Copious Notes

Hawk Nelson in Winchester July 5

Jason Dunn performs with Hawk Nelson at the Ichthus Festival last month. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Click the play button to hear excerpts of our interview with Jason Dunn:

Hawk Nelson is my Friend might sound like a goofball title for an album, unless you’re on myspace, Facebook or one of the other social networking Internet sites out there.

If you are, you’ve probably snickered at a message saying someone you’ve known for life, “. . . is your friend.” Heck, it may even say, “Hawk Nelson is your friend,” which is fine with the band’s frontman, Jason Dunn.

“Today with myspace and Facebook, everyone is looking for friends and to see how many friends you can obtain,” the singer said backstage at last month’s Ichthus Festival. “The whole friendship theme is something we’ve always believed in, since day one. It’s never been about putting us on a pedestal above our audience. It’s all about being on the same level.”

Dunn said that level is under God, and looking to God for hope.

“Kids are looking for friends,” Dunn said. “Jesus was a friend to sinners . . . he was the greatest friend of all.”

Using the social networking phrase as an album title is also a good reminder to the band, Dunn says, not to view themselves as superior to their audience, even though, “We have a cool job. Some kids regard that a stardom, or whatever. But we have sweet jobs, and we feel very blessed to be able to do this.”

Hawk Nelson, which swings back through Central Kentucky to play George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester Saturday night, has been doing that job for three albums now and finds itself settling into a career as recording and touring artists.

“It feels like a career now,” Dunn says. “This is what I do for a living, and it feels weird to say that, because this is what I dreamed of doing since I was a kid.”

Growing up in Canada, Dunn says he didn’t necessarily tune his ear to Christian rock.

“We grew up listening to bands like Blink 182 and Good Charlotte,” Dunn says. “Christianity wasn’t a genre of music in Canada. That’s just what we believed in, we believed in God, and we played clubs, and that’s just how we did it.

“But here in the U.S., Christianity is like its own genre of music, and I’m still getting used to that. We all believe in Jesus, and that reflects in our lyrics, but our music sounds more like what we grew up listening to.”

rcTalk: Superchick's 'Rock What You Got,' Chapman update

Superchick are (L-R) Max Hsu, Brandon Estelle, Tricia Brock,  Dave Ghazarian, Melissa Brock and Matt Dally. Photo courtesy of inpop records.

Superchick | Rock What You Got

Superchick breaks the silence -- as they often do -- of a quiet couple of months for new releases in the Christian rock market with their fourth studio album, Rock What You Got.

If you've read my reviews before, you know I kind of revere album four as a signpost in the career of a band, where it should be settling into a professional act and revealing a mature voice after having made an initial splash and then having to crank out follow-ups in the midst of hardscrabble touring. It's usually the album that indicates where the act is going to go.

Rock What You Got has some mixed messages.

On the one hand, Superchick, fronted by Hoosier sisters Tricia and Melissa Brock, has definitely refined its sound. In a genre where a lot of sound-alike bands leave you scratching your head and saying, 'Who's that?' when you listen to the radio, the Brocks' vocals over the scrappy distortion of guitarists Dave Ghazarian and Melissa and buoyant, loopy rhythms of their backers is hard to mistake. But under producer, songwriter and keyboardist Max Hsu, that sound has not stagnated. Remaining distinctive, he has slipped in an orchestrated undercurrent that can be as simple as Breathe or grand as Stand in the Rain. And the band as a whole is tight and intriguing. Bassist Matt Dally had a great moment in Pure on the last album, Beauty from Pain, and everyone has moments such as that here.

But in content, Rock sometimes sounds stagnant. The title track, for instance, while catchy, still feels like a retread of Beauty from Pain's Anthem, or several other empowerment sing-alongs in the 'chick catalog. Not that we don't like the anthems, such as Hey Hey, which wins with its tempo and grit. There are several pain ballads that also sound repetitive, particularly Hold and Breathe in the middle of the album. Superchick mines a lot of despair and defiance for its material, but sometimes seems to have tunnel vision.

This is a band that definitely has identified a group it wants to speak to: teens, particularly girls feeling like outcasts and struggling with peer pressure. That's a worthy mission, but heading into album five, hopefully the group will explore a broader range of topics to address. Superchick has a lot going for it. It would be a shame to see the band founder because it's saying the same things over and over again.

Back on the road: Steven Curtis Chapman is set to resume touring next month, with 15 dates scheduled into September, including a string of August baseball game dates with the Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros. Chapman and his family suffered a tragedy last month when their 5-year-old adopted daughter Maria was killed in an accident at their home outside Nashville. Chapman has canceled all of his international dates.

