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| Concert Review |
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Since 2004 Christian Music Review has traveled to Orlando, FL
in the first weeks of September to attend the annual event at
Universal Studios called Rock the Universe. 2009 served as a
year of change for CMR, this time with our decision to cover
Disney's Night of Joy event instead. After a long and fun
weekend at Disney-Hollywood Studios, I have questioned myself
asking why we would have ever gone to RTU to begin with?
First off, we want to give a special thanks to our Disney PR guy
Charles, for helping to set up everything at the park for us.
Much to our surprise, we were escorted around the park both
night by our own personal liaison, Jim. Thank you Jim for
putting up with us and hanging out for the weekend!
in the first weeks of September to attend the annual event at
Universal Studios called Rock the Universe. 2009 served as a
year of change for CMR, this time with our decision to cover
Disney's Night of Joy event instead. After a long and fun
weekend at Disney-Hollywood Studios, I have questioned myself
asking why we would have ever gone to RTU to begin with?
First off, we want to give a special thanks to our Disney PR guy
Charles, for helping to set up everything at the park for us.
Much to our surprise, we were escorted around the park both
night by our own personal liaison, Jim. Thank you Jim for
putting up with us and hanging out for the weekend!
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Photo Caption:
Bear Rinehart of Needtobreathe
Bear Rinehart of Needtobreathe
Friday night started out at about 5 PM when we arrived at press session where we conducted interviews with
Kutless, Leeland, Michael Tait from Newsboys and Sonny Sandoval from P.O.D. First off, I was shocked at
the artist participation at the press session! The 'round table' setup was awesome, not to mention convenient for
us to get the artists interviews done. All of those interviews will be posted on Kingdom Builder within the
coming weeks, so be sure to check those out. With all of the places we had to be (photos, etc.), we mostly
caught partial sets of the groups playing. Lucky for us each group had two sets scheduled each night, so we
were able to catch a decent amount of each artists' set.
The first band that we caught on Friday night was Needtobreathe. With the recent release of The Outsiders, I
was excited to see them perform some of the new material. "Lay Em' Down" was one of the few tracks that the
band did from the new record, mixing in some older tunes such as "Yahweh (Signature of Divine)" and "Washed
by the Water". I have seen these guys perform twice in the past year, so I am hoping to catch another show in
the upcoming one, as Needtobreathe puts on one of the most amazing live shows in Christian music.
Once we left the stage where Needtobreathe was performing, it was time to brave one of the rides Disney-
Hollywood Studios was best known for - The Hollywood Tower of Terror! I had last been to the park back in
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Photo Caption:
Jon Micah Sumrall of Kutless
Jon Micah Sumrall of Kutless
1990, a few years before the ride was built, so this was a first for me. It was awesome! My wife agreed later
telling me it was one of the better rides at the park. Sitting next to the Tower of Terror was Aerosmith Rockin'
Roller Coaster, a in-door coaster over a half a mile long complete with the Aerosmith soundtrack. I think we
rode this ride at least 5 times in the course of the two nights we spent at the park! Once we left the coaster, we
headed over to the Sorcerer's Hat stage (think "Mickey and Sorcerer") to check out Kutless stage. One thing I
can say about Kutless is that they are probably one of the loudest bands in Christian rock. I have been a huge
Kutless fan for a long time now and was eager to see them live after missing the last few shows they played in
the area where I live. Their set was impressive too. They delved right into title track for their most recent
album, To Know That You're Alive. They visited the past with some of their previous hits with "Sea of Faces",
"Pride Away" before going into the opening notes of "Strong Tower". They performed a few new tracks from
their upcoming worship record, It Is Well, with the tracks "What Faith Can Do" and "Give Us Clean Hands". I
was most excited to hear them do a live version of "Take Me In" from their 2005 Strong Tower release!
