Christian Music Online

Christian rock band Casting Crowns

January 13, 2006 – 12:33 pm

Tickets go on sale Friday for Christian rock band Casting Crowns, to play SBU on March 19

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., Jan. 11, 2006 — “Are we happy plastic people/Under shiny plastic steeples/With walls around our weakness/And smiles to hide our pain/But if the invitation’s open/To every heart that has been broken/Maybe then we close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade.”

With bold questions like the ones above set to memorable melodies, songs like “Stained Glass Masquerade” leave no room for doubt that the platinum-selling, seven-piece youth ministry band Casting Crowns continues to challenge the Sunday morning status quo. The band will be headlining a Christian rock concert at St. Bonaventure University Sunday, March 19.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13, and will be priced as follows: Gold circle seating, first 15 rows on the floor – $40; Back section of the floor – $22; Blue seats – $25; Bleacher seating – $22; and upper-level red seats – $19. Also, groups of 10 may purchase red seats for $15 each. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Reilly Center Ticket Office, at all Tops Friendly Markets, by phone at (888) 223-6000 or online at tickets.com. For more information call the ticket office at (716) 375-2500. All seating is reserved.

“Casting Crowns’ music has captured the attention of not only modern Christian music fans, but across the musical spectrum, including the writers at Rolling Stone magazine,” said Steve Plesac, director of student activities at St. Bonaventure University. “We are excited to welcome the band and their fans, and we feel there could not be a better venue for this concert than St. Bonaventure University.”

Opening acts include music artists Nichole Nordeman and Josh Bates, and guest speaker Tony Nolan. Only 12 weeks after its Aug. 30, 2005, release, “Lifesong,” the band’s sophomore release, has earned gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling more than 500,000 copies.

The band earned its first Grammy nomination for best pop/contemporary gospel album last month by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for “Lifesong,” which debuted at No. 9 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart, one of only two Christian artists to break the top 10 on the Billboard Chart in 10 years.

The band was also recently nominated for favorite artist in the contemporary inspirational category at the 33rd American Music Awards last month, and was featured in the Sept. 26, 2005, issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

“Lifesong” continues in the same vein as Casting Crowns self-titled debut album two years ago, bringing focus to topics the band feels aren’t being talked about enough.

“I think people are willing to listen to the hard truth if you’re being transparent about your own life, your own struggles with doubt and fear and failure,” said lead singer and songwriter Mark Hall. “These songs, like all the songs I write, are simply about where we all live.”

By Katie Fish

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