New Tomlin: You may already be hearing Jesus Messiah, Chris Tomlin's new single, on radio, considering its being touted as the most-added multi-format song in Christian radio history. We now have a release date and title for the whole album: Hello Love drops on Sept. 2, and will include several tracks we heard on the latest Passion album, God of This City, including God of This City and Sing, Sing, Sing.

Live Casting Crowns: If you loved Casting Crowns' recent performances at Rupp Arena or Ichthus, you can take the experience home with The Altar and the Door Live CD and DVD, Aug. 19.

The Ichthus 2008 photo album

Alex McCarty, 16, left and Kimmi Howard, 16, of Richmond, Ky., decided to take advantage of the muddy campsite after heavy rains from Friday night left tents destroyed and the grounds soggy at Ichthus in Wilmore, Ky., on June 14, 2008. Copyrighted photo by Emily Spence | staff.

We're going to close out our Ichthus 2008 coverage here with our third annual Ichthus Festival photo album. It chronicles one of the craziest Ichthus' I ever covered, not so much in the enormity of any individual challenges faced, but in the cumulative roller coaster of the week, from Monday night's severe thunderstorms to a perfect Saturday night for Casting Crowns. The album chronicles that, as we at the Herald-Leader had broader photo coverage of this Ichthus than any of the previous 38 festivals. Enjoy, and if sometime in the deep cold of winter, you want to revive some Wilmore memories, we'll have them here for you.

Also, check out Emily Spence's final Ichthus video, about the mud sliding, along with all of the other Ichthus videos.

And, and, and . . . read the Ichthus diary from Destination 7 and Jenna Youngs.

Christian music update: Violins rock at Ichthus

Mike Hogan performed with the David Crowder Band Saturday night at the Ichthus Festival. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo. Below: Jonathan Chu performing with Todd Agnew in Mitchell, Neb. Photo from Chu's Myspace page. Bottom: John Porter of Mile7. Photo from Mile7's website.

The numerous Guitar Hero controllers slung at the Ichthus Festival reinforce the six-string's dominance in rock and at Ichthus. But there was a little four-string instrument that also had a subtle, but noteworthy presence in Wilmore this weekend: the violin.

It started with John Porter of Battle of the Bands champion Mile7 pulling out his violin for a few numbers and ended with Casting Crowns' Melodee DeVevo showing her well documented skills with the instrument during Casting Crowns' festival-closing set. In between, we were treated to moments such as the opening of the set by Skillet, one of the hardest rocking bands on the main stage lineup. The band's intro, a countdown of sorts, was teasing the crowd with anticipation of one of Skillet's trademark explosive openings. Instead, we got some virtuoso violin from Jonathan Chu, who has also toured with Todd Agnew. Throughout Skillet's set, he continued to remind us what an important instrument it is in the band's music, esepcially in powerhouses such as Savior.

The David Crowder Band's Mike Hogan was also responsible for key moments in the band's music, such as the searing bridge in You Are My Joy. And then there was DeVevo, coloring most of Casting Crown's hits with her box.

This is not foreign to rock. Boyd Tinsley has been an exciting rock violinist for the Dave Matthews band for years, contributing moments such as an honest-to-goodness violin hero moment to their tune Jimi Things and playing a key role in the intro to Ants Marching. Lisa Germano has been an exciting violinist for numerous rockers, most notably John Mellencamp.

It's great to see this happen more and more in Christian rock. We can get real comfortable with guitar, bass, drums and keyboard and forget a broad palette of sounds available out there. And it gives the audience a chance to hear a really fine instrument that has been around for centuries and takes genuine skill to play. That's not to take anything away from the guitar slingers out there. There was certainly some guitar virtuosity out there. Mile7's mainstage set concluded with a guitar-violin duo that showed both Porter and lead guitarist John Cloninger as masters of their instruments.

But I do daresay there probably aren't many violinists out there playing professionally in classical music, rock or other genres who haven't put in years of study with teachers and in ensembles honing their craft so that even in an non-traditional setting they can blow you away. I always say people innately recognize something genuinely exceptional when they hear it, like the opera singer who astounds you with the national anthem before a baseball game. And we heard quite a bit of it from one little four string box at Ichthus this year.

Here's to  hearing more, and even more diversity of sound in years to come.

New video: The foul weather Friday kind of derailed some of our video plans out of Ichthus, but Emily Spence has a new one documenting Day 2 of Ichthus. Watch it here.

