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Miss the Fun Last Night? Listen Here Now!

Last night's interview on ObscureGenius.com was great! Thank you to everyone who called and wrote in with questions, and to all of you who supported me with your prayers. I'm always nervous about interviews, but once we get going, it's a lot of fun!

If you missed the interview you can listen to it here or just click below. (When the window opens, right click and do "Save As..." That will download the MP3 to your computer.)

Stream or Download a recent 1 hour phone interveiw with Mama Gomer on ObscureGenius.com

Be sure to visit ObscureGenius.com to listen to their other interviews. They have a lot of good ones archived and some interesting ones coming up on the schedule.

My 20 Fav Third Day Shows - #5 Live Wire DVD Shoot

We're down to five!

5.) Louisville, Kentucky, July 22, 2004, The Wired DVD shoot -- This one was so much fun. I didn’t even think I was going to be able to make it until very close to the date of the show. But I did, along with a whole flock of other Gomers! Just watch the DVD and take a look at the audience and you will see a lot of orange! Most of them are folks from the boards! We all went to TGIFriday’s before the show. The Jupiter Project guys, who made the DVD, sent Paul down with a camera to capture some of our party on film for the DVD. You can see it during the Thank You All portion of the DVD. Part of it even made it to the Chronology Volume II documentary, Third Day: The First Ten Years.

Once inside the beautiful Palace Theater, we took our seats. Right before the show started, they announced that they wanted some people to move up into the front row seats! I was so happy that people in Gomer shirts move fast, and that they filled the front with orange!

The theater itself was very hot, and we were doing a lot of Mac-aeobics! A couple of songs had to be done over again, because of technical difficulties. When you see that last song, I Got a Feeling, you just don’t know unless you were there how much effort went into that. We were jumping, and then waving our arms, and singing along, then yelling it, and dancing, all in this hot theater. And then we had to do it again! But we didn’t mind. We’d have loved it if they got to the end and had to shoot the whole thing again! It was just a fantastic show! And we get to relive it again and again on the DVD!

One thing you don’t get to see on the DVD is the Third Day Karaoke. During some of the technical difficulties, there was some time to fill. So they decided to let everyone who wanted to come up on stage and sing a line or two from a Third Day song. (I’ve forgotten which song it was, sorry. Anyone out there know?) There was a long line of folks, Gomers and not, up there singing into the microphone. David Carr even got into line. The man sings really well! He should do it more often! But he made it funny.

The Live Wire tour itself is my second favorite Third Day tour (the LIVE tour that they did in the spring being #1) so it’s a given that I’d love this show. But I think the best thing about this show, and why it’s in my top five, is that I can relive it again and again. That makes it so amazingly special.

My 20 Fav Third Day Shows - #6 "We're Going to Jail!"

6.) Nashville, Tennessee, April 6, 2003, Gibson Guitar Showcase – This is a really funny story, and I’m not sure it Debbie will appreciate me telling it, but here goes.

Debbie, Janet, and I met up in Nashville for our first GMA Week in 2003. We all signed up for the Industry track to go to the seminars and such. It was our first year, and we were a little unclear on a few things. So when we heard that Third Day was hosting a showcase luncheon for the retail people, we were on the bus, literally. We thought that the Industry pass allowed us to go anywhere, because it did allow you to go to any of the other track’s seminars, but not their outings. And it was as we were sitting on that bus to the Third Day showcase that we realized that we weren’t supposed to be there.

This outing was only for the retail people. We didn’t know what to do. Stay put? Get off the bus? Try to blend in? We didn’t have a clue. We slowly turned our Industry badges around, so it wouldn’t be so obvious that we didn’t belong there, and moved to the back of the bus. While nervous, Janet and I decided to play it cool. Debbie, on the other hand, was sure we were going to be arrested! So when the bus came to a stop in front of the Gibson Guitar Showcase, we let everyone else exit the bus before us. We stayed behind and talked to the bus driver, at Debbie’s insistence. She explained to him that we had gotten on the bus, innocently, under false pretenses, and we didn’t belong there. The driver said, “Don’t you want to go to the luncheon?” Oh, yes, we wanted to go, but we didn’t want to get into trouble. He told us not to worry about it. Just go ahead and go to the luncheon. So we did, but still nervous and still with our badges turned around.

