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This Past Weekend in VA, NH & NJ
Tue., May. 22. 2007 12:09pm EDT
Usually they say hindsight is 20/20, but looking back on this past weekend in Fredericksburg VA (Friday), Auburn NH (Saturday), and Bayville NJ (Sunday), it was more like 20/15/10.
Friday's concert was our 20th concert ever in Virginia and our 11th since 2006, but it appears we haven't gotten old in the Old Dominion State; there was a great crowd on hand. We especially enjoyed getting a chance to chat with the concert's promoter, Assistant Pastor Steve Khan, a Messianic Jew who became a Christian in 1982 after seeing many of his old buddies come to Christ. And when we found out the head pastor was a guy named Kermit, we knew he had to have a sense of humor. And he did. We blew our big chance to spoof Metallica's "Master of Puppets" as "Pastor of Muppets," though.
Saturday's concert was our 15th concert overall in New England, eight of which have been in New Hampshire. As usual when we play New England, we had fans in attendance from many states, including Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and of course, New Hampshire. Another guy even made a special trip from Quebec, Canada. Furthermore, there was an exchange student from Russia and a missionary who had recently returned from Indonesia. With so many places represented, it's not surprising that that show sold out way in advance, even when we added extra capacity.
Sunday's concert was our 10th ever in New Jersey, but our first since 2004. The place was packed, so it was nice to know they hadn't forgotten about us. They couldn't seem to come to a consensus as to whether they were Yankees/Giants fans, Mets/Jets fans, or Phillies/Eagles fans, but they all seemed to agree on ApologetiX. In retrospect, we can't believe we forgot to play "Wherever You Will Sow" in the Garden State.
Here's a great email from the Auburn show's coordinator, Cindy Morin:
I just wanted to thank you for an awesome concert this past weekend! Everyone had a great time. You were wonderful to work with throughout the entire process and made our first concert a real success! There were lots of different kinds of people in attendance that all got something out of it. Of course, your loyal fans were just thrilled to hear your music live while it reinforced their own relationships with God.
I spoke with "older" people who brought their kids, that were surprised at how much they enjoyed it themselves. They were excited to have a Christian group that they could be confident in their kids listening to (and that they could listen to as well). There were very young ones who were attending their first concert ever and are now new fans. What a blessing to start off their music knowledge with a terrific group who have such a great message in each song!
I know we even made some profit in the event because of the high turnout, but that wasn't our reason for doing it. Lives were changed, and will continue to be touched by your music. I personally had a friend attend that I've known since kindergarten. I've invited her to many Christian events throughout the years, but this was the very first time she came! She even brought her two kids and sister and her family. She said she loved it and would come back in a minute. For me, that was the icing on the cake!
Here are some more kind words we received from regarding that show:
I went to your concert last night and it was absolute awe inspiring. I have never been to a concert before, and I think that last night was one of the best nights of my life. I was there with a youth group and we had just finished a 30 hour famine and broke the fast at the concert. It was our surprise and I don't think that I could have asked for anything more. You guys were amazing and you have really inspired me. I just wanted to say that you very much. Keep doing what you are doing. You are touching so many lives and I think that it is wonderful!
Kat Begin
Weare NH
Awesome concert last night in Auburn, NH! It was my first ApologetiX concert - it won't be my last! I wanted to tell you all thanks for putting on an awesome show, but you were mobbed, so this e-mail will have to do. Hopefully we'll get to meet you sometime. My cousin and I had a great time and thought you guys were hilarious. Thanks for all you do; you've really inspired me to read the Bible more.
Charleigh Linde
Acton ME
The legendary David McKee sat in with us as guest drummer on two songs at the Auburn show. David played all of the drums on our "Jesus Christ Morningstar" CD back in 1998 and played a couple concerts with us as a fill-in drummer in 1998-99. He also played on the first two CDs by Christian progressive rock band Ten point Ten, along with our keyboardist, Bill "Wild Thing" Hubauer.
Special thanks to:
Our concert coordinators: Pastor Steve Khan (Fredericksburg), Cindy "Don't Call Me Chris" Morin (Auburn) and Pastor Don Meckley (Bayville).
Our merchandise coordinators: Marie (Fredericksburg and Auburn); Jenn (Fredericksburg and Bayville); Cindy, Josh (Fredericksburg); Julianne, Laura, and Sara (Auburn); and Isaac a.k.a. Goose Jr. (Bayville).
Our roadies: Goose (Fredericksburg, Auburn, and Bayville) and Rich (Fredericksburg and Auburn).
Our catering crew for the ride home: Joyce Couts and her daughter, Charity.
Honorable mention to: Rich and Marie Polick, who drove from Pittsburgh to Virginia and New Hampshire, and have now seen us play in 12 different states; Also to Jenn "Superchick" Kipp, who drove from Lancaster to Virginia and New Jersey, and has seen us in 10 states and one province.
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