Once we left the Kutless set, we set off for the Lights, Motor, Action! Stage in the back of the park to catch a
telling me it was one of the better rides at the park. Sitting next to the Tower of Terror was Aerosmith Rockin'
Roller Coaster, a in-door coaster over a half a mile long complete with the Aerosmith soundtrack. I think we
rode this ride at least 5 times in the course of the two nights we spent at the park! Once we left the coaster, we
headed over to the Sorcerer's Hat stage (think "Mickey and Sorcerer") to check out Kutless stage. One thing I
can say about Kutless is that they are probably one of the loudest bands in Christian rock. I have been a huge
Kutless fan for a long time now and was eager to see them live after missing the last few shows they played in
the area where I live. Their set was impressive too. They delved right into title track for their most recent
album, To Know That You're Alive. They visited the past with some of their previous hits with "Sea of Faces",
"Pride Away" before going into the opening notes of "Strong Tower". They performed a few new tracks from
their upcoming worship record, It Is Well, with the tracks "What Faith Can Do" and "Give Us Clean Hands". I
was most excited to hear them do a live version of "Take Me In" from their 2005 Strong Tower release!
Once we left the Kutless set, we set off for the Lights, Motor, Action! Stage in the back of the park to catch a
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Photo Caption:
Michael Tait & Peter Furler of the Newsboys
Michael Tait & Peter Furler of the Newsboys
ear full of P.O.D's live set. We walked up just as they were finishing their last few songs. "Shine With Me" from their recent album When Angels and Serpents
Dance was one of the two songs we caught before they finished their first set. The last one, perhaps one of my favorite P.O.D. songs, "Alive" was the song
they finished out with. I managed to get some of the song on video too. Check out our new YouTube channel for that soon. We considered ourselves lucky
with seeing P.O.D. at Night of Joy considering this was only their second show in 2009. The band has been on hiatus since late 2008.
We caught a few songs from Chris Tomlin's set, which was on the same stage as P.O.D. My wife, a big fan of Chris' music was impressed with his set and
song choices. Among the songs Tomlin played were "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)", "How Great Is Our God" and his new single "I Will Rise". You
can always count on Tomlin to bring the house down in worship.
Our last stop for the evening on Friday was the Newsboys set on the Sorcerer's Stage up front. I had been Twittering updates throughout the day and noticed
that a publicist in attendance said she had just watched Peter Furler, yes the former long-time lead singer of the band performing with the band! My excitement
from that point on was peaked until I finally saw it for myself. Sure enough, after performing hit like "In The Hands of God" and "Go", Michael Tait started
singing the beginning of the Newsboys classic, "Breakfast". Halfway into the song, Tait introduced Furler as he walked on the stage and took the mic. I have to
say that I was excited enough of all the bands that we had seen perform throughout the day, but this was one that put me over the top! Peter went onto
introduce the band on stage which afterwards Michael Tait announced that this would be Peter's very last performance with the band. I flipped my camera
from 'photos' to 'video' without haste and was able to capture the last two minutes of "Breakfast" with Peter on lead, before exiting afterwards to stage right.
The group closed out the night with "I Am Free" and the familiar song from Tait's former group dcTalk with a pretty impressive version of "Jesus Freak" to
close it out. Wow, Friday night ended with a bang!
Dance was one of the two songs we caught before they finished their first set. The last one, perhaps one of my favorite P.O.D. songs, "Alive" was the song
they finished out with. I managed to get some of the song on video too. Check out our new YouTube channel for that soon. We considered ourselves lucky
with seeing P.O.D. at Night of Joy considering this was only their second show in 2009. The band has been on hiatus since late 2008.
We caught a few songs from Chris Tomlin's set, which was on the same stage as P.O.D. My wife, a big fan of Chris' music was impressed with his set and
song choices. Among the songs Tomlin played were "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)", "How Great Is Our God" and his new single "I Will Rise". You
can always count on Tomlin to bring the house down in worship.
Our last stop for the evening on Friday was the Newsboys set on the Sorcerer's Stage up front. I had been Twittering updates throughout the day and noticed
that a publicist in attendance said she had just watched Peter Furler, yes the former long-time lead singer of the band performing with the band! My excitement
from that point on was peaked until I finally saw it for myself. Sure enough, after performing hit like "In The Hands of God" and "Go", Michael Tait started
singing the beginning of the Newsboys classic, "Breakfast". Halfway into the song, Tait introduced Furler as he walked on the stage and took the mic. I have to
say that I was excited enough of all the bands that we had seen perform throughout the day, but this was one that put me over the top! Peter went onto
introduce the band on stage which afterwards Michael Tait announced that this would be Peter's very last performance with the band. I flipped my camera
from 'photos' to 'video' without haste and was able to capture the last two minutes of "Breakfast" with Peter on lead, before exiting afterwards to stage right.
