Concert personal, talent-filled experience

[media-credit name=”Need To Breathe” link=”http://www.needtobreathe.com/photo” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Shuffling into the San Francisco Masonic ten minutes late, guitars and vocals reverberate and echo off the walls and doors. I bounce on the balls of my feet as they scan our tickets, peering through the door at the pulsing lights and crowd on their feet, belting out lyrics. The band is beaming back at the audience, the audience sings along passionately, joining in the music.

The Tour de Compadres (Spanish for “Tour of Friends”) consists of four bands: Colony House, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Switchfoot, and Needtobreathe.

July 9 was Switchfoot’s first performance on the tour, and the main reason I went, never seeing them in concert before that point. Not having heard of Colony House or Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, the opening acts, and unfamiliar with Needtobreathe, it likened to listening to discovering a band for the first time, except live in concert.

Not a single performance that night let me down.

Only catching the tail end of Drew Holcomb, we spent some time milling about with the fans in the front, plopping down on the floor to rest their legs. Everyone treated each other very kindly, chatting and laughing, bonding over the music.

The venue, The Masonic, had seating both in the main area and balcony, but a wide open space in front of the stage where most of the audience crammed in. It wasn’t too tight, though maybe a bit difficult to navigate, but everyone acted politely and the crowded feeling was hardly noticeable. We were up front and center with the stage, not 25 feet from the stage.

I wish we caught Drew Holcomb and Colony House after listening to their music after the fact. Both bands have a distinct sound and clever lyrics that explore God’s mercy and power and working with each other through hard times. I still have not listened to much of their music but want to listen more eventually.

Switchfoot soon bounded onto the stage, the beginning of the song When We Come Alive reverberated through the building. The crowd’s hands went up, singing along right out of the gate. The whole band grinned as the song began, a fitting title as their energy and music filled up the room. Jon Foreman, the lead singer, introduced the band to the crowd, casual and playful, making sure the audience felt like they were a part of the concert that night as well, not just watching.

The Tour de Compadres bands and fans made the best concert experience I went to in a long time. Each of the bands are gifted in music, and they were thrilled to see everyone there. They really do make it feel like the concert is just a get together with friends. — Emily Ladd, blog editor.

The band includes guitarist and lead singer Jon Foreman, bass guitarist Tim Foreman, guitarist Drew Shirley, keyboardist Jerome Fontimillas and Chad Butler on drums.

Their performance that night was really exciting and very well done. They played songs from their most recent albums Vice Verses and Fading West and older favorites from Beautiful Letdown. The setlist had calmer alternative acoustics, pop-rock fun songs, and some of the band’s more intense sounding music. The mix of music was well balanced and very well performed, adding little twists and changes to songs and encouraging the audience to join in. At one point during the performance Jon started playing harmonica on top of playing guitar.

Jon came into the crowd during one of the songs, walking right through the middle of everyone. He mentioned right before the song that to the band, the audience role is more than just being fans.

“We’re going to do it the way I do music,” Foreman said. “There is no stage, there is no we, there is no they. This is our night. So we’re going to sing it like this.”

Switchfoot’s songs are an anthem of encouragement to hold on, getting out there and praising God in your actions and what you do. Songs like Meant to Live explore the reality that “we were meant to live for so much more”, living for God. Others like The World You Want are meant to make people realize that everything they do and believe affects the world around them.

After Switchfoot completed their setlist and a short intermission, Needtobreathe took over. Not knowing any of their songs or what to expect, I took the time to listen and soak it in. The crowd’s intensity stayed the same for the band. Needtobreathe is full of energy. Their music and stage presence makes you want to dance. The bass in the songs rattled the whole building and the Christian-country rock songs are fun and got the whole crowd singing and swaying too.

Needtobreathe’s members include Bo Rinehart and Bear Rinehart on vocals and guitar, bass guitarist and mandolin player Seth Bolt and Josh Lovelace on keyboard.

In the end, all four bands came out on stage to play Brother, Needtobreathe’s song. The confetti canons blasted the white paper into the audience, who eagerly called the bands out again for a final encore song. In the end, the Tour de Compadres bands and fans made the best concert experience I went to in a long time. Each of the bands are gifted in music, and they were thrilled to see everyone there. They really do make it feel like the concert is just a get together with friends.

There are 8 more dates on the tour left. The next performance is in New York City on Sept. 10. To see the rest of the tour dates, visit Needtobreathe’s site here.

Follow The Feather via Twitter and Instagram: @thefeather and @thefeatheronline. This writer can be reached via Twitter and e-mail: @ejLadd and [email protected]

[rwp-review id=”0″ post=”92068″]