Year 3, June 14th, 2018: Third Day Farewell Concert

Today's the day!  The perfect trifecta has happened this spring in the way of concerts for me: Michael W. Smith, Newsboys, and Third Day! These three were my top 3 favorite CCM (contemporary Christian music) musical artists in high school.  And I have now seen them all within 3 months of each other which hasn't happened since high school! Although, I think they were spread out over 8 months or so.  Per normal, I started getting very ancy and nervous about how the evening was going to go, not knowing how much of the concert I was going to see, and psyching myself up to be content with whatever happened.  I was secretly hoping to see at least 75% of it, and by God's grace, I saw 90%!  I only missed Mac Powell's solo set because we were preparing for our bit.  Let's back it up a bit though.

I was able to attend this concert, Third Day's Farewell Tour, only because I volunteered to hand out child sponsorship packets for Food for the Hungry.  I have never done that before, but I have volunteered at many concerts doing many things.  I knew about this concert before the tickets even went on pre sale and I was going to ask Jared to go with me, buying the cheapest seats possible, which were still $25.  Well, the tickets sold out in less than 2 days because it was at the smallest venue they booked for the tour.  And I also hesitated because I knew that I had been overspending on activities and health products this semester, so I was trying to back off.  Maybe I should have stuck to my "am I going to regret not seeing this concert?" rule because I think I would have been a bit sad if this volunteer opportunity hadn't come up.  A friend of mine either saw me post the information for the concert tickets or I saw it on one of the Facebook groups she leads, but she gave me the phone number and after about a month of back and forth (I had my phone stolen within this time), I was able to sign up!  I made sure I wasn't stuck behind in a booth selling merchandise though, because I knew I really did want to see at least a few songs.

Third Day was one of my mom's favorite bands and we have many memories seeing them in concert and singing their songs in church.  Third Day, like Newsboys and DCTalk and Jars of Clay and a ton more baby bands, opened for Michael W. Smith for at least one tour, if not two of them.  My mom and I's last concert together was Third Day and Michael W. Smith at the Indiana State Fairgrounds 8 years ago.  So, the band holds a special place in my heart.  If you follow the link and listen to a few of the video clips I took, you'll hear the unique sound of Mac Powell's deep Southern voice since he and Mark Lee are from Georgia.  They are considered Christian "rock" but not in the same sense as Skillet is.  I'd call them more heavy contemporary/pop than Michael W. Smith.  Their lyrics tend to go a little deeper than some bands, especially their earlier songs like "Thief."  Their show isn't as spectacular as Skillet or Newsboys, and they didn't have multiple video screens or play as many as their old music videos as Newsboys did.  But their fans are just as crazy as fans of other groups.  They are called "gomers" from a song from their early years and there were definitely some of us there from when they began their official band back in 1995.  They had a garage band during or right after high school called the "Nuclear Hoedown" with Mark Lee, Mac Powell, and I think one other guy has founding members.  They added other members like Tai Anderson, Brad Avery, and David Carr soon after, and that's how I knew them as those 5 guys.  But I guess in my absence from CCM, Tai, Brad, and David left at different points and for the last 1 1/2 to 2 years, Mac and Mark have been doing solo concerts and working on solo projects.  Kind of like most bands do, they have drifted a part a (tiny) bit.  They are still best friends and nothing awful has happened between them, but it's time to move on.

Some people have congratulated them on their retirement and Mark said that they don't think of themselves as retiring but just moving on to something else musically. Christians don't really retire because our main job is to spread the gospel, right?  Mac kept calling Mark the "good doctor" so I think I remember hearing that Mark actually has a theological doctorate degree.  He wrote a lot of the songs, especially the lyrics, and seems to have that pastor's personality to him.  I did see a 20 minute video on YouTube of Mark teaching.  I couldn't help but think of Gary's ideas of "retirement" of not stopping work completely but transitioning TO something.  And both of these guys are going TO something.  They are actually quite "young" in their mid 40's, so they've got a lot left.  If you think about it, I came involved in Michael W. Smith's music about 1/3 of the way in, to Newsboys about 1/4 of the way in and maybe to Third Day pretty much at the beginning.  And their ages reflect this fact with MWS being in his 60's, Newsboys in their 50's, and Third Day in their 40's, and us in our upper 30's.  Yes, I do think too much about these things.  But these were all my first crushes, my first boy bands, the music that got me through what little (compared to now) stress I had in high school.