Once in the Gibson Guitar Showcase, we sat at a ring side table, right up by the stage. We felt like people knew we didn’t belong. They were all looking at us funny, suspiciously. (It was just our imagination, most probably.) But then a familiar face entered the room, and after showing his proper badge, came right over to our table and sat down. It was Mac Powell. Debbie, of course, explained our situation to Mac. He assured us it was fine, an honest mistake. So we sat there and enjoyed the show, and Mac’s company. It was a showcase in which a couple of members of Third Day introduced each new act, and then Third Day played an acoustic set. It was a really neat afternoon, one I won’t soon forget for all the craziness of it and how it all worked out.

Oh, by the way, Sanctus Real was one of the new acts! I’ve liked them ever since.

My 20 Fav Third Day Shows - #7 Third Day Adds a New Member

7.) Columbus, Georgia, March 8, 2008, The Live Tour with Sanctus Real, DecembeRadio, and Revive -- It's no secret that I love DecembeRadio! So to see them on tour with Third Day was a dream come true (for the DRadio guys as well as) for Debbie and me! It was exhilarating to see the audiences get so excited when DecembeRadio played!

Debbie and I did a little tour of three shows. There was Decatur, Alabama, and Columbus and Augusta, Georgia, all in that one weekend. We flew into Nashville and drove from city to city with our dear friend Loren. We had such a blast! I took so many pictures that it took me two months to get them all posted. (Here is the album for this show.) Here are three from a fun little series of photos.

The first show of this run, the Decatur show, was actually the second show of this tour. I listed that in my top five least favorite shows, because it was the first time I saw Third Day play without Brad. This was the second time. This was when my eyes started to see this new incarnation of Third Day as a leaner, stronger rock band as I said in this post about these shows.

We sat front row, almost center. It was in a beautiful theater. This was a very fun show! The show itself reminded me a bit of the Lubbock show, which I'll tell you about in a later post. Mac put the microphone into my face during I Gotta Feeling. (Yes, that's me yelling it out on the WIRED Radio. And that part where Mac asks someone where they are going, he was speaking to Loren. She had to step out for just a minute to meet someone, ironically enough, during Come On Back to Me, which is what Mac and Tai told her to be sure and do.)

During Otherside, Mac had a revelation (sorry) to give the tambourine to an audience member to play, and introduce them as a member of the band. This was the first time they did that, and Mac chose Debbie!  I believe they chose a different audience member at every show after this. In Monroe, LA, . . . no, you'll have to wait for that one.

And you know that part of the show where Mac grabs someone's camera and takes pictures of the band and the audience? Well, this night, he took my camera. (The pictures he took, and the story about it, are in the album.)

I also got a pick and a drumstick at this show! Every tour, Mac gives me a pick. Just one per tour, that's all I need. He tosses them to me, but I cannot catch them. And if it hits the floor and someone else goes for it, there is no way I'm going after it. Chances are pretty good that the other person has never gotten a pick, and it would make their month if they got that pick. So if Mac throws it to me and I miss, someone else is going home happy. After all these years, Mac knows that if he is going to be sweet and give me a pick, he will have to hand it to me. And he does. J Makes me feel special. Special and so nonathletic.

At the Decatur show, I mentioned to David that I have never gotten a drumstick. So at this show in Columbus, he gave me a drumstick and signed it. Now I feel complete! Oh, wait. I have never gotten a pick from Tai. Someday!

But the very best part of this run of shows was just seeing Third Day play the new songs from Revelation live! They are such amazing songs, and I just can't get enough of them! (Listen to the entire CD for yourself, for free, all the way through, here!)

My 20 Fav Third Day Shows - #8 G3-06 Church Service

8.) April 2, 2006, Nashville, TN, Great Gomer Gathering Sunday Morning Praise and Worship – Like the recording session, this was a very rare opportunity. How often do you get to go to church and Third Day is your praise and worship band?

It was the second day of the Great Gomer Gathering '06 in Nashville. Between our day at Rocketown, the Chevy Ride 'n' Drive, Third Day concert, and the Wherever You Are gold record party, we Gomers had spent the entire day before with Third Day. What better way to wrap up the G3-06 than with a church service, with Third Day leading worship?

