Are the Monsters Really Good?

As I said, I went to see Jars of Clay, Matt Wertz, and Kate York in concert on Thursday night. Let's start at the very beginning...

Up first was Kate York. She had a really nice voice - rich, melodic, passionate. But I'll be really honest, her music made me want to crawl out of my skin... or fall asleep. I don't know; she sounds fine, I guess. She just seems to sound like every other female Christian singer with a guitar that I've heard. All the songs just blended together into one very large made-me-want-to-sleep fest. But you might like her, so you can listen to her music on her MySpace page.

I think I'm a little bit in love with Matt Wertz. Not because he's particularly attractive or because his music is brilliant. Why then? Firstly, I have a weakness for men with guitars. Secondly, he was simply charming onstage. He played with his other guitarist friend, Justin I believe it was. Or maybe it was Jason. Either way, they interacted very well together, and they just seemed to have a great time with the music. He was funny and spontaneous and personal, and they got the audience involved really nicely. The music itself was good - it's very upbeat, very pop-like, very danceable. Like I said, not brilliant, but I particularly enjoyed it. You can listen to some of it on MySpace, or just find the album on iTunes. And I was just kidding, I'm not really in love with Matt Wertz. I just appreciate charming, guitar-playing men. That's all.


So after all the loveliness of opening acts, Jars of Clay came onstage. If you're new to my blog, you may not know that Jars of Clay is very possibly my favorite band... ever. So it doesn't really need to be stated that I was terribly excited to see this concert. Did it live up to my expectations? Yes and no. The band was great. They were full of energy, some crazy dancing, some great (and a couple not-so-great) song choices, and funny/insightful conversation. The part that I didn't particularly enjoy was the audience. There were certainly exceptions, but the audience just didn't seem very into the concert. Maybe this is because Christians are boring and don't like rock concerts. Maybe they just didn't know the music. Maybe everyone was tired. I'm not sure of the reason, but the lack of audience enthusiasm slightly dampened my spirits about the show. But the truth is that the Jars guys were awesome. The best songs they played were "Love Me", "Flood" (of course), "Surprise", "The Eleventh Hour", and probably others that I just can't remember. The consensus? Great band, good show, I would most definitely go see them again if I got the chance.

Alrighty, folks. It's late and I must go. Have a great day!

Fondly,
Dr. J