Our 2008 Ichthus photo album will post on Wednesday including shots you've seen here and in the Herald-Leader, and many you haven't.

More music: If you didn't get enough music out of Ichthus, or if you didn't get to go and are in the mood for some live Christian rock, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom has an attractive trio Saturday: Rebecca St. James, Superchick and Sanctus Real. BTW, for what it's worth, RSt.J hasn't been to Ichthus in a looooong time.

Ichthus: The closers

Casting Crowns' Melodee DeVevo and her husband Juan DeVevo perform at the Ichthus Festival, Saturday. Below: Chris Huffman sports his UK T-shirt. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Chris Huffman makes the quietest returns home. The bassman for Casting Crowns is a Glasgow native who still has family in the Bluegrass State. But he's so quiet back there, plucking away on his Sting Ray bass  behind Mark Hall, and CC is so associated with Georgia, it isn't until you see him rockin' his Wildcats T-shirt that you remember, "Oh, yeah. Welcome home."

As we said in the paper today, Casting Crowns isn't the band you go for to close out a festival with a big party, and that's the way Ichthus has closed in recent years. But they are probably the biggest act in Christian rock today, and while they still bear no resemblance to rock stars, it is more amazing that this is basically a youth group worship band than it was two years ago, when CC last played Ichthus. If they stay true to form, they should be back in Georgia leading worship this morning.

But performing on a beautiful night in Wilmore, Kentucky, the band struck just the right chord, particularly considering the weekend. How could you hear Praise You in this Storm and not think back to Jon Weece's keynote address? 

And what fun, enjoying moments such as Melodee DeVevo and Juan DeVevo's duel/duet on the Shaker Melody Simple Gifts. Maybe they should take their act to Pleasant Hill. The closers seemed like a great way to go out.

Now, here at le blog, we are going to take the sabbath, and Father's Day, to rest. But watch next week for some additional thoughts and items such as the Copious Notes Ichthus 2008 photo album.

Dave's unique instrumentation

David Crowder performs at the Ichthus Festival, Saturday. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

No one but David Crowder, I think, Could follow up a song with banjo with a song played on a Guitar Hero controller -- try that Hawk Nelson. 

I always think Crowder should take the "happy Kentucky party," of his I Saw the Light to Renfro Valley. Don't know if they'd dig the keytar and Guitar Hero controller though.

I do know the two little girls dancing and twirling in front of the stage left video screen are digging Dave.

The beared one got in a funny jab at Casting Crowns' frontman, telling all the people in the crowd who had lost their voices they need to, "get that scratchy Mark Hall voice."

Time for the finales

We've been offline a little while today working on a big Ichthus piece for tomorrow's paper, which I think you'll really like. Emily Spence took some fantastic pictures of mudsoaked campers, and I understand there may be some video in store next week. I've covered 10 Ichthus Festivals now and this one has to be the biggest roller coaster, from a hot, sweaty, heady opening day to the disappointment of Friday's storms and cancelled concerts to an almost perfect Saturday afternoon. David Crowder is on stage with his beloved keytar under the setting sun. The hillside is filled with people, as are the fields in front of the Edge and Deep End stages. Go back and read the posts from last night and savor the contrasts. It hasn't been the easiest Ichthus, but it's ending on a good note.

Parachuter drops in on Justin Lookadoo

Parachuter J.C. Colclasure lands on Ichthus. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Justin Lookadoo was on the main stage talking about being a committed Christian, and drawing an analogy to the commitment of a parachuter.

Suddenly, the speakers cranked up with Tobymac's Extreme Days and a plane that had been flying casual around the festival site went directly over the main stage and a figure jumped out:  parachuter J.C. Colclasure who flew a short route around the stage cranking out some colorful smoke along the way, and landing in the middle of the crowd in the front of the stage.

It was a sensational stunt, but Lookadoo was emphasizing a point: "Do you want to have T-shirt Christianity, or do you want this?"

Super fan helps Day of Fire

By Jenna Youngs

Day of Fire fan Stephen Cook, 29, found an interesting approach to helping his favorite band raise money to record their next album. Cook, who credits Day of Fire frontman Josh Brown for changing his life and helping him find God, is taking $1 donations in exchange for a bead to be added to his beard. Cook's fiance Christina Seegert, 26, said they raised $5 in a few minutes, so they hope to have a line of beads to the ground by the time Day of Fire plays at 9:20 p.m. Saturday on the Deep End stage.

