I learned a few valuable lessons last night, while at the Rock and Worship Roadshow (2012). First, let me give you a list of all the bands that were there:
Opening was Moriah Peters and The Rend Collective Experiment. Moriah Peters is a 19 year old, first roadshow experience, gorgeous girl, I bet she is going to go far. The Rend Collective Experiment made me laugh, not in a bad way. They were an Irish band, embracing their leprechaun stigma. They had this girl that played multi instruments, and was super joyful to play them: the xylophone, a metal trash can (yes I said she played a metal trash can), key board, and she switched with the drummer so he could come up and play this wooky looking instrument. I honestly don’t know if it is a real instrument or just something they made up to have a unique sound. They were pretty awesome, kind of like an Irish punk band.
Before I go any further, I have to blog about my experience up to the concert and walking in etc. Kris and I decided to go about a month ago. More like I said I really wanted to go and assumed he was going with me. So we hired a babysitter to be at our house at 4:30 to midnight (pretty good little baby sitter charge there, but totally worth it!) and Kris ended up getting to take a class in Beeville for work instead of working in one of his many far off locations, so Kris was home by 4 pm and we were ready to rock and roll by time the babysitter got there. The concert was in Corpus, and it was about an hour away from home, honestly, we’ve gotten used to having to drive an hour plus for anything significant. By time we pulled up, it was almost 6, and you could just tell the lines were crazy. So we decided to park and get in line instead of finding something to eat and coming back. I was disappointed to find that we were going to have to pay for parking, and the sign said Parking: $5. I think in small letters, it said per person, which I feel is almost false advertising, because who can read those tiny letters that far away? So $10 to park and $10 per person to get in. We’ve spent more on a concert we didn’t really even enjoy! Okay, so this line, we start following it back from the door to get in the back of the line because we are just far too honest of people to cut in line, and we followed it all the way back for 10 minutes, no LIE! There must have been 1000 people in line a head of us. Once we got in, and found seats, Kris went to go get us some dinner, okay, so one cheese burger, three chicken tenders, probably what equivalates to a medium fry, and a large coke cost us almost $20. They don’t get you at the $10 entry. They get you at the food!
So before we found our seats, I got a glimpse of the artists booths. The one specifically that caught my eye was LeCrae. And I did the worse thing possible, I instantly judged him and his music. I thought how could they have a rapper at a Christian event? I guess my previous experience with rap in college taught me that all rappers talk about is sex, money, drugs, partying, murder, death, women, etc. Those things are totally not Christian. Well, let me restate that, the way they spoke of those things were not Christian. And I am no saint. I loved quite a bit of the rap music in college. I loved the beat, I loved the culture associated with it, I loved how it invigorates you to go DO something, like go dancing, or I don’t know, something. But since my Christian walk, I have been kind of nervous of some of my old ways, such as listening to rap, or listening to heavy metal, because the messages are not good ones. As a matter of fact, I have even gotten away from listening to Country and Pop music, I may listen to it once in a while, but I grow tired quite quickly of the messages I am hearing, and ultimately, the messages Ethan is hearing, because he is in the car with me. I would rather have him question me about God’s unfailing love, or what it means to be lifted up on wings like eagles, or something along that nature, not what a b**** is, or why that guy is going fishing even though his wife/girl friend doesn’t like it and he’s going to miss her, or something inappropriate like that. So I will be honest, I made a judgment, and I am 100% wrong. I feel like that older, self righteous person at a stuffy church that won’t change because the majority of the congregation is older and is holding on to the old hymnal ways and think that popular music, rap music, punk music, anything that ISN’T 1800 or early 1900’s hymns, that it is devil music. Oh how I feel like a Pharisee just now.
Now, before you go calling me names, or of being racist, or judge me, you must know, I did NOT make this judgment based on him being black. I purely placed it on the MUSIC. Because if Eminem was there, I would make the SAME EXACT JUDGMENT! It is the CULTURE of rap music, not the artist. And to make this point even more, I feel the same way about many many heavy metal bands. And can I say that Disciple was a heavy metal band? And can I say that honestly that music isn’t for me? And when he first came running out, banging his head like he was a bobble head, screaming into the microphone, I felt the SAME exact way, speechless. Because I judged. I did not like it one bit. But I also could not hear the words. He was screaming them and I was unfamiliar with his songs or lyrics, so all I hear was yelling and screaming. Had I seen the words on the big screen, and could read what his message was, I think I may have felt quite different.
