N - Porcupines on Fire

We're beginning the second half of the A to Z Challenge. That's right, 13 letters down, 13 to go. Today we are on the 14th letter, N. So let's get this thing coasting down the backside of this hill.

Love
Newsboys - They've been around a long time and are basically Christian music royalty at this point. Signing former DC Talk member Michael Tait as their new lead singer a couple of years ago only added to their status. I got to see them live last month at Winter Jam. They put on a great show. You can see them performing in concert in the movie God's Not Dead. Can't wait to see that one.

Nightwish - Today's post gets another bonus band. Nightwish is one of my go-to bands when I'm writing. I got introduced to them by fellow writer Rebekah Loper (check out her blog here). She recommended them my first year participating in NaNoWriMo. They've been a large part of my writing playlist ever since.

Hate
New York, New York (Frank Sinatra) - Old Blue Eyes can sing. No doubt about it. He deserves to be considered one of the all-time greats. But I would cover my ears with a burning porcupine to avoid hearing this song. Having to play it when I was in the basketball Spirit Band at OSU didn't make it any more tolerable. Where were the porcupines then?

Love to Hate
Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley) - The Rick-roll song itself. I have to admit that I liked this song when it first came out in the 80s. It wasn't terrible then. Now? Yeah, it's bad. It's been played to death, turned into a joke on the Internet, and basically destroyed any credibility that Rick Astley may have ever had. So now I hate it. But since it's an internet meme, I kinda like hating it.

Who have you seen in concert recently? Writers, who do you listen to when writing? Ever been rick-rolled? Let me know in the comments. And if you see any porcupines on fire, it's just me avoiding Frank again.

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.