The group closed out the night with "I Am Free" and the familiar song from Tait's former group dcTalk with a pretty impressive version of "Jesus Freak" to
close it out. Wow, Friday night ended with a bang!
FRIDAY [SEPTEMBER 11th]
SATURDAY [SEPTEMBER 12th]
We spent the first part of Saturday at Disney's Magic Kingdom, a park that I was quite familiar with both as a
parent and as a child. It was always a place of excitement for me. So even as a 28-year-old I was excited to be
visiting the home of Mickey and friends! One of my writers Ben Collins and his wife Rachel had joined us for
the day. Ben had attended Friday, but had gotten there after 9:30, so Saturday marked his first full day in
Orlando. After we rode the go-carts, It's A Small World (ugh!) and the Haunted Mansion, we ended our
afternoon at Magic Kingdom by riding the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Classic. Before hopping on a shuttle
bus heading to Disney-Hollywood Studios, we had a delicious Dole Pineapple float, complete with Pineapple
flavored ice cream and pineapple juice! Man was that good!
Once we got back to Night of Joy, we attended night two of the press sessions where we conducted interviews
with Mercyme, Flyleaf, Jars of Clay and Abandon. Although we didn't interview them, we also got to briefly
meet Family Force 5, who much to my un surprise, were goofing off most of the time they spent in the press
sessions! They even did a video intro for Abandon's new album Searchlights! Crazy guys, but funny!
parent and as a child. It was always a place of excitement for me. So even as a 28-year-old I was excited to be
visiting the home of Mickey and friends! One of my writers Ben Collins and his wife Rachel had joined us for
the day. Ben had attended Friday, but had gotten there after 9:30, so Saturday marked his first full day in
Orlando. After we rode the go-carts, It's A Small World (ugh!) and the Haunted Mansion, we ended our
afternoon at Magic Kingdom by riding the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Classic. Before hopping on a shuttle
bus heading to Disney-Hollywood Studios, we had a delicious Dole Pineapple float, complete with Pineapple
flavored ice cream and pineapple juice! Man was that good!
Once we got back to Night of Joy, we attended night two of the press sessions where we conducted interviews
with Mercyme, Flyleaf, Jars of Clay and Abandon. Although we didn't interview them, we also got to briefly
meet Family Force 5, who much to my un surprise, were goofing off most of the time they spent in the press
sessions! They even did a video intro for Abandon's new album Searchlights! Crazy guys, but funny!
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Photo Caption:
Lacey Mosley of Flyleaf performing at Night of Joy
Lacey Mosley of Flyleaf performing at Night of Joy
The first artist set we caught on Saturday was Flyleaf. This was a first for me, as I had never seen Flyleaf in
concert before. I was impressed with their interview so I was looking forward to see their live set. One of the
questions I asked in the interview was if there would be a stage after they were done. Bassist Pat Seals
responded "Not if we can help it". Flyleaf started off with a moving version of the worship tune, "I Love You
Lord" before heading into skull-crushing versions of "Fully Alive", "I'm So Sick" and "All Around Me". The
group even debuted a song that has impressed me thus far from their upcoming Memento Mori album called
"Beautiful Bride". This is probably the most blatant message song I have heard from the group and it's simple
call to the church to be unified as the Body of Christ was chilling to hear live. Overall, I think I was quite deaf
after Flyleaf's set, but it was worth it, they rocked!
Next up was Mercyme. Sad to say we only were able to catch about 2-3 songs from their set, since we were
walking from stage to stage to get some pictures of each set. While we were there, we heard live takes on "So
Long Self", "All That Is Within Me" and even an impressive cover of Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down".
concert before. I was impressed with their interview so I was looking forward to see their live set. One of the
questions I asked in the interview was if there would be a stage after they were done. Bassist Pat Seals
responded "Not if we can help it". Flyleaf started off with a moving version of the worship tune, "I Love You
Lord" before heading into skull-crushing versions of "Fully Alive", "I'm So Sick" and "All Around Me". The
group even debuted a song that has impressed me thus far from their upcoming Memento Mori album called
"Beautiful Bride". This is probably the most blatant message song I have heard from the group and it's simple
call to the church to be unified as the Body of Christ was chilling to hear live. Overall, I think I was quite deaf
after Flyleaf's set, but it was worth it, they rocked!
