L's Random Thoughts

This was the first concert I’ve been to in probably 3 years that was not on a weekday night. Usually when I go to a show that is on a weeknight, I miss the first act or two because I can only leave work so early, then there’s traffic to deal with, because the shows are never close. When I found out the Atlanta show of the Music Builds Tour was on a Saturday, I figured that I would get to see all the performers. Wrong!!! But I have nobody to blame but myself. The Florida/Tennessee game was that afternoon and I went to a friend’s house to watch the first half. I just couldn’t bear to leave until the first half was over, so I got to the venue a little later than planned.

When I arrived and got through the gate, Jars of Clay was on stage. I could hear them, just not see them. I could have caught about the last third of their set, but decided instead to grab a bite to eat and investigate Wired membership before going to my seat. I was giving thought to signing up for Wired since you could attend the meet & greet if you signed up there. But, I found out the price went up to $50, and since I am trying to watch what I spend in preparation for my upcoming trip to New Zealand, I opted to pass on that for now. It’s just as well. The meet & greet was after the Third Day set, and since I parked around the corner from the venue, I was by myself, and the venue is not in the best neighborhood in the world, I wanted to leave with the crowds so I had people around me as I walked to my car. I’ll get a chance to meet the guys some time I’m sure, this show just wasn’t it.

I went and got settled in my seat while they reset the stage for Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Now this is one group I had never even heard of until Third Day began talking of Robert Randolph’s contribution to “Otherside” on the new record. Honestly, it’s a music style I would never have come across on my own, but man was this group fun to watch! The music was so energetic and the final song, which had band members swapping instruments throughout, was incredible. I need to get some of that music to put on my Zen…would come in handy when I’m having a bad day at work.

Next up was Switchfoot. I began listening to them in 2004 when I got my first XM radio. The channel that I listened to at the time played several of their songs from “The Beautiful Letdown” regularly, and since XM displays artist and song, I got to find out who was performing these songs that I liked. I went and picked up TBL that fall and shortly after picked up their earlier stuff in a multi pack. I’ve been a fan ever since, but this was my first opportunity to see them live. They did not disappoint. The whole production was great. Awesome sound and great lighting. Like Third Day, they sound as good or better live than they do on studio recording. Clearly I’m going to have to see them in person again. I know they are a west coast band, but hopefully they’ll come back to the Atlanta area again, and soon. My favorites from their set? “Awakening” and “On Fire”.

Finally it was Third Day’s turn. First oddity, they didn’t walk out to intro music like I’m used to. Second one, they started with “Creed”. That was weird. I think “Creed” has been the first encore song for every Third Day show I’ve ever been to (this was my 8^th I think) so it was kind of bizarre to hear it as the opener. Not bad mind you, just really different. Right off the bat, I noticed something very very good while listening to “Creed”. The last time I saw Third Day was in Athens, GA during the spring Live Tour. This show was March 21, less than a month after Brad’s departure from the band. Now, I’m not saying that they didn’t sound good then. But to me, what I heard back in March was a 4-piece band, plus keys, that was used to being a 5-piece band, plus keys, and was still kind of working out the best ways to perform songs with one less guitar in the mix. It was good then, but not fantastic. What I heard on Saturday was much different. I heard a 4-piece band, plus keys, that had figured out how to take the best from two guitar parts, augment the part of the keys, and create a complete sound that wasn’t missing a thing. This was Third Day as good or better than I have ever heard them. The setlist was just about a 50/50 mix of stuff from “Revelation” and stuff from previous records. They hit two of my 3 favorites from the new record, so I was pretty happy about that. My favorite (or tied for favorite) is “Take It All”, but that wasn’t on the list. That’s OK though. They have 14 years of music and roughly an hour to play, so I understand I won’t get to hear all of my personal favorites! Of the “oldies”, my favorite was “Thief”, which is in my top 3 of favorite TD songs overall (depends on the day of the week whether it’s #1, 2, or 3), followed by “Believe”. There really was not a single thing in this setlist that I didn’t like. Other than maybe the fact that they didn’t play long enough…but they could probably play for 3 hours straight and I’d still want more J. Mac’s mini-sermon, as I like to call his little talks during the shows, was one of the best yet. I went home and wrote down a whole bunch of stuff that was rolling around in my head related to his little talk, but I’m kinda private about those kinds of things, so that’s for me only.

Last up was the encore, which I have come to love at Third Day shows, as they typically bring all the performers onto the stage for a big finale. There is just something very cool about seeing multiple bands up on stage making music together. First up was “Otherside” with Robert Randolph on the steel slide guitar. Very cool. Next, Jars of Clay was added to the mix for a little “I’ll Fly Away”, which is just a fun song. Finally, Switchfoot joined the group and they all performed U2’s “When Love Came to Town”. Awesome!