Winter Jam 2008

Last Friday we went to Winter Jam at the Mabee Center. It's the third Winter Jam we've been at, and the second one at Mabee Center. This year it had the distinction of being the only time I've ever seen Mabee Center full to capacity. There couldn't have been more than 100 seats in the whole place, floor to ceiling including the area directly behind the stage, without people in them. I know they turned people away... don't know HOW MANY they turned away, though.

We got there before the doors opened at 6:00 for the 7:00 concert... I don't remember exactly when we showed up, but it must have been something like 5:30pm. We had already had a big afternoon because Hannah had an appointment with a specialist about her squeaking; our doctor recommended that we go ahead and take her to the specialist just to make sure it wasn't something that would cause problems later (she has to go in and have a scope put up her nose next week to check it out... I'm sure I'll blog that when it happens. Should be nicely traumatic for everyone involved! )

Anyway, we were there between 5 and 6, and there were already three lines that stretched all the way across the parking lot! We wound up between the auditorium and the Praying Hands, almost on the grass. It was crazy!

So they opened the doors sometime around 6pm (I don't know exactly when because we were so far from the doors that I couldn't have seen 'em without a telescope!) and we eventually made it in shortly before the show started. We got seats actually to the side and a little to the rear of the stage, right over the vocalists' right shoulders and in the nosebleed seats. By the way... one reason that this event packs people in is because the price is only $10 at the door, which is an insane bargain because there are SO MANY groups on the program! We heard Mandisa, NewSong, Skillet, BarlowGirl, and MercyMe (what was this, the CamelCase tour or what?) for thirty bucks for the three of us. That's INCREDIBLE. And honestly, this year there wasn't a group I wouldn't pay full price to hear a concert from just them! (Well, I'm not that much of a MercyMe fan, but they're a big draw anyway, so they count.)

Mandisa was awesome. She sang 3-4 songs, all of the ones we wanted to hear (I believe she did "Only The World" and "Shackes" and "God Speaking" and... that may have been it) and was just excellent. I have to say, Mandisa is probably the best thing to ever come out of American Idol, and I say that as someone who really likes Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard and George Huff and even Daughtry. Mandisa sings songs about life being really hard, sometimes almost to the level of hopeless, but he voice is so hopeful that you can't help but be cheered up, even when she's singing stuff like "Been a hard one, been a bad one, been a tough one, been a sad one/It's been one of those days that keeps chipping away at my heart/Nothing new here, It's what I do here/Its a stereotypical day in the life/I'm surrounded by all of the pain and the strife..."

So Mandisa was awesome. I believe NewSong performed next... for a group that I couldn't have named one single song of theirs, they sure sang a lot of songs I knew. When they sang the chorus of "Arise, My Love" I could feel the presence of God so strongly... it was awesome. But there were some boys sitting behind us that had one thing on their mind. Every once in a while one of them would say, in his adolescent my-voice-has-almost-changed croak, "Skillet!"

Whispers In The Dark lyricsAnd so it was: Skillet. They ROCKED! They were my favorite of the night. They even had a couple of towers of fire that went off every time they sang the word "NO!" in "Whispers in the Dark" The flame went from the stage nearly to the roof, and every time it fired we could feel it where we were, up in the top seats. ROCK AND ROOOOOOL!

Don't let me forget... we got to hear one song from new group Connersvine (I believe it was "Live For You") although Hunter Smith from the Indianapolis Colts wasn't there because his wife had just had a baby so it was technically only 1/2 of Connersvine, but oh well. It's a nice song.

BarlowGirl was good as always... very loud, and it's great for teenage and tween girls to see young ladies publicly living out their faith. Of course, once or twice behind us I heard "Skillet! " but you know... give the boys a break. They wanted more Skillet.

Cathy went for snacks and Mikey fell asleep during BarlowGirl. The teenage girl sitting next to us (not someone we knew) was laughing that Mikey could sleep during "Average Girl" (AKA "No more dating, I'm just waiting..."), but I wasn't surprised. My brother fell asleep at the wheel once as a teenager listening to Whitecross. It can happen.

So we left a few songs into MercyMe. Mikey was really tired, and there was another reason but I've been sworn to secrecy. Mwa ha ha! Suffice it to say that something was missing and we left the concert to go find it. hehe

Besides... who can hold a candle to: "Skillet! "?

Tomorrow (or thereabouts): our adventures the next day at the Baby Fest & Family Expo!