robwestbrook.com

Last night we went to the Tupelo Coliseum, or BanCorpSouth Arena, for Winter Jam. Lots of good bands. It was general admission tickets. The show started at 6 PM. We had a group leave immediately after the morning service and stood in line for 4 or 5 hours. Tim Watson, Lauren, and I got there about 4:30, knowing they were saving seats for us. They did good. Third row, floor, center of stage. It was good and it was loud. The subs moved my hair and put my heart back on its normal rhythm. Today’s paper said nearly 10,000 people were there. Here’s my take on the bands. I think I remember them all:

• Flights From Egypt – Never heard of them. Good rock-n-roll. They only played like two songs, but the drumming was great.
• Pure NRG – The Disney Channel for Christians still boycotting. Preteen singing and dancing.
• Group 1 Crew – Rap meets great vocals. Kinda reminded me of Toby Mac with Ayiesha Woods behind him. I’m not a big rap fan but this group is really good.
• Mandissa – This girl can sing! She’s the one who nearly won American Idol a few years ago. She shared some of her American Idol experience, particularly with Simon. She’s a little overweight and talked about it honestly and with a view to her Creator.
• Newsong – They’ve been doing this a long time. Michael O’Brien is no longer with them but they’ve added Nate Sallie on vocals. He surprised me. He is a really good singer. There’s no song that gives me chill bumps more than “Arise”. And “Rescue” always gets me.
• Skillet – Got to be the best Christian group I’ve ever seen live. I mean they rocked. Pyrotechnics blasting off, heavy metal guitar licks, and the group bangin. I flashed back to my 80s days of going to all those heavy metal concerts. There is no comparison. Skillet is the best band in all of Christian music. I will have to see them when they have their own tour and can play longer. Far and away the best show of the night. I’m now officially a “panhead.”
• Barlow Girl – These girls can rock. Really good. I love their music because it’s got an edge. They would probably fall as my second or third favorite of the night.
• Connersvine – acoustic duo set. They kind of got stuck out on stage while it was being torn down for the next act. They did two really cool songs. One of the guys in the duo is Hunter Smith, who also has a day job: he’s the punter for the Indianapolis Colts.
• MercyMe – the last group of the night. MercyMe is good, really good. They just didn’t have the time I would have liked. They did maybe 6 songs, and it was kind of a greatest hits deal. Kinda disappointed with the set but not the talent. Bart Millard is probably the best vocal talent out there right now and the band is definitely tight. The lead guitarist had his little 3 or 4 year old son sitting near him for some of the show. It was entertaining to watch him. He really got into it.

We finished it off by hitting IHOP and got home about 12:30 AM, the latest I’ve partied in a long time! Good thing I had my daughter with me. The Winter Jam show is a blast. Check it out if you get a chance.