Cook and Seegert are taking contact information from each person who donates, and each bead has a number written on it to correspond to the person who donated. Eventually, Cook will remove the beads from his beard and one bead will be randomly selected. Whoever paid for chosen bead will receive a personalized drawing by Brown and signed by the band. All the money raised will go to Day of Fire's "fan the fire" campaign to raise money for the album.

"I heard (Brown's) testimonial, and it changed my life," Cook said. "This is a way to help him out."

Hanging in

A group attempts to snag a t-shirt fired from the t-shirt cannon in the amphitheater at the Ichthus Festival, Saturday morning. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Unlike 2005, when Friday night's music was also wiped out by severe thunderstorms, this year, most of the campers have stayed put. Our correspondent Jenna Youngs took a swing the campground this morning and found most people rode out the storm.

John Vermilya of Kingdom Building ministries told a crowd gathering for morning worship, "It's good to see you alive and that you survived the monsoon."

Jenna says people in the camp area were mostly running around getting ready for the day.

There are some major differences between 2005 and this year. The storm that hit Ichthus that year was much more destructive, ripping apart tents that ended up in dumpsters around the camp area the next morning. So a lot of campers had no place left to stay. Also, that storm ushered in a cold from that dropped the temperature 30 to 40 degrees, making things really uncomfortable. In fact, part of Ichthus' rationale for moving dates was that it was worse to be cold and wet than just wet, and June removed the cold element.

Backstage, Ichthus volunteer Chuck Vernon told James he was hearing from youth pastors about weathering the storm bringing groups together last night.

"They were saying they saw kids they hadn't seen all week," Vernon said.

The kids were back out this morning. In the maistage area, some volunteers had whipped out the T-shirt cannon, and reportedly, mudsliding is underway -- the revival of another great Ickythus tradition.

Schedule changes

Jeff James would love to bring back Tobymac and Kutless for tonight, but they are off to other things. There are some changes being made though. A big one is Justin Lookadoo, last night's scheduled keynote speaker, will be on the mainstage at 2 p.m.

Friday wristlocks honored today

If you bought a Friday-only wristlock for Ichthus, it will be honored today.

Ichthus: Well, that puts a damper on things

Stacy "Coffee" Jones and Teron "Bonafide" Carter, known as the hip hop duo Grits were the last mainstage act on Friday at the Ichthus Festival. A severe thunderstorm closed the festival at the end of their performance, and it never reopened Friday. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

It's no use complaining about the weather. We've all heard it. We parents have even said it a few times to children disappointed about that canceled ballgame or trip to the beach.

But it is so easy to complain about the weather, especially when you are missing Tobymac for the second time in four years because thunderstorms scrapped his set at Ichthus. Not to mention missing Stellar Kart, Kutless and Mile7 -- oh my gosh, Mile7, the band that won a mainstage slot in the Battle of the Bands Thursday. They earned a chance to complain about the weather that spoiled their big party.

And then there are all the fans, particularly ones who traveled hundreds of miles at nearly $4 a gallon for Ichthus. There is still Saturday, and Casting Crowns, David Crowder Band and Family Force 5 are great bands. But there were probably few people who made the trip and paid $119 a head for the weekend who weren't anticipating that t-mac late night party.

Still, all of that pales bleach white in comparison to people who have recently lost homes and loved ones to the weather. I'll take losing the concert every time.

No, it's no use complaining about the weather. But sometimes, it makes you feel better.

Ichthus: Friday night cancelled

Just about the time Ichthus officials wanted to get things stared on the festival's main stage, several streaks of lightning bolted across the sky behind the stage. 

"I'm not willing to risk it with lightning," festival director Jeff James said.

James said he does hope to, "swim through," the festival on Saturday, noting that he understood the weather was supposed to improve.

The last time Ichthus lost an evening of music was Friday night of 2005's festival. Tobymac was supposed to perform that night too.

The next gameplan

Jeff James says music will resume at 9:30 even if it is still raining.

The game plan, for now

Cars pile up as security crews at Ichthus close the gates on festival goers at 5 p.m. in Wilmore, Ky., on Friday, June 13, 2008. Copyrighted photo by Emily Spence.

Ichthus director Jeff James say he is hoping to get at least Kutless and Tobymac, maybe some of mainstage speaker Justin Lookadoo, starting around 9 p.m.

"I'm thinking back from midnight, and maybe if we can get Tobymac to do 60 minutes instead of 75 and Kutless to do 45 minutes instead of an hour," James said. First, he said he needs 45 minutes rain free to get ready again.

