Winter Jam Tour Spectacular 2014

Winter Jam Tour Spectacular 2014

January 16, 2014

Santander Arena and Performing Arts Center

Reading,PA

The night started with some Q&A with bands such as Everfound. It was a solid lineup of some of the most incredible Christian artists and musicians around. Winter Jam sold out to the point that spotting one empty seat became nearly impossible. From front to back the room was filled with adults and children of all ages, praying and lifting their praises to God. I’ve never been in an enclosed room as large as the Santander Arena, bursting so remarkably with positive energy. I’m so humbled by all the kind, loving and all around awesome people I met within my first 5 minutes of being there. It’s so reassuring to be reminded that so many good people still exist in this world. This was by far one of the most spiritual, moving, and refreshing tours I’ve been to in a long time, and I would recommend it to anyone, despite your beliefs.

Derek Minor came out swinging– engaging the crowd and pumping them up for an exciting night. Everfound took the stage next and put on quite a performance. A band called Love & The Outcome followed with enough passion to shake the place. I’ve never seen a male maintain such perfect hair throughout a musical performance… Colton Dixon rocked the stage! …and with GREAT style! New Song hosted most of the excitement that night. They took the stage shortly after Dixon, engaging the crowd in songs of worship while a talented artist by the name of Jared Emerson, took the stage and began creating a beautiful portrait of Jesus along with the music. By the end of the song it was complete and it was amazing to witness. The speaker told the crowd that it would be auctioned off as they had successfully done on every date of tour thus far. Part of the proceeds would go to the artist simply to renew his materials so he was able to continue on tour, and the other part would be given to charity. At the end of the show, the speaker came out and said that the work of art had again been successfully auctioned and for over 1,000 dollars.

It was my second time seeing Plumb and I wasn’t any less impressed. You can hear the passion roaring in her voice while she leaves you with a performance to remember. Her music and her voice is a deadly combination and is absolutely beautiful. Thousand Foot Krutch put on a killer performance. The band was one of the most highly anticipated bands of the night. What’s great about this band, other than their obvious insane musical talents, is that the band has a blast on stage and their positive energy and high spirits are contagious. It’s definitely a rewarding experience to see this band live. I had an opportunity to chat with the guys briefly after the show; their personalities are just as solid and down to earth as they portray them to be on stage. I also really admire the deep appreciation they have and show for their fans. Such genuine characteristics are unfortunately often hard to come by, in the music industry especially, today. I can say much of the same for the band Tenth Avenue North. Their performance is not one to forget. They continually engaged the crowd throughout their entire set, filled with beautiful songs made up of heartfelt and comforting lyrics. They performed fan favorite You Are More as the lead singer, Mike Donehey walked around the entire arena intimately pointing, shaking hands and singing with fans. There was moment when the bright white light hit as he stood in the seats surrounded by hands from every direction. The band’s performance was a phenomenal experience, at the very least. Lacrae tore up the stage. I like to call him the Anti-rap rapper. His music is far from the average cliché rap and hip hop lyrics. He takes a variation of the music that’s played today and instead of glorifying things such as alcohol, drugs and the degradation of women he spits the truth about his own life and his beliefs and feelings towards those subjects. His lyrics are encouraging and his beats are far from mediocre. The rapper ended his set with the Harlem Shake and had a handful of adorable kids joined him on stage and with smoke shooting into the air toilet paper flying, they went nuts! And it was awesome! Newsboys had fans of all ages jumping up and down all over the arena. Lead vocals, Michael Tait, sang a song dedicated to his best-friend who had passed away- his mother. It was an incredibly touching experience ending with showing her photograph on the big screen as he turned around and raised his fist to her. The drummers set elevated and proceeded to turn on its side at one point during the Newsboys performance. Their performance was another incredibly engaging event that night, showing attention and reaching out to the hands of die hard Newsboys fans. Tait closed out the night going up on a cherry picker, reaching out to the higher level seated fans all over the arena singing the lyrics to God’s Not Dead at the top of their lungs. What a great way to close out the night! The feeling I left with and the excessive amount of beauty I witnessed that night at Winter Jam Spectacular in Reading, PA–I wouldn’t trade it for the world. If you can make it out to a date I highly suggest it! It’s an awesome family oriented event that’s enjoyable to adults and children of all ages