Toledo, OH – I may not be a Christian rock fan per say, but I will say, that is what jumpstarted my career in the music industry. The first concert I ever attended as media, around 2014, was a Christian rock concert for the college paper I worked for. I fell in love with that type of photography. As an aspiring sports photographer, I was already accustomed to the fast-paced, you-control-nothing environment for photos. But concerts…they just felt different. Like I belonged there. I am thankful for that opportunity that quite literally changed my path of where I wanted to go as a photographer. Getting approved to work this concert felt like revisiting my past self to look back at why I do what I do today.
Toledo, Ohio, was chosen as the first tour stop for The Awakening Tour. The Huntington Center played host to an eager crowd on Thursday night.
We Are Messengers opened up the night to The Awakening Tour at 7p.m. Based originally out of Ireland and moving to the USA in 2015, the 2016 New Artist of the Year-nominated band showed the crowd their musical chops and got the crowd moving early. The songs they played had heartfelt and impactful meanings behind them. The band would take the time to talk about hope, faith and the magic Jesus has on all of us, including a story about one of the band members talking about how he almost died after going into a coma, but it was his faith from his family and the constant conversations they had with God that helped bring him back to them. While I do not know much about the band as a whole, I have heard about how they are said too be one of the best Christian music groups live, and I must say, their stage performance was fun to see.
Jeremy Camp came onstage at 8:20 p.m. The singer-songwriter is from Lafayette, Indiana, which made this a semi homecoming show, as that is about 3.5 hours from Toledo. Much like We Are Messengers, Camp proved to be just as positive and uplifting. As I went around the venue aisles, you could see all the fans singing along to the songs being played. The songs and crowd feedback made the Huntington Center feel like a church throughout the set. His simple song structure made it easy to listen to and understand his songs. His message was clear: have faith and all will be okay. You could see why he has scored over 30 number one hits on Christian radio. He puts everything he has into writing his songs and gives real-world and real-life experiences, making his performance even more raw. Camp got the crowd roaring with the use of confetti, fire and smoke machines that completely took the set to a whole new level.
Camp has endured a lot throughout his life, which led to the opprotunity of having a movie based on his first wife, Melissa, and his relationship. The movie, I Still Believe, has KJ Apa playing Camp and Britt Robertson playing Melissa.
Skillet came on at 9:35p.m., and the Huntington Center came alive once more. I have always heard that a Skillet show is high energy, has lots of on-stage production, and includes hit song after hit song. Those statements were not wrong. Mixing fan favorites like “Monster,” “Hero,” “Whispers In The Dark” and “Psycho In My Head” got the crowd energized all night long.
Using CO2 canons, the band had fun on stage walking around and spraying fans near the front during the set. Speaking of, the Skillet fans, known as Panheads, would cheer so loudly that what was a half-arena production set felt like a full-scale performance.
Skillet had some time after the fourth song to talk to the crowd, which included making fun of a Michigan fan, celebrating a birthday, celebrating a 17-month-old’s first concert, and celebrating their hero, Jesus Christ. That led into the song “Hero.” What I didn’t expect during this song was drummer Jen Ledger to come off the drums to sing on stage. Seeing her bop around without a drum kit was an added plus to the show.
Each member was able to showcase their musical abilities, with stage-booming drumming; fast-paced, high-energy guitar riffs and lyrics that would get anyone’s head banging and fists flying up. The stage also had two areas, one on each side of the drum kit, where the guitarists could go and be lifted into the air above everyone else, adding a cool element to the production of the show.
As Skillet has always done, their stage movement was on point. Dancing, spinning, jumping and more. Guitarist and backup singer Korey Cooper was the most energetic in that area, with husband John Cooper a close second. Lead guitarist Seth Morrison got his spotlight, literally, with a guitar solo that led into “Psycho In My Head.” Halfway through this song, John would ask the crowd to jump, which resulted in a wave of jumping for about 10 seconds. It quickly went to fist bumping after that.
Camp came on for a few versus in “Monster,” and “The Resistance” ended the hour-long set.
The Tennessee-based band has been around since 1996, and they are going strong nearly 30 years later. That says a lot for them and their fanbase. Each record creates hit song after hit song. The fans keep supporting them, and the Lord keeps blessing them with good fortune, spreading the word of Jesus, having faith, and having hope through some rock music.
In what was the first show of the tour, nothing seemed out of place at all. The bands knew their quest. I did not see one mistake made. Vocals in some areas may have come across as pitchy or barely off, but that was just to my trained ears. No one seemed to notice or care. It is live music after all. It was a fun night that any Skillet fan, let alone a Christian rock fan, should go see.
