"Still Thinking After All These Years"
A Review of the Thinking Man's
Pop Tour Featuring
Caedmon's Call and Jars of Clay
November 28, 2003 - Rockford, IL
By Geeves
Usually when I'm headed out for a Jars of Clay concert, I get all excited and start praying for songs that I'd like to see performed. However, my nerves were shaking just a little for this one. I was to meet Melissa, a fellow Jarchives frequent like me. I met her through Jarchives messageboards and found out that she was also going to Rockford to see Jars. In the weeks leading up to the show, we established a friendship through instant messaging and a few phone calls. Yet, growing up as someone who is extremely shy, I started to panic a little.A little over an hour before the show, my best friend, Brian, and I arrived at the venue. "GEEVES!" someone yelled from out of nowhere. It was Melissa.
"Hey, how are you?" I asked as I shook her hand. Whew! What a relief it was to get the formal introductions over with! I was then able to focus on the show. We rushed to our third row seats and got settled in.
After settling in, Melissa and I went to pick up our passes and head over to the pre-show meet and greet. We had loads of things to give to the band as well as things for the band to sign. We became the "adoptive parents" of a special hat that Lynn (another Jarchives frequent and contributor) knitted with a Jar logo on it. A couple entries ("Goodbye, Goodnight" and "Bethlehem Town") were already added to it by Lynn. Little did we know that one of them would get picked.
There were few people at the meet and greet, which was nice because it allowed us to talk to the band a bit more. Being my sixth meet and greet, I still tend to get a little star-struck at these events. For some odd reason, I told each member how much I missed Five Candles. Melissa kept her composure a little bit better than I did. "So Dan, what's your favorite track off the new record?" she asked.
"Well," he began, "there's a song called 'Only Alive' on there that really has a special meaning to me. Unfortunately, we won't be playing it tonight, but it's something I'm really proud of."
After taking a few pictures, Melissa and I headed back to our seats. We walked in just as opening artist Steven Delopoulos was finishing up his set . From what I heard, he did some songs off his solo CD, "Me Died Blue" and some songs from his Burlap To Cashmere days. He was actually Brian's favorite performer of the night. He loved his rapid guitar-picking skills. Andrew Osenga of Caedmon's Call played backup guitar with him.
Caedmon's Call was up next. They began with an a cappella hymn that led its way into "Hope To Carry On." Their set was very similar to the shows in Lisle, Illinois and Cleveland, Ohio from the spring leg of the tour. The big difference was how Andrew Osenga blended in with his new band. His vocals sounded like he's been part of the band since day one. I was happy to hear "Warrior" again. It's become a crowd favorite. Two new cover songs were added to their set. One of them was Paul Simon's "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes." The other was "Mary," a Patty Griffin cover, that I had never heard before. I was almost driven to tears as Danielle Young's dark and airy voice shined throughout the song. I could tell that the crowd didn't want it to end. Their set ended with the familiar percussion-driven "Hands Of The Potter."
After a brief intermission, Jars took the stage and the crowd erupted. Everyone was on their feet and clapping to the opening number, "I Need You." Then, out of nowhere, guitarists Steve Mason and Matt Odmark broke into mega-hit, "Flood" that almost blew off the roof of Rockford First Assembly Church. Usually, the song isn't played until later into the show, so everyone was pretty much taken by surprise. The energy kept flowing from the next piece, "Crazy Times." The rock groove never lost its energy even with the absence of electric guitars.
Up next was the current single "Show You Love," which displayed the wonderful background vocals of Steve, Matt, and keyboardist, Charlie Lowell. So, after four songs full of spirit and energy, the mood was toned down to the story behind "The Valley Song (Sing of Your Mercy)," Following were two tracks from the current project, "Who We Are Instead." "Amazing Grace" showcased the bluegrass feel with Steve playing his solo on the slide guitar. Even with the absence of Ashley Cleveland, lead singer Dan Haseltine's vocals carried the tune till the very last note. The up-tempo "Sunny Days" got the crowd off their seats with their feet tapping again.
Dan then took some time to talk about the band's ten years of making music. "Well, we turned the big 1-0 this year," he said. "Actually, we've been receiving gifts like Legos that are given to kids who turn 10."
"Actually," Steve interrupted, "it's like measuring it in dog years. For a band, one year is really seven years for a band. So actually, we've been receiving gifts intended for 70 year-olds."
"Yeah, like adult diapers," said Dan as the audience chuckled. "In fact I think I'm the first person to stand on this church floor and say 'adult diapers.' They should put up a plaque on the wall to commemorate this event....at least in the bathroom wall."
It was time to draw songs out of the now infamous hat. "We received this hat from a couple people before the show," Dan said as he held up the hat. "It's got a neat little jar logo on it. And whoever made it designed it especially for this tour because the jar logo is upside-down."
The first piece was a song from the "1980's vintage", as Dan recalled. The cover of U2's "All I Want Is You" was performed with a very soulful side of Jars of Clay. The next song picked was "Frail," with Steve and Matt on dueling guitars. This has and will always be a personal favorite of mine.
The next song picked took the band by surprise. "Well, it looks like someone added a few selections to the hat before we got it," Dan said. "But we must obey the hat at all times." With that in mind, the band broke into "Goodbye, Goodnight." The last song drawn from the hat was another crowd favorite, "Revolution," with the familiar hand claps during the second verse.
Just before Jars took the stage, Melissa warned me that when the first few piano chords to "Trouble Is" were played, she'd scream. Not only did she scream, but she screamed as if she'd won the lottery. "Trouble Is" was, by far, the highlight of the Jars of Clay set. With Steve going crazy on the steel guitar, you really wish it wouldn't end.
They ended their set with the ever-popular "World's Apart." Most die-hard fans know that a Jars of Clay show is never complete without the song. Yet, this time a new twist was added to it. Instead of singing "take my world apart", the group sang the female "to love you's" in harmony. Although it was a brave attempt by the guys that I admired, I've always enjoyed the version similar to the track on "Furthermore." If I had my wish, I would've loved to see Danielle Young from Caedmon's Call perform the female part.
After a few moments of applause and cheers from the crowd, the guys came back for a 2-song encore. The first song was the fan favorite "Love Song For A Savior," which, as always is required audience participation. "I'll Fly Away," an old hymn featured opening artist Steven Delopoulos, which pleased Brian. I think he has become the latest Steven Delopoulos fan.
I truly believe that this was definitely one of the more memorable Jars of Clay shows I've been to. I would've liked to see more performances of songs from "Who We Are Instead." Hopefully, we'll see more in the future, but it's understandable that some of them may never be played live due to the difficulty of some of the songs. Overall, it was a good selection of new songs and old favorites. I think what made it memorable was that I rarely go see shows with other fans. Usually, I'll go myself or I'll take a friend who is only somewhat familiar with the music. But to sit with another fan in Melissa raised it up a level or two. Good music, good company, GREAT FUN!