And I think that God has orchestrated all of this at the right place and time.  I think I might be going a mid life crisis of sorts, or perhaps just an identity crisis, now that the kids have gotten older.  I have been questioning a lot of things the last few years and thinking quite differently than I did in my years of naivety through my 20's and younger 30's.  I didn't think I was that mom that lost who she was while having young kids, but I did.  I lost who I was, what I loved about myself, and I think that maybe these concerts this spring has rekindled a part of me that I had lost.  I find so much comfort and joy and excitement in music, life on the road, behind the scenes, the creative process, the influence it has, etc. and although it's not my life and I am no where near being a professional, I connect with it and understand it.  It's where and when I've connected with God the most.  And because I didn't focus on it for about 10 years, I lost part of my connection with God.  I'm a much more joyful person when I've listened to these songs again.  Some have very simple lyrics, so I think it's the actual music that gets me, being a musician myself.  I find that I worship better or more enthusiastically and I'm not distracted as much if I can put my whole self into actually playing the music, on or off a stage.

Therefore, this spring has been an incredible reawakening of that spirit.  I've always dreamed about sharing this love of music and concerts with the kids just like my mom did with me.  And now we have arrived at that chapter in our story.  I know that this chapter of life wouldn't have happened if we hadn't had to move back from Prince Edward Island.  The midwest is the place area to take in a ton of concerts.  There's 100's within 1-5 hrs (if you count the haven that Nashville is of course), and I'm just talking about the Christian artists.  Michael W. Smith didn't go up to Atlantic Canada until after we had moved back! And there's a handful of artists that make it up to Massachusetts or even New Hampshire.  But it's not the same as the good old "Bible Belt" aka the Midwest that Indianapolis is part of.  So, I'm very, very grateful that all of these are practically in my backyard.  I know fans that live in other nations that have waited 20 years to take in a live concert.  They come out in droves when the artists make it to Europe or South America, as several did this spring.

I am happy, joyful, content, peaceful, blessed, grateful, and many more things all because God orchestrated these wonderful reminders of who He is through the talented musicians I have loved for years.  I couldn't have planned any of this myself.  It was all God.  Thank you, Jesus!

Now for the nitty gritty, blow by blow.

The venue, Old National Centre/Murat Theatre, is less than a 25 minute drive from my house, which makes it fairly easy for me.  It's smack dab in the middle of downtown Indianapolis, ok, more like the northeast bit of downtown, but it was an easy drive just a couple block north of our normal route.  I wasn't nervous about driving to the venue and left plenty of time to circle the block looking for parking if I needed to.  I was nervous about walking to my car and driving home in the dark though.  I arrived at the church nearby that I thought was where my friends said to park but there was no attendant.  I think there was supposed to be a $5 donation.  I saw other people parking in this lot that where working during the concert as security and since the parking lot didn't seem full I didn't see why I couldn't park there.  The spaces were marked "by permit only" which made me a tad nervous, but I took a chance.  After the concert, I realized that there was a lot directly north of the venue where I could have parked.  I don't know if it was the $5 lot or not but whoops.  The church I parked at was on the north east corner of the venue.  The street was well lit and it was easy to get to my car.  I decided to drive the opposite everyone else was heading because they wanted to get on the highway quickly to drive 3-5 hrs home whereas I could meander the back streets no problem.  I also waited, as we Johnson usually do, for most of the crowd to dissipate so I didn't have to wait in traffic.  It was smooth sailing home, despite some darker parts of the street and not knowing where some of the road markers were.  Whoops.  The roads were empty though.  I was home by midnight.

