Year 4, October 4th, 2019: For King & Country "Burn the Ships" Tour

What an awesome night!  Wow, it's been 5 days since the concert and a lot has happened, so let me try and back up my short term memories a bit.  Let's see. This concert did sneak up on me, but that's because I have a lot of other things on my mind.  However, it was very timely as I go in for minor surgery next week.  As far as I can remember, earlier in the day, everything went well like school and making sure dinner was ready.  Oh that's right!  I had to hire an actual babysitter because Gary, Leah, and Jared were all at church for the elders' retreat. Reagan Pullen was our babysitter and we work with her in the nursery.  She's very sweet.  Although, I had to peel Abishai off of me and shut the door in his face so I could leave.  Reagan said he pouted for a bit, and then started playing with his Legos and finally opened up to her.  Keturah was also home with them.  I took Benaiah, Ava and Justin to the concert with me. We left about 4:15pm and picked up Ava.  We had assigned seats, so it didn't matter too much when we got there because doors didn't open until 6:30pm.

Benaiah wanted to practice driving downtown, so I let him.  Well, the driving directions to the garage that is attached to Bankers' Life Fieldhouse don't really lead you to the right entrance for event parking.  So, it took us an extra half an hour and several wrong turns to get where we needed to be. It cost $20 to park but we know that it's a safe place and easy to get home from. I drove us home though.  We at first teased Benaiah with his lack of following directions, but after awhile, we quieted down and got serious about finding the garage. After we parked, we had about an hour until the doors opened, so we went into Qdoba to use the restroom. We had to buy something, so we shared a bag of tortilla chips.  And boy, where they yummy!  I loved the lime flavoring! Then we walked across the street to the fieldhouse and still had plenty of time to get into the venue.  I did have to tell Justin especially to stop flopping around in line because he was going to end up bumping into people.  He wouldn't quit poking at Benaiah.  But we had some good conversation between us, not just goofing off, so that was nice.  At this point, I really hadn't spoken with Benaiah much the previous two weeks, so it was like I have to actually spend money and take him out in order to spend time with him.  Just like Jared has to take me to my surgery next week in order to spend some time with me.  That's just how it goes in this stage of life.

Finally the doors opened at 6:40pm.  And I think I know why.  I just watched a behind the scenes video from the first 5 nights of the tour and almost every single night was a rush to get the stage set up.  Their bus broke down or they couldn't get into the venue or something else broke.  So I suspect they might have behind schedule for us, too. The concert started 10 minutes late as well. However, they were the only band this time. That's very unusual in the concert world.  Michael W. Smith is also doing that this fall for his 35th anniversary as a CCM artist, basically playing for 3 hrs straight all the hits from the past 35 years. It was weird to just have one artist, but at the same time, it was less boring because you didn't have to sit through bands you don't know or don't like. Anyway, I kind of liked this new format.  For King & Country did play every song off their album that came out last fall, Burn the Ships, and several old songs that people love like Drummer Boy and Priceless and Ceasefire. I love every song on Burn on the Ships and because it's the only full album of music downloaded to my phone, I listen to it often. It really resonated with me last fall and again this fall, too.  Songs like "Give Up Control" and "God Only Knows" and "Fight on, Fighter" and "Hold Her, Tonight." I needed to hear all those songs and have them playing on repeat in my mind as I go into this next week.

I did take a short video of every song so I would have a set list.  They did start the evening with the white curtain/sails up and something that sounded like waves and some instrumental music as a countdown and getting people excited like they did last year at the state fair.  Then they played "Introit" after they dropped the curtain and showed a ship on the custom made screen panels that were made to look like sails.  These panels could rotate in a couple of different directions as you will see in the videos.  Also, the extension of the stage came out on two sides and ended in a point like the bow of a ship.  That left about 40 seats stranded in between the two walkways and the people had to literally climb up and over the walkway to get in and out of their seats.  I'm sure the security detail was so thrilled about that, not! But it seemed to work ok. The concept is cool enough.  The overall stage design is similar to their other stage designs with various drum kits and percussion instruments all over the stage at varying heights and the band in constant movement between them.  A lot of bands have a typical set up of guitarist on one side and drummer in the middle on a platform and lead singer in the front.  So I really appreciate it when the band is so unique this one is and is high energy and a totally different vibe.  It's all about showmanship when I go to a concert because I don't got to concerts to hear the same thing I listen to on my phone.  I go for the high energy and fun and watching the artists having fun with the songs, plus the anecdotes they share.  I have heard a lot of the Smallbones stories after following them on Instagram for the last year or so, plus knowing their family's start in America and following their sister's musical career (Rebecca St. James).  But some stories never get old. And hearing Joel talk about being a control freak and then singing "I give up control" while he's on his knees just hit home.