We met in one of the rooms at the Nashville Convention Center. I don't remember what time it was, but after the late night before, and all the excitement, it felt like dawn. I'm sure it was more like eight or nine AM. It was just like "regular" church. Third Day led us in worship, singing some of the songs we love best. We sang Sing A Song, Praise Song, Agnus Dei, Communion, and Take My Life. It was wonderful. God was in the place.  Third Day's road pastor Nigel James shared a message called People of the Cross with us. You can read this message on page 139 of Nigel's book, Lessons from the Road. It was a great way to start our day, and an awesome way to end our Great Gomer Gathering '06.

My 20 Fav Third Day Shows - #9 Christmas Offerings Recording Session

May 20, 2006, Atlanta, GA, Christmas Offerings recording session – Haven't you always wanted to sit in on a recording session? I have. I've always wanted to watch my favorite bands actually creating the work of art that will be their next CD. When Third Day's management told me that Third Day wanted to make the recording of Christmas Offerings an event for 150 of their family, friends, and fans, I was thrilled! It was my job to round up about 50 Gomers who would be in the Atlanta area that day and would like to go to the event. As you might expect, this was not a difficult job at all.

Nickel and Dime Studios is a cool old place, decorated with orange and other colors I love, and retro furnishings. I thought the décor was beautiful. You can see the inside and outside of the studio in the Cry Out to Jesus video, as they filmed the whole video there. For the recording session, the studio was decorated with lights and Christmas trees. It put us into the proper mood, even if it was the middle of May and 80-something degrees outside.

The recording itself was pretty cool, but a lot more tedious than I'd imagined. I guess I never thought about it before, but it makes a lot of sense. You are recording about 12 songs, and trying to get the very best sound for each one. So I imagine you do work them over and over again, making changes and listening to suggestions from each other along the way. Then once you get them how you want them to sound, you probably have to play it again and again to get just the right version recorded, adding nuances here and there. It's a lot of work! The guys had pretty much all of that done by the time we got there, but we did have to sing stuff over and over again. It gave us just a little taste of what they must go through to make a record. After this, I had a whole new respect for the band, for any band who records a really good CD.

Our recording session was amazing, because we not only got to see how they make a record; we got to be on the record! Traditionally, the Third Day Offerings records are part songs recorded in a studio and part songs recorded live. This one was no different, except the live part was recorded with the audience as the choir on the record. They gave us lyric sheets, and Mac directed us on what to sing, how, and when. We didn't get to hear the whole songs, just the parts we sang. They also told us about some of the other songs on the album, and let us hear a little bit of them, just a tease really. But it was enough to get us even more excited about the Christmas Offerings CD!

After the recording session, everyone visited with each other and the band for a long while. One of my favorite parts was when Debbie, Bari, Traci and I were standing away from the remaining folks, next to one of the Christmas trees. Mac was over there, too, putting a guitar away. One of us had a camera in our hand, and we said, "Um, Mac? Could you do us a favor?" He came over to where we were standing, ready to take a photo. However, we didn't exactly want to take a photo with him. For a change, we wanted him to take the photo of us. So this is my favorite photo from that night. Not only is it four friends at an amazing maybe once-in-a-lifetime event, but one of our favorite rock stars took the photo.

The story doesn't end there. The following April, Third Day won a GMA Dove Award for Christmas Offerings! To celebrate that, and thank each of the "choir" members for their part in making the CD, Third Day sent a 5x7 inch postcard (which is almost the actual size of the Dove Award itself!) with a photo of their Dove on one side, and a note from Third Day on the back. What a thoughtful thing to do! I framed mine.  So cool to have a "Dove" of your very own for a record on which you actually sang!

This is also the only Third Day show I've ever been to in Atlanta, Third Day's hometown. That made it even more special for me.

My Top 20 Fav 3D Shows - #10 GuluWalk, Gomer Dinner, and Concert

It occurs to me that some of these stories may sound like I am bragging. I don’t mean to sound that way. I’ve kept most of this to myself until now, but I thought it would be fun to share it with you. I hope you are enjoying reading my adventures.

We are into the top ten now!