I actually walked all around the venue, which butted up against the street with it's entrance opening up to it's parking lot, before I found my entrance.  We had to be at the front entrance, but off the right.  The cool thing was that because of how the theatre was positioned, all the trucks and buses had to be parked right there in the same parking lot as the crowd was parked.  That never happens!  Usually we are on the opposite side of the buses.  All the crew and bands were already inside, but it would have been easy to see them if they had to come back to the buses.  There were no ropes, barely any security, etc.  I was secretly hoping to see someone, but didn't.  After the concert, I did hang out for a couple of minutes but again, no one came out.  Or they were already on the bus maybe.  Anyway, I wasn't sure if I would know anybody that was volunteering, but my friend and her daughter came.  Yeah!  That helped to break my nervousness.  We got checked in easily, got our aprons, and was escorted to a quiet place for training.  Meanwhile, the VIP ticket holders were let in and went to their seats for soundcheck.  I'm not sure if there was a Q and A.  We could hear the soundcheck though as we were upstairs in the balcony area and the doors were open.  I got very giddy and started recording the sound, so on the video you hear both Mac Powell singing and some of the stories that the coordinator was sharing with us, as well as instructions about the packets.

That's when we learned that we were to be give actual tickets for real seats and we would see most of the show!  I was floored!  Not only did I get to see the concert, I had a seat!  I thought I might have to stand for all of it.  Praise the Lord!  Now, there was a tall guy sitting in front of me and we were way off to the right side, so it was a bit difficult to take pictures and videos.  I got some great ones though!  My back was sore from being a bit twisted up getting them.  I also took the time to really just listen to wall of sound coming from stage and the audience singing along.  And it was a good reminder to either sit way, way up front and/or in the middle or get balcony seats.  But I was grateful for a $35 seat that I didn't pay for!  So I spent that money on a t-shirt instead.  I had checked through my old memories boxes and couldn't find a single Third Day t-shirt!  I found an old necklace, but that's it.  So now I have a t-shirt with lots of their song titles written on it in the outline of the state of Georgia with Third Day in the middle in a soft rose pink, soft fitted women's tee material.  It didn't say "farewell tour" on it, but I bought a little bracelet that did.  I thought about getting the turquoise shirt that did have the dates and cities on it but I didn't like the cut of it, although it was a women's tee as well.  All in all, I only spent $40 for the whole evening!  No fee for the ticket, no fee for parking, just a little bit of gas cost, no fee for food because I snuck in my own (and was starving when I was driving home because I didn't take the time to eat).  That's the cheapest concert outing to date!  I scored big time!

Here's the link for my playlist on YouTube of the video clips I took: Third Day Playlist

The Murat Theatre, now Old National Centre, as something to do with the Murat Shriners I think.  They also have a Shriner's circus we've seen before.  I don't know the details, but it's definitely an old building that has lots of history.  In fact, the last time I was here was about 8 years ago when Steven Curtis Chapman AND Michael W. Smith did a tour together.  My friend Sheryl and I sat in the middle of the floor on the right edge I believe, maybe right in front of the balcony, so in the same or similar row as this concert but across the aisle, or maybe more towards the center.  I think my mom was ill, so it was probably more like 9 years ago and I remember belting out "Healing Rain" when Michael sang it.  They have a couple of large rooms, but I think the main auditorium seats 2,500 people.

Semis full of gear!

See where they had to park the buses?  So close to the entrance!  4 buses in total that I could count.

Arrived at the front doors!  These are the VIP people waiting to get in.  They had to go through security first and then we volunteers were checked in.

Again, wow, we walked right past where they all had to walk in from the bus to the back of the stage!  When you go in the main entrance, you walk towards the back of the building, and take a U-turn to get into the back of the auditorium.  It all makes sense now how it's laid out.  Cool!

Food for the Hungry organization that we volunteered for.  It's exactly what you think it is.  A child sponsorship program that helps children and their families receive education to better themselves past poverty.   So they meet the daily needs for awhile, but also build wells, help parents start businesses, etc. and then they become self sustaining in 10 years.  I don't know how long the sponsorship lasts, but I imagine through the child's lifetime. And I think they work in areas of natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes.  Similar monthly pledge, similar stories of children receiving an education, getting to know Jesus through church plants, even coming to the States for more education or finding other jobs not available in their countries (think accounting or being a lawyer), and having their own families.  And most children grow up and stay in their communities teaching farmers how to have more efficient crops.  You know the drill.  The stories are amazing and you can't have enough organizations like these.  One organization can't handle the poverty in the world.

