Family Christian Bookstore Review:

We arrived at around 1:15 pm to the Family Christian Bookstore where the autograph signing was being held. Being that the signing was at 3:00 pm, we decided to go get something to eat. The downtown area seemed pretty quiet with hardly anyone walking the streets. There were also not a lot of places to get something to eat. We ended up going to Subway across the street from the Family Christian Bookstore.

At around 2:15 pm we walked back over to the Family Christian Bookstore to wait in line. Surprisingly there was hardly anyone there yet. Once it was about 2:45 pm more people showed up to wait. While waiting, I got to meet Stephen (Canyoustay9 at the Jars Zone). He is a really nice guy. He had Jars of Clay's ultra rare "Frail" CD for them to sign. I want one!

When 3:00 pm rolled around, Jars and the others had yet to show up. Then there was a phone call that said they were running a little late and would be here soon. Finally Aaron Sands, Jars of Clay's Bassist, came in first with the members of Jars of Clay, Jennifer Knapp, and Luna Halo following. They all sat down behind a couple of tables placed together and the line started moving along. From left to right it was Luna Halo, Jennifer Knapp, and Jars of Clay. I had my Jars of Clay Platinum CD for them to sign and my friend brought his entire Jars of Clay collection for them to sign. The Jars seemed a little bewildered to see how many CDs he brought for them to sign. When I had the Jars sign my CD, Charlie Lowell, the keyboardist for Jars of Clay, noticed my T-Shirt and said something like:

Charlie: Hey, you're wearing the Zone T-Shirt.
Me: Yeah, you go there much?
Charlie: No, not recently.
Me: Ah, I heard you have trouble remembering the website address.
Charlie: (laughing) Yeah.

Matt Odmark, the guitarist for Jars of Clay, also was kind enough to ask how I was doing and introduce himself. The conversation basically when like this:

Me: Hi
Matt: Hi, how are you doing?
Me: Good, how about you?
Matt: I'm doing good, I'm Matt (we shake hands), what's your name?
Me: Isaac, although you could have assumed I knew your name already
Matt: Well maybe not.
Steve: Yeah, he's actually Freddie Mercury.
Matt: Yeah that's right.
(Matt then makes this strange face, pursing his lips together and saying something.)

After that we hung around a bit hoping to be able to talk to Jars after they finished signing. When they finished and got up, everyone wanted to get a picture taken with them. Another line then developed with people waiting to get their pictures taken with them. After we got our picture taken with them we decided to try to get one with Jennifer Knapp, but to our dismay, we found out she left early. We did see Aaron Sands and I got a picture with him. I also saw these two girls give a protein drink to Dan Haseltine, lead singer for Jars of Clay. He opened it up and took a sip. He said that it had a 'Cool Whip' after taste which he then pointed to the nearby trash can and said something like:

Dan: Hey look, this fits perfectly here. (Pointing to the trash can) I think I'll just leave it here. (Places drink in trash can)

Before we left I wanted to wish Charlie Lowell a happy birthday. I saw him and the conversation kind of went like this:

Me: Hey Charlie, I heard it's your birthday today.
Charlie: Why yes, it is, I keep forgetting that.
Me: Cool, how old are you going to be.
Charlie: I'll be 27 today.
Me: Ah, happy birthday.
Charlie: Why, thank you.
Me: So are you going to do anything special for your birthday?
Charlie: No, my wife's going to fly out here tonight, that will be my present.
Me: That's cool, have you done anything big in the past for your birthday?
Charlie: No, not usually when we are on the road.
Me: So Charlie, I noticed that you guys don't play a lot of songs from Much Afraid. Is there any reason?
Charlie: Well, we have a few from Much Afraid, but we're playing the songs that you guys like. But it's not that we don't like them either. Kind of like (Trying to remember the name) Rose Colored Windows...you know, that Petra song...
Me: Right, Rose Colored Stained Glass...
Charlie: Yeah, well, we like doing that live, but people don't usually like to hear it.
Me: What? Really? I love hearing you guys play that song live.
Charlie: Well, thanks.
Me: You guys also do Worlds Apart on every concert, has it lost some meaning to you?
Charlie: Well... no because it's such a transparent song. It really means a lot. [Note: I am sorry, I can't remember the rest]
Me: That's really great. So are you guys going to be leaving soon?
Charlie: Yeah we'll probably be going soon.
Me: Are you going to rehearse the set for tonight?
Charlie: No, we probably won't even do a sound check. We usually rehearse two weeks before the start of a tour.
Me: Yeah, it seems like you guys have so much to remember to do while on stage.
Charlie: Yeah, but it's songs that we have been doing for about 3 or 4 years now. Are you going to be at the show tonight?
Me: Yeah I'll be there
Charlie: Great, I hope you enjoy the show.
Me: I will, happy birthday and thanks for talking!
Charlie: No problem, thanks!

