proof my audio crew is awesome

so last weeks event was televised live on God.tv... which means there is proof that my audio crew is awesome. go here, click "encounter - 3" and start watching at about 79 minutes in. here's the brief recap:

79.10 - the last song ends and the band leaves the stage. that's when we start striking the wedges and band gear, and the crowd starts chanting for an encore and the host encourages
80.10 - i tell the host (who is my boss' boss' boss) no, we can't do an encore, we've already struck the stage... but it doesn't matter to him or the crowd and we start to reset the stage
81.30 - there is a great (however brief) shot of my counterpart who runs everything non-tech and one of my crew praying that we can get it done
82.57 - the stage is set and i tell the host we can go back on
83.27 - the band is back on stage ready to start again

good work peter, coach, curran, and marie! i couldn't do this thing without you!

ny battlecry

this past weekend i put on the biggest event i've ever been in charge of. it even rivals any event i've ever been a part of - a total of 6 trucks (2 - 53' semis and 4 - box trucks full of rentals), 35 rigging points, 10 video screens, 10 cameras... it was a pretty big deal, put on for nearly 15,000 people at the izod center, just outside of new york city. it was a one off rig designed in the middle of a tour and pushed into a 360 degree event because we just kept on selling tickets. and to make it all more stressful, it was broadcast to live tv. those of you who tour know that's a giant headache, those of you who don't can just be impressed with all the numbers i gave before. all of it resulted in a total of 15 hours of sleep over the course of 4 nights followed by 16 hours of sleep the day i got home. here's a little sample of what it looked like:

load-in and points going up:

final product:


many thanks to all who helped make this event happen, and praise God it's over!

flat tires bring out the good in people

so today i was riding my bike, and i decided to push a little further than i'd ridden around the streets of nashville. the greatness was that i got to ride a few more miles, the bad news is that the extra miles included a rough railroad crossing. i made it over in one direction with no problem, but on the way back, the crossing was so rough that it immediately knocked all of the air out of my rear tire. and i was about 5 miles from my car.

so i called my parents, because i didn't have a pump or tire patch with me and they were the only people i knew that would be able to come help me. but while i was on the phone with them, another rider stopped and asked if i was okay. and then he offered to help me patch my tire. but we couldn't find the hole. and then another rider stopped and ended up giving me a new tube. and then another rider stopped and let us use his pump, and then the first guy remembered he had a co2 cartridge that would pump my tire up to 80 psi in a flash.

so in a matter of 20 minutes, 3 people stopped to help me, and gave me a few dollars worth of stuff to get me up and riding. all this to say, i love nashville, and i love the community that is bicyclists.

the update

here's a couple of pictures to update everyone on my last few months...

i finished up my summer with pureNRG. i seriously love these kids, and they taught me a few things about love. after only a couple of months, we had established a great relationship. they have such sweet spirits and a genuine love for everyone they encounter that it's impossible to not love them, and i pray that they can maintain their great attitude as they grow and continue in an industry that has, all too often, a negative effect on people.


the reason i'm not touring with pureNRG anymore is that i am now production managing for the encounter tour. we finished up a marathon 6 week pre-production last weekend...


and this weekend we finally had our first event. it's amazing how far a group of 34 interns who had little to no tour experience have come. seriously. my "crew" is a group of 19 and 20 year old kids whose only ambition is to serve Jesus, and in this season of their lives, they are serving in the industry i have chosen to spend my life in. so while i have spent the last 5 years of my life trying to become a professional, they are only 6 weeks in, and more often than not, they are living up to the extremely high bar that i am setting for them.

so there's the update. i spent the majority of the past 2 months preparing a group of youth, and myself, to put on a tour - a tour that could rival the many others in production quality - and we are well on our way.

i really hope i heard right

today was a very bittersweet day.

as i blogged about a few days ago, i just took a new job that is going to keep my gone from home the majority of the next year. on the one hand, i have steady work until may - which is a big deal for guys like me who live gig to gig. on the other hand, i have given up A LOT of things, and today that was made very clear to me.

i spent about 5 hours preparing to train a group of interns about the things that i have been a part of, that they'll need to know to make our tour the best it can be, and i barely scratched the surface of what i need to have prepared. but i got a lot done, and i'm very excited for what i get to be a part of.

now - thanks to the feeling of safety i get from just typing my feelings, i am going to share that one thing i really want is to have a family. i really would like to wake up next to the woman prepared for me, to be honesty, sooner rather than later. and today i realized that in committing to being gone 4 days a week, i am committing to only being home 3 days a week, and 1 of those will be spent in meetings to get ready for the next weekend. that all but eliminates any possibility for a relationship... and that has me going to bed feeling pretty down.

i'm just hoping that it was truly God calling me out of what i've been doing the past few years into a new ministry, and that i'm being faithful, not stupid. here's to hoping!

big news

now that everyone i needed to tell face to face has been told, i am ready to tell the entire world. last monday i officially accepted the position of production manager for the acquire the fire encounter tour. this is a huge step for my career on the road, as i will be in charge of an arena tour...

the opposite side of that coin is that it is a huge commitment as well. i will be flying to texas on august 16th, and will be there (except for a couple of side trips) until we fly to our first event on october 1st. after that i'll be flying out every wednesday and flying home every sunday until may. this has brought on a couple of big changes in my life.

first - i can no longer tour with pureNRG... it may sound silly to some of you, but i really have enjoyed working with those kids - seriously. i LOVE those kids, and i will miss very much carolyne, caroline, and jordan.

second - effective august 16th, i will be resigning from my position as youth ministry director at advent lutheran church.... which means leaving another set of teenagers that i LOVE. i have spent 3 years at that church developing relationships with some of the coolest teenagers - ever. i do feel like my ministry there is done - i knew that when we came to a controversial point while studying "the shack" and all of the students had no issues with it. and they used the same words i would have to describe why they had no issue with it. i have given them everything i could have, and they have a beautifully personal faith now.

the backstory - for a couple of years now i have been splitting my time between touring and local church youth ministry. this has left me not giving 100% to either, which isn't fair to either of them, and recently i have been feeling called to touring full time. and then i got a phone call asking if i was interested in a fall tour with acquire the fire. turns out it's really a much longer tour than that, and it is a youth-focused tour. after a good bit of prayer and conversation, it became clear to me that this was God making it obvious that this was the way i was being led. and while the past two days, when i had to tell 2 different sets of teenagers that i would no longer be working with them, have been very VERY hard on me, i have a peace that i am making the right choice, and following God's call on my life.

so now i ask that, if it's your thing, you please pray for me as i embark on an exciting new voyage.

i got called out

for not blogging for a while, so here you go katie.

i've been in several different countries since i last blogged. instead of telling stories, here's some pictures.

elliot and josh in zurich. i'm starting with this one, because it's one of the best concert pics i've taken. thanks to the guy there who gave me some pointers.

jaci v with salvador in zurich. it's a confetti storm!

goofing off in oslo

the seaside festival in norway. it was kind of like a mini red rocks

the - newly updated with a wiimote, now wireless - david crowder guitar hero guitar

jaci v onstage at a mike silva festival in honduras

acadia - the purenrg mascot - at the park in oslo

acadia with natalie grant

one man band in oslo


the angry baby at the park in oslo