Friday, February 4, 2011

Winter Jam

My boys love music.    Hubs and I started introducing them to contemporary Christian music as soon as they were born.      We told them that we didn't care what type music they enjoyed (rap, country, pop, rock, worship, etc....) they could find it in contemporary Christian.     

Because of that we have a wide range of CDs in our house:   Stephen Curtis Chapman, KJ52, Newsong, Newsboys, Disciple, Red, Go Fish, Chris Tomlin, Tenth Avenue North, Mercy Me, Jeremy Camp, Third Day, tobyMac, Kutless, Grits, Hawk Nelson, Johnny Diaz..... the list goes on and on and on!

When Big Guy was about seven we discovered something called Winter Jam.    It is a huge concert that features about ten popular Christian artists, but the concert only costs $10.      What a bargain!      Hubs and Big Guy drove to Tupelo for their first Winter Jam.      They were sold and have been every year since then.       

As soon as the 2011 tour was released the boys put it on their calendars.




Look at that line up!    Newsboys, David Crowder Band, Kutless, Francesca Battistelli, Red, Newsong, KJ52, Tony Nolan, Sidewalk Prophets, Chris August, and Chris Sligh.  

They loaded up the van and headed out about noon to try to beat the icy weather that was supposed to hit our area.    After everything we saw on the news about what happened in Chicago and people being stuck on the road, we packed the back of the van with a cooler, sleeping bags and an overnight bag just in case they ran into any problems.      They did not have any problems driving up, but they had only been gone an  hour when there was a huge wreck in our area that left motorists stranded on a bridge called "The Stack" for almost 8 hours.      I was so thankful my boys had left prepared.

The boys called when they arrived and said they were standing in the cold waiting with a lot of other JAM fans.    The doors opened at 6:00 and it was a non-stop party until 10:30!  

Hubs took a couple of shots with his phone.     This one is of RED.   The boys were very excited about seeing them.    RED had just released a new album this past week.     All eleven songs are based on a book by C. S. Lewis.     We all thought that was just COOL!








Have you ever heard of Sidewalk Prophets?     The boys really enjoyed them.


I think it was loud... look at that kid holding his ears!   




All three boys said the highlight of the night was Newsboys!      Apparently their stage show was as awesome as their music.     The drummer's entire drum set lifted up into the air while the drummer was playing it and tilted backwards and rotated an entire 360 degrees... all while the drummer continued playing.    They said the place went nuts.      The lead singer had a huge platform that extended out into the crowd and he walked out there and all of a sudden was lifted up into the rafters.    Outrageous!       

They said it was the BEST WINTER JAM EVER!     


Following the concert you can stay for autographs.    Yea!    This is Little Guy getting his Kutless poster signed.

Off to the side were the other Kutless band members who were cutting up and drawing on some table paper.    Apparently they were laughing and talking and talking about what their ninja turtles would look like if they created one.      The boys thought they were great.    They took a picture of the art they created...






While the boys were jamming, I was at home reading and staying toasty warm.     I also had a little chat with our local meteorologist and friend, Tony Mastro.    I asked his opinion about the boys driving home that night.   He checked out the roads and told me it just wasn't safe for them to drive home so I made them a hotel reservation and told them to use those overnight bags and stay put.      

The boys were so excited about their autographed posters.    As soon as they got home this morning, the first thing they did (after giving me hugs) was show me their items.

 This RED poster is going to look so awesome on Big Guy's autograph wall!





Little Guy is proud to start his autograph collection.    

Winter Jam... have you ever been?    

2 comments:

Taylor & Krisa said...

I love Francesca Battisteli and have always loved the Newsboys! Glad they made it home safe and had fun!

Crystal said...

I went to Winter Jam about 8 years ago and it was so much fun. I've kept meaning to go again. I'm glad your guys had fun and got there and back safely.