Sutherland Auditorium should have been deserted until the RA info meeting at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday. Instead, Rachael Lampa and Tori Kelly took the room by storm as it sprinkled lightly outside.
Despite the November rain that took numerous Biola students by surprise, the second Eddy of the semester was not canceled and instead was moved from the Fireplace Pavilion and out of the intermittent rain showers.
Regardless of the location change, approximately 300 to 400 people attended the event, according to senior Lauren Bailey, Associated Students music and arts coordinator. While it was not nearly as large as the first Eddy of the year, which featured Christian artist Josh Garrels and saw more than 1,000 attendees, Bailey still considered it a successful event.
Fans come out to support local artist
“I wish [the turnout] had been a little bit better, and I think the rain kind of got in the way, which was a bummer, but OK at the same time because we still had an awesome turnout and plenty of people loving the fact that they get to meet Tori and Rachael,” Bailey said.
Bailey believed that a large portion of the crowd came to support Kelly, who is a local artist and has friends who attend Biola, rather than Lampa, who became a hit in contemporary Christian music in 2000. Among the night’s attendees was YouTube sensation AJ Rafael, who lives about an hour away from Biola and was impressed with the warm welcome he received from on-campus fans.
“I came out to the event tonight to support my friend Tori [Kelly] … I know the impact that Rachael [Lampa] has had on Tori’s life, as well as the impact she’s had on so many other fans and blessed a lot of hearts,” said Rafael, who counts Kelly as one of his best friends. “So it’s great to see them both perform.”
Rafael met Kelly, who is active on YouTube as well, through a mutual friend — former American Idol contestant Andrew Garcia — two years ago when Kelly was 17.
Kelly, who released an EP on iTunes earlier this year, also described her admiration as a Christian artist in the secular music industry for the band Switchfoot.
Sharing the stage
“You see something different in [Switchfoot], but it’s not in-your-face,” she said. “I believe what I’m doing now — secular music but still with a positive message — is really where I should be because God is shining in me in that and being a light where people don’t necessarily get that.”
Still, Kelly grew up listening to Christian artists like Lampa and Crystal Lewis and said that some of that influence still shows in her music.
“[Lampa] is definitely a huge inspiration to me, so just to even be on the same stage as her and to be doing a show together is crazy,” said Kelly.
Lampa, who called Kelly to the stage to sing the final song of the night, “Live For You,” later said she enjoyed collaborating.
“I love sharing the stage. I get lonely up there and I get tired of my own voice. It’s so fun singing with other people and being challenged by that,” Lampa said. “At the same time, I’m finally enjoying shows and stuff and not stressing about it and not worrying about it. It’s God saying, ‘Enjoy this. I gave you this to enjoy.’”
It was clear that Lampa, who has been in the Christian music industry since 2000, enjoyed herself during the performance. Although she experienced two minor hiccups during her performance when she forgot part of her lyrics, Lampa laughed the incidents off afterwards.
Humility that inspires
“Sometimes I’ll throw in songs that I haven’t sung in forever,” said Lampa afterwards. “And sometimes … I’m just clumsy.”
Junior Litt Odom, a communications major and musician who met Lampa earlier this semester at a house show in Tustin, had nothing but good things to say about the night and his duet with Lampa in her song, “Human.”
“[Lampa and Kelly are] amazing examples of how to be Christians in the industry,” Odom said. “They’re both so talented, it would be easy for them to say, ‘Look how talented I am,’ because they sort of have the grounds to, because they’re both so fantastic, but they’re so humble. It’s inspiring.”