Which, back to LeCrae, he was absolutely brilliant. In my opinion. His message was pure. He struggled with the STIGMA I PUT ON HIM. He said some very very striking things to me. He said that there isn’t such thing as bad music, but the problem is with the hearts of man! Hello!?! Haven’t I heard that before?? Um YES! Randi Marie!! What is wrong with you!? How many times do you have to hear and learn the same lesson before it actually sinks in?? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CHRISTIAN MUSIC, JUST CHRISTIAN LYRICS. Now, if you just can’t stand the sound of blue grass because it tweets you, or you can’t stand heavy metal because its too harsh, or you can’t stand rap because it’s too loud, or you can’t stand pop because it’s too main stream, that IS 100% OKAY, because as a long as you are WORSHIPING the Lord from YOUR heart and not what others around you are doing or saying or seeing, what does it matter if it is the 1800 hymnals??? Not a darn thing! LeCrae spoke to my soul because I had made such a quick, and very wrong, judgment about him. He spoke of how the big rappers probably thought he was a dum dum because of his STRONG desire to not only PREACH Jesus, but live his LIFE according to Jesus, and he said something totally amazing. He said, do not celebrate me, for I am not a celebrity (although by the crowds reaction, I would say he was pretty famous). For the difference there is a difference between a celebrity and a hero. A celebrity wants all the fame and glory for themselves, and wants people to worship them. A hero directs you to the one who deserves the glory. HOLY MOLY, HOLY SMOKES, AND HOLY COW! I want to be a HERO! Giving all GLORY to Jesus and to God, who deserves it fully.
The other bands that were there was Hawk Nelson, which I absolutely loved, they were very punkish. That is the music from my high school days that really SPOKE to me. I need to say something here. I also could barely understand a single word they said, mostly because their band was louder than the singer, and he has kind of a higher pitched voice that words slew together, but I really liked the beat, the sound, of the band. So there you have it. My preference is NOT heavy metal, it is more punk, more rap (gasp, I said it!), and a lot of popular!
There was Tenth Avenue North, which has gotten widely popular. Listen to a few of their songs, if you have been listening to Christian radio long enough, you will recognize almost all their songs. They are very good live. We bought three CD’s. Very good!
There was Sidewalk Prophets, which has also become popular. I absolutely loved them, because the lead singer is the heavier, normal looking guy. What I mean is he isn’t totally hot. And I think that is totally awesome. Because I get burned out on all these “hot” singers and artists coming into fame mostly because of their beauty. Now, I am not saying they don’t have talent, it just seems that the less “hot” you are according to society, the harder you have to work to prove you are totally awesome. And I loved that about their band!
And of course, MercyMe. I looked them up on our way to Corpus just to see when their song “I Can Only Imagine” came out, because I was thinking mid 90’s for some reason. Well, they have been together since ’94 (holy cow, almost 20 years!!), but that song didn’t release until 2001. But MercyMe is an awesome group. With awesome, Kingdom goals. And I am proud of them for not selling out. Because they could have made way more money, become way more famous, and lived a much more fabulous life, if they had. They STILL sell every one of their CD’s for $5. Seriously. For $5. They had an exception this time, because their record company really pushed them to sell it for $15 (their newest release coming in May) but they changed it up that you would get TWO CD’s.
So Kris and I left the concert with a total of 9 CD’s. We spent so much money last night. But I am so completely excited to have NEW CD’s for my car! I have been listening to the same mixed CD for almost a year, and am, frankly, getting a little tired of it. So I just finished ripping all the CD’s and am about the make me a couple mixed CD’s for the road!!
So there it is, I put my heart out there. Actually, I put a very embarrassing thing I did out there. And honestly, I feel really bad about it, and I am very nervous about posting this blog because I fear some stigma from peoples of my past who will be quick to judge me and call me names. But I am not blogging for them, I am blogging for me, and for my sound mind, because I have come to realize of the years that I get stuff OUT of my head by WRITING IT DOWN (or typing, because I type like 100 times faster than I write any more).
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