it has been since august that i had my last third day encounter... and that is a very large amount of time for me. when i saw them in august it was at fishfest... outdoor festival = shorter set and bad lights. i was also in "work" mode then cuz i was responsible for taking pictures for the fish, so needless to say a great third day concert was what the doctor ordered.we got to willow at like 3pm... and crowder was playing for one of the early sessions... so we snuck in (haha) and watched for about 3 minutes before someone asked us where our badges were... so we had to leave (darn!). we got
some coffee and chilled for a long time. if you have seen crowders blog, then you may know about a game they are playing... where you say certain phrases and they are worth different amounts of points... well i wrote them down and told my friends we were gonna play... lets just say that jc really took ahold of the game and blew us outta the water. every single person who walked by he asked if their name was bobby... and i was waiting for someone to say yes... and FINALLY a guy did! haha that only sparked a convo between them where jc threw in like 6 more 3pt. lines... he really racked up the points w/ bobby.
then ppl starting showing up... so we claimed a front door spot and played some uno w/ some random kids...when the doors opened jc ran down and got us front row spots in front of mark... there were 2 seats, a HUGE plasma tv and then a single seat... i took the single one so i could spread my junk out and have leg room (thats hard to come by when you are tall) one of the pastors at willow and some other guy were up on stage right dj'ing... they played secular songs.... but it was kinda cool. everyone was dancing or jumping around... there was a group of energetic kids behind us... we got the wave going throughout the whole place... good times good times.they read us the rules (no jumping for the ppl in the balconies) 
and then it started.shorter set list (unfortunately), but a great mix of new and old. at the 9 previous shows i had been to, i had never heard thief -- but tonight was the night!! it was so awesome... the drums kicked bootay. that song is special to me because that was the first third day song i ever heard. and this one time, at bible camp, when i was in 7th grade, the staff did a human video to it and it broke me. it is very special to me and i will cherish hearing it live for the rest of my life (and watch my vid over and over haha) i loved the mix of songs and mac sounded great as usual. being tall, and in the front, and wearing a orange gomer shirt - i was spotted right away... got a finger point from mac, mark and tai... david didnt notice me till later on and gave me the head nod. mac did the survey to find out where ppl were from... there were quite a few ppl from korea and other countries... but mostly from the midwest. lots of random cheering and jokes occured... almost a ADD moment.
nearing the end of the set i was trying to figure out what they would do for the encore... hoping for some spetacular surprise to blow me out of the water... butright when they hit the last note of the last song a guy from willow hopped up on stage and basically cut them off. mac looked kinda surpised and they all just kinda walked off the stage slowley while looking at each other... prolly thinking... "what the heck?" the lights came up right away... it was a very cold... like "hey thanks for coming... now leave!" kinda vibe. thanks a lot willow. love you too.
also, about an hour into the set, we started getting confronted by willow people telling us we couldnt take pictures. ????? what!!? we had been for the past hour, why would they care now?!?! i saw ppl w/ camcorders for heavens sake!! why worry abou lil ol me w/ my tiny digi camera!??!?! jc got sneaky and sat down and took some more while trying to hide the camera... but dang, those willow ppl musta had like night vision/hawk eye glasses on.. cuz they came running back down the isle yelling at him. it was actually kind of humorous... but nothing beats the lady who confronted me while i was ON MY CELL PHONE and told me i couldnt take pictures with it. hello?!!?!? i am not skilled enough to be able to do those 2 particular things at once. i should work on that though. perhaps that will be a skill i can pull out later, like my ninja skills. everyone needs skills right?
after we got kicked out of the auditorium, we stopped by the busses to say hey... all the guys came right up to me and we talked just a little bit cuz it was SOOO cold out. i gave tai a bag of nutter butters for eveyone... brad was all smiles and grabbed my elbow haha mac was like... are you here for the conference or did you come just for the night? and i was like... just to see you guys! and he asked how long of a drive... i said not long -2 hours and he kinda look surprised. they were all really cool (duh). got everyone but mark to sign my siggy guitar... not sure if mark was already on the bus when we got out there or if we left before he come out... stinky either way. we also had a crowder sighting while he was on the way to the bathroom... a VERY funny guy!
set list:
Creed
I Got a Feelin'
I Can Feel It
King of Glory
Thief -- FINALLY AFTER 10 SHOWS I HAVE HEARD IT LIVE!!!
Your Love Oh Lord / Nothing but the Blood (acoustic)
Blessed Assurance
You Are So Good to Me
I Believe
Communion
Show Me Your Glory
Come Together
God of Wonders
Cry Out to Jesus
My Hope is You
i am blessed beyond words... GO GOD!
