Air Raid 22.1

Last night was the night! After months of planning and preparation (most of which done by people other than me!), Air Raid 22 hit the stage in Huntsville.

It was awesome!

Every Air Raid I always say "that was the best Air Raid yet." So I'm not going to say that, but MAN! I think it may have been!

Anthem For Today got things off to a rockin' start. It felt like a real life version of the music video for Earthquake!

They did hits like Falling Asleep at the Wheel and Inside Out, plus a great Taylor Swift cover.

Anthem for Today lead singer Pip Lucas

Then came Prosper and GPM... I didn't know what to expect. Hip Hop can be super high energy awesome or really slow and dull. It was anything but slow or dull!

The crowd and the performers were all over the place having a great time! They did amped up versions of songs like Yes I Can and Without You. Plus, they did the Harlem Shake!

Prosper of Prosper and GPM fame!

Then came the Color. These guys drove all the way from Manitoba. THEY DROVE. They did songs like Made to Be and their first hit, Let It Go. They even did a few acoustic songs!

The Color rockin' out

Then the headliners came. To Tell.

Zach Havens from To Tell

I love these guys. Always fun, always tight and they just keep getting better! From the crunchy guitars of In Your Eyes to the pop of The Problem, it was solid.

All in all a great night! Now, we get to do it all over again tonight! See you at Air Raid 22.2 in Owen Sound!

Alberta Odyssey

My original plan was to blog every night of my time in Alberta. That obviously didn't happen!

It was a really busy 3 days. On the Thursday there was a session with Steve Taylor, who is best know for being what made old Newsboys what they were (and his absence what new Newsboys are). He also did some solo stuff and helped Sixpence None the Richer get the mega hit they had with "Kiss Me." Plus he directed the Michael W. Smith movie "The Second Chance." Steve was talking about his new film "Blue Like Jazz." It's based on a book by Donald Miller. I've never read it, but have heard good things. We saw it later that evening... unfortunatly Steve's quirky, thought provoking lyrics don't translate to the screen...

Moving right along.

Friday was full of radio sessions and shmozzing with artists and radio people (did I just say shmozzing? Maybe I've been hanging with Scott Jackson a little TOO much!!!)

After the sessions ended we got ready for the Covenant Awards - This is the Christian music equivalent of the Juno Awards.

Had lots of fun hearing from Jon Bauer (Chasing After Me), Dan Bremnes (You Are) and The City Harmonic (Manifesto) as well as To Tell (Safe to Say). Junkyard Poets were also there. These guys are nuts live! There bassist has a t.v on his head through the WHOLE SHOW!

The best part of the awards for me was presenting Modern Rock/Alternative Song of the Year to Marcel Preston and the boys in Sky Terminal.

Saturday meant an early rise and fly.

Overall, Calgary was a blast!

To Tell at Masters College

Yesterday I made the trek to 89.3 to emcee the To Tell concert. Let me start by saying it was GREAT.
I grabbed some supper at GotTa HavVa PizZa... I love pizza... I now also love GotTa HavVa PizZa.
Then it was off to Masters College, which is huge!
The show got rolling with a local rap artist named D.U.T.Y (seen with me at the both). And did things get rolling! Great performance -- High energy, great lyrics, and loads of audience participation!
D.U.T.Y finished with a song that featured another Christian rap artist by the name of
K-Drama (on the track, not live). Then, Tim Mann took the stage. Tim is a worship leader that spent some time at Hillsong College in Sydney Australia (ya that Hillsong). My favourite part of Tim's set was when he did a cover of John Mark McMillian's song "Death in His Grave". I love that song... thanks for doing it Tim!!!




After a quick intermission for FREE pizza (how I love that word) To Tell delivered a great show.
I haven't seen these guys since Air Raid 17 and let me say, they have gotten even better! High energy, people all over the stage and as an added bonus, the drummer stood on his drums!!! COOL!!! Air Raid 19 is going to be epic. Period.