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

check da email

here's how you know that it's been too long since you last checked your email.

luckily for everyone who sent me one of those emails, i had already gotten them on my other computer. but now i have to organize all 554 of those emails. yikes.

post tour depression

so i've been absent from blog-ville for quite some time. it's all because, for the past 3 months, i didn't do anything that wasn't in some way related to "the wonder of the world" tour. well, the last show was sunday night, so monday morning we all went our separate ways. it's taken me the last few days to process all of the things that went on, and here's where i am now:

i am convinced that our community was a great example of heaven on earth, and here's now i got there - i believe that heaven is perfect community with God. i also believe that wherever two or more are gathered in the name of God, there He is also. and i believe that "God is love" (1 John 4). our little group was definitely gathered in the name of God, and as we loved each other, i believe we shared God with each other. all of this added up to such a huge, tangible presence of God that i'm sure we all got a glimpse of what heaven will be. honestly, look at the love on this face.

there are far too many memories for me to share here, but i do remember one night that i was in a bad mood, and it must have showed because joy noticed. when she asked me why i was in the bad mood, i answered "because i'm tired and cranky." and as soon as i said it out loud, it sounded so silly and immature that my bad mood went away.

all of that adds up to me becoming a bit depressed now that our community is no longer. don't worry about me, i'll get through it. i'm just wondering if this is something that happens at the end of every tour, because it hasn't happened to me before, but this was my first tour as tour manager. is it because for the past 3 months i spent almost all of my time i've been pouring my life into the 14 other people in our group?

in any case, thanks to adam, wes, kevin, jacob, jd, jamie, jimmy, tim, tyler, chasen, sarah, ben, joy, tim, andre', and everyone we encountered along the way. there's a good chance i'll never forget what we shared.

one of the best crowds. ever.

this weekend we did a show in columbus, ga - home of fort benning. here's a view of the crowd from stage right


in a crowd of 547, the soldiers made up 312 of them. that's more guys in uniform than civilians. these guys were all in the middle of basic training, and the night was their first off base in several weeks. they ran a couple of minutes late, so i held the show for them. there's nothing quite as distracting as 300 people showing up in the middle of the show! it's a good thing i did too, because as soon as they started walking in, the rest of the crowd was on its feet cheering. after they were all in, we started the show, and when the emcee acknowledged them, they stood in unison and recited the soldiers creed. and not another single person spoke or made any noise through the whole thing. it was just that impressive.

the soldiers sat through our first acts with very polite cheering. at intermission, the soldiers got to go through their own, separate concession stand where they were able to get their first refined sugar since they entered basic training a few weeks earlier. that sugar, combined with some rock from rush of fools had the soldiers looking like this


unfortunately, since they were still in basic training, the soldiers had a curfew of 10:30pm, which meant they had to leave the show a little bit early. during intermission, i was talking with the chaplain, when a private stopped and requested to speak with him. when the chaplain asked him if his matter was urgent the private replied "actually sir, my battle buddy was hoping to request a song." well that's when i stepped in. i asked what song he was hoping for, and he told me "awesome God." that's definitely not part of our set, but the chaplain explained to me that it was the soldiers favorite, and they do it almost every sunday at chapel. i figured playing their favorite song would be a great way to acknowledge them, make them feel like a big part of the show, and put the focus on them so that when they got up to leave, it wasn't as big a distraction. i went and told the band, only to find out that they didn't know it, but they told me to remind them after a certain song in the set. when the time came, i shouted a reminder in their ears. since they didn't know it as a band, wes just started the chorus accapella. as soon as he did, the soldier were on their feet singing along and after the line "he reigns", the soldiers shouted "HE REIGNS" army style. after two times through the chorus, wes pointed at the soldiers and they took a time through the chorus by themselves. i'm not sure about the rest of the crowd, but i was moved almost to the point of tears. it was one of the moments that keeps me doing what i do. it was truly a great night.

yay hockey

definition of a good friend... they call you when they have get free tickets to a hockey game and there's an extra. tonight i got to enjoy a game with my friends farns, nicole, and a new friend (who was actually the source of tickets) david.


there is a cheer here in nashville, and other places i'm sure, where as the opposing team is introduced, their names are followed by an enthusiastic "SUCKS" from the preds fans. tonight's intro was a bit different. when the announcer said, "and the coyotes are coached by..." there were far less "SUCKS"...


cause their coach was non other than the legendary wayne gretzky... who is pretty much the opposite of suckage.


oh, and then there was a fight.

can never be too organized

i've set up a giant check list to keep me on track as i prepare for my next tour. hopefully a bit of uber-organization will help make my transition back into tour managing a smooth one. thanks to everyone who was involved in my "learning year", especially farns and mel. honarable mention goes to carter, snooch, darren, francey pants, and the rest of the crowns family. i'll miss y'all!

where's the water?

hey bossier city louisiana, you forgot to hook the pipes into the faucet. i'm no plumber, but i'm pretty sure it's not going to work.

