The shrill screams of daring adventure seekers can be heard year round at Great America theme park. In May these screams are multiplied by the applause of fans cheering for their favorite Christian music.

Every spring, the park holds the Spring Celebration Concert, an accumulation of Christian artists and bands. I attended the concert last year when it included Steven Curtis Chapman as the headliner.

This year all my favorite bands were performing: Thousand Foot Krutch, Hawk Nelson, Falling Up, Jars of Clay and this years main attraction, Toby Mac. After hearing that Toby Mac would be the main attraction I quickly recruited a friend to attend with me.

While our first two concerts, Thousand Foot Krutch and Falling Up, were letdowns, the park?s attractions made up for the disappointing performances.

The park rides closed around 7 PM but the ampatheater did not close until 10:30 PM, so we all returned to the theater for the last two concerts of the night, Jars of Clay and Toby Mac.

Jars of Clay had already been performing for about thirty minutes by the time we arrived. The concert did not grab my attention because the band seemed to be trying too hard to keep the audiences attention with ridiculous dance moves and lame jokes.

The unexpected highlight of the evening was the Toby Mac concert. I have attended over a dozen Toby Mac concerts, and they have all been the same. I knew his concert by heart due to its predictable routine.

When he entered on stage around 9 PM the crowd was restless from an exciting day of riding coaster and screaming their lungs out. To keep this crowds attention would be catastrophic.

Even though Toby Mac has a newer exciting CD out, Diverse City, released on August 30, 2005, I was not expecting his concert to live up to the beat that he offered in the CD. In it, instead of sticking to his roots of rock, it is a mixture of reggae and rock mix. This new feel actually gave him the advantage at his concert.

With a beat you can move to and back up dancers who took break dancing to a new level, I was impressed. His heart felt speeches in-between each selection gave the crowd an insight into where he stands on different topics like dating and worship.

I was disappointed when the night ended. The last concert had made up for all the flaws in the day and gave me a renewed energy.

The Great America Spring Celebration concerts are not for those who enjoy a good mosh pit, but the fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, not to mention the heart jolting roller coasters, can give you a day full of fun possibilities.

For more information on Great America, go online to www3.paramountparks.com and click on the Paramount?s Great America link.