The sun set to the west, the cool San Diegan air blew through the fan-packed stadium, and the first beat of the drums and strums of the guitars filled the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre. The Music Builds Tour erupted Saturday night with a packed show featuring Jars of Clay, Robert Randolf and the Family Band, Switchfoot, and Third Day on the main stage and The Howls, This Holiday Life and The Daylights playing on a side stage.
Being a huge Switchfoot fan myself, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to see a show in my (and Switchfoot’s) hometown. So like any good fan, I traveled home for the weekend for one purpose: the Music Builds Tour.
The Music Builds Tour benefited Habitat for Humanity and with each ticket purchase, $1 was donated to the cause. Habitat for Humanity, Live Nation and the One Campaign were at the venue with booths set up for fans and concertgoers to donate or learn more about each organization.
Jars of Clay began the night on the main stage getting the crowd excited for the upcoming performances. Dressed in all white, with neon lights of every color reflecting off the stage, Jars of Clay opened the concert with a bang, getting people on their feet with hands raised in the air.
Following their performance, This Holiday Life played a few songs from their new album, “The Beginning of the End of the World,” on the side stage, which attracted quite a large crowd and offered a more intimate stage arrangement than the main stage. The band stuck around after they played a few songs to talk to fans and sign autographs.
The second act of the night truly showed the versatility of the musicians of Robert Randolf and the Family Band. Halfway through their third song, they started changing instruments. The lead singer went to the drums, the bass guitarist to the lead guitar and the drummer to bass guitar. Even with the instrument changes, the guys still kept up the fast-paced riffs and hammer of the upbeat songs. As the stage went dark, the entire stadium was pumped up for the next act.
As my anticipation – and that of the crowd – lingered as from the previous act, Switchfoot took center stage in an explosion of sound and color that my eyes and ears are still going back to. From red to green to blue to purple, the backdrop changed with the clash of the cymbals and the scream of the guitars. Close-ups of each member appeared like a photo album on the three projection screens surrounding the stage and flashing strobe lights shone upon the stands.
Switchfoot began the set with some songs from their earlier albums, “The Beautiful Letdown” and “Nothing is Sound,” and proceeded into some of their newer songs playing “Oh! Gravity,” “American Dream” and also mixing in a crowd favorite, their cover of Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love.” They finished it off with “This is Home,” a song written for the “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” movie.
An especially exciting moment came when lead singer Jon Foreman had the audience take one big picture at the same time. As Foreman counted to three, camera flashes filled the amphitheatre and created an eye-appealing spectacle. Along with this, and the infamous pause in the middle of a song when Switchfoot stopped everything and froze, allowing their shadows to be cast against the backdrop, only to resume the song in a flash of red light, made their performance by far the best and most upbeat act of the night.
By the end of the set, the crowd’s cheering and the last wailing of the guitars had people ready for Third Day who would close the show. Opening with “I Gotta Feeling” and closing with “Creed,” Third Day had everyone on their feet as they played fan favorites such as “Agnus Dei,” which turned out to be one of the best songs of the set.
The concert as a whole was worth the drive down to San Diego – not only for the music, but for the cause as well. It was a fantastic show of a variety of talented bands, and it was a night to remember, ears still ringing and all.
