Skillet Concert Review!

October 23rd 2009 Friday Night, The 6 of us (Tony, Kevin, Sarah, Joseph, Brian and I) went to the Skillet Concert in LA at Club Nokia... a really amazing event for any fan of Christian Rock music! I picked up my friend Brian Singer from his school about 12 or 12:30PM, brought him towards Long Beach so I at least have him with us for our ride to the show. We went to Millikan High School to pick up Joseph from school. After picking him up we went and grabbed Wendy's delicious food and brought to Joseph and Sarah's home to have some lunch to tide us over for a while. When we finished eating (and watching the spiderman cartoon) we headed out to LA for the amazing concert! Kevin and Tony were going to meet us there later, but we thought we might as well save a spot in line right? Traffic at about 2 or 3 wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, so we managed to get there we hours to spare, being second in line!
We played Cards for a long while, used the restroom one at a time, and then finally got a call from Tony and Kevin saying they arrived. We finally were let in the building, and it felt like an airport with the metal detectors and security checking everybody, blah what a hastle.

So we finally were in, center just behind the pit area. Perfect spot, see the whole stage, no one blocking our view (pit is lowered).

The First Band up was: "The Letter Black"
They had a hard rock style, with a girl singer, who can scream just as good as any screamo guy can. Overall they were pretty good! A little joke was, one of the guys in the band was wearing white while everyone else was wearing black, he stuck out so bad lol but Tony and Brian fell in love with the Girl Singer haha... New to the scene I'd say maybe a
8/10

The Second Band up was: "Decyfer Down"
They've toured with Skillet before and are good friends with them, so I knew they were gonna be pretty good at what they do. And they were, they played really well, they had good messages in their songs. Singer had the weirdest talking voice, didn't fit him but at the same time it did. He reminded me of the band Disciple's Singer.
But They did well
8/10

The Third Band up and Second Headliner was: "Hawk Nelson"
I've seen these guys before a Youth Convention, I'm not a huge Hawk Nelson Fan, but they actually did pretty good, made their show really fun, with their cool glasses, and cartoony additude. One thing awesome about being in California and hearing Hawk Nelson is you get to hear their song called "California!" They did a good list of songs from both their newer albums and older albums, I know more of their old stuff with they did a lot of so I wasn't totally just starring at them... Of course they told their reasons for being there on the tour and proclaimed Jesus the Reason! Overall they did really well
9/10

Finally saving best for the last "Skillet" was up:
As we watched the other band's instruments get torn away, only one drumset was left with two poles sticking out on the left and right. As we stood there, we were wondering what those poles were and why they were there, I thought they were for the string section so they don't fall off the back of the stage... They had ramps right in front of them coming down onto the actual stage. Korey's Keyboard (Korey is the keyboard player/ backround vocals/ guitarist for Skillet) was brought out. Other people who were helping out with the tour were tuning the instruments and setting up everything so the bandmembers didn't have to reveal themselves yet. As the "Hawk Nelson" Sign went down in the backround, the giant "Skillet" sign appeared making everyone cheer... as the lights went out the show began to start...

As it was about to start, we heard a monster voice telling us if we have any Heart Problems, trouble with rocking out, or trouble with pushing and shoving and other various stuff that made us laugh... a countdown was then conducted by the Monster Voice, when it hit zero, we then knew what those two pole were for, as music started, Jen was on the drums, and suddenly Korey and the Guitarist, Ben were infront of the pole, being lifted up on two cranes, with lights glowing behind it. It blew my mind, amazing intro, they came down and rocked out, they intro went right into their song "Whispers in the Dark" amazing transition. Through the first 2 or 3 songs, I was wondering where the string section was... and when the lights went dark again, they did their famous String intro off of the "Comatose Comes Alive" CD transitioning into Comatose!
Other amazing songs they did were "Better Than Drugs," "It's Not Me It's You" "The Last Night," "Those Nights," "Awake and Alive," and "Hero" being one of the main hits, was where they showed off their smoke machines, and seeing Jen sing and drum was impressive! In between some songs they had solos, first solo was done by Jen in an amazing Drum solo! It was awesome! Another one was done by Ben the Guitarist, all the Squidlies were awesome haha!Another good Song was "Yours to Hold" and John Cooper (Singer) made us laugh of course before hand, but I made Jen Ledger the drummer laugh on her singing solo (ask me later if you wanna know how :) ).
Of course one of the best songs they did "Monster" made everyone in our group rawkfist or headbang. And when the scary Monster voice came on we were rocking even harder!