James said he had only heard of a couple of minor injuries due to the weather, such as a festival goer turning her ankle while evacuating the site.

'The rain really freaked me out'

By Jenna Youngs

Lightning, strong winds and blinding downpours interrupting festival shows is not something Destination 7 front woman Natasha Ponticelli is used to.

“This rain really freaked me out,” she said in a phone interview from her dorm room at Asbury College. “I don’t know if that’s normal here, but we’re from California. We’re not used to that.”

Ponticelli said she forced her bandmates to jump in their van and make their way to the safety of the college, which is located near the Ichthus festival grounds.

Ponticelli said she and the other five men from Los Angeles-based Destination 7 were supposed to help with tonight’s worship service, but as of 6:45 p.m. were still making the decision whether to brave the weather and come back.

“It was a really awesome moment of worship and then it got crazy,” she said. “We’re going to keep praying that the festival can keep moving forward.”

As of 7:30 p.m., the rain is still coming down, accompanied by flashes of lightning.

Above: Natalie Ponticelli performed Thursday morning at the Ichthus Battle of the Bands. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Fans still want to see bands

By Jenisha Watts

Despite bad weather people were still eager to come see their favorite band. Drenched in water festival-goers crowed the Deep End stage. Some attendees were so wet, they had to change clothes. The sentiment of the festival can be summed up by what Evernett Hobson, 21, of Somerset, Ky., said, “The (weather) was nothing, I’ve seen dead bodies and, things that go boom.”

'The only warning was the tent pole wiggling'

Jason Shambach of Wilmore, Ky., directs Lindsey Daugherty, 14, of Wilmore, Ky., who was wondering if she could get in the festival. The festival closed shortly after thunderstorms started. Copyrighted photo by Emily Spence | LexGo.

Nick Covert and Kevin Bonilla were working at the Guitar String Jewlery booth in the Ichthus Festival's large merchandise tent when the first of a wave of thunderstorms blew through Friday afternoon.

They didn't think much of it, except people were running in to take cover.

"The only warning was when the tent pole started wiggling," Covert said. A second later, the pole gave way, bringing the tent ceiling crashing down on vendor tables," sending a few crashing to the floor along with temporary lighting.

People who had initially sought refuge in the tent were now running out, seeking an alternative refuge from the rain and lightning.

Covert says he grabbed two valuable guitars that were part of the jewelry vendor display, wrapped them in a sweatshirt and sprinted to his tent, just outside Gate 1. He said that he went back to see if he could retrieve other items from his kiosk and was not allowed in. He and festival director Jeff James said a crew was working to restore the pole, but Covert said he was nervous about returning to work in the tent that had just collapsed in a storm Monday night.

"We're going to talk to the boss," he said, referring to the owner of the company, who is working at the company's booth at this weekend's Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee. If they deem it not safe, or not worth it, they may leave. The festival is scheduled to continue through Saturday night.

Ichthus storm aftermath

By Jenna Youngs

At 5:35 p.m., sales chairwoman Tanya Garitty announced to crowds gathering by Gate 1, near the Mainstage, that the gate would open in about an hour because of damage to two of the main tents. A pole collapsed within tent two, and there was damage to tent one as well, she said.

"If you don't know, these tents collapsed on Monday," she told the crowd. "They were being held down by railroad spikes and they still came down."

She asked the crowd to keep patient and "keep your inner peace."

Sound checks are taking place on the Mainstage, though Garitty said electricity to the damaged tents have been turned off until they can be fixed.

Elsewhere, three portable toilets were knocked over behind the Deep End stage.

Earlier, while evacuations were still taking place at the Kinlaw Boulevard entrance, 14-year-old Leah Connolly said organizers announced shortly before the storm that a line of rain was approaching and people should either head to their cars or leave for a bit as a safety precaution.

Connolly's friend, Sarah Hout, 14, said because their group of five teenagers didn't have a car, they planned to wait in the tent until the worst blew over then go back to one of their houses in a nearby residential area, however, their tent collapsed and when they almost got hit by a falling display, they took shelter in a bathroom, Hout said.

As of 5 p.m., Ichthus attendees were being allowed to leave through the Kinlaw entrance, however, only volunteers assisting with storm clean-up were allowed back into the campgrounds.

Garitty told people to remember, though concerned about their personal belongings, "it's only stuff, no one here lost their life."

