Wednesday and Thursday was the kickoff of Third day's 2011 North American tour promoting their new album, Move, at Northview Church in Carmel, IN. What a blessing it was to see them in a smaller venue with the intimacy of around 3,000 people in Northview's new auditorium.
Honestly, I have never been a big fan of christian music. To me, most of it seemed or seems lacking in intensity, focus and talent. Now that's a broad brush to paint the genre with and I know that's unfair but, truly, a lot of the christian artists on the radio I find very easy to tune out. I need to rock. I need catchy guitar riffs that jam. I need intensity.
I heard Third Day on K-Love radio a couple years ago and I thought, Wow, here's a christian band that I can sink my musical teeth into. It's different, it's hard rockin, intense and loud. And that voice...that deep southern voice of Mac, the lead singer. OK, maybe I can get into these guys. So off to iTunes I went and downloaded their album, Revelation. Boom, now we're crankin' some christian rock in our studio. I played and played that album. This year Third Day came out with their new album, Move and I knew I had to have it. On release day I hit up iTunes and downloaded it and was happy again. Great tunes. With a message.
When we heard Third Day was coming to Northview I was immediately interested in going. Third Day is touring with Tenth Avenue North and Trevor Morgan. I was not familiar with these guys like I was Third Day so I wasn't totally jumping for joy with going to the show before Third Day hit the stage. I thought I'd be bored.
Before I go on, let me say that I find a lot of "entertainment" not so entertaining. Movies for example. The drivel that pours out of Hollywood is constant and embarrassing to our limited intellect in this country. Pure junk. I like just a few of the movies that we see. Most of them I consider a waste of 2 hours of my life. Same for restaurants, most of them are mediocre, a couple stand out with good food and a fine dining experience. I am hard to please in other words. My wife will say I'm just a crotchety old man. Maybe she's right.
So, back to the concert. Trevor Morgan came out first. With his guitar. In my little preconceived mind I was ready to be bored. Wrong. He started. I listened. I opened my ears and mind. And heart. I didn't have to open the door wide because I was bowled over by the talent oozing from the stage while Trevor was up there. One dude and his guitar on stage and he was rockin' it. OK, new fan here. And from the post-concert talk, he had a LOT of new fans. You gotta check him out because you won't be disappointed. His new album, just released this week is called The Blessed And The Broken. Buy it. Trevor is also a personable and humble dude. Talking to him after the concert he was blown away with the reception he got.
Next came Tenth Avenue North. I was somewhat familiar with the name from listening to K-Love but I didn't know what to expect and my hopes were not high. Strike 2 for me. Again, we were rockin' the house. 10th Avenue was on stage for 5 or 6 tunes and there was not a bad one in the set. And, man, were these guys personable. OK, another new fan in the house now. Their new album is called The Light Meets The Dark.
Third Day came on after intermission to give the stage crew time to change over to their equipment. They played a mix of old and new tunes and Mac talked quite a bit with the crowd. These guys were into it. They were intense. Awesome would be the one word to sum it up.
At one point the lights went black and the next thing we know the band is out in the crowd in the aisle next to us playing. Totally took us by surprise. It was very cool to have them out there and talking with the crowd and even taking requests. Mac worked the crowd; he was even acknowledging the upper two balconies from the stage. A favorite moment was bringing Trevor Morgan back out to sing "Jesus Rides a Subway" with Third Day. Wow. It would bring tears to your eyes.
All the artists were passionate and personable. One really felt part of the show with them. I think that special mention should be made for the folks at Northview Church for all the behind the scenes work along with K-Love, Grand Canyon University, World Vision and more.
Do yourself a favor and check out Trevor Morgan, Tenth Avenue North and Third Day if you are not familiar with them. If you want music that rocks with a message you gotta hear 'em!
Go to my website for all the photos from the concert.
Honestly, I have never been a big fan of christian music. To me, most of it seemed or seems lacking in intensity, focus and talent. Now that's a broad brush to paint the genre with and I know that's unfair but, truly, a lot of the christian artists on the radio I find very easy to tune out. I need to rock. I need catchy guitar riffs that jam. I need intensity.
I heard Third Day on K-Love radio a couple years ago and I thought, Wow, here's a christian band that I can sink my musical teeth into. It's different, it's hard rockin, intense and loud. And that voice...that deep southern voice of Mac, the lead singer. OK, maybe I can get into these guys. So off to iTunes I went and downloaded their album, Revelation. Boom, now we're crankin' some christian rock in our studio. I played and played that album. This year Third Day came out with their new album, Move and I knew I had to have it. On release day I hit up iTunes and downloaded it and was happy again. Great tunes. With a message.
When we heard Third Day was coming to Northview I was immediately interested in going. Third Day is touring with Tenth Avenue North and Trevor Morgan. I was not familiar with these guys like I was Third Day so I wasn't totally jumping for joy with going to the show before Third Day hit the stage. I thought I'd be bored.
Before I go on, let me say that I find a lot of "entertainment" not so entertaining. Movies for example. The drivel that pours out of Hollywood is constant and embarrassing to our limited intellect in this country. Pure junk. I like just a few of the movies that we see. Most of them I consider a waste of 2 hours of my life. Same for restaurants, most of them are mediocre, a couple stand out with good food and a fine dining experience. I am hard to please in other words. My wife will say I'm just a crotchety old man. Maybe she's right.
So, back to the concert. Trevor Morgan came out first. With his guitar. In my little preconceived mind I was ready to be bored. Wrong. He started. I listened. I opened my ears and mind. And heart. I didn't have to open the door wide because I was bowled over by the talent oozing from the stage while Trevor was up there. One dude and his guitar on stage and he was rockin' it. OK, new fan here. And from the post-concert talk, he had a LOT of new fans. You gotta check him out because you won't be disappointed. His new album, just released this week is called The Blessed And The Broken. Buy it. Trevor is also a personable and humble dude. Talking to him after the concert he was blown away with the reception he got.
Next came Tenth Avenue North. I was somewhat familiar with the name from listening to K-Love but I didn't know what to expect and my hopes were not high. Strike 2 for me. Again, we were rockin' the house. 10th Avenue was on stage for 5 or 6 tunes and there was not a bad one in the set. And, man, were these guys personable. OK, another new fan in the house now. Their new album is called The Light Meets The Dark.
Third Day came on after intermission to give the stage crew time to change over to their equipment. They played a mix of old and new tunes and Mac talked quite a bit with the crowd. These guys were into it. They were intense. Awesome would be the one word to sum it up.
At one point the lights went black and the next thing we know the band is out in the crowd in the aisle next to us playing. Totally took us by surprise. It was very cool to have them out there and talking with the crowd and even taking requests. Mac worked the crowd; he was even acknowledging the upper two balconies from the stage. A favorite moment was bringing Trevor Morgan back out to sing "Jesus Rides a Subway" with Third Day. Wow. It would bring tears to your eyes.
All the artists were passionate and personable. One really felt part of the show with them. I think that special mention should be made for the folks at Northview Church for all the behind the scenes work along with K-Love, Grand Canyon University, World Vision and more.
Do yourself a favor and check out Trevor Morgan, Tenth Avenue North and Third Day if you are not familiar with them. If you want music that rocks with a message you gotta hear 'em!
Go to my website for all the photos from the concert.
Trevor playing with Third Day.
10th Avenue North shots below.