Tada! I'm a child sponsorship volunteer!

Getting our training on! Same as other programs, there's only one packet per child, so if they don't get sponsored, then the person has to return the packet so it can be taken to another concert.  Forms of payment were discussed, what to tell people about admin costs, how to sponsor multiple kids or give a one time general donation.  I was a little anxious because I know the drill and yet wanted to seem attentive.  Plus, the soundcheck was going on.  And thankfully, after some last minute emails, there were plenty of volunteers that showed up.  Yeah!  We were asked if some of us wanted to be at the booth and I most definitely knew that I didn't want to be.  We were also told that we weren't to be salespeople.  We were to let the speaker do the talking from stage and we were just to hand out packets and then collect the payments.  And smile big! And walk up and down the stairs until it hurts during intermission.

Welcome to the show!  A zoomed out shot from my seat!  Most of my pictures are zoomed in, so this way you get a more accurate feeling of where we sat.

Free admission all because I gave up a total of 1 1/2 hrs of my almost 8 hrs there.  Volunteering is such an awesome way to save money.  And it feels good, too.

To add to the paragraph on the next picture, at the KLove both you could write down your favorite Third Day song on a sticky note and they posted it on the wall behind them.  I'm not sure what they did with them afterwards.

Sweet!  THE North American Christian Convention which has been a staple of our independent Christian churches for many decades was part of one of the promos tonight for the local Christian radio station!  KLove is nationally known, but I do believe the morning show hosts live here and run their show from our station here.  We also have a second Christian station we can pick up on as well. I was just happy to see the NACC was being promoted. I'll be attending 1 day of the 3 day event with Jared the last week of June to see my favorite comedian John Crist and my sister's pastor, Bo Chancey, who took over when my pastor retired from our church in Manchester, NH.  Their church is just as large as Indian Creek and I can't wait to here him speak!  And to attend a conference all day with just Jared.  We haven't done that since a marriage seminar thing my parents sent us on when Benaiah was maybe 2 years old.  The men don't have an e2 booth but we'll know gobs of people there and their ministries.  Can't wait!  And it was 8 years ago that we met with someone for the first time to talk about the job on PEI.  Time flies...more on that next week!

Like I said, it's an older theatre kind of like the Indianapolis symphony one, probably built at the same time.  It's been kept up well, but with all the modern conveniences.  See those TV monitors there?  You can still listen and see the concert from them if you come out to the lobby like we did!  That's how I knew that we missed all of Mac Powell's set.  I'm kind of bummed about that because he was Mom's favorite, but, I'm sure he'll be around again.  Otherwise, we saw the rest of the concert!

First up, was a surprise guest, Matt Maher.  I'm not sure who the female singer was that was with him.  Mr. Maher is a name I'm very familiar with because he's primarily a worship songwriter.  I couldn't tell you exactly which ones, but I've seen his name on all kinds of songs we have sung at church over the last 20 years.  He's an accomplished musician, but didn't feel the pull for writing worship music until a little later in his career and I've never heard him be "on tour" before.  He's one of those that stays in the Nashville area and helps the bands write songs and then sends them out to do the harder (or is it easier?) work of being on tour.  Anyway, it was a special treat and I enjoyed it immensely.

I know we've sung this one called "Lord I need You" at our churches the last few years.

He had the coolest piano with him, at least I believe it was his because of the kinds of signs on it.

