Saturday, February 26, 2011
I like concerts. A lot. No joke.
There is something amazing about seeing bands performing live that gives me a rush, the energy, passion and display of musical talent is always amazing to me (considering that I have tried to play instruments in the past with no success, I just don't have ANY musical talent whatsoever).
But what I like the most is Christian concerts, specially those that more than any of the things I just mentioned above, glorify God.
For some reason, over the last couple of the years I have been very turned off by some Christian bands I used to unconditionally follow, my taste of music has changed a lot. I say this because many modern Christian bands are becoming very secular, I used to listen to the M88, our "local" Christian station (it comes from Albuquerque, which is about 3 hours from here) all the time in my car, but a lot of the stuff they play now just doesn't appeal to me anymore, I don't know why that is. I have also discovered some awesome rappers, who are pretty much most of what I listen to these days, Christian music-wise because they preach the Gospel in their lyrics in such a more real and true way than many of the more mainstream Christian bands out there.
Three of my favorite bands were there among the main performers: The Afters, Thousand Foot Krutch and my main diggy dog Lecrae. Jars of Clay and Mercy Me were there too, who I like but are not in my top rank, they were still pretty good.
Let's start rating my 3 faves of the show:
The Afters
I have been a big fan of The Afters since I first heard "Beautiful Love" back in...2005 or 2006 I think and it is still one of my favorite songs ever and one of the most played songs on my itunes play list. Their most recent album "Light up the Sky" became an instant favorite when a friend let me borrow his, specially the title song of the album (which was their best song last night).
This band is pretty much awesome, and they had a powerful message of always trusting God in the midst of the trials and problems that arise in our daily lives when we follow Christ, the lead singer preached about that in between one of the songs. This band is not only super musically talented but they are so on fire for the Lord. I definitely digged their part of the show.
Thousand Foot Krutch
According to the lead singer of Mercy Me, TFK was the reason why they decided to call it "The Rock and Worship Roadshow" because they seriously ROCKED IT OUT!
TFK is one of my favorite rock/metal bands. When I was in highschool I really got into this kind of music, so when I came to Christ after highschool it was natural that this kind of music would still appeal me, so I got very into bands like Disciple and TFK. I like the energy there is in this type of music style.
These guys were super loud! The whole place was shaking and they were super good, no joke. I think they selected some of their heavier songs on purpose.
TFK is the kind of band that many older people consider an insult to Christian music, because of the loudness and occasional screaming in their songs, but they appeal the "younger" generation (people like me...and well younger too, but honestly this is my kind of music) and their sound is super appealing, you know, as in if you like this kind of music, you want to listen to them. Super energetic.
One of my favorite songs is "Bring Me to Life" from their latest album, if you play to the lyrics, it has an awesome message. Here is the chorus:
Bring me to life.
Breathe air into me,
It's taken me my whole life to realize
All the things I've never seen,
Bring me to life.
Breathe air into me,
Take me from the darkness that I've been in
'Cause I just wanna be free,
Bring me to life! Bring me to life!
This song represents what I felt when I came to Christ and have ever since, all the blessings and purpose in life that I was missing out because my eyes were so blinded from the sin and worldly life style I lived before the Lord called me and regenerated my heart and gave me a new one in 2005, when I came to realize the emptiness my life had.
TFK was definitely my second favorite of the night, of course the number one spot belongs to:
Lecrae
The main reason why I went to this concert was to see Lecrae, for real. I never was much of a rap fan until I first heard of Lecrae over 2 years ago, and then everything changed for me.
I had heard of him before that, but it wasn't until some friends of mine pretty much shared his awesome music with me that I really started following him and my point of view for Christian rap changed, I had heard of others like Grits, that I honestly thought were pretty lame (and I am still not even close to liking them), but Lecrae along with Tedashii, Flame, TripLee and Sho Baraka have become some of my most played songs on my itunes. Why? Because of how legit their lyrics are.
To me, these rappers have such an awesome testimony to share in their songs, they sing about real stuff, they don't play the whole lingo of "everything is good and perfect when you become a Christian" they preach about the hardships, the persecution and the hope that their is for those who follow Christ. One of my cousins said this on his facebook status yesterday:
Why DO I listen TO lecrae,triplee,sho baraka etc???...
"I think what you’re seeing is the outcome of guys that have lived it off the stage. There’s an authenticity with all these guys. Not only are they good at their craft, they’re the real deal away from the mic."
-Joel Guerrero
My cousin Joel said it in the same way I would express it. These guys are the real deal. I have seen many interviews and videos and heard their testimonies and they don't fake it, they live Christ day and night, on and off the stage. Their passion is to preach Christ in everything they do and in every one of their shows.
Funny story, so after Lecrae was done with his his part of the show, I wanted to check out his merch table, I wanted a tshirt or something. It was jammed packed! Way more packed than any of the other bands, that should say something about the impact he had haha. I waited in line for like 30 minutes to get a t-shirt and missed out Jars of Clay, but I am ok with that since I like Lecrae way better than them.
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| I took this picture with my phone, I was kind of far from the stage so I took it from the screen. |
Overall it was a very good show and I am glad I decided to go, because I almost didn't go. I moved into a new apartment yesterday, I took the day off from work for that and with the help of my Pastor, my friend Sara and her mom and my awesome girlfriend I was able to be done around noon so I decided to tag along with a big group from my church that were going to the concert, and I am so glad I did decide to go or else I would have really regretted it.
I really hope Lecrae comes back to this area soon and brings Flame, Tedashii, TripLee and Sho Baraka with him, because that is a concert I would not even consider missing.
I leave you with the music video for "Background" from Lecrae's latest album "Rehab". The lyrics in this song are very powerful and is my second favorite after "Don't Waste Your Life".
I leave you with the music video for "Background" from Lecrae's latest album "Rehab". The lyrics in this song are very powerful and is my second favorite after "Don't Waste Your Life".
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