Besides journaling specific moments with the pictures, I know we all had a blast.  We got home around 11, so pretty early.  Jared had gotten home around 10 so Reagan didn't have to be out much past curfew since she's only 16. I know her mom would appreciate that.  I did overpay her though because I thought it would midnight before I got home and that Jared would be gone overnight for this retreat thing and I know she could use the money. But there was one moment that made our night that much more special, so be sure to look out for that. And without further adieu, here goes.  Oh, I took a lot less pictures than normal, because I almost didn't get to bring the camera in and so I made sure not to let security see it.  We had great seats and I got a few good ones but I didn't over do it.  Here goes.

Video setlist: For King & Country Burn the Ships tour

iPhone pics:  (Hang tight, there might be repeats between the iPhone and the other camera.  I'll try to pare them down as I go.)

Awesome logo for the tour from the band!  They are putting this up on Instagram for every show with the location and date of every show!

Benaiah and Ava practicing their trust falls.

Are those sails? Hm,....And this is where our seats are!  Not bad for $35 (plus $15 in fees, btw).

I like to steal pics from the artists' Instagram pages. I guess Luke brought one of his sons with him this time.  He also said his feet were hurting in some new shoes he brought, so he and his son went shoe shopping at the Circle Centre Mall for new ones.

Always a fun shot that the bands do.  Remember TobyMac and WinterJam's?

Always basketball!

Their flag on the bow of their "ship."  Yes, the stage ended in a point!  And when the guys came out to the edge, I was afraid they were going to fall off!

Since all tickets are now digital and can't be put into scrapbooks.....

Benaiah and Ava didn't wait to buy souvenirs.  This time it was Ava's turn to buy because Benaiah was broke.  So she bought them this hoodie to share and bought herself a t-shirt.  The concert locations are written down the sleeve instead of the front or back.

Oh crud, I forgot their names, I think it's Amy and _____ when the KLove morning show!  Yes, their show is broadcast from Indianapolis to the world.  They actually moved the show to Indianapolis from either Tennessee or California or something about 10 yrs ago.

If you look closely near the computer is Luke's son.  Kind of reminds me of when Jared would hold Abishai behind the sound board at Cornwall Christian Church when he was little.

Here we go!  "Introit" with the multimedia screens in the form of ship sails.

Lights turning off and on like lanterns flickering.

They have such a unique dresscode.  Last year they had those captain looking jackets.  This year, more of a 1600's sailing ship theme (I'm not going to say pirate, but similar).

So much smoke and lights as always.

So bright!

Wait for it.....wait for it.....could it be that Joel is actually coming up OUR steps?!  This NEVER happens to me! Justin got right down to the end of the stairs thinking that he was just going to pass by us.  But then he turned toward my direction!

And since Justin and I were no longer in our seats and Ava and Benaiah were standing ON their seats, Joel walked right down our aisle!  He sang "Never Give Up" on his way through and Luke did the same on the other side of the arena.

THE....PERFECT...MOMENT....CAPTURED....totally on accident.  I just "sprayed and prayed" meaning I just keeping hitting the photo button as I was taking the video.  And I totally captured IN FOCUS and decent lighting, Joel singing intensely and Ava having the time of her life!  And more important to me than me being able to brush up against an artist and shake his hand, was that I got to be there and be instrumental in creating a special moment for these young people just like my mom did.  My mom and I never knew what fun we would have, but she took me to a few concerts because she knew I enjoyed it.  And now I get to do it for my kids, plus their friends.  And as I told Ava's mom, these kids DESERVE to have this much fun!  They both work so hard at their school work, church life, social life, and work life.  And, they have been so respectful in their relationship with each other and their parents.  I didn't even make them pay me for the tickets since I bought the tickets so long ago and the IRS refund check should be here any day.  This concert is "on the house."

All the way down the row standing on chairs!

"Hold Her" is one of my favorite songs because it talks about husband and wives being apart because of business trips and such and the husband wanting to be there to love and protect and care for his wife.

Another favorite one dealing with husbands and wives. Both of the brothers' wives are also singers in their own band called Tralala.  So, they partnered on this song, "Pioneers,"  which talks about husbands and wives just getting so caught up in normal day to day life or going through a rough period and how they both just want to reconcile and fix things and be close again.  Just because you drift apart a little, doesn't mean you can't drift back together again.  Jared and I do that alot.  Not big drifts anymore, but just the ebb and flow of life.

