Ericd3043
06-24-2008, 06:02 AM
So - did anyone else go to this festival? I had really hoped that 3D would be there, but got to see some favorites as well as find some new ones.
Here is a quick review of the 4 days of concerts/ speakers/ etc.
BTW - I am a father of 3 girls under the age of 7 - this was our first "family" camping trip, so now you know where I am coming from prior to my review.
Tuesday night:
I was by myself as the girls were coming in on Wed. afternoon. The Afters did a good job and I found myself wanting to get one of their CD's. The Beautiful Republic - well, I was less than thrilled with them. Their music was something I could not get into and their stage presence needed some work. I have something against a group that spends almost 1/2 of their time with their backs to the crowd.
Wednesday:
I was out of the park for most of the morning to take a test and pick up the girls (including the wife!) . My wife and I found another new band to like - Parachute Band and they played 2 x that day. My daughters heard that the band would be signing at the booth, so they got to meet them and get signatures. The girls really loved Jaci Velasquez and Salvador, but they wore down prior to the David Crowder Band. Even though we left, we could still hear them after we put the girls to bed at the camp site.
Thursday:
This was our favorite night. The grandparents came out for Casting Crowns and we got a really good spot on the hill. A hint to future attendees: Ordering pizza in the park is expensive. Dominoes delivered quite a bit of food for our group and I still paid less than the $18 for a cheese pizza in the park! Casting Crowns did a great job and really got the crowd involved. Tony Nolan gave a good testimony and we found another favorite band in Leeland. I actually liked Hawk Nelson - their lyrics reminded me a little of Reliant K. They had fun on the stage and the youth really seemed to be getting into the songs.
Friday:
Our favorites for the night was Paul Baloche, Willet and Josh Wilson. The last 2 ended up being another couple we will buy CD's on in the future. Family Force 5 was not one I cared for - but they put on a good show and everyone seemed to have a good time. Thousand Foot Krutch was an interesting show and we left early after Toby Mac got started. The girls did not seem to really get into the show, so I missed a couple of my favorite songs. Since we had no problem hearing them from camp - I was not too disappointed.
If you have not had a chance to hear Reggie Dobbs speak, find a CD and listen!! This guy was awesome and could really bring home a point without using a heavy hand.
Up until this point, the weather had been on the cold side so we were unable to go swimming and at night , had to bundle up in the trailer with the heat on. Thursday/ Friday it started getting warmer and we had a little more fun in the park.
Saturday:
Well - this was an interesting day. I was able to get autos from some Brown's players and the GM as part of the WIN ministries. There was a sports area where you could "try out for the NFL" and hear some of the players speak. Brady Quinn was there earlier in the week, but was not allowed to sign (contract issues, I believe). We were looking forward to hearing Chris Tomlin that night with some friends that were at the festival. Just after John Ruben finished his set (which, by the way, was a fun type of rap singing), he announced (he was also the MC for the weekend) that the weather was turning and we might have to leave the stage area for shelter soon. About 30 seconds later, they come back on and said to head for shelter "NOW" The good thing was that no one paniced and did exactly what was needed. The storm ripped through the area causing quite a bit of damage to the inflatables (2 of the pieces of equipment were destroyed, per the owner - the laser tag inflatable was worth over $25K and was trashed.) The good news is no one appeared to be hurt and the inflatables were evacuated prior to any of them taking off into the air. Once everyone got into the 2 large tents, some of the youth groups spent the time singing. From where I was at, 2 of the groups were having a "battle". The one was singing your traditional worship songs (Michael W Smith, etc) while the other was focused on songs from Toby Mac, etc.
Once we got back to the stage area (about an hour later), they shortened the sets of 2 of the bands so that Skillet and Chris Tomlin could have their full time. Skillet did a great job with their set - and my 2 youngest loved the music! Then Chris came on and put on an excellent show w/ Louie Giglio.
Overall, we had a great time. The people were very friendly, the shows excellent and it was well organized. Short of a couple of artists / acts not showing (Hawk Nelson was supposed to show for a Q&A session the day of their act - Casting Crowns filled in for them.), it was well run. The times were pretty much followed and you could really just enjoy yourself the entire weekend.
