The Light Meets the Dark Tour
Julie and I had the pleasure this weekend of heading down to Monterey's Golden State Theater for its grand reopening concert featuring Tenth Avenue North, Addison Road, and Matt Maher. We might also have purchased early-bird pre-show meet and greet tickets. And while it was a little rainy and icky outside, what a great event it turned out to be.
Meet and Greet
We got to sit with the band for about half an hour of question and answer time about all sorts of things. Turns out Mike (the lead singer) does some great impersonations, Rueben "The Spaniard", or "The Cute One" to Julie, is still single, and the band has some interesting history, musical influences, and styles. Nothing too deep and exciting, but some great time in a more intimate setting to get to know the people behind the musicians.
Matt Maher
The man has way more energy than his music would indicate. I anticipated a kinda slower set, but he hit homeruns with all the high schoolers in the audience with "Your Grace Is Enough", "Shout of the King", "Alive Again", "Hold Us Together", and "Christ is Risen". They were jumping up and down so hard on a floor built in the twenties that the speakers on stage were threatening to fall over. He actually ended up getting more enthusiasm than...Addison Road
A local Texas band, it was ironic that all of us had to end up in California for me to actually be able to see them. They hit most of their best songs, with "All That Matters", "This Could Be Our Day", "Change In the Making", "Show Me Life", "This Little Light", "My Story", and "Hope Now", though they didn't sing my personal favorite, "What Do I Know of Holy". Jenny was fashionable as always, the harmonica was a great touch, and they did a few clever things with loops while performing.
Tenth Avenue North
Headlining their first tour, I was pleasantly surprised at what they've picked up about performing, though at certain points their stage presence, lights, and videos threatened to drown out the worship going on. All the classics and much of their new stuff made an appearance, as expected: "Strong Enough to Save", "You Are More", "Healing Begins", "Look at All the Pretty Things", "By Your Side", "Hold My Heart", "Satisfy", "The Truth Is Who You Are", "House of Mirrors", and a brief acoustic section featuring a xylophone, an accordion, and "Oh My Dear". Unfortunately, they didn't add on "Beloved", which has a beautiful acoustic version and which would have fit with the message of the night very well. They did a wonderful rendition of "Times" as a very fitting encore, and then followed up with one more new song for the DVD. Oh, I didn't mention they were filming? Turns out Mike's dad had worked in the Golden State Theater when he was in the Air Force, and coupled with the first concert in years, Tenth Avenue recorded the show for a live DVD. And did I mention we were in the second row? Buy it and I can almost guarantee you'll see us.