Next up was Mercyme. Sad to say we only were able to catch about 2-3 songs from their set, since we were
walking from stage to stage to get some pictures of each set. While we were there, we heard live takes on "So
Long Self", "All That Is Within Me" and even an impressive cover of Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down".
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Photo Caption:
Bart Millard of Mercyme performing at Night of Joy
Bart Millard of Mercyme performing at Night of Joy
After we watched Mercyme perform a few songs, we headed back to get some pics of Jars of Clay's set. While
there, we heard them perform "Two Hands", "Worlds Apart", "Flood" and "Carry Me (Dead Man)" a favorite of
mine of their 2006 album, Good Monsters. Although I have seen Jars at events before, this was the first time
that I had gotten a chance to actually watch one of their shows. They were just impressive as everyone had told
me and I am glad I got a chance to check them out - finally.
As if it were not rushed enough, after eating dinner we had to rush back over to the Lights, Motor Action! Stage
to catch part of Skillet's set. I think the Skillet set, next to Flyleaf was probably the most impressive of Saturday
night's performances. At this point, we were so exhausted from our two-day trek at Disney, we only stayed for
a few of Skillet's set. They started out their set with "Whispers in the Dark", played "Hero" from their new
album Awake and then went into a electrified version of "Comatose". What most impressed me about Skillet's
set was how much talent they have in new drummer Jen Ledger. Wow is all I can say to describe this girl. She
is only twenty years old, but she was awesome during her nearly five-minute drum solo. While sitting on the
there, we heard them perform "Two Hands", "Worlds Apart", "Flood" and "Carry Me (Dead Man)" a favorite of
mine of their 2006 album, Good Monsters. Although I have seen Jars at events before, this was the first time
that I had gotten a chance to actually watch one of their shows. They were just impressive as everyone had told
me and I am glad I got a chance to check them out - finally.
As if it were not rushed enough, after eating dinner we had to rush back over to the Lights, Motor Action! Stage
to catch part of Skillet's set. I think the Skillet set, next to Flyleaf was probably the most impressive of Saturday
night's performances. At this point, we were so exhausted from our two-day trek at Disney, we only stayed for
a few of Skillet's set. They started out their set with "Whispers in the Dark", played "Hero" from their new
album Awake and then went into a electrified version of "Comatose". What most impressed me about Skillet's
set was how much talent they have in new drummer Jen Ledger. Wow is all I can say to describe this girl. She
is only twenty years old, but she was awesome during her nearly five-minute drum solo. While sitting on the
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Photo Caption:
Skillet's John Cooper at Night of Joy 2009
Skillet's John Cooper at Night of Joy 2009
rails in front of the stage I could hear teenage boys yelling up at her saying "I love you Jen!". I'm sure it drove the guys crazy when she smiled at them while
she was twirling the sticks around! Jen, I think you definitely had some admires in the crowd!
Overall we had a blast at Night of Joy. I wasn't sure what to expect after having attended RTU the previous four years, but it was definitely worth the trip over.
Lord willing, we'll be at Night of Joy 2010 when it heads back over to Disney's Magic Kingdom. I was impressed immensely with Disney's PR team and those
who helped make our joyous experience possible. There's no question as to where we'll be this time next year. My money's on Disney!
she was twirling the sticks around! Jen, I think you definitely had some admires in the crowd!
Overall we had a blast at Night of Joy. I wasn't sure what to expect after having attended RTU the previous four years, but it was definitely worth the trip over.
Lord willing, we'll be at Night of Joy 2010 when it heads back over to Disney's Magic Kingdom. I was impressed immensely with Disney's PR team and those
who helped make our joyous experience possible. There's no question as to where we'll be this time next year. My money's on Disney!
Other Pictures from Night of Joy 2009
| Chris Tomlin |
| Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay |
| Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. |
