Winter Jam 2014

Last night, I took my daughter and her best friend to Winter Jam. If you are not familiar with Winter Jam, it is a concert with 10 Christian rock bands for $10 per person. Admission and seating are first-come first-serve. Last year, my daughter and I waited in line for an hour and half in the cold rain and were nowhere near the door when they sold out. We weren't going to let that happen this year. We got in line five hours before the doors opened. That's a long time to wait in line with several thousand other people. But it was worth it.

The lineup changes each year. They bring a few marquee acts, some moderately popular acts, and some new up and coming bands. This year's lineup included the following:

• Derek Minor
• Love & the Outcome
• Everfound
• Colton Dixon
• Newsong
• Plumb
• Thousand Foot Krutch
• Tenth Avenue North
• Lecrae,
• Newsboys

There wasn't a bad performance in the whole bunch. There were several different styles represented from Hip-Hop/Rap to acoustic rock to hard core jams. Everyone was on and rockin' it. But the biggest surprise of the evening (one that got the crowd screaming like madmen even more than they already were) was when Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK) announced a special guest would be joining them for a song. The one and only Carrie Underwood! Now I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of Carrie's music. My tastes go much more hard core rock and metal than pop country. But I gotta say, Carrie really threw up the Rawkfist! If you don't understand the reference, you need to listen to more TFK. I was shocked at the way she rocked it with TFK. Well played, Carrie... well played.

After the concert, we stuck around and got autographs from the boys of Everfound and Newsboys. My daughter and her friend were thrilled to be called pretty by Michael Tait and Duncan Phillips of Newsboys. I got a "Good job, Dad" and a handshake from Michael Tait. Not a bad way to end things. Got home about 1 o'clock this morning, fell asleep around 3, got up for work at 6. Life is good.