and we headed down to Carowinds amusement park, where the concert was held. We rode the rides, which was a lot of fun...and Bekah stood in my shadow to cool down in the shade, which I thought was cute :) When it came time for the concert, we made our way towards the theater to find out that Jeremy Camp, who was also supposed to be there, cancelled (I later found out he was doing a concert in Washington DC...whassup wit dat?!). We took our seats, which were in the FRONT ROW! What was even better was that our row was just 2 seats and that's it...so we had the whole row to ourselves, you can't beat that. The first band was Disciple, this loud, wild, hard rock band. It was my first time hearing them and I enjoyed it, believe it or not. In fact, after their set, I went to meet the band, got their autographs, and bought one of their shirts, which I love wearing to this day. We wandered around a bit during Jars of Clay's performance because, honestly, neither of us liked them very much. We took our seats towards the end of their performance in time to see Audio Adrenaline take the stage one last time. It was kinda bittersweet: I'd seen them before and they were great, and now their singer is losing his voice, so this was to be their final tour before calling it quits. They still brought the same energy and put on an awesome show. Next, and last, was the Newsboys. I'd never seen them in concert and honestly never listened much to their music before aside from 1 or 2 songs. Well let me tell you, they made me a HUGE fan that night. HUGE fan. They put on such an amazing show and even take the time to speak to the crowd about Christ and His love for all mankind. The flying drumset at the end is definitely a must-see...if you haven't seen the Newsboys in concert, you need to...you will have a BLAST, their music is catchy, witty, infectious, and all about the Lord. I had such a great time spending the day at the park and the concert with Bekah :)
6. Faith, Family, and Freedom Concert; Leeland, Hyper Static Union, Third Day; Summer 2006
This was a concert at Knights Stadium that's put on by the local Christian radio station every summer...this one was definitely the best. The picture up above appeared on Hyper Static Union's website and as you can see from the circle, we were real close! Right up at the front. To start off, the day was HOT...brutally hot. And standing at about where 2nd base is on a baseball field does not help...it just radiates heat. Regardless, I set out to have a good time with Bekah, her brother, and his wife. When I got there, Hyper Static Union (who I LOVE - I've seen them in concert 3 times) was setting up their merchandise table, so I got to finally meet the guys in the band, got them to autograph their CD cover, and bought their t-shirt. They told me I was the first person ever to buy their new t-shirt, so I had Shawn write that on the t-shirt tag: "1st shirt" and he signed it. How cool is that?! Anyhow, to the music: the first band was Leeland, who I had never heard of. The singer and his brother the keyboard player were from England and I gotta tell you, they were great...very good music, kinda similar to U2 and Keane. The next band was Hyper Static Union, and they were phenominal as always. Shawn broke one of his guitar strings in the middle of a song and when it was over the rest of the band jammed while Shawn put in a new string, came back, and rocked out. Finally Third Day took the stage and played one their always-amazing shows...it was my 6th time seeing Third Day in concert, I love them, they're awesome. And they were in top form that evening. Finally, the night ended with a great fireworks show. To top off the memory of the evening, we went to Steak n Shake after the concert to get some drinks to go. Bekah got a root beer float and when she put the straw in, it erupted all over the inside of my car...it was HILARIOUS.
No comments:
Post a Comment