At 5:50 an announcer at the mainstage said another thunderstorm cell was coming through and people should take cover for about an hour. He said the storms should be brief, but similar to the early ones. He said they are working to get Kutless and Tobymac's concerts on later: "We want as much entertainment as possible, but we're not going to endanger your safety."

Ichthus reopening at 6:30

Ichthus Festival director Jeff James says the festival will reopen at 6:30 p.m. on schedule. James said there were no injuries he was aware of due to the thunderstorm.

Many festivalgoers did leave the grounds by foot and vehicle after the rains let up. The storm has only excited the Cicadas, who are roaring in the trees and on the grounds.

Ichthus closed for the moment

The Ichthus festival site has been evacuated in anticipation of another storm striking the festival site, security guards at Gate 1 said. Vehicles were also prevented from entering the site at the Kinlaw Drive entrance.

Thunderstorm strikes Ichthus

A support pole in a merchandise tent collapsed as thunderstorms hit the Ichthus Festival Friday afternoon. Photo by Rich Copley | Staff.

At about 4:15 p.m., a fast moving storm struck Ichthusa farm in Wilmore, sending campers scrambling for their cars and bringing down at least one pole in a merchandise tent. Announcements from the stage advised festival goers to evacuate the area and seek shelter in their vehicles, as a performance by Tennessee hip-hop duo grits reached a premature conclusion.

Thunderstorm strikes Ichthus

At about 4:15 p.m., a fast moving storm struck Ichthusa farm in Wilmore, sending campers scrambling for their cars and bringing down at least one pole in a merchandise tent. Announcements from the stage advised festival goers to evacuate the area and seek shelter in their vehicles, as a performance by Tennessee hip-hop duo grits reached a premature conclusion.

Ichthus raw audio: Skillet's John Cooper

John Cooper performs with Skillet Thursday night at the Ichthus Festival. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

When you see John Cooper on stage whirling around with his bass, flashpots exploding next to him and playing some of the most intense music in Christian rock, it is hard to picture him relaxing in the padded cabana of a tour bus, next to a small kitchen-away-from-home with a box of Raisin Bran sitting next to him.

But there he was, Thursday, just a few hours before the band's scorching set, chatting about music, fatherhood and speaking to today's teens, even as his life moves on.

Raw audio: Hawk Nelson's Jason Dunn

Jason Dunn of Hawk Nelson performs on the main stage at the Ichthus Festival, Thursday. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Hawk Nelson has become an Ichthus Festival staple with three hit albums including the most recent, Hawk Nelson is my Friend. We caught up with frontman Jason Dunn at his tour bus on Thursday afternoon to chat about Hawk's growing success, and we also picked up one of his first encounters with a cicada. During the band's set, the buggies showed up quite easily on Jason's white shirt.

Raw audio: Fireflight

Fireflight's Dawn Richardson and Glenn Drennen perform at the Deep End Stage Thursday night at Ichthus. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Without a doubt, one of the monster hits in Christian rock this year is Unbreakable, a grateful and defiant take on the Biblical story of Jesus defending and forgiving the adulterous woman that was huge on Christian radio and even made mainstream noise in promotions for NBC's Bionic Woman. One of the benefits of having a huge record is the band is rolling around the country in an air-conditioned RV this summer.

We caught up with the quintet Thursday on said RV to talk about the song and album Unbreakable, what it's meant to them and hitting the road for the summer.

Raw audio: Stepahnie Smith

In two days, Stepahnie Smith has become a pro at performing with cicadas. After her Thursday afternoon set, she talked about that, and about the health problem that kept her from participating in a mission project in Lexington before the Ichthus Festival.

Ichthus raw audio: Red

Jason Rauch of RED plays at the Ichthus Festival, Thursday afternoon. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

This weekend at Ichthus we are talking to several of the bands out there, getting their thoughts on summer festivals, the state of Christian music and other stuff. Blogging, writing stories for the paper, taking pictures and shooting video, all in 90-degree heat while fighting off cicadas, doesn't really afford us time for editing. (Don't feel sorry for us, because this is a fun gig.) But we thought you might enjoy some raw audio from the interviews.

This clip with Jason Rauch of Red is probably the rawest, as we were in the press tent and Hawk Nelson was starting its set a few hundred yards away. But we thought you'd enjoy what he had to say about Cicadas and the band's mission Christian rock. Enjoy:

Day 1 done

Skillet had an explosive set Thursday night at Ichthus. Below: Jeremy Camp closed out the mainstage proceedings, Thursday. Copyrighted photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Ichthus clocked in with the Battle of the Bands at 9:30 a.m. making this year's opening day seem more like a Friday or Saturday. 

