My wife, a group of our best friends and I saw Lifehouse at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale last night. The concert was pretty good.
The Culture Room is a decent venue. Pros: It is not a huge place. At best, there were 400 people in the room. We were like 30 feet from the stage. Cons: It is general admission and has no seats. We stood there for 3 hours listen to the 2 opening bands and then Lifehouse.
Lifehouse played a pretty short set…maybe 7 songs. They played a couple of their classics (which they have to hate by now) “You and Me” and “Hanging by a Moment.” They also played their new song “Whatever It Takes.” However, they didn’t play 2 songs I wanted to hear: “Everything” or “Take Me Away” (at least while we were there…we left with one song to go…).
Lifehouse is one of the “Creed-type” bands to me. Their lyrics are somewhat spiritual (or can at least be taken that way). In fact, I have heard a couple of the band members (lead singer, Jason, and bass guitarist) are Christians. I have even heard from someone that they were/are worship leaders at a church (not confirmed and probably not true I am guessing). If they are Christians, after seeing last night’s show, I would say that they are probably not “practicing.” They didn’t do anything “Christian” (whatever that means), but they didn’t do anything “non-Christian” either. That can’t be said of their opening bands though. Both drank and used words I would have had my mouth washed out with soap for saying as a child. It seems to me that there might be some disconnect somewhere.
I honestly don’t know what to do with bands like Lifehouse and Creed. I can see their reason for not wanting to pigeon-hole themselves as a Christian band. I know that does put some distance between them and some who would listen to their stuff if they weren’t carrying such a label. However, if you are a “band” and are a “Christian” but are not calling yourself a “Christian band” to reach an extended audience, I think you need to take advantage of the opportunity. I am not sure that spiritually-charged lyrics are enough. I think if you have a captive audience of mostly non-Christians for over an hour, something more needs to be said or done. I am not saying that they should open the Bible and start reading it, but I think there are ways of communicating the Gospel message (at least planting a seed) without putting-off your audience completely.
I am not trying to hate on Lifehouse or bands like them, I just wish they would really take advantage of the opportunity that God has given them. With that said, I know their music ministers to people. It does to me.
I would be interested in hearing what you have to say…shoot me a comment!
Side Note: After the concert, we all thought that one of the opening bands, Matt Nathanson, put on the best show. He was funny. I checked out his stuff on iTunes this morning. The band was definitely better live, but a couple of their songs are still pretty good.
Tags: culture room, Lifehouse, Matt Nathanson
April 16, 2008 at 6:25 pm |
compaining about general admission (no place to sit) is a sign of old age. Of course, the only shows i’ve seen at the culture room were metal shows, so sitting just wouldn’t do. i’ve been in some pretty good mosh pits in that place though, and it can get loud too.
here’s what you should do with that “wimpy” music that tries to pass itself off as rock. throw it away. i’ve got more appreciation for bands that at least admit that they’re wimpy, like radiohead or jack johnson. it’s the nickelbacks and the three doors downs that i can’t stand.
trying to figure out whether or not someone is a Christian is a waste of mental space. Trying to figure out whether or not a celebrity is a Christian is an even bigger waste of mental space. I’m happy to know that I am friends with some people who are true Christians (you being one of them) and that’s good enough for me.
April 18, 2008 at 12:36 am |
I am gonna have to disagree with Fred and Lew on a couple of those comments. Well first off I think Lew is right about the whole general admission and sitting down thing (no offense Fred). I mean who would wanna sit down at a rock show.
Secondly, Lifehouse has clearly stated they are not really considered a christian band so why do we keep wanting them to talk about God. It’s the same with alot of bands (Switchfoot, U2, Mute Math, etc.) I don’t really categorize my music by whether it’s christian or not. There is music I like and there is music I don’t like. Now I am careful not to have negative or dirty music but I won’t listen to a CD and like the words and music and say “oh wait they are not christian…no thanks”. Quite frankly if I were in a band full of Christians, I would probably not wanna be categorized as a christian band (unless of course I would be playing worship or something of that sort). I saw a dvd of P.O.D. once playing at ozzfest and halfway through their show they actually took out a bible, sat on the edge of the stage and presented the gospel to the crowd…AT OZZFEST!!! meanwhile all the traditional christians were bashing them for playing with all those “satanists”. Basically I believe there is a difference between “a christian band” and “christians in a band”. And if a band chooses to be either one, cool.
As far as Lew’s comment about the wimpy music, DUDE!!…everyone has different tastes. I’m not that much of a metal fan but I listen to a wide variety of music. On my ipod I have everything from Switchfoot and Coldplay to Underoath and Miley Cyrus (Actually I love miley cyrus…check out blog for details). All very different Genres (not necessarily christian) but positive either way. That’s where I stand.
Oh and by the way, Radiohead rocks and I am going to be at their show May 5th. (you should come, Lew)
April 18, 2008 at 12:54 am |
Hey Fred…Nice to know someone at CBG has a blog! lol!
anyways…i love lifehouse and i think they are a great band. I do understand some of your points, however…I have a close friend at work and she happens to be Jewish she is also very into science…she approached me one day and asked me if I had ever heard of a band called lifehouse. I immediately said, ” Oh course, I love them.” Then i asked her if she knew anything about them…and she said she knew that the band members were christians and she can tell by the lyrics. Then she told me that she loves the band and listens to them 24-7..however…she would have never started listening to them if she had known that they said jesus in their songs…or even mentioned jesus in a concerts bic it goes against everything she believes.
As christians this might be hard to hear…but for people who dont know Jesus and may not want to know Him…bands like these are an amazing bridge that God uses to reach people. God is a good of mercy and He speaks in different ways. I am weary to judge a band by what they say or may not say…God has wierd ways of working sometimes.
April 18, 2008 at 12:03 pm |
Thanks for the comments guys and gals. I just want to make sure everyone knows that I like Lifehouse, Creed, Switchfoot, Mute Meth, etc…In addition, I do appreciate the part the play in bringing their “spiritually-charged” music to people who typically wouldn’t listen to stuff like that. At least there doing something. If it were me though, I would look for ways to plant seeds when I had everyone at my concerts. I wouldn’t beat them over the head with my Bible, I would just drop things in every so often to get the dialogue going a little further. I guess that is just the difference between me, my calling and conviction and them. In the end, I think what is important is that all of us do what God is calling us to do!
Lew = I just don’t relate. I never really got into the whole 80′s metal, hair band thing. I will stick with my whimpy music!
March 25, 2009 at 8:01 am |
Just to clarify: Jason has been quoted in an interview as saying that, while the band members are Christian, they avoid describing themselves as a Christian band. Their justification had something to do with how they felt that publicly-Christian bands tend to not be as popular.
It has been a while since I’ve heard that interview, however, so I could be wrong.
June 2, 2009 at 1:23 am |
I’m a Christian and listen to LifeHouse. I think they are an incredible band, and I believe that Jason Wade has a truly God-given gift for writing songs that touch the heart and mind of their listeners. I, for one, do not listen to Christian music all that often (probably only worship at church). It all sounds the same after a while.
Just because Jason is a Christian doesn’t mean he needs to start quoting scripture verses during concerts. Or witnessing to people as they ask for autographs. You know that phrase “actions speak louder than words”? Well, Jason is shining his Christian light by just being the kind of person God wants him to be. And personally, I think that’s enough. Certain people are called to be more “forceful” than others when it comes to the Gospel Message. And others are not. Jason got into this business to have an outlet for his emotions and feelings when his parents were getting divorced. Not to make praise and worship music.
Keep rockin’, LifeHouse!!