It was very hard to leave Jimmy and Ashley behind in Romeo when we moved to San Diego two years ago. In the last year he transitioned from Michigan to the Houston area and is working full-time for a church plant called, Thrive.
There are probably a lot of very intelligent people who know how to judge a worship leader better than me. But Jimmy exhibits all the qualities I’m looking for.
Vocally and musically talented. (This is actually the easy part, dime a dozen)
Fun to be around. Jimmy has a smile that can light up a room.
Versatile. Jimmy is good in darn near any setting. Kids, students, camps, adults, bars, inside, outside… he’s ready to roll.
Fun to work with.
Listens to God. When you are over the top talented its easy to listen to yourself or to what has worked for you. That’s not how Jimmy rolls.
Creative. He’s good enough to push past imitation to find creativity.
So, that’s why I like Jimmy. He’s a good dude. I’m stoked for his album to [finally] come out. I hope a bagillion people book him for shows, camps, and stuff like that. And one day he will be such a big deal that he’ll finish a song and his guitar guy will walk onto stage and hand him a new one.
The Swell Season, House of Blues San Diego, August 17th 2010
Yesterday held one of those sweet, unexpected moments of marriage awesomeness. (Get your mind out of the gutter) We came home completely exhausted but having really enjoyed ourselves. (Again, what’s with the gutter thoughts? Knock it off!)
It all started with an early morning check of Twitter. I had gotten a direct message from a youth worker buddy from New Mexico. It was pretty random, actually. “You live in San Diego, right? Want to see Swell Season tonight?”
I’m not going to lie. I was confused. I was confused why a guy from New Mexico wanted to know if I wanted to see a concert. I mean, I like music… but I don’t know this guy like that. And the truth was that I wasn’t sure who Swell Season was. Was it a cheesy Christian band I’ve never heard of? The name rung a bell but I wasn’t sure where I knew the band name from and I kind of feared that they were the opener for Hawk Nelson or something.
Seriously, I just watched that video again and it still makes me cry. Freaking awesome, right?
OK, back to earth.
I sent Kristen a quick email. Just sent the link and said, “Do you want to go?” She responded back with a very romantic “YES” and the date was on.
We met up with Aaron and Heather from their hotel and went over to El Indio for a taco. It was fun to get to hang with Aaron outside of the context of NYWC and to meet Heather. I’ve got this corny little saying that you can’t really know a person until you meet their spouse. So now I feel like I got to know Aaron in a whole new light and that was cool. The guys talked youth ministry and church shop while the ladies talked about… well, I have no idea because Aaron and I were talking about youth ministry and church stuff!
From there, we went over to the House of Blues. It’s a great venue which provides a real sense of intimacy between the artist and the audience. The opening act was pretty fun. But he was an opener and I can’t remember his name. (Isn’t that the job of an opener?)
That guy played his set and then there was a little break where we chatted some more. Then, the main act came up.
I don’t know really how to describe Swell Season live. I’d heard that they were really fun live and that’s totally true. Hansgard is super savvy at working an audience. He gets them to see along sweetly to his tunes. And the interplay between himself and Markéta is over-the-top romantic.
They are ridiculously wonderful live. You get lost in their harmonies. They take you on a ride into long and slow ballads only to be lifted out of that pit with a fun song. And, of course, the whole time you are left to wonder… “Are they together?” and “I wonder if this would be a good song to play on the streets of Dublin busking?”
The show ended late. We drove Aaron and Heather back to their hotel. And we made it home right before both of us fell into a deep sleep.
A swell night with some new friends and The Swell Season.
This video cracked me up. It couldn’t possibly get more low rent and yet it is strangely worthy of the U2 brand. Well done. Since they delayed their event by a year, maybe I’ll be able to afford to go to the show in Anaheim?
I think the visuals of this version of the song, coupled with the history of Northern Ireland… really adds the significance and desperation needed for this song. Greater things are needed in the city.
For those of us in ministry, the real question this song brings to the forefront is one of priorities. Will 2010 be a year when we lay aside our pet projects and church crap and actually bring Good News to the cities we live in? Or will we just continue “discipling” and “entertaining” the same people another year without ever compelling them to take action and live out what we believe?
Unrelated sidenote:I’m itching to get back to Belfast.
I woke up thinking about this song. Flashback to the 90s, right?
In so many ways life has felt like it was on pause since September when I went to LA for convention. I’ve just been consumed by work. It swallowed me.
And yesterday brought so much release. (Er, if the illustration of “swallowed by work” holds true, I guess that means work vomited or pooped me out? Let’s just not take the illustration there.) When I got home yesterday, I just felt like life could return to normal. I went to Target to Christmas shop. I took a little nap. I took Kristen out to a very nice restaurant and a movie. And this morning… it’s time to grab the leash and take Stoney to the beach.
Back to life, back to reality…
I’ll spare you the video of me dancing. But just so you know, I’m dancing.
I love this song. And I love how Bono performed it on this tour. He kicked it off and let the audience do the first verse and chorus. An amazing moment in the show.
One reason I think this song is so powerful, particularly performed live, is that as the audience sing along loudly, each voice represents the cry of every heart there. Collectively, 60,000 people shouting their cry out during this song, each imagining what they are still looking for. Tears, joys, sorrow, pride, and dreams all mashed together and pushed towards the stage.
I wanted to take this moment of pause to reflect, and ask you to join me in singing this chorus.
I don’t know what you are looking for today. Each of us cries a slightly different cry. But I thank you for walking with me, reading along, and together we will continue to walk together until we find what we are looking for.
