BabuLife

Anyone Got a Light?

Moving lights.  Oh yeah!

Now That's a Sound Booth!

That little head in the center is Scott our audio lead.  The other head on the right side is our lighting lead, Keith. This is a monster booth.  Our audio, video and lighting team will be swallowed up in this bunker.  One thing is for sure, they will no longer have to deal with being distracted by passerbys during the service.  Click the pic to enlarge if you'd like.

View From the Stage: 3/26/05

In the hustle and bustle of the move this week, I haven't had a chance to post anything about our service this past Sunday.  Every once in a while we like to have a choir join the praise team on the stage.  I think the last time we did it was on December 11, 2005 and had a LOT of positive feedback from folks in the church.  It's always nice to do something different, to sort of mix it up a bit.  Four years ago we were on the opposite side of the spectrum.  We had a choir every week and once in a blue moon we would do a band with just a couple singers.  We had a LOT of positive feedback on those Sundays.  If you're stuck in a rut and want to do something different, try one or the other some Sunday. Anybody out there anti/pro/neutral or just plain don't care about choirs in your worship services?  I'd be curious to know the pluses and minuses from your perspectives.

Here's a pic from our last Sunday at Blue Valley.  Great job choir folks!

Progress In the Sanctinasium

These guys are working hard.  CSD is doing a great job installing the AVL.  We're currently having issues with getting electricity run and may not be able to use our new audio system this Sunday.  We'll see what happens by days end tomorrow.  Here's a shot I just took of the stage.  You can click the images to enlarge.

It's Finished!

We have officially moved ALL of Grace Church to the new building.  Everything from Blue Valley Middle School and from two storage facilities is now under one roof.  Now, just like any new home, it's time to unpack and put everything together.

Let me tell you about the people of Grace Church.  I've NEVER seen anything like what I saw tonight.  There were so many people that helped move tonight that all I set my hands on at the school was a foam pad and a notebook.  Seriously, I got there five minutes late and no kidding, everything was already loaded into trucks.  It was the fastest move I've ever witnessed.  The people of Grace are amazing!

Now comes the next phase...getting ready for the first weekend. 

Speakers & Lights have Arrived

The speakers and lights came today along with the installation crew.  Hoping that we'll have everything ready for this Sunday but anticipate having to use our old system this weekend.  We'll see what happens.  It's 7p.m. right now and the crew are still at it  and have been since 10a.m. today.  The first speaker is up!

Moving

So long suite 103...

Hello new digs...

Grace Numbers 3/26/06

Fine' at Blue Valley Middle School.  I heard we had about 30-40 High Schoolers during second service back in the youth.  If we were to go back and add all the students who weren't in either of the worship services, I'll bet we pushed 500 this weekend.

• Total Attendance 466

See you at the new building!

Flight 93

I think we all need a reminder about what happened on 9/11.  Too many of us have forgotten.  Here's a movie that just might wake us up again. Check out the trailer here.

Flight 93

David Crowder & Third Day (Aftershow)

Well...I was going to just let the concert go by without really saying much about it, but I had to just express myself a little.  I always find it somewhat strange to write a review about a "Christian" concert being that the music is about Christ or should be at least "Christ - centered" but really, if you're charging $25 a pop for a show, I think it should be open to a little critiquing.

David Crowder Band - Their set was a hyphenated version of their "A Collision" tour.  Great music, great enthusiasm and wonderful energy on the stage.  Here's my recommendation for the tour producers or whoever makes decisions during the rest of the tour.  START LATER THAN 7PM!  Making it to a downtown Kansas City venue anytime before 7 p.m. is near to impossible if you actually work for a living.  Most concerts I've been to start at either 7:30 or 8 p.m.  While we only missed 1 song, I was still dissappointed.

Third Day - I LOVED the acoustic set probably the most.  The "encoure" (is there ever really a genuine encoure?) was great as well.  Third Day did what seperates them from many of the Christian acts out there.  A little "church service" took place ala Mac Powell preaching before the new song "Cry Out to Jesus".  This was probably the most inspirational part of the concert for me.

Here's what they need to do the rest of the tour...MIX THE AUDIO BETTER.  Seriously, my group and I couldn't understand a word Mac Powell sang tonight on any of the music that had all the instruments playing.  In fact, there were many times he'd sing then say "Kansas City...do you believe?!?"  And I was like..."Maybe!  I can't agree with you if I have no idea what you're saying!"  I don't know, it seemed like the audience didn't have much energy for the Third Day portion of the show.  And sometimes it seemed like Third Day was getting that vibe from us at the beginning of their show.  Eventually we caught up to them and began to get engaged.  If they happen to be reading this blog just know that it's not for lack of trying, we just couldn't hear very well Mac Powell. We were trying, but it was very difficult to participate in the beginning.

Lighting was very cool.  If you take a lighting person from your worship team, they might geek out on some of the effects.  Kudos to the Third Day lighting crew.

Third Day has such a huge catalogue of hits that I'm sure it's difficult to choose what to play. Much of their music has a pretty steady mid tempo southern rock beat that I felt like there needed to be someplace for me to be taken to.  It kind of felt like we were on our way somewhere but just didn't quite make it.  Maybe it was a journey to the encoure? (my favorite part of the show)  Maybe I'm wrong and all y'all who went to the show experienced something completely different. Oh and they need to add "Sky Falls Down" to their set list.  That would be my personal request.

Third Day is a great band that has been a huge inspiration to many Christian rock musicians out there.  I know personally they inspired me to explore my music abilities and not be ashamed to rock out a bit for the Lord.  Most important, they display a genuine love for Jesus Christ and people in their music and their concerts. I'm sure they would probably appreciate that positive comment over any positive review of their music.  That's just how genuine I believe they are.

In closing, it was pretty funny to see many "older" people sit through David Crowder then stand for Third Day.  I think the audience was a little taken aback by Crowder.  The opposite happened for the 30 and younger crowd.  They stood for Crowder and stood for Third Day but seemed a little detached from Third Day.  Again, could have been the lacking vocal mix but I think Third Day understands the cycle of popularity in music.  And David Crowder Band is on the rise.

For a review from Third Day on Kansas City, click here. Check out their main blog page here.

Overall it was a good time. I'd give it a solid 3 out of 5 stars.