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A friend of ours babysat the boys last Sunday for Bryan's birthday. We went to the downhere concert in Roseville, which is in the Sacramento area. I have been a downhere fan since their first, self-titled CD came out in 2001 and I saw them in concert (Lynden, WA, of all places). Truly, I have been listening to it for six years and running. It's that good.

We missed their second CD, So Much for Substitutes, when it came out. But Bryan got the third one (which came out in March), Wide Eyed and Mystified for me. And so, I've been listening to it.

Aside from the rockin' sound, I really appreciate their lyrics. They are different from many other Christian artists that I have noticed. They are original, metaphoric, poetic... They often paint a picture of how small we are and how great God and His love are. They are just plain beautiful and moving.

And so, we went to the concert last Sunday. We bought a couple of t-shirts and the cd we were missing when we came in. Bryan was the wise one who said the merchandise area would be packed after the show. Good thing I listened because when we exited, it sure was packed. A table was set up outside for the band members to sign autographs, but since we were the first ones out the door, there was not a line formed yet.

So, we decided to get in line (start the line) and meet them. They had an awesome stage presence... Like regular guys having fun doing what God has called them to do. And when we met them, that was confirmed. Jason, Marc, Glenn, and Jeremy. They signed out shirts and chatted for a moment. Bryan talked to Jason about some airplaney stuff, I told Marc that Great Are You is my favorite song and was glad they played it that night. We both talked to Glenn and Jeremy about it being Bryan's birthday and so on. I kinda felt like we were monopolizing their time a bit, but they seemed not to think so or mind. It was cool.


*I'm not real big into "celebrity" stuff that our society seems to be into, but I liked these guys. I'm always telling people that don't know about them to check them out, and now more than ever. They have won some Christian music award, but they aren't "huge" like some others like Third Day and such. The audience for the Roseville show numbered around 300.

On the way home we didn't have a cd player to listen to the new cd, but we chatted about the show, and couldn't get one particular song out of our heads so the chorus line kept spilling out. We really had a great time... A blessed time. I'm SURE God was pleased to see so many worshiping and praising Him, especially all the youth that were there.

Thinking back, I think this would have been a great experience for our church's youth group to be a part of. Next time the band is in the area, I'll make sure to alert Ken, our youth director.

I'm really jealous (or something) that they will be playing in Tacoma, WA the day after my birthday. I told Bryan we should've kidnapped them so we could always have a live show. Just kidding, of course. :) They don't have any more tour dates planned in California except for one in Huntington Beach, which is in southern California and much to far to drive. Anyway, if you are in WA can make it to the Tacoma show, DO! Do it for me, at least. :) Our tickets were only $10 each and I would have paid three times that much to go. (And I'm thrifty!)


**By the way, if you didn't notice, in the first two paragraphs you can click on the band's name and CD titles to see their site and CDs with audio samples on Amazon.com, respectively.