But like those years, the audience still had enough gas left in the tank to for a big night, and if any band was got to get folks to rally, it would be Skillet. They had a teasy, but very cool opening with a countdown that made you think they were going to explode onto the stage. Instead, violinist Jonathan Chu took to one of the  risers to mesmerize the audience, and through Skillet's set, he continued to make vital contributions. I had never really considered how much violin was in Skillet's music.

It was a solid set with a very coherent John Cooper out front introducing a stream of hits including Last Night, The Older I Get and the grand finale Savior, complete with smoke and pyrotechnics. We'll post this conversation tomorrow, but John talked to us Thursday about how he believes in putting on a show. Skillet sure gave us one, and they weren't even the closers.

 That assignment fell to Jeremy Camp, who opened a very gritty set that surprised me a bit, maybe because the only other time I saw him was is a more acoustic format when I'll Take You Back was big.

We caught a few numbers in what was looking like a solid set but then wandered over to the Edge Stage for Fireflight. As big as Unbreakable has been the past six or nine months, it was a little surprising to see Fireflight on a secondary stage. But it gave an enthusiastic crowd a chance to get up close and personal with the band doing songs such as Forever and that iconic hit. They also got a guest appearance by Day of Fire's Josh Brown.

Josh is, of course, the man we started the day with emceeing the Battle of the Bands and eating a cicada. We'll see if he is as ubiquitous a presence tomorrow, what the skies bring, and if Tobymac will keep us all going with that late starting time.

Don't miss Emily Spence and Jenna Youngs' opening day video.

Day one's welcome lull

Jason Dunn and his Guitar Hero controller. Below: Mike Barnes of RED sings to the toasty masses. Copyrighted photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

The cicadas are adding a new song to Ichthus this year, singing from the trees as the festival winds into an evening of worship and teaching before Skillet fires up the nighttime goings on with its explosive show. No word on whether the Memphis band has the pyrotechnics in tow it showed off in Rupp Arena earlier this year.

But this lull is welcome, it's what we need whether we know it or not. A hot afternoon has taken its toll, and even if we have some energy left to rock with the Panheads, Jeremy Camp and Fireflight, it's already a given we will sleep well tonight.

Here are some of our favorite moments thus far today:

~ Buying a Hawk Nelson T-shirt from a mother daughter team so devoted to the band they just showed up, asked if they could help and ended up working the sales table.

~ Seeing Jason Dunn become the latest real rocker to sling a Guitar Hero controller at Ichthus. David Crowder did it last year.

~ Talking to Stephanie Smith about becoming something of a pro at working with cicadas. She also performed at a pre-fest showcase on Wednesday night, and there she learned that you can't be scared of the little monsters and just need to forget about them. The guys in RED also said they had never dealt with anything like that before. 

~ RED's scorching set. Those guys knew exactly what they wanted to do with their set and executed it pefectly.

~ Hearing Brenton Brown sing live -- twice! -- my favorite song to play on guitar: Everlasting God.

Brenton is winding down -- saying he, "got lucky in Kentucky," -- some youth groups and workers are winding up teaching and devotion times, and I'm starting to feel that burn on my neck.

Back to the heat

Cicadas like rock stars too. One of the red-eyed bugs lands on Stephanie Smith's arms as she performs Thursday afternoon. Photo by Rich Copley.

In the words of C-3PO, "we've had some problems." Technical glitches have kept three of our posts from living up to their name in verb form. 

But right now, it seems we can sum them up in one phrase: It is hot. It is blazing hot out here. Early in the afternoon, an overcast and a blessed breeze settled in. But that's all over now as the appropriately named Red gets ready to hit the stage.

We did get to spend a few minutes with Fireflight in their mercifully air conditioned RV, just a few hundred yards up from the Herald-Leader's Ichthus bureau, and trust me, the guys and gals in the band appreciate getting to spend the summer fest season in the AC transportation. I mean, we're all hot, but we don't have to play a show today. Jason of Hawk Neslon said he likes the length of fest sets, around 45 minutes.

More from both of those acts in a bit, when we get some time to post some sound.

I am wondering if this is the hottest day in Ichthus history, and if tomorrow will challenge it.

My daughter just looked at the 88 temperature reading in the corner of le blog and exclaimed, "How is it only 88?!"

Let's be Biblical and call them locusts

In its 39 previous years, the Ichthus Festival has never coincided with Central Kentucky's every-17-year cicada plague.  Day of Fire frontman Josh Brown who was emceeing the Battle of the Bands went Biblical calling the bugs "locusts" -- technically cicadas are not related to locusts, but the analogy worked -- in his between the acts.

