Last night, I joined my friends Lori T, James P, Sara W, Tammy M, Mindy B and over 9000 over people for Winter Jam 2006. It was a pretty good concert, made even better by the price - thanks for the free tickets Nick! Regardless of the free tickets, the concert was still only $10, which is remarkable considering it was four hours of great music from the likes Krystal Meyers, Hawk Nelson, ZoeGirl, Newsong, tobyMac and The Newsboys. When Newsong first came up with the idea for this tour, they had a goal of making it affordable for anyone, especially high school and college students. You’d think the musical lineup would feature lesser-known artists, but that’s definitely not the case! It’s not often you see tobyMac or Hawk Nelson with groups like Newsong and ZoeGirl

We arrived late, missing all of Krystal Meyers’ set and most of Hawk Nelson’s, which was unfortunate since Hawk Nelson is one of my favorite up-and-coming groups. The event was open seating, first-come-first-pick, so our seats were the “leftovers” - they were almost behind the stage and we couldn’t see the screen. The speaker tried to make our sections feel better by convincing us it was like a backstage pass and then had the rest of the crowd wave to us. We came for the music, though, and that didn’t depend on the seats.

I don’t listen to ZoeGirl or Newsong much, but I was impressed by what I heard from Newsong, especially their wide vocal range and stage presence. Those of you who don’t know Newsong may have heard their hit song “Christmas Shoes,” which gets a ton of play during the Christmas season and was the inspiration for a made-for-TV of the same name.

We did end up seeing Krystal Meyers, as she came out for one song during the “donation” portion of the show. I was thoroughly unimpressed by her performance.

TobyMac’s show was full of energy, complete with a hip-hop dancer, water slinging and many of his hit songs, both old and new. The set even included Jesus Freak. Yes! That got the place jumpin’.

Before the Newboys hit the stage, we were entertained by the Ives’ family and their Sphere of Fear. This family, which included a 13-year old boy, rode motorcycles around a metal sphere, like you would see in a circus. Not that thrilling for me, though I realize it does take talent. It was a distraction during the set change at least.

The Newsboys have long been in my list of favorite groups and they didn’t let me down. I’ve seen them in concert a couple times and enjoyed it each time. This time was no different. They were energetic with a good stage presence and played several of my favorite songs - Breakfast, He Reigns and Shine. It was also good to see Paul Colman, a Grammy and Dove award-winning solo artist who recently joined the band as guitarist.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday night with friends and good music!