Jeremy Camp, Bethany Dillon, The Afters.
What can I say about one of the coolest concerts I’ve been to in my life?
The show started with our arrival at the venue, Sunshine Community Church, at about 5. We waited around until about 5:30 for the will-call window to open up, and a lady handed me an envelope containing six tickets, plus Meet and Greet passes.
So we went to the Meet and Greet, and got to meet The Afters, who are extremely down to earth and fun guys. I mentioned that I had a copy of their CD signed by the band, and one of the guys said that they had 3000 CDs and it took them about two days to sign every one of them. When I asked who played what, one of them said “I’m the drummer” and I immediately responded with “so, you hang out with the band.” It started this running joke of him finding me in the crowd to throw a drumstick at me. He was going to have Jaci send up a signal flare or something, to point out where I was. After the show, he told me that he actually broke a drumstick and immediately thought “I wish I knew where that guy was sitting!”
After a great time talking with those guys, we met Jeremy Camp. Talk about another down to earth artist. He was just an all around cool guy. We spoke for a little while, talked about things such as if he was going to play “This Man” from his album “Restored.” He did play it, and it was one of the highlights of the show. More on that to come.
We went and found our seats, which were excellent. Center stage, and back far enough that you could enjoy it without leaving with ringing ears. Bethany Dillon started off the night with a short set of about five songs. All of the songs she played were fantastic. For being only 17, she maintains her composure well when she’s up there. Not only that, but she was really quite funny as well. Since I’ve last seen her on a MUCH smaller stage (with about 30 people total in the audience), she seems to have found a comfortable spot for herself, and captivated the whole crowd that was there to see Jeremy Camp.
After she played, they showed the first trailer for Narnia. Next, The Afters came out and performed a solid set of songs that I’ve loved since I first won their CD a long time ago. They told many stories and took the stage like professionals. The way they played, so solidly, reminded me a bit of a current Newsboys concert. No need to jump around or anything, but to perform their music, and to do it well. They owned the stage and controlled it, and they too earned many new fans because of that show.
There was an intermission next, and Courtney, Mary and Beth vanished, and then Kathy went to buy some stuff, and Jaci and I eventually wandered around for a little.
Jeremy Camp came out rocking, next. He played many great songs. One of the highlights of his set, was when he performed “Open Up Your Eyes” from the Narnia Inspired-by Soundtrack. There was also a portion of the concert where he and the band sat on stools and played a quieter set for a while. After that, they ramped up the set and finished it off “This Man.” That song is a powerful one that I didn’t really notice the first time I listened to his album “Restored.” But when I had his music on my iPod, one day the song played and took me off guard. It’s one that resonates very deeply with me; its message of taking the place of the Christ that died for us. After that, came a huge closing number. He then said, alright, that’s it, we like to end with the encore right away instead of running back on the stage.
When the concert was over, we stood in line to meet Bethany Dillon (who was a very sweet girl) and then talked to the Afters again. We then went over to talk to Jeremy Camp again, and he immediately recognized us. But that’s not all, when we had our picture taken with him, he sang the lyrics “you all everybody!” For any fans of Lost out there, it was completely recognizable, and I picked up on it right away. We talked about that for a minute; “what does it even mean?” I had those lyrics stuck in my head for the rest of the night. Thanks Jeremy Camp. I totally appreciate it!
My friend Courtney wrote about it also:
Because of The Chronicles of Narnia, He got tickets to see the Jeremy Camp concert with Bethany Dillon and The Afters! We got there and waited in line for a half hour for our will-call tickets, only to find out that not only did we have tickets, but also Meet and Greet passes!!!!! We got to meet and talk with The Afters and Jeremy Camp! They are all so interested in their fans, very down to earth, and easy to talk to.
