3 O'clock Parade Review
by Michelle Johnston
November 5, 2000
Minot State University Dome
Minot, North Dakota

Well, I can now say I have seen Jars of Clay live! They've been my favorite band for four and a half years, so it's very exciting to have finally seen them live!!! I went down to Minot, North Dakota yesterday afternoon with about 30 people from my college. Yesterday morning just happened to have been the first snowfall of the year here, so we had some pretty bad roads to contend with. We were missing a 15 passenger-van as the people who used it the night before we snowed in in Calgary. So we ended up taking three cars and a van. We weren't sure if we'd be able to go at all, so it was a great relief to find enough vehicles and get everyone on the road!

We got to Minot a little late as the roads were pretty bad. The four-hour drive took us almost 5 and a half, and it took us awhile to find the university stadium. We missed Luna Halo, but no one was too choked about that because we'd never heard them sing... but we did make it for the start of Jennifer Knapp. I thought the rhino background was kind of neat.

I'm not a big JK fan. I don't own any of her music, but recognized a few songs off the radio. I was just waiting for Jars! Then there was a fifteen-minute intermission, so I went and checked out the merchandise table. I was really pumped to get a Jars shirt, but all they had were a yellow tee, an orange tee, and a grey long-sleeved tee. I was going to get the orange one with "3 o'clock parade" on the front but they only had XXL and XXS left, so they wouldn't really fit me. There were a few stickers, necklaces, keychains, posters, cd's, hats, and man purses, so I got a keychain and two posters, and a sticker.

The stadium we were in had the stage at the front and then seats all along the sides and back, and a big open area at the front that was pretty packed. No one was really jumping at all until Jars came on so that was cool. Someone said they heard a security man say there was 3000 people there.

Finally... The intermission was over and I saw some guys walking around in the dark. I saw one and said, "That's gotta be Dan!" It was pretty exciting! They opened with the River Constantine eerie opener, with lights streaming out onto the crowd, so you couldn't see anyone on stage... which i thought was kind of weird. I said to my roommate, Heather, that that was kind of weird, and she said that it was cool because it takes the focus off them. And then i got it... River Constantine is about the Holy Spirit, and they were saying 'Come down, Pour down on me,' and that was of course inviting the Holy Spirit into this place, and that was a really cool opener. The lights totally took the focus off Jars which was a really really awesome way to open the concert.

Here's the set list:

River Constantine opener
Liquid
Grace
Crazy Times
Unforgetful You
Like a Child
Famous Last Words
World's Apart
Collide
I'm Alright
Fade to Grey
Flood

Encore:
Love Song For a Savior
City on a Hill Benediction

Like a Child had some awesome guitar solos! In between Famous Last Words and Worlds Apart everybody left except Dan, and he talked about their trip to China and Vietnam, which was pretty awesome. Then Steve came out and they did Worlds Apart. Then the rest of the guys came out later at the end and finished off the song.

Between I'm Alright and Fade to Grey, Steve did the intros... Matt was something Scandinavian, Charlie a PhD, and i forget what Dan was. Steve introduced himself as being really really happy to be in Minot, or as the French Canadians in the room would say, "me-not." I thought that was pretty funny because Minot is no where near any French Canadian areas, but my friend Esther from Quebec was with us and she was sure that Steve was talking to her...

I enjoyed the soundman solo, and the lights solo was really funny because at first everything went dark for a bit and Steve laughed really funny, then it took a bit more and the lights finally worked. The merch solo was funny too! That definitely doesn't happen in many concerts!

Dan and Steve said Minot about 20 times at least! Steve mentioned they had been in Jacksonville, Florida the night before and were having a bit of climate shock. It was about 30 degrees fahrenheit in Minot last night.

My favourite parts of the concert were the opener River Constantine thing, Matt's guitar solo on Like a Child, harmonizing with the Jars on World's Apart. I found an unintentional cross on the cement of the stadium wall and it was really cool to look at it and sing and think about the words. I also loved singing Love Song with everyone in the stadium. Dan held out the microphone so we couldn't hear him and we heard everyone singing 'I want to fall in love with you' over and over and over and it was just a really awesome spiritual moment for me. That will always be my favorite Jars song.

It was also cool to finally see Steve playing his guitar with his teeth... Everyone around me said "what is he doing?!?!" and I said "playing with his teeth of course!"

Hmm... Impressions of Jars. Well, Matty and Charlie looked exactly like I thought they would. Charlie was perhaps a little shorter than I thought, but I'm not sure. Dan did sound a little sick to me. I was wondering if he's still getting over whatever he was sick with. I was quite shocked to see him with black hair! I had heard his speaking voice on the internet once, but it still didn't seem last night like that's what he should sound like. I just expected him to sound different speaking, but it is a cool voice that he's been blessed with. He did carry himself differently on stage than I had thought he would. I don't think I knew he played drums, so that was cool.

Matty wore his burgundy t-shirt with the little black circle and Chinese character for 'tree' on it, and that made me happy. I remember seeing it in a few promo shots sometime. Matt looked exactly like I thought he would. I love the way he carries himself on stage. Matt and Steve sure change guitars a lot. I really liked Matt's one acoustic one.

I was looking forward to seeing a funny shirt on Steve since he seems to have a lot. This one had a hockey goalie's mask on it. I was surprised his hair was so long and blonde. He was a different height than I had expected. He has some cool guitars.

Charlie's keys surprised me but they are very cool. I had expected more of a keyboard thing, not the organ-type thing. What is that called anyway? I really liked his and Dan's accordion playing. I was quite impressed. At the end of the last song... the benediction, Charlie, Matt, and Steve came to the front of the stage and everything else was black and they were bright! It was a cool ending.

When they finished playing Flood, everyone just got up and started leaving, and I was like, as if, what about the encore? So I started pounding the bleachers with my wooden heeled clogs, and that did the trick! Everyone started doing that, and cheering, so Jars came back out and did the last two songs.

I had a really awesome time! Seeing Jars was a dream come true. My only regret is that I didn't go down into the mosh pit and get some pictures. I'm sure I could have gotten some awesome ones... oh well. Hopefully, I'll see them again sometime soon. They put on an awesome show, and I was not disappointed in any way, except with the merchandise... Oh well.

I remember people often complaining that a Jars concert doesn't have anyone sharing their faith in it... that it doesn't really have the Gospel in it... that it's not spiritual. But I have to say this was the most moving and spiritual concert I have ever been to. I felt really close to God, which was really totally cool! The music of Jars of Clay has really helped me along in my Christian walk, and I really must say that I was happy their concert was so great! They shared Christ through their music, actions, and words. Dan shared the faith of pastor Li and others in China and Vietnam. And that was really cool. He talked about his own faith as well.

So, that is my first Jars concert experience! My opinion of them has very much been strengthened. I saw very much a maturation of them in their music. I was surprised to hear such a variety of music, from all three albums, as I had expected there to be an emphasis on 'Zoo' songs... but there was an even mix. I think that this concert very much portrayed them in a mature light. I think that they've been doing a lot of growing in the past year or so. I think that we can expect a deep album coming up next.
God bless,
michelle j