"I was afraid one was going to fly into my mouth while I was singing," said Dustin Fenison, frontman for Somerset-based Live Fish, one of the competitors.

Like many of the plagues that befall Ichthus, Fenison was ready to make the best of bugs as were others.  He knew from Ichthus having come here many times before with his church.

"It's always been exciting," he says, "It's the hometown festival."
Los Angeles-based Destination 7 came in early to work with Christian Appalachian project before the festival.

"It was awesome to see so much passion in these kids," said lead singer Natasha Ponticelli, "more passion than I had at that age."

The bands were competing for spots on Ichthus stages during the weekend and a possible grand prize of a going to a battle of the bands in Nashville with things like a recording contract up for grabs.

Starting at 9:30 a.m., it was the earliest Ichthus has ever started on its opening day, and despite severe thunderstorms that ravaged the festival site Monday night, it has started.

Above: Dustin Fenison of Live Fish performs at the Battle of the Bands Thursday morning at Ichthus. Photo by Rich Copley.

Ichthus resurrection

Steve Leist, Colt Harrington and Stephen Woloschek of JSL Productions set up light rigging at the Edge Stage Wednesday afternoon. The stage used to be covered in a tent that was destroyed in severe storms Monday. Below: Bethany VanValin (left) and Wendell VanValin (right) talk with festival director Jeff James in front of a pile of couches from the youth worker tent, which was destroyed. Photos by Rich Copley.

Walking up to the Ichthus Festival's Edge Stage, I asked Steve Leist of JSL Productions if they were going to put a tent over the stage.

He motioned to a mangled pile of metal pipes stage right.

That was what was left of the old tent that got ripped off in severe thunderstorms Monday night, and a new one wasn't coming. So the Edge will have a more open feel this weekend.

In all, Ichthus Festival executive director Jeff James says that 14 of the festival's 19 tents were either blown down or even destroyed in the late night storm. So Wednesday, with the first notes of the fest scheduled to be played in seven hours, crews were rushing to redo in two days work that had taken two weeks. James had to bow out of a press conference in Lexington, in which the city voiced support for Ichthus' mission and environmental initiatives, saying, "I have one day to turn this around."

The open-air Edge Stage is one of the ways festivalgoers may notice the after effects of the storms, though James says that through the work of the volunteer crews, he hopes the damage will have little lasting effect.

In one of the resurrected merchandise tents, a supervisor gave a steady stream of instructions to volunteers.

Despite all the extra work, James was inclined to count some blessings.

"There was a lot of metal flying around in that storm," James says. "If there had been people out there, there definitely would have been injuries.

As tents popped back up and light rigs were set, a hot late spring sun was baking the ground at Ichthus farm dusty dry again.

There is a chance of thunderstorms Thursday night, and a better chance Friday, when a cold front comes through. That doesn't worry James much.

"As long as it's not massive and severe, rain is fine," he says. "It keeps the dust down."

Ichthus: Weather strikes again

Above: Volunteers Dave Hooks and daughter Amy Hooks of Nicholasville carried couch cushions from the Ichthus Festival's youth leader's tent after it was knocked down during an overnight storm. Below: A utility pole at the Ichthus Festival site was snapped in three pieces by Monday night's storms. Copyrighted Lexington Herald-Leader photos by Charles Bertram.

Last night's severe thunderstorms ravaged the Ichthus Festival site, which was essentially ready to go for the start of the festival Thursday.

Festival director Jeff James said he was "mesmerized," looking at the grounds at Ichthus Farm, which he described as, "a disaster area," with tents blown down and torn and tables and chairs tossed about the site.

James was optimistic Tuesday morning that the festival will still start on time Thursday, but it would take things like electrical crews working through the night to make it happen.

Ichthus has had a history of bad luck with weather, including the 2005 event that saw a severe thunderstorm on Friday night and snow the next day. That prompted the festival to move from late April to June, to avoid Kentucky's unpredictable early spring weather. Since that move in 2006, the festival has not had any weather-related troubles, until this morning.

UPDATE: Festival operations director Doug Baker says that camping will open at 10 a.m. Wednesday, as scheduled, and the Gotee Records showcase as 7 p.m. is still on.

Read Shawntaye Hopkins' accounts of storm damage at Ichthus and around Central Kentucky.

Watch this site and LexGo.com for more information about the storms' impact on Ichthus.