Christian Music Online

SHOUTfest tour Christian music fans

October 2, 2007 – 9:33 am

Thousands of voices had joined together in an a capella version of “Amazing Grace” early Sunday evening at Clat Adams Bicentennial Park. The almost-surreal scenario evolved with dusk rapidly approaching and a fall breeze blowing off the nearby Mississippi River.

When Roy, the young, charismatic lead singer for Building 429, approached the mike after the crowd had finished, he held out his hand in salute.

“Best SHOUTfest yet,” said Roy, acknowledging his appreciation of the crowd’s effort.

There was little to question in Roy’s reflection concerning the third edition of the “SHOUTfest: Let the Walls Fall Down” nationwide tour to touch down in Quincy.

Event organizers estimated a record 8,500 made their way to the Quincy riverfront at one time or another during the seven-hour Christian music festival, which was cut short by about 90 minutes when rain and lightning struck the city about 8 p.m.

“I can’t explain it,” said Bruce Rice, executive director of the nonprofit Christian radio station WGCA and local SHOUTfest organizer. “I really don’t know where they all came from. They just kept coming through the gate in waves.”

The unofficial crowd count included tickets sold, free passes and discounted packages that were offered to churches.

A stronger regional turnout from Central Missouri and Southeast Iowa was one of the theories. The event had already developed a strong following in West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri during its first two years.

This year’s crowd was easily the most energetic and receptive at SHOUTfest, which Rice said is rapidly becoming a “Quincy institution.”

First-time SHOUTfest attendee Karen Adam of Quincy liked what she heard, not only the music, but also the messages delivered by a wide variety of modern-day Christian artists and bands.

“This gives me hope,” she said. “It is so encouraging to see all of these

(musicians) in Christian bands, instead of rock bands. And all of these people here listening to clean lyrics. You don’t have to worry about what is coming out of (the musicians’) mouths.

“It’s also nice to see and hear all of these different styles of music. A lot of it is not the kind I would normally hear.”

The SHOUTfest-type of concept represents one of the exclamation points of the growing contemporary Christian movement, both in terms of music and approach to worship. Denominations and organized religion are normally checked at the gate at these types of events. “Love, Not Religion” was one of the popular T-shirts that showed up Sunday.

“We’re not here for the applause, we’re here to let you know how God changes lives,” said Trey Pearson, lead vocalist of Everyday Sunday.

“We were never meant to be a subculture,” Inhabited lead singer Sara told a fist-pumping crowd.

Other artists performing included Cali, Starlit Platoon, Nate Huss, Lyrycyst, Article One, After Edmund, Group 1 Crew, Storyside B, Seventh Day Slumber and the Afters. Two of the headline acts, Superchic(k) and Pillar, were rained out.

It was lead singer Josh Havens of the Afters who told the crowd, “God never says, ‘That’s enough, I can’t love you anymore.’ ”

An emotional illustration of Havens’ words came only moments after they were spoken. Following the Afters was a moving appearance by Seventh Day Slumber frontman Joseph Rojas, a one-time atheist. Rojas delivered the day’s informal keynote address to a crowd that hung on his every word.

“I was a drug addict, and I was abused as a child,” Rojas said. “My father never wanted anything to do with me, and by age 14 I was a cocaine addict. By age 21 I had a $400-a-day habit and was a four-time convicted felon.

“I tried to kill myself with a lethal overdose of cocaine and had a heart attack right in front of my mother … but I felt the presence of God in the back of that ambulance going to the hospital.

“Since then, I’ve been on the most incredible ride. If you are looking for proof that (God) is real, all you need to do is look at my life.”

Quincy was the 10th stop on the 19-city SHOUTfest tour, which began in August and will conclude in November.

Contact Staff Writer Steve Eighinger at seighinger@whig.com or (217) 221-3377

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