Limping into day three of Spirit West Coast — literally, given the standing-room-only pit "seats" at Newsboys the night before — we had a full day of music goodness ahead of us. Armed with a few hours of sleep, we headed over to the final day's activities.
We got to the morning worship to see October, Inc., a band whose worship we had caught the previous day. It was pretty good, though the lead gal was a little "meh". But she DID play one of those keyboards that is slung like a guitar! So that was neat. [ed: I've been reminded that the keyboard/guitar thinger was worn by the gal in WORTH DYING FOR, not October, Inc. October, Inc. was more straightahead rock-ish music and was pretty good. The lead singer didn't sit too well with Vanessa; I thought she was good enough.] The message... didn't stick with me, so I'll have to skip saying anything about it.
Nothing after the morning worship except this Avril Lavigne wannabe, Jessie Daniels. And she was playing the main stage, where we were already planted; not really looking forward to the prospect of getting up and walking around on sore feet (and because Vanessa was interested in seeing her act!), I agreed to stick around. What followed was probably one of the more surprising acts of the festival. For any fault Ms. Daniels might have (e.g., singing pop-y music, having poor stage presence), she sure can sing. I only vaguely knew of her single, but the whole set was good stuff.
We ended up chilling for a few hours after Jessie Daniels, walking around, checking out the booths in the vendor area, etc. But we were eyeballing the 2:30PM slot, since that's when Aaron Shust went on the main stage. If you've listened to Air1 radio or spent any time in CCM, you've probably heard a song or two by Aaron Shust. But somehow, he has maintained a sort of "undiscovered" sense about him. He's a former worship pastor at a megachurch in Atlanta, and all of his music has retained a sort of worship quality. His biggest single, "My Savior, My God", is centered around a bit of music that he used in worship for months before writing the rest of it, recording it, and riding it to... moderate obscurity. For all of the radio play, awards, etc., the man should be a megastar, but he's a supporting act, a humble guy roaming around and grabbing his own bratwurst from the street vendor in between his shows.
And that says nothing about his music... which is absolutely fabulous. He played a number of tunes from his previously-unreleased second album, Whispered and Shouted, as well as songs from his inspired first album, Anything Worth Saying. His set on the main stage was tremendous; whether on guitar or piano, he delivered his songs simply and honestly. We were in tears a number of times, marveling at God's beauty and grace, to which he music constantly pointed. I think my favorite moment might have been hearing "Give Me Words to Speak" for the first time; it's a new song from the new album, but it builds on a 17-second snippet of music from the first album. So it felt somewhat familiar as a fragment, but he gave it such rich music and lyrics and developed it into a gorgeous song. I've adopted it as a prayer before going "on stage" — "Give me words to speak; don't let my spirit sleep 'cause I can't think of anything worth saying, but I know that I owe You my life." His music and attitude has taught me a LOT about what it means to lead people in worship.
We headed back to the tent for a while after Aaron Shust. We had every intention of making it back to watch Barlowgirl, but couldn't quite make it. They're a fun band, but not one we felt was a "can't miss" for the festival, so no worries. We DID make it back for Kutless, but not in time to get a reasonable seat. (Don't even get me started on the festival's wholly-ineffective and completely-unenforced "no seat saving" policy.) In the midst of all of the 13-year-old girls turning us away when we tried to sit in their friends' seats, a 40-something guy missing a few front teeth invited us to sit by him. He lived in San Diego and was driving out for each day's events... and was REALLY into Kutless. He seemed to know all of the lyrics to all of their songs, and was really cool. It was frustrating sitting so far from the stage when it was a band I wanted to watch, but we were both pretty tired (and saving our energy for the main act of the evening).
Side note: Kutless is one of those scream-y bands. The singer has a nice voice, but occasionally just breaks into this hoarse, blood-curdling screech. I've never understood how singers can do that; my voice is so tinny that everytime I try to do something like that, I just lose my voice for a few days. Ah well.
Once Kutless was done and the "pit" people (down in the front) started to clear out for dinner, we made our move. By the time it was done we were probably 40 feet from the stage, wedged between junior high youth groupers and a surprising number of their parents. The final headline was about to go on: Third Day.
If you haven't listened to Third Day, you ought to. If you like Lynyrd Skynyrd and other Southern rock, you would love Third Day. The singer ("Mac", of course!) has one of the most pure, rugged voices I've ever heard in any genre or venue; whether singing old hymns (they did "Blessed Assurance" for heaven's sake) or hard rock, he seems to sing everything so effortlessly, but with such passion. I knew very little of their music by heart — less even than tobyMac or Newsboys, the previous headliners — but it almost didn't matter. Like a cool drink, they were pure satisfaction to me and the rest of the tired crowd.
The best part of their act, and of the entire festival in my opinion, was when they ended with "Agnus Dei". Amidst the crowd's choruses of "Holy, Holy are you Lord God Almighty, worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb, You are Holy", the guys from Third Day left the stage. Just took off. We all kept singing — no one was leading anything, no one was on the stage, nothing. We were all just singing praises to the God of creation, telling Him that He is Holy, that He is worthy of our singing, of our devotion, and of our lives. I tear up thinking about it a little even now; no amount of my poor attempts to describe it would ever do it justice. It was just the beautiful culmination of so much vital spiritual food for my soul from the week. It was one of the only times I've ever been able to cry out — literally, raise my voice until I had nothing left — and dig from the depths of my soul to give everything I am to God. It was exquisite.
With screaming leg muscles, but just enough energy left, we headed over to the late night concert we had anticipated for a while: Jessie Daniels and Aaron Shust. In the smaller venue, both artists reenforced their technical prowess; Jessie Daniels was still a good singer (and still goofy on-stage :-), and Aaron Shust was still a brilliant and passionate songwriter. I spent most of the first set smiling and feeling young; I spent most of the second set with my eyes closed, letting the rich music just wash over me. The music was largely a repeat of the day's earlier sets, though they did a little more chit-chatting in between songs. No matter — both artists were good the first time around, and they were great that last evening.
And with that, the festivities of SWC were done. Our time there wasn't quite done; I could write about the "adults" that were up WELL past curfew, laughing and carrying on quite loudly; or the kids outside our tent that didn't seem to attend a single concert, but chose 1AM as the time in which they would start worshiping. But ultimately, all of those inconveniences were small potatoes compared to the amazing time Vanessa and I had together. The music, the ambience, the personalities... Spirit West Coast was, all at once, spiritually nutritious, musically pleasing, challenging, exhilarating and an all-around good time. I suspect I'll be feeling the after effects of SWC for some time, in my music, leadership and life.
Posted by pcg at June 15, 2007 12:04 AM