True love--God's love--never ever dies.
Utterly amazing! Utterly! Even if we were two minutes late, we got our seets with little difficulty, and listened to newworldson sing a song about Babylon, and one other. There style was very unique, not to mention loud! It wasn't quite as bad concertwise as it is CDwise, it had a fair beat, but not enough for me to become overly excited though I was at the time they sang it so very excited that I was really their, finally their that I had butterflies in my stomach and all else that's good.
Next of course was Kutless, kutless wasn't bad, they're songs where really crazy. I don't care for really crazy stuff, and I don't enjoy really calm things. I find newsboys as a very good balance. Anyway...they said that the newsboys wanted them to do something for them. He said he'd gone to his first NewsBoys concert when he was eight, they'd been doing it along time so they couldn't jump up and down like they used to. So we needed to do it for them, and that the NewsBoys wanted Kutless to get us all warmed up. They had a concert of sorts to see which side of the building was the most ready. The other side of the building was I think the side that won, but my sister and I jumped up and down through that entire song anyway (don't ask me what the song was, I caught no words...). By the time the song was over I was quite tuckered out. *blush* They did Sea Of Faces, which is my favorite Kutless song. Though I don't find Kutless to be really thrilling. The next song was dedicated to really crazy people, my sister emmeadiately wanted to know if she was crazy enough to go crazy for this song for crazy people. I told her she was deffinately really crazy. She was mighty glad, she told me "THANK YOU!" and went completely berserk. (Slight acageration, slight.) And by about the middle of the song was quite hot and had to sit down. *giggles*
Kuttless and newworldson took up aboud a hour, it was eight o'clock about when Paul Colman came out, the butterflies had been slowly withering away in my stomach as I began to comprehend the fact I was really really in that concert, but they emmeadiately came back the minute I heard his strange Aussie accent.
He said he'd always pronounced the name of our beautiful (hear, hear) state incorrectly. He'd always said "Wisconsin" but now that he'd talked to some of the wonderful people throughout the day he thought he had it down and wanted to give it a try. He said... "Wis-caaaaan-sin." Which was very wrong. I didn't quite catch what he said next, it was something that had to do with New York, which is very wrong because he's performing for Wisconsinites and should stick to speaking about our dear Badger State not New York. *wink*
Then he began to speak of GlobalTribe, what he said was quite interesting and somewhat touching. He said for a $1 a day you'd be helping GlobalTribe get a newsboys baggie and tell them your name and shake your hand. He called it "meeting with the newsboys" though with how many people signing up on the dollar a day deal if they actually had a comversation with each person or each group of people they would have been "meeting" all night and into the following day... He said that you could go sign up and the back booths during the short internission, then the newsboys and us lovely people were going to rock the foundations of that collessium. *woots*
The intermission was quite...borring. I don't know how long the intermission was, but how ever long those things are they always have the one thing in common. All intermissions are outragiously borring!
Then, out of the blue Duncan's shadow appeared. He was bobbing his head in a strange fashion and his shadow was going in out out in perportions. Most of the time his perportions wheren't correct too... Then Jeff appeared, his head was to small and his body was to big on the screen for a moment, but then they fixed him, and he kind of bobbed up and down. The on the oposite screen Paul's shadow appeared holding a guitar. Then Peter's shadow rather bounded or jumped into the picture. He was singing the chorus to some song, but I can't for the life of me remember which somethat was! *weeps*
*recovers* I am, though, pretty sure it was the chorus of Go, but I'm really not sure. There shadows where gone, and there they where! *faints*
*recovers again* Anyways, they started out with Shine, it sounded very different then it does on the radio, but it was quite thrilling! Peter walked about halfway up the runway during the song, returned to the stage and yelled "Wherever we go!" into the mic, and started singing that one. Sustituting "Get ‘em all excited, all invited" for "Get them all excited, your all invited." Again, quite thrilling.
They then sang either Something Beautiful or Blessed Be Your Name, I honestly can't remember which they sang first so I'll just pretend they sang Bless Be Your Name first and describe that one first. It's a song that my church sings quite often, and I have it on my iPod so I know the lyrics well and sang along. He turned the mic around toward us near the end when it was just repeating the chorus several times. It sounded very nice, but of course we didn't do it justice for I'm sure most of us where horse from screaming. *grins* It's a very good song, sometimes when I get to singing one of these songs or listening to one of these kind of songs they'll hit me in just the right place and I'll choke up. This is one of those moments, so with a horse throat and it tightening anyways I had quite the time trying to sing those lines.