So after they played the song "Savior" they left the stage... (Tony says he started it) Everyone started saying "One More Song!" or "Skill-Et!"
After a little while they came back out and started playing "My Obsession" after that, they played the song "Lucy" which I almost cried on, such a sad song...
They then finally ended off the night with a String Section Solo first with the Cello Player and then Violinist and then it went right into "Rebirthing" it was amazing!
The Concert blew my mind and even though our throats felt as if we were in the desert, the show was worth every penny and every breath... I wish I could repeat Friday... oh well I can't :)
I think they should come out with another DVD for this tour, it'd be cool... but yeah they did amazing
10/10

Well if you didn't get to come this time, there will always be other concerts to go to, and Youth Convention is coming up soon, so be prepared for that!!! Godbless thanks for reading this long drawn out message about "Skillet!"

><> Joe

Skillet Concert

The Four that I met with Wednesday Get Ready for

Next Friday October 23rd 2009, it's gonna Rock!!

><> Joe

And that's what happened...

Acts 13
38 "Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.39 Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do.40 Be careful! Don't let the prophets' words apply to you. For they said,41 'Look, you mockers, be amazed and die!For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it.'*" 42 As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue that day, the people begged them to speak about these things again the next week.43 Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God.Paul Turns to the Gentiles44 The following week almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord.45 But when some of the Jews saw the crowds, they were jealous; so they slandered Paul and argued against whatever he said. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, "It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.47 For the Lord gave us this command when he said,'I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.'*" 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.49 So the Lord's message spread throughout that region. 50 Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town.51 So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium.52 And the believers* were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Welcome Back XOY

XOY is back from AG Summer Youth Camp.

We heard testimonies last night about what God did for them last week. Topics that hit home - Life Re-Do's, relationships, family & missions work.

Testimony that hit home for me -"I was born for days like this"
I get caught up so many times wishing God would pull me out of a jam, waiting for a rough patch to be over, and just outright hoping for Friday when it's Monday (confessions of a 9-5er lol). I have to ask myself though, “How long will I be waiting for Friday, for the sun to come up, for the storm to pass?” Because while I eagerly wait w/ anticipation for the resolution to a problem, the answer to a prayer, the God-send for a need I miss out on life that is happening underneath my nose!

The truth is that life just doesn't "go-on". Life ladies and gentlemen happens and is happening. Life doesn't stop and wait while we wait for an answer to "what do I do w/ my life", "what career do I choose", "should I go to a UC, Cal State, private, out of state school..." I can go on and on.

Life happens regardless of our ability to deal and cope with its outcome. So my analogy for the day, treat life as a roller coaster ride (this is especially pertinent for roller coaster enthusiasts) - ride it through. Throw your hands up in the ayer (lol) and wave em like you just don't care. If we rode a roller coaster the way we live life we'd miss all those tummy dropping moments, the adrenaline rush, the thrill of your hair flying every which way, and the awesome sight of the world as seen from atop a roller coaster :)

If You (yes you) were born for days like this, then get out there and live it.

And They're Off

XOY is off for a week of mountain air, camp food, awesome worship and even awesomer (?? awesomer?? lol) worship.

Keep the team, the camp staff and our youth in your prayers. Pray for: safety, a time of revelation and just all-out amazingness that only happens when our youth are away from the comforts of home life and up on that mountain top.

Life Application Devo 7/8/2009

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45, NLT

Jesus reminds us that our speech and actions reveal the true underlying beliefs, attitudes, and motivations. The good impressions we try to make cannot last if our hearts are deceptive.
What is in your heart will come out in your speech and behavior.

Daily Devo

Good word -

"What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now. " Luke 6:24, NLT

	If you are trying to find fulfillment only through riches, wealth may be the only reward you will ever get--and it does not last.
	We should not seek comfort now at the expense of eternal life.

New Site Soon

We are going to be making changes to the site so get ready for a new and improved site!!

Ride Well Tour

Ride Well Tour kicked off their 8 week long bike ride across the U.S. yesterday at CLC.

Follow them on Twitter or Facebook - www.ridewelltour.org

Happy Memorial Day

The day started off well.... COLD.. but thank goodness the Sun decided to grace us with its presence!  The sun was shining, the grill was sizzling and the people were enjoying some good ol' BBQ! Thanks to all who made this annual event a success! 

To all the Men and Women who served our country and died in the line of duty, we salute you and remember each and everyone of you this Memorial Day and years to come.