Mini-Vacation to Little Rock, Part I: The Concert

We took a mini-vacation to Little Rock to see the Newsboys in concert one more time, this being the weekend before my spring break and all. It was also fitting that we see the GO concert again, on the exact day that a year ago we saw our first Newsboys concert in Chicago. The concert was at beautiful Alltel Arena in North Little Rock (above).

This time Newsboys brought with them 3 groups: Article One (pretty good), Newworldson (awesome), and Rush of Fools (less interesting). Article One has a really good violinist who dances around the stage, playing the violin between his legs and behind his back. Rush of Fools, the featured supporing act, though they have songs on the CCM charts, weren't nearly so interesting as Article One. But Newworldson--wow--it's hard to describe their music. They play styles from blues to reggae to funk to soul to "speakeasy." All with Christian lyrics, but their musicianship alone deserves a wider audience. Here's a link to some of their concert videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/newworldson. You should click on "Beat Boxing" and "Salvation Station" to hear a couple of the things we heard at the concert. Here's a picture of them during their set:

After Rush of Fools and a brief plea made by Paul Colman of the Newsboys, the 'boys came out as they are accustomed to, first silhouetted behind the screens and then out to open with "Shine," complete with confetti cannons, as you see below:

Below is a picture of the screens and LED's, constantly changing during the concert. The set includes a 60-foot catwalk out to a round satellite stage, where the guys sing a verse or two from some old Newsboys songs. This is the best picture of them I took all night. We were in row 10, seats 1 & 2 on the floor. If we had been in 19 & 20, we would have been next to the catwalk. The members of the band are Paul Colman on the left, Jeff Frankenstein with his back to you (keyboard & bass), Peter Furler (lead singer), and Duncan Phillips (drummer).

After intermission, the band comes back and plays some more, including the "drum battle," between Peter, who used to be the drummer, and Duncan. Peter's round satellite stage is on a hydraulic lift, which raises him 20 feet in the air. They play back and forth, but Duncan always wins, especially when his drum kit rises aobut 15 feet in the air, tilts forward 90 degrees, and spins for 30 seconds while he plays. Naturally, Duncan always wins.

Peter high in the air. Duncan spinning.

At times during the concert, Peter and Paul come out on the catwalk and perform. Here's another of the better pictures I took.

One more picture showing the LED's and the video screens.

After their last big number, all the guys came down and bowed to the crowd, as below:

And so it was over with, our 3rd Newsboys concert in a year. We thought this was the best performance of the three from the Newsboys, but we were also introduced to the music of Newworldson. The concert started at 7 and was over around 10:20 or so. Good thing I booked our hotel just 3 blocks away from Alltel Arena. We walked over and back.

More on the mini-vacation in Part II, to follow.