Oh, what was cool about the video was that it was a full on music video filmed in Iceland.  But they edited it and took out the guys' scenes.  Then they placed the wife's scene on mostly one side while the husband sang in front of the other.  This is Luke and his wife Courntey, and I think they've been married 7-10 yrs and have 3 kids (?).  Joel's wife's name is Morah and they've been married for 3 years, no kids.

Getting some cello action back there.  The boys told me that I missed the cello toss this time around.  I was in the restroom at the time.  But I've seen it on Instagram.  Yes, they toss a $2,000 cello across the stage and someone catches it every time!

Time for a little Christmas music!  Drummer Boy, of course!

Ceasefire!

Can you imagine carrying around drums every night?  I love how many of the band members actually share instruments.  Even Joel and Luke will play on the drums, keyboards, drum pads, xylophones, etc.

Let go of "Control."  I definitely need to hear this one over and over!

"Burn the Ships"

Oh, you thought they were done, eh?  Well, when they said they were going to sing EVERY song off the new album and they hadn't sang their first released song, "Joy," yet, I knew that they weren't done.  So they finished the evening with it.  They also retooled the pre song video featuring Candace Cameron Bure and had other clips showing on the different screens.

I love this band!

And yes, I was here, too, lol.  We had walked across the arena floor and were going up the other steps thinking we would shorten our walk to the exit.  Not so much.

I stool these close ups from Instagram and Faceobook.

Yes, I bought a flag because a) it was cheaper there than on their online store b) I've NEVER seen a band sell a full sized flag before c) I want a necklace that says "priceless" on it but I don't like the design they had and d) before we got up to the merchandise table, I thought long and hard about WHERE this was going.  I wasn't going to buy it and put it in a box.  And since I found this perfect spot for it, bam, I bought it.  It is pretty sheer so it doesn't do the same trick as well that the blanket I had up there did (block the afternoon sun from my computer so I can work), but it's fine.  And on gloomy days, I can still get some sunshine.

Always fun! Lots of percussion!

Leah's Camera pics:

Oh, so Leah's camera DID get some much better close ups than my iPhone SE.  Next time I upgrade my phone, I'm going to get one with some awesome camera features.  Also, I barely squeaked by with the camera.  The security people told me to go over to the service desk so I could get it locked up instead of walking back to the car.  And then when I showed the person there at the desk, he waved me on.  I've brought this camera into this very venue multiple times because it does NOT have a detachable lens and that's usually the rules.  No detachable lens, no flash, and no red flasher that is distracting to the artists.  Still, I was very careful to hide the camera at my side when a security officer would walk past us.  I honestly don't think the artists care because when you post snippets of the concert on social media or write up a blog post, it's free advertising for them.  In fact, they will often have their own hashtag they want you to use.  As long as you don't record a whole song, I don't usually get flagged on YouTube either because the songs I like aren't as mainstream as others.

Compassion International speech.  Same child sponsorship program as their big sister, Rebecca, had.  And I love the color of his jeans, too.

Ship sails for "Burn the Ships."  And wow, the mechanisms to keep these screens moving up and down and rotating are incredible.  Rotating on two axises!

P.S. Although it's been a week and I'm just now caught up with all blog posts and journaling, going through these pictures again reminds me of what a fun night it was! Just having one artist to listen to, hearing all my favorites, knowing how all these songs have profoundly impacted me over the last year, and how they were going through my mind as I went under general anesthesia for a minor procedure is just incredible and such a God thing.  And to finally be able to spend more time with Ava and Benaiah especially brought me great joy.  Just seeing how they interacted back during WinterJam to now and how good they are to each other and us, oh how I love it!  I'm home with the other 3 so much of the time and I just don't get enough time with Benaiah anymore. We are like "ships passing in the night." It's normal, but I don't like it.  Jared and I also don't connect like we should. So for one night, I was able to really focus on my oldest, casually ask him and Ava some general questions about school and life, and make memories with them like I do with the others.  How blessed that I can do that? Not everyone chooses to spend their money on events like a concert or going to an amusement park.  Some can't afford it and/or don't make the time.  My mother did it for me, and now I do it for my kids. But only Christian concerts, lol.  I'm not going to waste my time nor my money on secular artists I don't have a clue about.  We are allowing Benaiah to choose to go to his favorite secular artists, but he has to pay his way.  We will help with transport if necessary and if it's in town (within an hour.) Thankfully, Benaiah's music choices are fairly appropriate.  His choices are between him and God anyway.  We've taught him discernment, it's up to him.  Anyway, I'm signing off exactly 1 week from when we left for this concert!  Check out the YouTube playlist that came before the photos to see what the concert looked like!  Enjoy!

The End