Next up was Mark Lee, co founder of Third Day.  It was very intriguing to hear his life story about being hit by a vehicle while selling doughnuts as a teen for a fundraiser, all on a road literally called "Hurt Road."  He's finally written a memoir about it and sharing songs he wrote that kind of go along with it.  He's always been a Christian, but he felt called to really dedicate his life to ministry after the accident.  I've never heard him speak before, and he's always reminded me of Jody Davis, the leader electric guitarist of Newboys, because they are the wingmen to the lead singer.  Without these guys, the leads would be alone.  I do have to say that I can tell that he and Mac Powell have reached middle age and put on a little weight though, lol.  They definitely look their age, but are also more polished than their 20 something self's as they should be.

Telling his story.

Nice promo about the "Hurt Road" book.

I was totally bummed that the rest of the band as I knew it wasn't there.  I'm sure these guys are just as good, but the bonds may or may not be as tight.

Sweet song he wrote to encourage his girls, so he used a bunch of pictures of their family together.  That's about as much as we got for a video during the show.

And it's time for the main event!  I didn't miss a single song!  I'm not sure if this lighting is what Benaiah calls "flash and trash" but I'm thinking at least some of it was.  I wish I could have seen more of it but was blocked by a tall guy in front of me.  It's also harder for bands to work with lighting (at least I think so) in small theatres when they are used to having big arenas because the lights would bounce off different surfaces at different angles or get blocked by walls or curtains.  But that's why you have a lighting crew that know exactly how to readjust everything to make it work.  Pretty basic light set up, almost exactly the same as we have had church, at least the top lights there that have multiple bulbs in them and can make different patterns.  They also had a ton of dry ice/fog machines going, so much so that you could barely see the stage because of it.  My friend, who is sensitive to dry ice because of her asthma, said that the fog does bother her sometimes, even at church.  Benaiah claims that at church they have the kind that has been specifically formulated not to bother people, but who knows.  This friend is also not as excited by lights because she thinks ahead to those that have sensory issues.  I didn't realize it, but our special needs adults at church actually attend the 4:30 worship hour, but they go upstairs away from the rest of the congregation so they can slip in and out as needed.  The balcony is closed off to everyone else for that service.  Interesting fact!

I'm not going to try to give a blow by blow of every picture, but tried to share my best shots.

Tons and tons of fog!  Phew! Not sure who these people are, but electric and bass guitars.

Mac Powell, ladies and gentlemen, the lead voice of Third Day.  And he's got the thickest southern accent of them all.  He also has kids older than Benaiah, their daughter, Scout, who now leads her own folk band.  I remember when she was born! And then his son, Cash, I also remember when he was born.  Their last biological child (thanks wikipedia) is Camie Love.  They also adopted two African American children, Emmanuel and Birdie Claire, who we see often on their Instagram posts because they are 10 and 8 years old (or around those ages).  Anyway, he's got a very unique voice so whenever you hear a new song on the radio, you can tell right away that it's from Third Day.  But now, it will just be a Mac Powell song.

I believe I said it in the intro paragraphs, but Third Day sung their well known and loved songs from each record in chronological order.  They posted a picture of the album, the title, and the date it was released on the screen behind them. They shared a bit about each album, how it came about or what they liked about it or remember from writing it, but I can't remember all the little tidbits.  And I guess they did have lyrics for all the songs on the screen just like you have the lyrics for worship songs on Sundays.  They played all my favorites and I'm pretty sure I knew them all despite missing a few of the albums because they were all radio singles and I have at least listened to Klove over those years.  But sometimes the best songs aren't the radio singles, so that's why you should listen to the records in their entirety.  Often times, the songs will form a story, a creative process and will be linked together.  Sometimes, they will be random or from a variety of genres like "A Million Lights" by Michael W. Smith has love songs, happy songs, sad songs, worship songs, and general topic songs on it.

I couldn't see the drummer!  But he wasn't an original band member either.  Their drummer, David Carr, left the band only 2 years ago.  Mark Lee teased the crowd after they asked them what they wanted to hear them play that it wasn't a fair question because the band was afraid they'd ask for a song that they didn't know how to play.  Even musicians that have been in the same band for 25 years still don't always remember every song's chords or lyrics.  Michael W. Smith uses his tablet as his cheat sheet, even for newer songs!  10 albums in 25 years times 12 songs for each album equals at least 120 songs to play from memory.  And that's why musicians created set lists.