The concert was just amazing…they all performed really well! Bethany Dillon was up first, and she was awesome, she is only 17 years old! Yeah, yeah, I know I have been informed of that before, but I tend to forget these things. I do not know a lot of her music, but now I really want to get her CDs. Then, The Afters came on stage…wow! I liked their music before, but after seeing them perform I love them! They even performed their song Beautiful Love..ahh, it was great! They were so nice, we got to talk to them three times…plus, they signed not only a CD but a poster for me as well. Jeremy Camp was third, and all I can say is that he performs a great show. He played excellent songs and gave good background to a lot of things. Also, I loved the fact that Jeremy Camp talked passionately about the song he wrote for the CD Music Inspired By The Chronicles of Narnia and for the movie itself. His song, Open Up Your Eyes is so cool, and he performed it!!
After the concert we stuck around and got more autographs and pictures with everyone…after that we all went to IHOP for dinner….All in all a great night!!
My friend Mary also wrote about it:
Yep- we saw Jeremy Camp, Bethany Dillon, and The Afters because Paul got tickets and, as we found out when we picked up our tickets, Meet and Greet passes, from a contact he has through Narnia. Wow…it was amazing!!! We didn’t get to meet Bethany Dillon beforehand, but we did get to meet the guys from The Afters and Jeremy Camp. The Afters guys were awesome! They were so fun to talk to- they were just normal guys that you felt like you could just hang out with as you would with any other friends. Jeremy Camp was sweet, too- he had to rush with signing our stuff because we were running out of time before Bethany went on, but it was still awesome. We saw him again after the concert, as we did The Afters. Beth, Courtney, and I bought their CD, got it autographed, and also got a picture with them. They remembered our names, too- that was really cool.
The concert itself was AMAZING. I was so surprised to find out that Bethany Dillon is only 17! I thought she was around twenty, dang. She has such a beautiful voice! I think I’ll use some of my gift card money from Target to buy her newest CD off the website. Man, she is so good- I love listening to her. She was awesome to meet, too…she was so nice The Afters show was great, too. Wow…I love them. I hadn’t listened to them much before- they blew me away…there was one song that sounded so gorgeous when they all joined in with the soloist that my jaw dropped. I highly recommend their first (and only) CD. They’re so good. Jeremy Camp…there really isn’t anything I can say that would explain how awesome he was, how powerful his voice is, how much energy there was, or how present God was. It was so amazing! Plus, he sang the song he recorded for the Narnia soundtrack of songs inspired by the movie…that was awesome!
The concert went from around six to 9:13. Afterward we waited in line to get autographs from Bethany Dillon and The Afters (again). Beth, Courtney, and I went and got autographs from three of the members of Jeremy Camp’s band- one of whom was his younger brother, go figure. We waited in line for a reeealy long time, got our stuff signed, and then went over and waited in line for a reeealy long time (you gotta expect that) to get autographs from Jeremy Camp. Then we decided to wait to get another group picture since Scott hadn’t been there for the first one before the concert, so we did that…something really funny happened then: we were standing around Jeremy, waiting for the pic, and he jumps up and down and yells in a funny voice “You all everybody”, which happens to be from the first season of LOST. Paul picked up on it, so the two of them were yelling it back and forth…it was hilarious. When we left from that it was 10:50, and since we were starving, we decided to go to IHOP.
My friend Jaci had a little bit to say as well:
Jeremy Camp concert was amazing! There was Bethany Dillion, The Afters, and Jeremy Camp (woo)! So we were waiting in willcall line and then Paul comes back and is like “hey guys, you won’t believe this! We have MEET AND GREET TICKETS TOO!!” So we got to meet the Afters and Jeremy Camp. and they were all really cool down to earth people. 🙂
Special thanks to:
Beth, Courtney, Jaci, Kathy and Mary for coming to the show with me.
Julie and Scott for also attending.
And an Extra Special thanks to those that made it happen:
Kat, Leigh, Matt and Janice at EMI
[Read more about the Soundtrack]
[Read the lyrics and more about “Open Up Your Eyes”]
Buy It:
[Family Christian]
[MusiChristian.com]