10.) October 21, 2006, Houston, TX, WYA Tour, GuluWalk, and Gomer pre-show dinner – Months before the Wherever You Are Tour, I had been praying for some way the Gomers could participate in some kind of service project. God dropped the perfect event right into my lap. Rushia Wallace, then of the Houston chapter of the worldwide GuluWalk, emailed to see if there was some way Third Day could help out with the Walk in Houston. This was the perfect event for the Gomers! Not only did it involve a cause that was near to Third Day’s hearts, the event took place the weekend of the Third Day concert in Houston! And the official GuluWalk color the same shade of orange that the Gomers wear!  This couldn’t have been any more perfect. So I worked it out with Rushia for the Gomers to participate. We got donations from friends, family, and other Gomers. The Third Day Gomers team came in third across the country, raising $2,245.00. Sixty Gomers walked in Houston, and four in other cities. All five Third Day guys, Scotty, Nigel, Third Day’s business manager Lillian, and Ray from Hyper Static Union walked with us. We had a beautiful day in the park with Third Day and raised money and awareness for a cause we believe in. You can read more in the original blog posts here and see the photo album here.

This was a very well documented occasion. In addition to the original blog posts and all the photos, I also have never-before-seen video. The first video is Tai’s speech before the GuluWalk (9:18 long. For best results, let it load before you try to watch it).

The second one is a clip of everyone walking. I know that Tai said we should walk solemnly, but you will hear a lot of laughing because we were having so much fun. Be sure to study the photo of the Third Day guys at the very beginning of the clip, so you will know what they are wearing. That way, you can find them walking in the video.  Listen for David talking in the beginning.

After the GuluWalk, we had dinner at Pappas’ BBQ in downtown Houston. They have great BBQ and Texas-sized baked potatoes. We filled the large room they had reserved for us. We had drawings for about 10 prizes, all kinds of things like CDs, books, a couple of cozy orange throws that say “RockStar” on them, and some autographed items. We had a great time visiting with each other. Take a look at the photo album from the dinner.

Then it was on to the show. The Toyota Center, which is a huge place, was packed to the rafters. There were patches of Gomers in orange all around. The audience was super-charged and ready to rock! And Third Day did not disappoint. They tore the place down. It was awesome. I got some amazing photos, despite sitting behind Tugboat, whom I love, but who is 6+ feet tall. Take a look at them.

My Top 20 Fav 3D Shows - #11 NOLA (a two-fer)

11.) March 30, 2002, New Orleans, Louisiana, Come Together Tour w/ Paul Colman Trio and Bebo Norman – First of all, the way we decided to go to New Orleans was unusual. I was at the Springfield, Missouri, Come Together show with Dawn. That show might have been on my worse show list, because it took place in a hot Shriner’s hall, with no air conditioning. They had to have the windows open to cool it off just a little. And a few days before the Third Day show they held the circus there. I don’t know if they had shoveled all the elephant dung out into a pile right outside the windows and the trash man hadn’t come yet, or if that smell just lingers, but there was a definite odor in the place. So, hot and smelly. And Dawn and I got there late, missed the Meet & Greet, and missed the chance to get a good seat. So we just kinda walked around and watched the show from different spots. When Third Day came on, we were standing on the stairs of the side bleachers, about half way to the back of the auditorium. Mac actually saw us standing there. From the stage, he said something like, “Oh there you are! Why are you way back there?” We just shrugged, a little embarrassed, but happy to be noticed. Oh yeah, that was the show that Sally gave Paul Colman the Gomer shirt she got for him, and he wore it. But I digress. On to the reason we went to New Orleans.

After the Springfield show, Dawn and I ran into Mac outside the Shriner’s hall. I was talking to Dan on the phone, and Mac said, “Tell Dan I said, ‘Hey.’” I said, “Here, tell him yourself” and gave him my phone. So I’m standing there listening to this conversation between Mac and Dan. Mac says, “Yeah, you should!” I was clueless. Come to find out, they were talking about New Orleans. Mac asked Dan if we were going to the New Orleans show (I guess I missed that part), and Dan told him that he’d been trying to get me to go to New Orleans for years, and maybe this would actually get me there. And maybe we’d go to that show. That’s when Mac said, “Yeah, you should!” I told Mac that the tickets were sold out, and he said not to worry about that. They’d take care of it. How can I refuse this? The lead singer of my favorite band is asking me to come to the show and giving me tickets. No way I’m turning that down! Woo hoo!

