Winter Jam 2009

On Saturday, Jan. 31, some friends and I headed west to Columbus for one of the best concerts I've ever attended.  The Monday prior to the concert, I had no idea the thing existed.  A simple FCA announcement turned into my weekend plans and how grateful I am that they did.

The Winter Jam, a seven or eight band extravaganza is currently on tour and for the convenient cost of free (tickets were only $10 but we got our hands on some free passes) I experienced all of these bands, concluding with a eardrum-throbbing performance from tobyMac - but I'll get to him shortly.

First, we got to Shottenstein center in Columbus around 4 p.m., an hour before the doors opened.  Lines were already backed up at each entrance to the arena and we picked the shortest line we could find.  But there was a reason it was short - it was already in the teens temperature wise and we picked the line in the shade.  Bad idea.

But after the wait, we managed to grab decent floor seats in what would eventually be a packed out Schottenstein Center, which seats over 20,000 people.  The only seats were in the nosebleeds way behind the stage.

The music got started shortly after five with a pre-concert from Stephanie Smith - an up-and-comer who didn't disappoint.  The rest of the evening went in this order:

Pure NRG - hats off to three kids at 13, 14, and 16 years old.

Francesca Batestelli

NewSong

Barlow Girl

Brandon Heath - unfortunately, he only got three songs, although he was still awesome

tobyMac

Okay, so now tobyMac.  Prior to the concert I had never really listed to Toby.  I didn't have anything against him (I know now that I would have loved his music) but I just didn't listen to it.  I knew a few of his songs but couldn't tell you more than one title.  But that all changed after Saturday night.

When tobyMac took the stage, it was obvious that my face was about to get rocked off.  His stage crew, Diverse City, was right there with him, laying down beats and lyrics that had the crowd throwing their fists and bobbing their heads.  It's had to put into words what the concert was like.  You could listen to his CD's, but they don't do a justice to a live performance.

Enhancing the already stellar lyrics and music was breakdancing, turntable solos, synchronized steps (not your typical N-Sync moves), and a finale crowsurf from Toby with confetti as icing.  The most gut-wrenching feeling was when the bass reverberated through my body.  This wasn't the typical feeling from the pounding of a bass drum.  This was some type of synthesized base that was felt for a couple seconds each beat.  I could feel several short pounds for each throbbing note.  I'll just say that it's a good thing I went to the bathroom before the concert because I didn't have any spare underwear on hand.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better performance.  Especially since I got the whole deal for free.  tobyMac - you have a new fan.