Charlie is a really nice guy who is personable and friendly. I didn't get a chance to talk to Matt, Dan, or Steve Mason, guitarist for Jars of Clay. I am glad I was able to talk to Charlie though. I also wasn't able to meet any of Luna Halo or Jennifer Knapp. I do feel sort of bad because I didn't have anything for either of them to sign. I have never heard of Luna Halo before that, and I didn't own either of their CDs.

Concert Review:

The doors were scheduled to open at 6:00 pm so we showed up to Point Loma Nazarane University's Brown's Chapel around 4:30 pm to wait. Boy was it to our huge surprise when we saw a rather large group already waiting. When we got our tickets we waited in line and soon it developed into a mammoth line that extended around the building. The show was sold out, probably, over sold, it seemed like. The venue only held 2,000 people and they definitely all showed up to wait for this general admission concert. It was someone's "great" idea to have everyone exchange their tickets for wristbands so that it could be "easier" to get in and out or whatever. Well that caused the whole show to end up being half an hour late. When we got in finally, there were already quite a few people in, but it still wasn't even a quarter full. It was a little upsetting when you get a good seat only to find out that the entire row of seats has already been "taken". We did end up with some decent seats, and even sat next to Stephen (Canyoustay9) and his mom.

Luna Halo was first to be up on stage. I haven't heard any of their music so I wasn't that enthusiastic. They play loud and wildly, is how I would describe them. The acoustics of the venue weren't the best. When they started playing loud with a lot of electric, it would drown out the vocals. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had heard some of their songs before and had known the words. It's not that I didn't enjoy them though, I just didn't like them as much as other opening acts I have heard. Then came Jennifer Knapp who had a really strong fan base at the concert. I saw her open for DC Talk on the Supernatural tour a year or so ago. I really enjoyed her as I did at this concert. I still don't know a lot of her songs except her popular ones from her first album. On one of the songs she even took a song request from someone in the audience. It was the worshipful song 'Refine Me.' I had never heard it before but it was quite beautiful. After a couple more songs she was finished with her set.

Then came a 20 minute intermission after which the headlining band, Jars of Clay, came on stage. The stage was totally dark with a portion of 'River Constantine' playing and Dan singing "Come down," "Pour out" a few times and then it changed into 'Liquid.' It was an awesome intro. The performance was really cool, although I don't remember the entire set list. I'll have to get it from someone else. The vocals weren't much better, but since I knew the words I could understand what they were singing. During 'Worlds Apart' it sounded very crisp and clear. Only when the rest of the band came on did the problem arise again, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

Before they performed 'Worlds Apart' they talked about their trip to China. Dan was alone on the stage sitting on a stool explaining the persecution of Christians going on there. There was a funny moment when he mentioned "China" and "Vietnam" all these people started cheering. He said something like:

Dan: Yeah, so we recently went to visit China and Vietnam.
(Audience cheers loudly)
Dan: Oh, so you've heard of those places. Do you guys go to school here [in California]?
(More cheering)
Dan: They teach you well.

Dan talked about Pastor Lee and how he was arrested and chained up for his beliefs. How peoples houses were bulldozed just because someone thought they were holding church meetings there. It was a really powerful and touching story. As he was finishing the story Steve slowly walked onto the stage and sat down as well. The song started with just Dan and Steve, and around the second time they were singing the chorus, Joe Porter, Jars of Clay's drummer, came on stage and so did Aaron Sands. They started playing and soon after, Charlie and Matt came on stage and started playing as well. The song built up to a climactic finish and into a five minute "worship" session of the Jars and everyone else singing "Hallelujah."

They finished off their set with Flood and the crowd erupted when that came on. When they took their bow and got off the stage, everyone started screaming, yelling, and just basically making an extreme amount of noise. They then came back on and Dan said that they were going to do one last song for us. He talked about how the song was fairly new to them and how they wrote it as a benediction. They then performed 'This Road' which was just absolutely amazing. They ended with Charlie, on the accordion, Matt and Steve, both on acoustic guitars, on the right side of the stage playing for a minute or so. As the lights were coming back up, 'Porcelain' by Moby started playing. Wonderful concert, the best Jars performance I have seen.