Bass guiatar.

Keyboardist, again, not an original band member but fine enough.

Guitarist on my right side.

Mac's beard is on point! He's always sported a gotee at least.  In fact, he's probably the first one I ever saw wear a gotee back in the day before they became popular.  I loved it when Jared grew one!  But the full on beard reminds me of my dad's beard.

This was the last Third Day album ever to be released.  I hadn't heard it before, so maybe it's the one song I didn't know.  But it was easy to catch on to the title track.  In fact, halfway through the night, Mac told the crowd that they were recording the concert or parts of it at least for a future project/video release/something to make a final product to close out the band's legacy.  We were one of only 3 venues they were doing it with, so we needed to sing well.  And boy did this crowd sing!  At one point Mark and Mac took the time to scan the crowd and found people wearing t-shirts from the original album and tour.  We had some very faithful "gomers" among us!

End of the main set!

I think these pictures actually were taken earlier in the evening because they were taken during the intermission between Mac Powell's solo set and the main Third Day set.  Sometimes having the higher up seats gives you a better view.

During intermission, and after the speaker talked about the Food for the Hungry program, we walked up and down these stairs for 20 minutes handing out packets, helping people with packets, and collecting the monies and the people's information afterwards.  However, I was shocked to see how many people take out their cell phones and check their email.  I did it, too!  What a culture statement that is!

Next to last song, God of Wonders.  Then it was "Agnus Dei" written by Michael W. Smith in 1987 for his first Christmas album.  Third Day made it famous though when they "covered it" on their worship album.  One of my mom's favorite songs of all times, and they sang it at the very end, quietly playing and listening to the audience sing it.  Sweet moments for me, wishing my mom was here to witness it.

Yes, they ARE from Atlanta, Georgia, you know.  Bye y'all!  So bittersweet!

Final bows!

I'm pretty sure this was from the song, "Thief," my favorite Third Day song.  It tells the story of the thief that hung on the cross next to Jesus at the crucifixion.  It's a very, very powerful song and was from their first album.  I heard a remix of it on YouTube that they did and loved that version also.

Last waves from Mac.

God of Wonders

It is finished.  Here's a glimpse of the beautiful theatre we were in and the crew tearing down the stage.

Beautiful theatre that has all kinds of shows, like ballet shows and Broadway type musicals, and musical artists and so much more.

Merchandise!  From Mac Powell's solo stuff to Mark Lee's solo stuff and the last bit of Third Day memorabilia you can buy before it goes up on eBay.

Tour buses outside the theatre.  I wonder what they guys are doing inside?

Indy's "twin towers" as I call them.  Apartment buildings actually.  I can't imagine living in one of them.

Sweet!  Just like any old time theatre with a front billboard.  The outside of the building is gorgeous, too.

Wow, those bus drivers know how to park a bus!  Love it!

From Mac Powell's Instagram feed.  You can see part of the beautiful murals on the outside of the building.

Ever wonder what the band does after a concert?  Well, now you know!  They are normal people.  By the way, they had Sunday off because it was Father's Day.  Another great thing about being only 4 1/2 hours from Nashville, TN is that most artists can do 3 or 4 cities in the midwest and still be home for part of the week.  I actually don't know where everybody from Third Day lives, but I imagine most of them live in TN.    The guy in the hat is Mark Lee.

Guitarist in the back, road manager in the front? Word with Friends is a knock off of Scrabble and is an app on the phone.  I don't know about them, but I was exhausted and sore from straining to see them around other people.  And I tire more easily when I haven't slept enough.  I was sore for a few days and need some time to recover.  But that's a typical physical response for me.  Good night!

Farewell, my friends, farewell.  We are excited to continue the journey with you in your solo projects, just like the other bands from the '90's that we've admired so much.  All great things must come to an end.  It's not retirement, it's a shift TO something else, the next chapter.  There's still a lot of life to be lived yet for these guys.  It's time for the next adventure.  But to us, you'll still be members of this great band from Georgia and we won't stop talking about those songs and how they mean/meant so much to us.  God bless and adieu!