Then of course they sang The Mission, great song!
Something Beautiful came next, he had a little to many syllibles in one line, he was substituting again, this time he substituted this "When we laugh so hard we cry It's the love between you and I" with "When we laugh so hard we cry It's the love between Wisconsin and I". You will note he did not say between "Wis-can-sin and I". *wink* At the end of the song all the lights went out and then only two spotlights, one toward Duncan who'd come down from the other, and the other toward Paul. There conversation went something like this, beganning with Duncan.
"You know what I'd really really like right now, Paul?"
"No I don't, what?"
"Guess."
"Okay, umm...a nice big, warm, cup o' tea."
"No, guess again."
"A hundred samples of cheese."
"I love cheese! --maybe."
"Oh, umm, I don't know. What would you like more then anything else right now, Duncan?"
"To hear...some Old School Newsboys!"
Of course he fairly yelled the last part, everyone in the crowd yelled and the spot light turned toward the center of the crowd where Peter and Jeff had gone. Jeff said something silly but--so sorry--I don't remember what that was. *growls* Peter said something and Jeff played a song that I don't believe I am familar with. Then said, "Your turn," and Peter played and sang the chorus of Million Pieces, Peter dropped away from the mic suddenly and the crowd falltered midline, he grinned broadly and finished the chorus of the song. Then Jeff did Entertaining Angels rather poorly. And then Peter played their version of Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. The spotlight went toward Peter and after a few seconds Jeff went back to the main stage. Peter sang the first verse then began the chorus, he sang the chorus once then turned with his back to the mic and sang again with the whole collesium in one voice.
He then took the mic and began to talk about growing up. He said he grew up as a preachers kid in Australia. Several poeple said "Amen" and he goes, "Yeah, that's all preachers' kids hear." He talked about youth group at his home, and the prayer night every tuesday and he said "I remember being chased around the coffee table by huge men with hair comming out of their nostrils........trying to lay their hands on me." We all laughed and he continued in a somewhat disapointed tone, but a joking tone as well. "And you laugh?" He said, "I use to think I had a drug problem, every Sunday I was drug off to church." He said he was one of those who'd heard all the sermons, pastors would preach about heaven and hell and as a kid he'd been saved about "Seven hundred and fifty times.....a month." He talked for just a moment more. He spoke of when he first came to the states the band bought airline tickets to some place in California and scrapped together a bit of money to buy a old beat up van. He said he hated that van he slept in it for two years, it had no heating or air conditioning. They'd do tours in California and it be hot and they'd stick to the seats. They wheren't leather seats or anything, what was the cheapest? They where vinyl seats, they'd go across the country doing shows then they came to Wisconsin it was freezing cold and they did a show and eleven people showed up. Ten of those people hated it the one was "My mother."
He said the words I had written the other day on Nweb. Though they wheren't exactly the same as the words I had written they where just as touching. (God's love is truely amazing.) He said something like "Have you not heard, or do you not know? The Lord is the Everlasting God. He's the creator of the ends of the earth, he does not grow tired or weary, he's understanding that no one can fathom, he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young man stubble and fall but those who wait on the Lord, those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. For I Am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to ya," he paused took a breath and wispered into the mic "Do not fear. Do not fear." I know it wasn't exactly what he said, but it's very near what he said, he added in a little more, and I so wish I had a pen or could legally record it or something because it was a very uplifting speech. He spoke for a moment more and then began at It Is You. We all sang it, a beautiful song, and Peter made his way back to the stage, and sang I think it was He Reigns. "It’s the song of the forgiven drowning out the Wisconsin rain" (and of course the crowd loved that).
"And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word" At the word "darkness" all the lights went out 'sept a single spotlight on Peter, but after he sang, "can't drown out a single word" he yelled "not a word!" and the lights went on again. He sang "One day all America singing" and he turned the mic around and the place fairly shook. Then they sang Breakfast, and Peter got us all waving their hands in the air bidding Cap'n Crunch goodbye. (I'm sure newsboys is very good publicity for Cap'n Crunch cereal.) And their was a little bit of cereal falling on Peter and Paul but not a whole lot, and of course one of the band members tried to catch some in his mouth. I think he missed though. *laughs* He told us a little story during this song, he said he was driving in the bus and had got lost, "My GPS lies ta me," he said and so he pulled into a truck stop got out of the bus and walked right into the path of a man. "This man was 7' 2" a trucker, he had this funny accent and he says to me, 'Where you going, young man?' So I says to him, 'I'm trying to get to Wisconsin...sir' and he says, 'Oh, you are? Well here's three things you need to know about Wisconsin besides the cheese, 1) They are some of the friendliest American's in America! 2) They are some of the prettiest Americans in America! 3) They are some of the loudest Americans in America!' Is that true? Is it? IS IT TRUE?" Obviously it's true because my sister lives in WI and she is unbelievably loud!
