Creation 2000 Friday

Creationfest 2000

Friday

Friday...more water, another warm one, another busy day but lots more fun, shows, and interviews...

Some of the bands and speakers today:

Clear	Plus One	Switchfoot	Sonicflood
Supertones	Michael W. Smith	Phil Keaggy	Buster Soaries	Compassion Int'l

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Water bottles...had to have one. Lots of water fights going on so you had to be careful if you did not want to get wet.

What's all that screaming about? I wonder who's taking the stage that could cause that much commotion? Head for the stage, oh, I see, all that screaming is for Plus One! The emcee states that Seattle is the number one market for sales of Plus One's debut album. When they take the stage, they take the stage. Very tight vocals and steps.

Headed for the press tent, the band Clear was meeting with the press. They had driven in from Minnesota. Had a lot to say and talk about. They said they had a "fundamental desire for Jesus to be seen through everything we do, not just on stage but in our every day life". Talked about a new album "Follow The Narrow" coming out. About the new album, they said they were given more creative control over the project, more then they had on their debut album. Clear was starting a rumor about PFR putting out a new album (what's news about that was PFR had split up). They (Clear) will be on tour this fall with Mitch McVicker and Satellite Soul on the "1000 Kids Tour" in supporting Compassion International and trying to get 1000 kids sponsored while on the tour. Was asked about working with Dana Key, they said he had adopted them as they were living at his house, playing with his kids. Also asked about "crossing over" to mainstream and their response was that that was not a planned thing and wasn't a big deal to them. They responded to "What's your favorite song off your album?" with "that's like asking someone which child is their favorite. Songwriting they said was difficult when done in collaboration with the rest of the band, it was easier to write it by oneself.

Main stage was next...the master guitar player was going to give everyone a lesson in the art thereof...Phil Keaggy. Even in the heat he put on a great demonstration of his talents. He had a bass player named Chris Donohue with him. Guess it's true, very talented people tend to have talented people around him. Chris and Phil got into the usual "I can do that" routine and it was awesome to see them chase each other around the scales. And then, during their little dual, Phil starts cranking on the tuning keys on his guitar and almost matched the bass in range and sound. Guess that one of those "How do they do that?" things. Later, Phil was to put on a guitar playing seminar, I missed it but saw quite a crowd at it.

Back to the press tent...Switchfoot's turn in the barrel (the press tent did look a little like a giant barrel). Chad, Jon, and Tim were there. Might as well get our claim to fame (our 15 seconds of fame) out of the way. A few years ago when Chad and the brothers Tim and Jon were first starting the touring thing they were playing locally. After the concert they needed a place to stay and so they stayed at our house. They are very personable. Someone in the press corp asked "Tell us about the rebellious years" (they're PKs, preacher kids) and their reply was, "these are the rebellious years". Everyone got a kick out of that. Another new album coming out soon, Sept. 26th called "Learning To Breathe" and they said it builds on "New Way To Be Human" album. Tim must have had some schooling as he was using big words like "embellishment" and "foundation" in his description of the album. They said they were very thankful to be where they are today and that touring is still fun and actually is a bit more fun then the early days (guess they didn't like my house). They also said it is better touring on the road now that people recognize them. Early on it was like "who? you're not on the list." They still do church concerts. The new album, "Learning To Breathe" is about learning to breathe and act in God's love. Their stage show was great, the crowd loved them. Some folks didn't know what was up with their name...it is a surfing term used to describe the switching your feet around (front to back, and back to front) on a surfboard as you're surfing. Yes, they are from San Diego and do surf.

Saw only part of Sonicflood, what I heard was cool, they were leading the crowd in worship, singing "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High" and one of my favorites, "Heart Of Worship". As I had earlier stated, with the amphitheater set up the way it is, with terraces to sit on that are steep, the "choir" sounds so awesome, it fills the air with the voices. Their "concert" was more of a church service, they encouraged everyone to participate.

Caught worship with " Salvadore", what a cool band with a different sound, almost a Latin beat sound. I wasn't familiar with him but have seen his album on the shelves. As they sang, the upper deck (the terraces in front of the stage) broke out in a giant Congo line that stretched all the way across the top and back and forth a few times and even down into the lower decks, it was pretty cool looking. They were having a lot of fun. Praise can be fun!

Buster Soaries was next on stage preaching about "What we believe about God is more then just a belief in God" and how dare we give up, how dare we think alcohol has more power, any addiction...can anything defeat Him? How dare we even think anything is more powerful. And our faith in Him is the main ingredient in our walk. Faith is like flour, it makes things rise.

The main events were up next for the evening. Approaching the stage from a distance, what is that? orange glow bugs? closer, it's SUPERTONES, in orange suits, bright orange suits at that. And they had the crowd dancing. A friend of ours was with us that had not seen anything quite like Creation so we felt we should take him down to "center mass" of the crowd. There was a dance circle in the middle of the crowd but where we were at, there wasn't room to do anything but jump up and down but it was a blast! They played a lot of the favorites but in the middle of their set they slowed things down and Jason "preached" a little and led the crowd in singing "Hallelujah". It was something how everything just seemed to almost slow to a stop, a time for praise and worship, almost a quiet time but it didn't last long. Out came the boys in the band and cranked it back up to finish. Lots of fun. Our friend thought it was pretty cool.

On the set change, Creationfest staff came out to share about Compassion and the need for folks to sponsor the children. They brought out and introduced Jonathan. Jonathan was a Compassion child back in 1986 at the age of 12. He talked how Compassion support had seen to him having spiritual and basic necessities. He was in the United States from the Philippines finishing his accounting degree and was headed back to the Philippines. I had a chance to talk with Jonathon later on, he said he would not have been there if it were not for Compassion. He talked about how he appreciated his sponsors and the chances that were provided him because of being sponsored. He also spoke of appreciation for the letter he received from them. Compassion's goal was 1000 sponsors and they reported 968 kids were sponsored. Compassion's site is at: http://www.ci.org if you are interested in sponsoring a child.

Time for the main event, Michael W. Smith on stage...and what a back-up group he brought. I caught only a couple of names, Chris Rodriguez and Nicole. Nicole has a killer voice, this lady can sing! Not sure but this may have been Nicole C Mullen, not sure but I am sure she had a voice that will or should go very far, wonderful to say the least. Michael's tone was very serious this year. He touched on how things seemed a bit crazy. Last year was the Columbine tragedy and this year, a dear family friend Carol-Ann had passed away about a week ago. She was 31 and a good friend. Michael talked about what he wanted as a legacy, he did not want his legacy to be Dove Awards and number one records and songs. He wants his legacy to be about him being a God fearing man and a man that loved his family. He went on to say he was not there to "fire us up" but to get us be aware of the victory we have. He said he was tired of losing the battles. He said, "We haven't tapped into the power we have because we don't believe it". He wanted to remind us that all of our days are numbered, as his days are numbered. He talked about being in the emergency room visiting his dying friend (she died in a coma) and while at the hospital he went about visiting and encouraging others in other rooms. He wasn't "preaching" he was sharing what was on his heart. He also said he wanted to pursue God like never before. He played "Friends" as was expected. I paid more attention to what he was saying rather then playing. He also played "This Is Your Time". Great concert but pretty serious (which we need sometimes).

Last day already...Saturday