The Almost

Whenever I really love a band, I'm always scared of seeing them live. The thought of a group that brings me much joy being loose, boring or using tracks really does scare me. I'm not kidding.
The Almost is no exception. I really loved their album Monster Monster... could their live show be able to top the awesomeness they captured on the disk?

Yes. Yes it could.

I joined a buddy of mine at the 905 Venue in Whitby (Ajax/Oshawa... it's sorta confusing) on Sunday for the concert. Amazing venue for a youth group. It's in an old club so it's ideal for music, smoke machines and merch. Plus, that's where they do youth!

After a really good worship set and quick message, The Almost took the stage... wow, did they take the stage.

Unless I am mistaken, no tracks. I heard mistakes, which is very refreshing. However, they were few and far between.
Aaron Gillespie has one amazing voice. Going from singing to yelling to singing with ease. It makes for quite the dynamic... add in 3 guitars all doing different things.... well, you get the idea.

They covered instant classics like Monster Monster, Lonely Wheel and Hands as well as some stuff from their new (!) album Fear Inside Our Bones. After hearing the title track, I'm Down and Ghost, I'm more excited than ever for the April 9th release.

Afterward, got to grab a shirt and bumped into Aaron.

All in all, a really stellar night.

Be Somebody

Every now and then I hear a song that makes me stop. I don't have much of a choice. It could be the music, the lyrics, the vocals. With Be Somebody, it was all three. What Thousand Foot Krutch did with this song is amazing to say the least.

Look at these lyrics -

After all the lights go down
I'm just the words, you are the sound
A strange type of chemistry
how you become a part of me
and when I sit alone at night
your thoughts go through me like a fire
your the only one who knows
who I really am

We go through life wearing masks. Pretending to be all together, good Christians. When if people could see the truth, we struggle. There are still temptations, trials, heartaches and at the end of the day hiding it is pointless. God can see it.

The chorus then goes on to say that we all want to be somebody, so we invent that person. Instead of working toward it, we create it. God wants us to be real not only with each other, but with him too.

And when we become more real, our faith will start to show. More then it did when we were just "acting."

This song is really ministering to me. I hope you enjoy as well.

M.A.S.H Bash 2011

Yesterday was M.A.S.H Bash at Snow Valley in Barrie. I have always wanted to check this event out. So when I found out I was not only going to M.A.S.H Bash, but was competing in the celebrity bad pan race...

I was STOKED!

The event was a blast, amid B.B.Qed sausage and chicken breast, a random tent where you could play Rock Band and of course the skiing/snowboarding... the apex of the event was the bed pan race!

The title of "Bed Pan Champ" is a very hotly contested title... and I wanted it.

The hill wasn't that high... but it was steep, so steep in fact that when I was ascending it on a snowmobile, I felt like I was climbing a wall!!!

At the top, my nerves kicked in, but once the whistle blew I recovered enough to start to slide down the hill with 11 (I think) other crazed DJs.

The bed pan only stayed under me for about 5 seconds... after which I was rolling down a hill, dodging other floundering media people! I managed to get my bed pan back (mid roll [that was sweet]) and slid halfway down the hill on my jeans.

I came third from last.

Oh well. Next year... I'm going to dominate that race!