Music Builds Tour Blog, Entry 1
Welcome to my freestyle blog about the “Music Builds Tour.” We kicked off the Tour here in Detroit tonight, and I think I may have caught MBF… Music Builds Fever. Jars of Clay kicked off the night wearing all white clothes, sunglasses, and frankly, ruled it. I have been a fan of their band since their self-titled in 1995, and they played a few new musical renditions of some of their song favorites. Robert Randolph and the Family Band started their set with “We’re Gonna Have a Good Time,” which he did, and brought a triple threat with three pedal steel players up front! Yeah. I can’t believe how good he can play that thing. He is a true player and a legend!
We (Switchfoot) took the stage next with our guitars blazing and played under the red sunset. We had extra time, so Jon played “Only Hope” acoustic before the the last encore of “Dare You to Move.” Third Day finished off the evening playing lots of crowd favorites in their polished rock driven sound. The set ended in a family style jam as Randolph joined Third Day for a song. Then Jars of Clay came out and did “I’ll Fly Away” with them, and finally the All Star Jam of U2′s “When Love Comes to Town” with Third Day and members of Switchfoot, Jars of Clay and Robert Randolph. Well, I need to get some sleep ’cause we’re going to a Habitat Build site early tomorrow morning in Indianapolis. More to come.
High Fives,
Drew
Music Builds Tour Blog, Entry 2 – Hammer On, Hammer Off!
Today, the “Music Builds Tour” started very early for me. We were up at 7am and headed to a Habitat for Humanity Build Site to volunteer and help build a house. Habitat is an organization that builds quality housing for people in need. I guess it goes without saying that this tour is all about raising awareness for great causes like Habitat (habitat.org) and The One Campaign (one.org). We cut wood, put up roofing, installed dryer vents, and did all kinds of jobs that I didn’t realize that I could accomplish. It was pretty funny to have all the bands building a house together on a construction site. I hope it doesn’t fall down. I had a great conversation with Peter from the ONE Campaign about how they need volunteers to come to the tour and help out. If anyone is interested please visit one.org/event/musicbuilds/.
We made it back to the venue with all our fingers and no major accidents and got ready for the show. The crowd was electric tonight. All the bands are getting more into that musical groove. Robert Randolph was on fire! His band was slamming and had everyone dancing, shouting and clapping. The all-star jam at the end of the show had lots of energy and laughs, as Mac from Third Day tried to pull me to the front of the stage, but my guitar cord was too short. Sorry folks. Tonight was a balmy summer night with all the right elements–building a house, great music and some after-show Olympics watching.
“Can we build it?… Yes, we can!” Thanks, Bob!
Freestyle Blogging,
Drew
Music Builds Tour Blog, Entry 3 – Chicago, IL.
Today, black clothes were a bad choice. It was much hotter than I thought. But, it worked out fine because tonight’s concert was right on the water here in Chicago. It was one of those perfect settings, with the city in the background, the water in the foreground, and thunderstorms out on the lake. Some of our band went to the Cubs afternoon game and they won, which is great since our home team (the San Diego Padres) is not winning much this year. The night cooled off, and the bands heated up! Jars of Clay gave a phenomenal performance of “Love Song for a Savior” with a tasteful rhythm loop played with a marching band bass and snare drum. Sorry to Jeremy, the drummer, as he cut his knee on the way back up to the drums and bled all over his white pants…gross. Robert Randolph brought into his epic jamming set a rendition of “Jesus is Just All-Right With Me” which was classically delicious! We (Switchfoot) decided to rock more tonight with a heavier set list that included “American Dream,” “We are One Tonight,” “Stars” and “Meant to Live.” It felt really good to be playing outside tonight. After our set, Mac from Third Day heard us saying that we played the “only Beyonce cover of the night” so they decided to give us a run for our money by covering another Beyonce song. Touche.
Well, that concludes the first weekend of the “Music Builds Tour,” where diverse bands are united in raising awareness for Habitat for Humanity and The One Campaign while serving up some great music! See you on tour.
High Fives,
Drew
switchfoot
freestyle blogger