If anyone has a chance to go next year, - really plan to go. We drove 4 hours to get there! Hopefully, next year 3D will be there!!!
Here is a quick review of the 4 days of concerts/ speakers/ etc.
BTW - I am a father of 3 girls under the age of 7 - this was our first "family" camping trip, so now you know where I am coming from prior to my review.
Tuesday night:
I was by myself as the girls were coming in on Wed. afternoon. The Afters did a good job and I found myself wanting to get one of their CD's. The Beautiful Republic - well, I was less than thrilled with them. Their music was something I could not get into and their stage presence needed some work. I have something against a group that spends almost 1/2 of their time with their backs to the crowd.
Wednesday:
I was out of the park for most of the morning to take a test and pick up the girls (including the wife!) . My wife and I found another new band to like - Parachute Band and they played 2 x that day. My daughters heard that the band would be signing at the booth, so they got to meet them and get signatures. The girls really loved Jaci Velasquez and Salvador, but they wore down prior to the David Crowder Band. Even though we left, we could still hear them after we put the girls to bed at the camp site.
Thursday:
This was our favorite night. The grandparents came out for Casting Crowns and we got a really good spot on the hill. A hint to future attendees: Ordering pizza in the park is expensive. Dominoes delivered quite a bit of food for our group and I still paid less than the $18 for a cheese pizza in the park! Casting Crowns did a great job and really got the crowd involved. Tony Nolan gave a good testimony and we found another favorite band in Leeland. I actually liked Hawk Nelson - their lyrics reminded me a little of Reliant K. They had fun on the stage and the youth really seemed to be getting into the songs.
Friday:
Our favorites for the night was Paul Baloche, Willet and Josh Wilson. The last 2 ended up being another couple we will buy CD's on in the future. Family Force 5 was not one I cared for - but they put on a good show and everyone seemed to have a good time. Thousand Foot Krutch was an interesting show and we left early after Toby Mac got started. The girls did not seem to really get into the show, so I missed a couple of my favorite songs. Since we had no problem hearing them from camp - I was not too disappointed.
If you have not had a chance to hear Reggie Dobbs speak, find a CD and listen!! This guy was awesome and could really bring home a point without using a heavy hand.
Up until this point, the weather had been on the cold side so we were unable to go swimming and at night , had to bundle up in the trailer with the heat on. Thursday/ Friday it started getting warmer and we had a little more fun in the park.
Saturday:
Well - this was an interesting day. I was able to get autos from some Brown's players and the GM as part of the WIN ministries. There was a sports area where you could "try out for the NFL" and hear some of the players speak. Brady Quinn was there earlier in the week, but was not allowed to sign (contract issues, I believe). We were looking forward to hearing Chris Tomlin that night with some friends that were at the festival. Just after John Ruben finished his set (which, by the way, was a fun type of rap singing), he announced (he was also the MC for the weekend) that the weather was turning and we might have to leave the stage area for shelter soon. About 30 seconds later, they come back on and said to head for shelter "NOW" The good thing was that no one paniced and did exactly what was needed. The storm ripped through the area causing quite a bit of damage to the inflatables (2 of the pieces of equipment were destroyed, per the owner - the laser tag inflatable was worth over $25K and was trashed.) The good news is no one appeared to be hurt and the inflatables were evacuated prior to any of them taking off into the air. Once everyone got into the 2 large tents, some of the youth groups spent the time singing. From where I was at, 2 of the groups were having a "battle". The one was singing your traditional worship songs (Michael W Smith, etc) while the other was focused on songs from Toby Mac, etc.
Once we got back to the stage area (about an hour later), they shortened the sets of 2 of the bands so that Skillet and Chris Tomlin could have their full time. Skillet did a great job with their set - and my 2 youngest loved the music! Then Chris came on and put on an excellent show w/ Louie Giglio.
Overall, we had a great time. The people were very friendly, the shows excellent and it was well organized. Short of a couple of artists / acts not showing (Hawk Nelson was supposed to show for a Q&A session the day of their act - Casting Crowns filled in for them.), it was well run. The times were pretty much followed and you could really just enjoy yourself the entire weekend.
If anyone has a chance to go next year, - really plan to go. We drove 4 hours to get there! Hopefully, next year 3D will be there!!!