At another part during Breakfast the place was reduced to just drums and guitar, so Peter introduced the band. He said "The guitarist Mr. Paul Colman!" Paul began to really make the guitar sing so Peter added "Yeah, give us a taste," and everyone yelled, then "One of the nicest people to walk the earth today, Mr. Jeff Frankenstien!" and Jeff made a indian like bow. Then he said "One of the loadest people in the band, if your ears aren't ringing when you wake tomorrow I want my money back! On the drums, Duncan Phillips!" and of course we yelled. And I would have yelled if he introduced himself but he forgot to. Or else hadn't planned too... They had us sing the chorus to Breakfast, and well we where singing the lights went out and all the newsboys disapeared. The crowd clapped and yelled and stamped their feet and yelled and screamed somemore and after several seconds the lights went back on and they sang Your Love Is Better Then Life. "I'll lie awake and wonder how to make Wisconsin believe." (Again, note, "Wisconsin" not "Wiscansin". Huge difference.) They sang that, we all roared with delight and he sang I Am Free. He was really quite hot by that time and we where extremely hoarse so it wasn't the greatest turn out but fair enough. During one part where there's those solo pieces Peter made his way down the ramp, he made it about four steps reached out into the crowd and picked up this Cap'n Crunch doll someone had on a stick. It carried a board that read "Hey, Pete!" and it didn't resemble the Cap'n much at all. Peter held it by it's stick, looked at it for several seconds and says "This is cute but just wrong" and handed it back to the lady carrying it with a grin.
Continued till he was nearly at the end of the ramp and says "Wisconsin" (again, notice how he said it) "Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin. Wisconsin! Wisconsin! Wisconsin! WISCONSIN!" Of course, those Wisconsinites went berserk. He continued, "Who the son sets free is free indeed, can you believe that?" We believe, and we yelled, he continued speaking, I forget all he said, but it was a great speech. He spoke of the great commission, which is a great speach to make when that's what the album GO is about. His speach was short, then he began to do this very wild dance, it was very wild but I'm sure he was very careful as he didn't fall off the ramp. He said something but didn't have the mic close enough to his face so I only just caught it, he said "When the Spirit of the Lord is in my heart I wanna dance like David danced." He then sang the chorus once more going back toward the stage. The song ended, Duncan banged on the drums for several seconds more, then got down and like I guessed before this is the most pathetic part of a newsboys concert. Peter put a arm over Duncan's shoulders, his other arm over Paul's shoulders and Duncan put his free arm over Jeff's shoulders and they made one bow and then waving at the crowd they disapeared back stage to go meet up with the dollar a day-ers.
Then their was the "Drum Solo" in their somewhere (forgot where, hate memory, hate memory, hate memory, I think it was right after the two minute lights out time after Breakfast), Duncan and Peter hit off on the drums. Peter was quite close to our seats, (ever noticed how when he drums he looked like he'd just stretched a muscle or something?) Anyways, they battled between each other and Peter's platform began to rise several feet, then Duncan began rising as well, he didn't rise as high as Peter I don't think but he began to fall forward and then the drum kit went around and around for several seconds which I dare say was quite thrilling!
Of course, by the time the event was over, and even the pathetic part was over it was eleven o'clock, *ack* we made our way out and found some friends had come as well. And then another man we knew and his newsboys-loving-son. From the former set of friends we learned that we are actually friends to someone who is related to Paul Colman?! Or something like that...I forget 'zactly what they said, but somehow. Though I'm pretty sure that that's what it was. Supar-dupar.
I'm awefully glad newsboys have come to WI, I know they have come here before, I'm pretty sure they where in OshKosh earlier this year but I forget. Wis-can-sin (sounds nice doesn't it?) is such a low down state, I mean all the time you hear about LA and everyone once to go to Florida for vacation. Or perhaps seeing California, Washinton, or New York, or even seeing the large city not more then two hours from my home the great Chicago. I dare say, who's ever heard of Wisconsin? And even less people have heard of Wis-can-sin!
(Photos randomly distributed through out this post curtisy of the Life102.5 radio station (one of the event hosts.) Thanks to them!)
(Imported from Xanga.)
