July 19, 2010

• Sonshine 2010

       Every third weekend in July for the past five years I have attended Sonshine Festival in Willmar, MN. Every year I have a fantastic time, spend a lot more than I should on stuff I don’t really need (per se…), get myself a nice, lobster red, trucker tan, and blog about my experiences and the things I bought while I was there as soon as I get settled back in at home. No exception this year, especially the sunburn part as the sun was out in full force for almost the entire duration of the festival, but despite being seven inches from the mid-day sun for four days we had fun.

       There weren’t a whole lot of bands there that I recognized this year, which I see as bittersweet. It stinks that some of the more awesome bands I know and love weren’t there for me to rock along with, but it’s always great to broaden your horizons and discover some new bands which has usually happened by accident in previous years. “Who are these guys? They’re awesome!” Among the bands I was excited to see are Showbread, Impending Doom (the coolest band name ever!), August Burns Red (which we ended up not going to as it was decidedly too hot to be amongst a thousand sweaty bodies in a crowded and poorly ventilated building), Skillet (whose show was better this year than ever before), and Children 18:3. I was also excited to see Mychildren Mybride, but unfortunately they couldn’t make it, and fortunately Becoming the Archetype (an equally awesome band) filled the open spot. All in all, it was a pretty decent set of sets.

       And now for the one thing I love most about coming home from Sonshine, proudly displaying my purchases for the year. With a wealth of Christian apparel, CD, DVD’s, and of course band shirts, going into Sonshine with little to no money is horrible. Last year, I didn’t buy anything because I was literally, completely broke, and it was a horrible burden not being able to support my favorite bands buy stuff I totally needed. This year, I’m still broke but I earned some cash doing landscaping and yard work for my dad, so it was all good. Anyway, onto the stuff I bought! (like you care…)

  1. Eternal by War of Ages

  

  War of Ages is a FANTASTIC band. They always rock the stage and the crowd at Sonshine, and their faith is incredible. The lead singer came from a horrible home (his dad was and is a drug addict who refuses to believe there is a God who cares about him), and he really speaks into how God changed his life both in his lyrics and verbally while he’s on stage in front of a crowd. This CD isn’t quite as good as their previous works, in my opinion, because like Norma Jean’s music, every song sounds pretty much the same. It’ll take some listening to, but I’m sure I’ll end up loving it as much as the others eventually.

  2. Impending Doom – There Will Be Violence

  

  I came across Impending Doom by accident while surfing YouTube. I was surfing around different music videos of artists I didn’t recognize who were to appear at Sonshine last year. When I searched “Impending Doom” I landed on the video for their song “My Nemesis” and Rachel (who was sitting behind me) and I dropped our jaws in amazement at their musical style. It was absolutely amazing, totally impressive, and unlike anything I had ever heard before. There are only a handful of people in the world who can do that with their voices, and this guy’s one of them. I immediately bought the CD on iTunes. Unfortunately singing like they do in “My Nemesis” and in all the songs on their first CD is exceedingly difficult and really bad for your vocal chords, so most of the bands (including Impending Doom) only do it on one album (usually their first, when they figure out singing like that at every show they play is one of the few things on earth that is totally impossible). Doom’s second and third albums (this is their third) are sung in a lighter but equally awesome way. And seriously, just say the name: Impending Doom. Wow, it just rolls off the tongue. And it’s really fun to say if you say “impending” really fast, and then hold out the O’s in doom and say it in your lowest voice possible. “IMPENDING doooooooooom…” Try it! It’ll make you laugh, I guarantee it.

  3. The Great Commission – And Every Knee Shall Bow

  

  I’ve never heard of these guys before, but their merchandise table had some really interesting shirts on it. Shirts that said “Heavy Freaking Worship” and things of the sort on them. It seemed, by their merchandise, that their message resembled my understanding of faith and Christianity. As it turned out, their message was exactly what I expected it to be, and more. These guys are a group of pastors (not literally) rocking stages everywhere with the word of God. They talked about how parents, churches, friends, and family persecuting their Christian peers for listening to heavy metal, and how Christians judging Christian metal bands and writing them off as “the devil in disguise” weighed heavy on their hearts. They talked of fans from shows all over the country coming to them after the show with stories about how people look down on them for “listening to that evil ‘Christian’ metal music” and stories of how traditionalist Christians told them they were “going to Hell for getting that tattoo.” I see this all too often, and it really breaks my heart. God sees what’s inside of us; our character and our intentions. So many Christians, mainly older people, have been brought up in homes and churches preaching denominational rituals and traditions over the laws and guidelines of the bible. This fact is the one thing about ‘religion’ that sickens me the most. I’ve actually heard someone say to me, “If a church doesn’t have pews, it’s not a Christian church.” AHHHH!!! No wonder the secularists look at us like we’re a bunch of raving idiots. If I didn’t know better, I’d probably do the same. Anyway, sorry about the ramble, but these guys and their message really hit home with me, their music was really, really good, and to top it all off, the backup vocals (hardcore, low-growling vocals) were sung by….A WOMAN! Yes! I love seeing female screamers, and this shorter, smaller lady could belt it. Awesome.

