Shoutfest 2005

Woohooo!

SHOUTFEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSST!

Shoutfest RAWKED yesterday! My "rawkfist" got a work out too! Actually, my entire body did! I'm a little stiff and sore from moving, dancing and headbangin'! Justin and his friends seemed to enjoy themselves too...don't they look so tough?

The Jackson Sun has a good article about the events that you can read here. It is always exciting to have events like this come to the Jackson area. My hope is the city with support these events so that there could be more like it. Hopefully Shoutfest will continue to make an annual stop here. It was noted that there were many attending from the Memphis area, so that is a good thing. Jackson actually has an event that attracts people from Memphis! To see a 30 second video promo clip of the festival click HERE.

It really felt good to see the turnout for the festival too. There were many many many people there enjoying the music and the games. I especially was impressed with Krystal Myers who can work a crowd like a veteran performer at such a young age. Talk about working a crowd, KJ-52 probably gave her lessons! That man put on a great show full of energy and persuaded everyone to "put yo hand heah! put yo hand heah!" It was so fun! He even asked for parents to stand up and "embarrass your kids!" LOL I am "not the parent" but that didn't keep me from embarrassing Katie's kids!

I was really interested in seeing Disciple and Skillet. Disciple's performance rocked the house! Whew! The energy! "Rise Up" kicked their set off and really fired up the people. It was so exciting and awesome! One customer in the store this week told me that I would "pass out" during Disciple's set because they are so good! I didn't pass out, but I did get a little light headed from the headbangin'! LOL They completed their set with the hit song "The Wait is Over" which seemed so appropriate this week with Hurricane Katrina's devastation on everybody's mind and lyrics like "Thunder rollin', lightning flashin', it's our time the wait is over, ... fires burnin', floods arisin', it's our time the wait is over!" We prayed for those effected by Katrina and I must say I was impressed not only with the music, but with the obvious heart for God the men of Disciple have. What a ministry they have going!

I let Tif have the camera so she could take some pictures of Jump 5, with instructions to "be conservative since the battery is low". Jump 5, while I'm not much into their "pop" sound, really put on an energetic show. They are fascinating to watch with all the flips and choreographed dance moves. I get tired just watching! When they ended their set, Tif hands me back the camera with about 35 pictures of Jump 5! So much for saving battery power so I could snap some shots of the youth group and the other bands! I had power for about ten more pictures and so I had to be very selective.

I HAD to get a shot of Disciple, I took a few, but only one turned out well. I have to say, I thought having a digital camera would turn me into a "National Geographic worthy" photographer, but it just hasn't. It might help when I learn how to use all the "bells and whistles" of my camera!

This pic is of one of the less energetic moments Disciple had on stage. I don't understand how some of these rockin' lead singers don't end up with whiplash the way they move around, jump, dance and headbang! It's like an aerobic exercise! What a way to pump up a crowd...not that Jesus hadn't already done that! After they played I headed over to their tent and picked out my new Disciple T-shirt! I haven't purchased a concert T in a very long time. Actually, I'm not sure I ever have...oh yes, I had an Edie Brickell T-shirt once, "What I am is what I am are you what you are or what?"

Zoegirl put on a great performance, although their set did settle things down a bit. Their song "Scream" is amazing and blossoms into a beautiful worship song in the end. Great stuff. I took pictures, but the battery was about dead and the flash didn't happen, thus the pic was too dark to make out anything. :-(

Skillet was the last band to play and they rocked too! Wow! This Shoutfest was heaven for those of us who like to really rock out! Their set was electric in atmosphere and total non-stop energy! "Best Kept Secret" was totally awesome and it was so cool to hang with Justin for that one. That song brings back memories for us. A crowd favorite was "My Savior" and I particularly liked "Obsession". Whew! It was a fantastic day of music and worship and rock and roll music! Being able to rock out and worship God at the same time is like heaven to me! I can't wait to be there for real!

This is a pic of some of the crazy people I spent the day with. Leana on the left has become a mentor to Tiffany which is a blessing. Katie in next to her obviously not paying attention to the picture taking! In the middle is Hannah, one of our pastor's kids, a youth girl whose name I do not know. The people who are serving as our interim youth leaders are pictured on the right, Venice and Paul. They are doing an outstanding job leading our youth while the church searches for a full time youth minister. Too bad they couldn't do it full time! The youth seems to be flourishing under their leadership, praise God!

There were some other lesser known artists that performed yesterday. Of them all, I think Talitha and Acacia deserve highest mention. This duo is ripe for the bigtime. Great songwriters that share insight into spiritual matters through well-written lyrics and memorable melodic hooks that are enhanced with simple blended harmonies. These two girls interacted with the audience in an intimate yet entertaining way. Their set was very well accepted by the audience and I'd recommend a listen. I think they are about to breakthrough into the "big time".

If interested in checking out some of the other bands on the Shoutfest Tour 2005, just check out the Shoutfest Website.