At the risk of incurring the mockery of Derek or others, just wanted to mention that the good wife and I attended a Jars of Clay concert last Friday at Gordon College on the north shore (billed as “the only nondenominational Christian college in New England”). Apart from being dragged to a Petra concert by my older sister when I was about 15, this was my only exposure to live popular Christian music. But, as I’ve mentioned before, I really dig Jars of Clay; they seem to me to be several cuts above most “CCM.”

And they didn’t disappoint. The material on their newest album is much more rock-inflected than their last few, and, while I won’t say that they rocked harder than seeing, say, the Ramones when I was 18 or Pantera and Anthrax when I was 22, they certainly rocked that particular house (which was, interestingly, the campus chapel!). I wish the same could be said of the audience, who actually sat down during slow songs! And not only was there no dancing to speak of, there was precious little bopping or bobbing. Kids these days! I wasn’t expecting crowd surfing or moshing or anything, but a little more spontaneity would’ve made it feel a little more like, y’know, a rock concert. But then my exposure to evangelical subculture is petty limited, so maybe that’s normal behavior.

But not only did JoC put on a really good show, they took some time to promote their project blood: water mission, which is dedicated to providing access to clean drinking water in Africa by raising funds for wells and other clean water projects in villages throughout the continent. That strikes me as a pretty worthwhile undertaking.

So, kudos to Jars of Clay for a good show, even if I might’ve preferred to see them in a dimly lit club with a beer in my hand instead of sitting in a padded pew next to 13 year old girls. 😉