So Saturday night was the Behold the Lamb concert in Cedar Rapids. As you know if you read my previous post, I was the runner for the day. And what a day it was. There are so many aspects I want to write about that they’d make for one absurdly long and multi-faceted blog post. So, I’ll try to split it up a bit.

Let’s start with the basics. I showed up at Kennedy HS about 10:15 Saturday morning to help unload. Pretty much all the gear had been carried in from the bus, but the sound guys were just starting to unload. There were a bunch of people to help unload, though, so it went relatively quickly.

My first run of the day was pretty simple; I took the bus driver (I think his name is Perry?) and Chris Biggs (the sound guy/road manager for the tour) over to the hotel to get everybody checked in. Then the next trip to the hotel was Andy and Jill (Phillips) Gullahorn. Then there was a trip with Andy Peterson, Andy Osenga, Garrett Buell, and Cason Cooley. Then there was a trip with Derek and Sandra (McCracken) Webb. Ben Shive was in there somewhere, too. OK, so I’m name-dropping out the wazoo here. It was just a treat to get to meet all of them and chat a bit.

Later on in the afternoon, as the snow started falling (we got 4 inches of snow that afternoon… fun times driving), I got to drive and go along with Andy P, Andy G, and Jill as they visited the woman who was the inspiration for AP’s song The Queen of Iowa. It was a powerful time. I’ll write a separate post later.

I thought that perhaps by the time we got to the actual concert, it would be anti-climactic. Boy was I wrong. The first half of the concert was time for solo songs. They sang:

Andy O - If I Had Wings, Early in the Morning Andy P - The Queen of Iowa, Let There Be Light Andy G - Holy Flakes, Freedom Derek - A New Law, Lover Jill - I feel horrible about this, but I can’t remember which songs she sang. One of ‘em was “so new I haven’t learned the guitar part yet”, so Andy G played it for her. Sandra - Where I’m From, and I don’t remember the other one

During one of the car trips, Jill noted that one of the things she thought was so cool about this tour was hearing how even though they had many of the same musical influences, each of their songwriting styles is still distinct and plays out just a bit differently. That was quite clear at the concert, hearing these songs. I’ll write more about them later, too.

So let me wrap this post up. After the show was over, I helped load stuff up, picked up the bus driver from his day’s sleep at the hotel, and somewhere in there managed to get almost everybody to sign a concert poster which now hangs on my cube wall at work, right next to the Share the Well tour poster that I got signed at a concert last year. They will continue to bring back memories of great days and concerts.