Last night Sarah and I caught Shane & Shane, Bebo Norman and Monk & Neagle on the Pages Tour at Camp Kramers in Evansville. Here’s a rundown of the night:
Shane and Shane – 
Prior to last night I’d only heard two songs by these guys: “The Answer” and “It is well.” I love both of these tunes, but unfortunately they didn’t play either of them, opting instead to pull the majority of their set from the new album. I was not a fan of the new stuff. It was all really cliche and lyrically simplistic. There was also something strangely androgynous about a guy singing lyrics like:
“I beg for you to move.”
“All my cute little words about how I am saved.”
“I want to yearn for You”
“deep blue china”
“oh, I miss You so”
What kinda guy sings about china? They just seemed really girly to me. I probably could’ve appreciated the words more if they were coming from a woman speaking about how much she loves her husband. I can usually take one or two “Jesus is my boyfriend” songs, but when every song in the set is like this it’s a bit much for me.
On the positive side, Shane & Shane’s drummer is a groove master and adept at capturing loops with his Abelton-type software. If rated on drumming alone I’d give Shane & Shane 10 stars.
Monk and Neagle – 
Check out my Interview with Monk and Neagle.
These guys rocked it out! Sarah and I have been fans for a while and it was very awesome to see that they’d joined the tour in place of Shawn McDonald. This is the type of group you see live and say, “The CD doesn’t do them justice.”
I am greatly impressed by these guys becuase they are “Christian” musicians but they don’t cave into the pressure to make every song about Jesus. “Stars Would Fall (I’m Crazy)” is a song they wrote to their wives. It was one of my favorites of the night and now I have to learn to play it for Sarah.
Bebo Norman – 
Bebo Norman was phenomenal; definitely the highlight of night. Bebo brings an authenticity and lyrical depth that doesn’t disappoint. I was having such a bad day yesterday that we almost didn’t go to the show. I needed to hear and sing along with some words like,
“I will life my eyes to maker of the mountains I can’t climb”
“Let the ocean rise to meet me, I need you to bring me to life.”
“I’m half a man here, so come make me whole”
“Take these hands and lift them up, for I have not the strength to praise you near enough.”
Bebo calls himself a “Clumsy Christian,” who stubbles often. I can relate.
At the end of his set he put his lyrics up on the screen and invited everyone to worship with him. The song “Nothing Without You” is stellar and you need to be doing this one in your church.
Final Rundown
Overall it was great night. I’m a huge fan of bass thumping in my chest and the fact that the show was outdoors at a camp gave the entire night a familiar down-homey vibe. We were even able to meet up with several friends including Lee, Kara and Nicole. If the Pages Tours comes to your town I highly recommend checking it out.
Billy Chia 
We saw Bebo here in town not too long ago and were equally blown away. I loved that he didn’t act like a “star” for one. It was just him with a couple other guys – acoustic setting, wonderful! Vocally – get out!!! Amazing vocalist! Funny, deep, goofy, the whole acrylic nail thing (did he mention that? a little creepy) All around wonderful to worship with!
lol – no I don’t remember anything about acrylic nails. But he was hilarious. Monk and Neagle were really funny too.
Well him and his acoustic player each have one acrylic on their pickin fingers (guitar pickin) and they told the funniest story about how every time they go through a new town they look up the best beauty salon their. They claim they know where all the good ones are!
lol – I knew I was missing out on a key guitar secret.
Oh please don’t Billy – it looked really creepy!
Yeah way back on Bebo’s first CD release he did some shows down here and we caught him 2x. 1 time with Caedmon’s Call! Righteous show! He’s incredible. And yes, Tam he shared that story with us and yes, Billy I was like hmmm….while my wife was like DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! HAHAHAHA!!!
Disappointing about Shane and Shane. I’ve seen them only at One Day and they were good but I echo your thought’s about God=boyfriend songs.
I’m most interested in this Monk and Neagle group. They’re coming here with MercyMe and they didn’t look interesting at all. I’m glad to know they’ll be good!
How did you get that cool feedburner banner on your topblogarea listing? I found the banner on feedburner, but how did you get it onto your listing?
By the way, your site looks good!
🙂
ThirstyJon
freedomthirst.com
It was good to see you guys! I wish I could have been able to see more of the concert, but I was pretty busy at the Compassion table. From what I heard, it was pretty good. Monk and Neagle had some amazing harmonies. Bebo brought tears to my eyes when he was talking about Compassion and how we try so hard to fix what’s wrong with us that we focus ourselves inward instead of trying to look out and see where we can help others. So true. Once again, loving the blog! Hopefully you’ll be able to link to my blog now that I’ve posted to you. ~Nicole
“All my cute little words about how I am saved.”
In a certain context, I like that phrase. Almost as if it’s evocative of our words being nothing more than ‘cute’ if not followed by actions. I’d love to hear the entire context.
Jon,
You can upload a graphic to represent your site on most of those sites. Just go to your settings and point it to the URI that feedburner gives you.
Nicole,
I’ve got you linked and loaded!
James,
Excellent point. Context is key. You can see all of Shane and Shane’s lyrics at Shane Barnard’s website:
http://www.shanebweb.com/lyrics-tabs/
This concert was great! I’m glad you made us go. 🙂
Try putting the words into context and giving these guys a second chance…listen to a breadth of their music and try reading Song of Solomon…a love song to a Saviour! Talk about “girly”…give me a break?!?!? Jesus is my boyfriend songs?!?!?!? Come on man…read the words from the album and see the biblical context of them…especially songs like “burn us up” and “embracing accusation”…these are lyrically exciting and far from your shallow critique of their concert…if anything…they were the ABSOLUTE BEST thing that happened during the concert at Mississippi State…Bebo was probably the least compelling of all the artists.
jshiv,
Thanks for sharing your opinion.
I’m a big Song of Solomon fan.
My wife had parts of it inscribed inside of my wedding ring.
My take on the book is that it’s about a manly guy who knows how to get it on with his wife.
For me the word “embrace” is kinda…flowery.
There’s a song I love by Michael Gungor called “Wrap Me in Your Arms.” Even though he wrote the song his wife Lisa, was the one who sings it on her record. I think this was a strategic decision. It’s such a tender song it just doesn’t sound as right when a guy sings it. (Although Michael does sing it live.)
I felt the same way about Shane and Shane. I would’ve liked the music more if a girl would’ve been singing.
Maybe I’m a meathead chauvinist.
Bebo is a hero of mine.
Song of Solomon has Biblical truths that I try to apply daily 😉