Big Name Bands Headline Springfest in the Valley

Photo by Michael Nicklaus

Kutless, a Christian rock band, performs in front of a mosh pit in the JMU Convocation Center during Springfest.

"Springfest in the Valley" with Steve Wingfield was a weekend-long evangelism project that incorporated bands, games, skateboarders, and Steve Wingfield.

On Saturday night, Kutless, Hawk Nelson, tobyMac, and Audio Adrenaline played at the Convocation Center with multitudes of teens screaming for more throughout the night.

EMU students attended as well. Sophomore Trevor Bare was one of them: "It was fun to have the opportunity to see and hear some familiar songs performed live."

Kutless was well received by the crowd, who quickly formed a mosh pit in front of the stage. The rock band burst onto the Christian rock scene in 2002, doing 220 shows in one year. Hawk Nelson, a punk group from Ontario, Canada, kept the energy flowing with songs.

Steve Wingfield followed the performance with a powerful message. He said that the three biggest problems identified by high school and college students in the Harrisonburg area are alcohol, eating disorders, and pornography. He used stories to illustrate his point and even had former boxing champion Joe Frazier's son come on stage and give his testimony.

The major theme of Steve Wingfield's message was waiting for sex until marriage. At the end of his message, Steve Wingfield invited people who wanted to learn more about Jesus or commit to save themselves for their future spouse to come down in front of the stage. Many trained Christian counselors met with individuals as the next band set up, offering advice, praying with them, and sharing more about Christ.

Next on stage, tobyMac shared a very easy-to-understand message. Their lyrics preached on diversity, a theme the band obviously believes in based on the make-up of the musicians and singers. The crowd was rocking again, and crowd surfing in the mosh pit was becoming wilder.

Audio Adrenaline finished off the evening in a flashback style, playing songs from the early 90s like "Big House." "I was really impressed by Audio Adrenaline, they looked like they were having fun up there," said junior Heather Bender.

During one song, the lead singer pulled seven people up on stage to go crazy while they played. Sophomore Phil Shirk was one of the lucky ones. Towards the end of the song two people were given a mike to help sing. One of these random fans was almost as good at the lead singer, to the surprise of everyone. A relieved Shirk commented, "What are the odds that he got chosen-I'm just glad they didn't ask me to sing after that guy."