Spirit West Coast

5 years ago Spirit West Coast made its debut in Southern California. If you don't know what Spirit West Coast is I'll tell you. It is a three day concert of all the best Christian artists. It had been a big event in Northern Cal for years. I had always wanted to go but never could afford it. With the inception of Spirit West Coast Del Mar, I was finally able to go.

That first year J.R. and I had just gotten engaged. That was quite the weekend. We had planned on getting a hotel room and staying down there the whole weekend. Last minute my best friend backed out and the plans for a hotel room went out the door. So we spent much of the weekend traveling back and forth between Del Mar and my parents house in Lake Elsinore. But we had a blast and were hooked.

The next year we were married and were able to get a hotel room and enjoy ourselves a little more with a lot less driving involved. We've gone every year since and it has become our tradition. We have such a great time. We have also discovered quite a few artists that we really enjoy that we wouldn't have normally gotten the opportunity to see. So this weekend was a nice relaxing weekend watching some great bands perform and enjoying the incredible weather that is San Diego (my favorite place in the world).

Some highlights from this year:

As far as artists go, Newsboys never disappoint. They always put on a fantastic show and are a lot of fun to watch. My husband and I always make fun of Peter (lead vocals). His incredibly bald, white head and his contrasting dark eyes that scan the audience while he sings with his mouth half open in his wonderful Australian accent is quite the sight to see. This year he busted out in some rather unusual dance moves that were quite entertaining. The man definitely is not a dancer but is rather fun to watch. They performed Friday night. It was cloudy and a little rainy that night. Every year they change the lyrics on one of their songs from "drowning out the Amazon rain" to "drowning out the California rain." J.R. and I always laughed at that as it never rains in California. This year it was rather appropriate. As this song was being sung, it actually began to rain. Very cool. Warning if you ever go to a Newsboys concert, make sure to wear a hooded sweatshirt. I don't care if its 100 degrees out. If you don't you will be covered in Cap'n Crunch. Even with a hooded sweatshirt on I had Cap'n Crunch crumbs in my pocket, MY POCKET! How does that happen? Here's a video from that night.

Saturday night started with Jars of Clay. In the past when I've seen them perform it has been a low-key performance with not a lot of energy. I enjoy their music but as far as watching in concert, not that exciting. I was pleasantly surprised this year. Their performance was much better with a lot more energy. Quite a bit more entertaining.

Then there was Tobymac. If you like hip hop Tobymac is incredible. This is one of the highest energy shows I have ever seen. I can't even imagine how they keep so much energy up through an entire show. They are extremely entertaining and probably the best performers I have ever seen.

Sunday we saw Barlow Girl and Kutless. Both great artists that are a lot of fun to watch. Sunday night we typically don't stay for the final show on the main stage. Last year we even went to SeaWorld for an hour or so and came back for the late night comedy show. This year was no different as they tend to have, how should I put this, an artist more suited to a more mature audience. Not that these artists are boring, my husband and I just prefer other artists.

For a few years, J.R. has wanted to see Thousand Foot Krutch but they were always playing at the same time as another band we wanted to see. We finally got our chance to see them perform. They had some issues as the band before them took too much time and they had some techinical issues as well. They were very high energy. I think in another venue and if I was more familiar with their songs I would have enjoyed this show more. They are definitely worth giving another chance.