  4. Rain’s A Comin’ – Children 18:3

  

  I’ve been a fan of Children 18:3 for a looong time. They’re from Morris, Minnesota, they opened for a good ninety percent of the concerts I attended at Club 3 Degrees in Minneapolis. The first time I saw them they were just some weird local band. Very weird. But after seeing them a few times, I realized that the crowd always adored them, and their songs were pretty darn good. And the chick on the bass guitar was insanely hot. I got into them. I checked them out at Sonshine Fest every year, talked to them and their mom (they’re all siblings and their Mom is always at their merch table selling CD’s and t-shirts), and even bought their homemade, burned CD album. I always thought it would be really cool if they were signed to [SolidState Records, BEC Recordings and/or] Tooth & Nail records (the most awesome record label EVAR), and just last year they were signed by Tooth & Nail! I was super proud. I’m not sure why, but I was. Maybe it was because an unsigned, unknown band I had come to love had been signed to the one recording empire I loved more than any other. It was a big deal. Probably more for them than for me, but…..well, yea. This CD certainly tops their first, self-titled album, but both albums are really good.

  5. It’s All Downhill From Here: On the road with Project 86 – Andrew Schwab

  

  I read this book (or parts of it) back in College, and I remembered enjoying some of the stories I read. A friend of mine is a Project 86 PHREAK (as he calls himself) and has everything Project 86 and everything Andrew Schwab (who is the lead singer of the band) including this book, so I borrowed it from him in college (only because he wouldn’t let me leave his presence without it). I don’t read. Ever. I hate it. It bores me to tears and gives me headaches (I promise I read your blogs, though) But being unemployed for almost two months now, and not hearing back from (or finding, really) any job prospects, I have actually picked up (I can’t believe I’m saying this) reading for pleasure. And I’m really glad I started with this book. Oh man, it is wildly hilarious! Literally laugh-out-loud funny. Andrew Schwab is a gifted writer, and I am so glad he decided to share his best and worst on-tour experiences with everyone with this amazing book. If you can get your hands on a copy (I’m not sure it’s available at any library, but it is on Amazon.com), please check it out.

  6. Fame is Infamy – Andrew Schwab

  

  After what I said about the first book, I shouldn’t really have to go on about this one, but I will because it is completely different. If you want to read a book that will challenge your faith, your beliefs, your life, etc, pick this one up. Andrew, as I said before, is a truly gifted writer, and an absolute genius. This book spells out the way things are, and the way things should be, in such plain English only fool wouldn’t get it. I’m currently reading the other book, but before I turned out the light last night after reading another chapter, I glanced at the introduction to this book. By the time I put it down, I was nearly a third of the way into the book, my mind was racing, and everything I could never understand about my life, my faith, and my beliefs was suddenly crystal clear. This book is so good that after reading a mere ten pages I saw my life in a new light. Please. I’m on my knees and I’m begging you. Pick up a copy of this book (it’s not long, it’s illustrated, and I’m sure it’s cheap at andrewschwab.com), read it, and tell me what you think. I can’t wait to get into it!

  7 & 8: The Spinal Cord Perception and Nevada – Joshua S. Porter

  

  Joshua S. Porter (aka Josh Dies) is the lead vocalist of Showbread. He, like the members of The Great Comission, shares my anti-traditionalist, anti-denominational, pro-love view of Christianity. As he said at Sonshine, “Let’s show God to the world by loving everybody, living righteously, and performing remarkably so that those people who aren’t Christians, who don’t know God, will see something desirable in us, and ask us what we have that nobody else does.” Powerful words. I put these two books together because I bought them knowing they were exactly the kinds of writings that Rachel (my girlfriend and fellow Sonshine goer) would love. She’s about a third of the way into the Spinal Cord Perception, and she loves it. Check out the descriptions of these books (ya know, the stuff it says on the back) online somewhere and I promise you’ll know immediately whether or not you’ll like the books.

  9 & 10: Band T-Shirts

  

  Probably the one thing I love most about going to Sonshine is the opportunity to refresh my never ending pile of black, Christian metal band shirts. I’ve got tons of them, and I can always use more. This year I decided on these two. I would’ve bought many, many more, but my cash was in short supply (to say the least) and shirts are expensive ($15-$30 for a t-shirt? Yikes!). That’s about all I need to say about that, right? IMPENDING dooooooooom. lol

  And that’s everything. I hope you enjoyed reading the things I had to say (I say ‘you’ assuming there’s actually someone reading this. Pshhh), and if so, please comment. (100 paragraph comments welcome)

  ~Josh

  • 10:30 pm
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