Doan Courant

The semi-whenever newsletter for one of the many Doan Families.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Uprising Festival

This past weekend, my wife and I, along with various friends and family, went to Uprising Festival, a new Christian concert in Denver. It was held at Coors Amphitheater, which is a large outdoor music venue. It was a great time. We arrived at 2:30 and were there until 10:00. There were 10 different bands there: Future of Forestry, Joy Williams, Needtobreathe, Bebo Norman, Jars of Clay, Red, MercyMe, Sanctus Real, and Third Day. We enjoyed all the groups, with the lone exception of Red (a bit to hard and mascaraed for us). Each of the groups had a slightly different style, which made for a diverse concert.
We are really starting to like Sanctus Real. They have a good sound, and interesting lyrics. Several of the songs they sang were songs I did not realize were their songs, like "I'm Not Alright" and "Don't Give up on Love." Some of their songs, like "Benjamin," are very touching.
Jars of Clay is much fun. They guys walked on stage wearing colored T-shirts, tube socks, and Larry Bird shorts. They looked hilarious. I don't take their music too seriously. It isn't all that deep. I really like their sound, though.
MercyMe is very much a worship band. Though they did sing one "fun song" (So Long Self), they sang mostly praise and worship songs. The lead singer, Bart Millard, along with Mac Powell from Third Day, are our favorite male vocalists.
Speaking of Third Day, they were the last group of the day, and they were awesome. I have only recently started listening to their music, and I really enjoy it. As already mentioned, we really like Mac Powell's voice. He has such a deep, rustic, and mature sound. They were a good balance between fun, get-up-on-your-feet songs, and deep, thoughtful, Christ-exalting music. It was a great way to end a great day.
There was a lowdark to the day, however. It was the flabby, loosely clothed forty-something lady in front of us who insisted on dancing to every single song that was song, whether or not that song was dance-able. To paraphrase Roy Batty from Blade Runner, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. Yet never I have seen anything as terrifying as that 'dancing' lady." We eventually moved and were able to see the concert, as opposed to her gyrating hips (these were not Elvis' hips). I don't know if I feel worse for her "dancing" technique (think Elaine from "Seinfeld"), or for the lack of love her friends and family showed her by not telling her she should stop.

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