SKILLET!- My Day at a Music Festival

Hello, everyone! Guess where I went yesterday! If you read the title and guessed a local Christian music festival, good for you! This one features various popular Christian bands, mostly rock, as well as other activities. This year, my Youth Group was going there, and I got to go with them! I had a ton of fun, and we stayed until 11-something last night. The only real problem is that I got nasty sunburn on my face and neck, which isn't very fun. But I consider it a small price to pay for getting to see some of my favorite bands live.

The Youth Group left the church a little after 8:30. There were five of us plus my (totally awesome) Youth Group leader: me, two girls from my Youth Group, one person I invited, and a friend of one of the others in my group. We got there about a half-hour before the gates opened, so we had a bit of a wait. Once we got inside, we set up chairs and blankets in a spot right at the edge of the seating area. From here, I'll give the account according to what artist was playing at the time.

10:30- The Letter Black: We'd just finished setting up our stuff and I wasn't quite sure what the plan was, so I ended up listening to this group, even though I'd never heard of them before then. As it turned out, they are good. Really good. I definitely like them a lot now. (Unfortunately, the library doesn't have any cds by them, which is annoying.)  After they finished, my friend and I walked up to the merchandise booth and looked around, but didn't buy anything.  We also looked at the booths for the radio stations that were sponsoring the festival, and I got a shirt and a poster for free. (Free stuff rocks, doesn't it?)

11:15- Dara Maclean: Has anyone who reads this ever heard her song, "Suitcases"? (If you haven't, try to find a chance to soon. It's a good song.) That's the only song I'd heard by her before then, but I knew I liked it. I definitely liked the rest of her singing too. After she finished, my friend and I went to get in a line to get her autograph. We thought it was a long line at the time. (Ha-ha.) I had her autograph the poster I got.

12:05- For King and Country: Sadly, I missed the first half of their time onstage waiting in line to get that signature up there. I wasn't really upset, however, since I didn't even think I knew who they were until they sang two songs I'd heard on the radio. I liked the songs, but I still didn't mind missing most of their songs.

12:35- The Museum: I spent most of their time eating lunch. I had brought a PB&J sandwich from home, and someone else there brought in Costco pizza and churros to share, plus I had some Cheez-Its. Yummy. (I actually have no clue what I thought of the artist, sorry. I was more focused on food.)

I, my friend, and another person from my Youth Group left just before Decyfer Down started playing at 1:55. We walked around the booths and games, mostly just looking for something to do. Decyfer Down, as it turned out, was very loud. I could hear it just fine from the games and booths, and when we returned to our seats, the music was deafening. Next year, I think I might look into bringing earplugs, just so I can turn the volume down on the bands I'm not a fan of.

2:55- Jason Castro: This guy really needs a haircut. His hair is at least as long as mine, and that's just wrong. And while it might be forgivable if I liked his music, I'm not a fan of his singing. I sat through this, but that was more because I didn't feel like wandering around anymore. I will note that he's the only person I've ever heard play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on a ukelele. I'm not saying that was a good idea, but it was different.

4:05- KJ52: I had absolutely no idea who this person is before this concert, and other than the fact that he's a rapper, I still don't really know who he is. I spent this one away from the stage, but I still didn't miss anything. I think the later in the day it got, the louder they turned up the volume. I wasn't a fan of his style; I much prefer Lecrae. However, I will say that it was kind of funny to watch from a distance.

5:25- FIREFLIGHT!: This was the #2 reason I came to this music festival, and they not only met my expectations; they surpassed them. I think I like them even more live than I do on cd. I got down in the crowd by the stage for this one, since I like them so much, so that was fun. What made it even better was that they played three of my favorite songs: "Stand Up", "You Gave Me a Promise", and my all-time favorite, "Unbreakable"! After they finished, I went to get their autograph, but found out that they weren't signing autographs until after the speaker (who was next up) finished. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about that, but I still came back after the speaker to get their autographs.

The speaker, Jeff Bramstedt, started talking at 6:40. I didn't hear all of his talk, since I was busy eating dinner (Papa John's pizza) and buying a shirt with the logo of the music festival on it. What I did hear was fairly interesting. He's a former Navy SEAL, and apparently he's fairly well-known. I really have no clue; once again, I'd never heard of him until now. Just as he was ending the talk, I and my friend went to get in line again to get Fireflight's autographs.

7:30- Family Force 5: I, unfortunately, missed a little of this while I was standing in line. However, I don't think it was even a third of all the songs they did. I was fairly excited to see this, since I have a friend on the Underground (a forum I'm on) who really likes them. I think I like them too, more or less, though their songs are a little strange. They're also very, very loud.

After Family Force 5, there was a dance competition. (I, of course, didn't take part.) They played one of my favorite Lecrae songs, "God Is Enough", which was cool. After that, it was a long, long wait for the final band, this year's headliners. That band was my #1 reason for going, and it was . . .

9:30- SKILLET!!!: (insert scream of pure excitement and happiness) This was pure awesomeness. They went until 11 PM, and it was so totally worth staying up that late and getting sunburned. They sang most of my favorite songs, including "Hero", "Monster", and "Lucy". They also sang one that I'd never heard before but is definitely going on my new favorites list, "Savior". I was down in the crowd by the stage the whole time, which made it doubly awesome. The only problem was that during the first few songs, there was one girl standing by me with a rather high voice and I occasionally heard her singing over the band's singing. After a bit, however, someone told her to be a little quieter and she moved away from me, so it was fine. And the rest of the concert was, as I said, INCREDIBLE!

Skillet was the last band, so after they finished, my Youth Group headed back. And that's about it from me. The only other noteworthy thing that's happened is that I bought From the Mouth of Elijah, The Homelanders Series, and Princess of Glass. They arrived on Wednesday, and I've already read From the Mouth of Elijah and Princess of Glass. From the Mouth of Elijah was pretty good, though I liked the first in the series better.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Sarah