ROUND 2: JOURNEY TO THE JARS
A Review of Jars of Clay and Caedmon's Call in Concert

Cleveland, OH
Friday, March 14, 2003
By Geeves

Every two years I make a trip to Ohio to visit close friends from my college years. Each trip has been memorable, but this one would have to take the cake. To kick off "Set It Off 2003" (our theme....thanks to P.O.D), I set out for Akron at 6 in the morning to pick up my best friend, Brian, and headed it to what would be his first-ever Jars of Clay show. As we headed north on I-77, Brian would repeatedly say, "They better play World's Apart."

"They should," I replied, "I don't think there's ever been a show that I went to when they didn't play it."

Arriving at the show about a half-hour before the meet and greet, we waited in the foyer of the State Theatre at The Playhouse Square right in the heart of Cleveland. We spotted frontman Cliff Young and percussion-enthusiast Garret Buell from Caedmon's Call walking around.

As we walked into the meet and greet, Matt Odmark was already talking to some fans. Dan Haseltine later came out of the dressing room. "Sir Geeves, what's goin' on?" he said as he shook my hand.

"Not much....a little tired from the trip," I answered as I was somewhat surprised that he remembered me. Somewhere in there, I introduced him to Brian.

"Well, we've changed things a bit since last month in Chicago (see "Colliding Heavyweights" review). We're doing another new song called 'Amazing Grace'. Hope you like it."

"Awesome!", I said, "How is the new record coming, by the way?"

"Good. Really good. We've got nine songs ready," he said.

"Any title yet?"

"Nope, not yet."

"Nice....well, we're looking forward to another great show."

"Yeah, and make sure you do 'World's Apart'!", Brian added.

"Definitely.....I don't think we'd be invited back if we didn't do that one," Dan said as he went on towards the rest of the fans.

We briefly spoke to Steve Mason and Charlie Lowell.....mostly about the infamous Park West show (see The Intimate Hour Tour) and then we headed off towards our seats.

Caedmon's Call took the stage after a short set by opening artist, Randall Goodgame (which was, by the way, his last show on the tour.....his wife was to give birth at any moment). This time, there were no technical difficulties and nothing was mentioned about the recent departure of Derek Webb. They played a shorter set than the previous show a month ago, with "Lead of Love" and the cover of Amy Grant's "Lead Me On" being the most notable "no-shows". Cliff really stepped back and let the music do the talking. Again, Garret and 20-year old mastermind, Josh Moore, grabbed the audience's attention with their playful emotions. Highlights of the set were "This World" and the closing piece, "Hands of the Potter".

After a 20-minute break, Jars casually walked on stage. There were some lucky fans that got to sit on couches on both sides of the stage, which added a comfortable touch to the living room set. After again opening with "Like A Child" following by "I Need You", Dan passed around the now-famous hat to the front row. First on the list "This Road", which was perfect. It was a lot slower than last month's show, which added more emotion. Steve's harmonies matched incredibly well so much that I really didn't want it to end. Next on the menu was "I'm Alright", in which Dan changed things up a bit by experimenting with some vocal falsettos and other soulful tones. And the last one chosen was the hysterical "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", which received an overwhelming response of laughter from the crowd as Dan talked about "mowing the lawn" to "shaving the chickens".

Next came a couple of newer songs. "Amazing Grace" also had a country twang to it. Something tells me that these guys have been listening to John Denver recently as "Faith Enough" also had a similar trend. Next up was the current single "The Valley Song" in which Steve Mason traded his guitar with Aaron Sands' bass.

After passing around the hat again, and collecting the results Dan said, "Well, I hope you all liked 'The Eleventh Hour'," as the next three songs were "Disappear", "Fly", and "Revolution". The clock turned back when the set ended with "Flood", and the "Love Song For A Savior", which was audience participation required.

When the band came back for the encore, I thought it was going to be the predictable "World's Apart", but I was mistaken. "Frail" hit the scene from out of nowhere. In my opinion, this is the best song that the band does live....so mellow, yet so intense. That's hard to do. "World's Apart" capped the evening with the familiar "halleluias" at the end.

When comparing this to last month's show, Jars really shined in this one. Of all the shows I've been to, this was the best sounding show I've heard. The venue had either really great acoustics or a great sound system. I would probably give "Round 2" to Jars for their less serious, more casual and fun approach to the show. Definitely worth the trip.