On Friday night I went to the anberlin concert in the FAC. Going into this concert I didn’t know that much about anberlin; only a couple of their songs. That made it a little difficult because it’s not always the easiest to understand the lyrics in a concert, but surprisingly I did get a lot out of it. One my of my friends told me they don’t consider themselves a Christian band but rather a bunch of Christians in a band. I could see this in their music and lyrics, which I didn’t find to be overtly Christian but defiantly had some Christian undertones. Overall I thought they had a great stage presence, the crowd really responded to the music, and it was a good concert.
I think that this concert and this band are defiantly crying out for the kingdom. For me it was more than the music and lyrics which pointed to the kingdom (which they did.) I think a huge part of what I liked about this concert, was the diversity in the crowd. I saw this diversity while waiting in line meeting these three guys from Ohio, in front of us during the concert seeing group of students from hope, and in general just noticing a lot of other people who defiantly weren’t from Calvin College. And together everyone was grouped to form this weird sort of community in the room, even if it was just for a night. Everyone was sharing and participating in the music and it is kind of a unique thing whenever that happens. Just joining together in community with strangers and sharing music (even if only briefly) is one way that this concert cried out for the kingdom.
While attending a concert shouldn't be seen as work, it is always helpful to prepare yourself before going to a concert by spending a little time getting to know a band and its work. For example, you could listen to the band's music on MySpace, look up lyrics on SongMeanings.net, or, for most Calvin concerts, attend the interview with the band before the show. In the end, it helps you better understand what the artist is trying to do and, I think, helps you enjoy the concert even more than you might otherwise.
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