Ho do I get myself into these things?

Oh, that's right; I know how. I go out of my way to go to the concert of someone I really want to see live. The last time I ended up driving a couple of hours to see Sara Groves perform in a barn. This time I wanted to finally go see Addison Road after missing them the last few times they were in town. They didn't play in a barn at a fair, but it was in a big box - 50' high, 50' deep, and 100' wide. With a stage that was maybe 20'x20' that four bands cycled through. Honestly, I think the barn had better acoustics than this room. I'll be fair, then, and not really talk about how the bands sounded - it was all a little jumbled in that tight space.

Really, though, the evening was pretty good. After I got past feeling like a goofy, out of place adult, that is. There were maybe 100 people there with an average age of maybe fifteen. I came to the concert straight from work, wearing my normal dockers (i.e. not cool clothes). There was no seating, only standing at the stage - I'm waaay too old to be in the mosh pit. But, once the music actually started things got better.

The show opened with Philmont, a new band, followed by Our Heart's Hero. Both of them put on pretty good sets. I've learned something new - to play in a punk/hard rock band one must master Jedi fighting skills and apply them to playing guitar. It looked even better when copied by the six-year old boy down front.

Next came Addison Road - they did a great set, and the crowd seemed to get into them a little more the the first two groups. Of course, it helps that their song "Hope Now" has been all over the airwaves down here, with people really loving it since Ike hit town. After their set, once Pillar was hitting the stage, I got to sit and chat with Jenny Simmons and her
husband Ryan. These guys are always on the road, it seems. Their tour with Pillar ends tomorrow night, then next week they start a month plus with Building 429. They'll be starting work on a new album soon, so be looking for that next year sometime. The first thing Jenny asked me, was to what I do for a living. When I told her I am a rheologist (translate: science geek), she then asked me to explain the Large Hadron Collider to her and Ryan. I did my best.

Seriously, Ryan and Jenny are good people. I wish them well in their music - if you've not heard it, go check it out. We talked about Mocha Club and about Inspired to Action, among other things. Jenny, has been a big supporter of I2A - for which she gets a big thanks from me!

The whole Pillar tour is being sponsored by World Vision, and the shows are pay what you want. Having been to this show last night, with a turnout that looked like little more than people from the church where the show was held, I understand more about what Shaun talks about. He does a similar arrangement with Compassion and pushes the venues to seriously promote the show. The point is to bring people in, tell them about God's plan for us, and tell them how they can help save people - free them from the bondage of poverty - through Compassion or World Vision. When all they do is put it in the weekly bulletin they do a disservice to the people footing the bill for the show (Compassion/World Vision); more importantly, though, they do a disservice to the children in need of rescue. I chatted with the people at the World Vision table for a bit - nice folks, too. They told me the night was a bit slow on sponsorships. I hope it picked up after I left.

For my next concert experience I am going in a completely different direction. Tonight Mrs. E and I are taking the kids to see VeggieTales Live. Even a younger crowd; but, at least there's no mosh pit.

Tags: Addison Road, Jenny Simmons, Pillar, Our Heart's Hero, Philmont, Concert, World Vision, Mocha Club, Compassion International