europe was fun

here's a few pictures

checking in for our flight to europe

it was too cold for haze in ireland

church in stoke-on-trent, england

the glamorous life of a traveling band

airport in copenhagen, denmark

rest stop somewhere in germany

heidelberg, germany

stuttgart, germany

stuttgart, germany

frauenfeld, switzerland

sunrise in karlsruhe, germany

no matter where we are

so i'm in arhus, denmark tonight, doing show 3 of my european tour with casting crowns. i've been working with them for almost a year now, and a good portion of that time i spent the whole show staring at a screen, pressing space bar, and reading the lyrics to the entire show, so it's not like i haven't heard these words before. but tonight i am having the chance to walk around a bit. i walked back to the lighting console to ask snooch to do me a favor while the band was playing "praise You in this storm." on my to the console there were several people in the audience with their lighters in the air, which I thought was cool in an 80's rock sort of way; then, on my way back, there were a lot of people with their hands in the air singing, "for You are who You are, no matter where i am." in that moment, God, being who He is, took the opportunity to smack me upside the head with some truth. this God, who i love and serve, is the same God who all these people in denmark love and serve. this God is bigger than our towns, or our countries, or what language, or even what side of the road we drive on. God is God, no matter where we are; and that is rocking my world tonight (from another part of the world).

atlanta to belfast

so yesterday, and a little of the day before that, i was flying from atlanta to belfast, ireland. in between we stopped in frankfurt, germany, and london england. along the way, funny things happened and, since i couldn't blog immediately, i wrote them down. so here they go:

i started the day with multi-grain griddle cakes, lots of coffee, and chick-fil-a, not a good idea when about to get on a plane for 12 hours or so show. just if you're wondering - the bad outcome, the one you would expect, did not happen. i'm quite proud of that.

in the course of the day i went through airport security about a dozen times. one of them i need to write about. we were going through to get on the plane in frankfurt and, after emptying my pockets (i am quite a pro at airports these days), i set off the detector... so i'm asked to step to the side so the guard can wand me. he asked me if i spoke german or english. i told him english, but (in german) a little german too. he laughed and asked "you know enough to order a beer?" after that he had me raise my hands and spread my feet a bit and starting waving the wand around me. i couldn't help but laugh when the it went off as it passed over my crotch. for those of you who haven't seen spinal tap this isn't as funny, but still... oh, and it wasn't a cucumber. it was the button and zipper. the guard didn't understand when i started laughing, but i couldn't help it.

the last i'll tell you about was going through london heathrow airport. as you go through now, they take your picture so they can confirm it's the same person using the passport when you go to board your next plane. i had mine taken, and the guy said it was fine, and when i got to the place where they checked my picture, the guy started laughing. apparently in my sleep deprivation i had closed my eyes and made a funny face. glad i could provide some entertainment in just passing though the airport.

thanks to mini-snooch for helping us load up before leaving out

111.9

so if you haven't figured it out yet, one of my favorite places to be in behind a console mixing sound. today's blog is a flash back to a show i did about a month ago. i've recently begun carrying a pelican case filled with microphones, headphones, and assorted other equipment that makes my job easier, or helps me do it better. one piece i carry is a sound level meter.

after conversing with several other audio professionals and doing some research, i've come to find that 111.9 db is pretty stinkin' loud. it falls somewhere between a jet taking off at 200 feet away and standing on stage at a loud rock concert. in other words, probably louder than jaci should have been. but my ears never rang post-show, and nobody complained about it being too loud... so maybe my meter is wrong? in any case, it was good times, and i really enjoyed the sound system at this particular event.

sponsor?

guess what... i'm a table sponsor! i didn't even know until we showed up. you're welcome everyone at my table that enjoyed a great meal, and some good tunes.

the return of pictures!

so i finally got a new usb cable... actually, i borrowed one from carter. in any case, here come the pictures. a couple of months ago, we had a show in the seattle area. since i'd never been, and my brother and one of my best friends live there now, i decided to fly up a day early and stay after for a couple of days to experience what i'd heard was one of the coolest cities in the country. i was not let down. here's the most touristy shot from my trip. i had pike's place blend from the original starbucks in pike place market.

words

now that i'm okay with not having pictures... let me offer this up for your consideration. i spent a lot of time thinking the other night and here's what i came to.

everything that is bad in the world was created by man (those of you who are sensitive to gender please just substitute human in place of man). the thing that sticks out most to me is how much we argue over words, and what things are called. i remember someone saying the other day, "words only have power because we give them power."

when God created, all He called it was "good."

He left what to call it all up to us. and that has served to separate us, because we all want to be right. why do we have to hold so tightly to the names we give things, when the things are the same? infant baptism and baby dedication are both the commitment of the parents and church family to raise the child in a Christian environment. (lutheran) confirmation, also called affirmation of baptism, and adolescent baptism are both a public profession of faith and subsequent ceremonies. if the ceremonies (dunking, etc.) are just a outward expression of an inward movement, WHO CARES HOW THEY ARE DONE? if you understand it one way, fantastic, and i support you in that. please don't tell anyone else that their way is wrong.

main point - let us stop fighting over things that we understand differently and begin loving anyone who doesn't yet understand.