Crazy in love

The lights finally go out, and the crowd erupts. Nothing happens. They quiet. A woman's voice stretches over the audience. 

"Thirty seconds." 

An electric guitar strums, rocking vibrations in my chest. We wait.

"Twenty seconds."

More electric guitar.

"Ten seconds." 

I don't hear her say nine, but suddenly we are counting down.

"Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one," we scream. There is a pregnant pause. 

Then:

Lights. 

Smoke.

A cello. 

Screaming.

Jumping.

It has begun. 

Yes. That's exactly how Skillet started. It was incredible. But let me go back.

So India and Katie were both at our house around four, and a little after four thirty we started eating pizza, because Jake was supposed to pick us up at 5. Well. They came fifteen minutes early, so they came in while we desperately tried to finish eating (very awkward), and then we were on our way! Of course we were forty five minutes early to Curtis Lake, which was where we were meeting everyone else, but we kind of just bopped around in the parking lot till it was time to go. When we got to New Life, where the concert was, we were astounded at the line, because it stretched from the front doors all the way out of the parking lot and across the way to the mall next to the church, about six people wide. We were like WOAHHH! 

Awesome. :P

We got in line, got inside, stood around slightly awkwardly, and finally, FINALLY, it started. The first band was Decyfer Down, and they were very loud but the sound wasn't mixed right so it was kind of just noise. The bass was amazing though, when they hit that first chord I nearly jumped out of my skin because it was so loud you could literally feel it in your chest. It was almost disturbing at first, but I got used to it fast, and although you couldn't hear the band really well, jumping up and down and dancing was still fun. We were hot, but not unpleasantly so, so it was all good.

There was probably a fifteen minute break after they were done, where we all kind of deflated and just stood, and then Thousand Foot Krutch started. We were a little closer to the stage, so it was much louder and much hotter. Very fun though. I could hear, and see the band better, and at one point the lead singer even came into the audience! So cool! I also just like their music better, I've gotta add some to my player now. :D 

That was the hottest section of the whole night, but before we passed out, they turned on the air conditioning and people start spraying entire bottles of water over the crowd. Totally awesome. We were also way more into the whole crazy concert thing, moving pretty much the entire time. By the end of that we were soooo thirsty, we pretty much ran to the concessions and I snuck drinks from people because I only had 75 cents. Yes, I know. Very stupid of me. 

Anyhow, so we stood around for awhile some more, and then SKILLET!!!!! Definitely my favorite band, (well obviously), even though I only actually knew three of their songs well. They did Comatose, and then Whispers in the Dark, which EVERYONE sang on. The leader singer, John, had super good stage presence, and was all like "WOW Maine you're so loud you're hurting my ears!" And he talked some more, and then after awhile was like "Now who wants me to shut up and play some music?" We screamed. Of course. "On the count of three everyone say shut up and rock!" 

SHUT UP AND ROCK!!!!!!!

Hehe. We were so loud!

They played a whole bunch more songs, and the lead singer talked some more, and we danced and sweated and sang. 

There were two favorite moments for me. The first was Rebirthing, the first song I ever heard by them totally by chance, which EVERYONE loves. They started playing it, and everyone started singing at the top of their lungs, but then the lead singer stopped us! He was all like "I'm really sorry, but I have no idea where my lead guitarist is, and we need him!" Well his guitarist came back, and the lead singer said. "You went to the bathroom?" and although I didn't hear it apparently he said "number 1 or number 2?" 

Hahahaha.

Very funny guy. So they started the song over again, and everyone jumped and sang and screamed and it was AMAZING. 

AMAZING.

AMAZING.

Then the second to last song was a worship song, and it was just so... beautiful. I had my hands in the air and I closed my eyes and there was that moment where I just felt like everything was right, like I was connected with God, like he was right there with me. And then of course my mind went on to other things, but for that briefest moment, I knew he was there. 

The last song, of course, streamers and confetti came shooting out, and the lights went crazy and the smoke and EVERYTHING, and it was awesome! But the crowd wasn't ready to go, so of course we started shouting "ONE MORE SONG!" until the band came back on stage. John, the lead singer, talked to us for awhile, explaining what their album Comatose is all about. (Basically how if we keep going in the world the way we are now, we'll end up all killing each other, so there needs to be change... if I remember right.) And of course he joked a lot, (i.e. "I have two small children who are cuter then your kids will ever be... well it's because God loves you but he loves me more!" etc.) And then they played the last song, and finally it was over. 

It was one of the best experiences of my life, I have to say. 

So much fun, but at the same time so thought provoking. I loved it. 

And there you have it. I may be obsessed with Skillet for awhile now, because they're amazing, so sorry if I rant too much. I can't help myself! And the four of us are going to be reenacting it for ages on, randomly jumping up and down while listening to music. I've never been so completely un-self-conscious in my life, and we were even in a group of people who weren't jumping that much. I was just like WOOO! It didn't occur to me really until today to be self conscious about how crazy I was. But I guess that's a good thing. It was very liberating. :P 

Okay, seriously, I'm done. Pictures still might come sometime, but I promise I won't blog about it again. ...Unless I forgot something really life changing. Promise. 

♥