So Dan, Jordan, Asher, and I went to New Orleans. We toured the French Quarter, ate beignets at Café Du Monde, watched the parade, and as it was Easter weekend, had an egg hunt in the hotel room. It was a lot of fun! I don’t know why we hadn’t done it before. I guess whenever Dan brought up New Orleans, I only thought of Bourbon Street and the partying that goes on there. Not our cup of tea, so why go? I didn’t know there were so many other things to do. We’ve been back twice since then. (So yeah, I admit it. Both times it was to see Third Day, but we did other things, too.)

We had the coolest hotel on this trip. It was a Hilton Garden Inn, and it shared a parking lot with Pontchartrain Convention Center, the venue Third Day was playing! We got to NOLA the day before the concert, and it was very exciting to wake up in the morning, look out of our window, and see the tour buses and trucks parked at the venue next door! We didn’t even need to drive to the show.

So we walked over to the Will Call window and asked for our tickets. Front row! This weekend just kept getting better. The next thing that happened proved that! The local radio station, LifeSongs, did an interview with Brad. Brad talked about the Gomers and told the DJ’s that they might want to interview me. They had already had that idea, because back in those days I used to email all the radio stations in the towns Third Day played to tell them about the Gomers, so that when they saw people in the orange Gomer shirts, they’d know what it was all about. So the DJ’s came out and found me, brought me into the venue, and we did an interview. I was so nervous, I was shaking! But it was so fun! (Both DJ’s joined the boards and became Gomers right after that!)

The show itself was a lot of fun. I so miss those days when my kids were little, and we all went to the shows together (before their music tastes changed). Our boys were dancing and singing along. Mac dedicated a song to me, and Jordan and Asher thought that was pretty cool. Paul Colman (of the Paul Colman Trio, and now a Newsboy) was proud to show that he was a Gomer. He had a bumper sticker on the back of his guitar that said, “PC Gomer”, which he held up for the audience to see. Those were the days when Third Day did that cool acoustic set during the show, had the desert backdrop that was so awesome during "Show Me Your Glory" and "Nothing Compares", and they did "On the Road Again" with Paul and Bebo. The Come Together tour was amazing! And at this show, there was one more thing.

After the show, we had a Meet & Greet with Third Day! You see, I had a little package to pick up. Third Day had had an online auction earlier that month. The items were from Tai’s own personal collection and included one copy of Third Day’s Gray Dot CD, one copy of Contagious, and one cassette copy of Long Time Forgotten. That’s right! All three of Third Day’s independent projects, and they were Tai’s! I don’t have to tell you, that was one exciting auction! And instead of shipping the package to me, Tai planned to give them to me at this show. He also included a bonus, a whole bunch of tee shirts and other items from Third Day’s merch booth! What a great package! What a great show! What a great family trip!

My Top 20 Fav 3D Shows - #12 & 13 and a little something extra

Both of these shows happened before the Gomers came to be.

12.) Summer of 1998, Houston, Texas, Astroworld -- My first Third Day show. (Thank you, Mark Lee, official Third Day historian, for helping me figure out the year.) We took the kids, who were then 11 & 7, to Astroworld in Houston. We were back on the lawn, so the kids could run around in between asking, “When can we go ride rides again?” Third Day played with another of my favorite bands at the time, Grammatrain. Also on the bill were Silage and a little band called Newsong, with Third Day’s own Scotty Wilbanks! This is one of my favorites because they only played songs from the bus and Conspiracy #5 . . . because that’s all there was at the time. Some of you may know that up until Revelation, my favorite Third Day CD has been Conspiracy #5, so this was an awesome show for me! This was also the first time I ever met Third Day. They signed autographs at the merch booth. We were last in line, and we talked with them about what else, baseball, specifically Astros vs. Braves. ;-) Here is a picture of the photo and sticker I had them sign at that show.

13.) March 12, 2000, Orlando, Florida , House of Blues with Jennifer Knapp -- My husband had gone to a business meeting in Orlando, Florida. While there, he had lunch at the House of Blues. He thought to himself, “It would be so cool if a band like Third Day could play here. It’s perfect!” Then he looked at the schedule of upcoming events that was sitting on his table and listed there was Third Day! He came home so excited! He suggested we take a family trip to Orlando. We had not been able to take the kids to Disney and Universal Studios yet, and since our oldest son, Jordan’s 13^th birthday was right before the Third Day concert, what better time to go? So we spent a wonderful week in Orlando on vacation. This was the first time we ever traveled to see Third Day, and the first trip we ever planned online, two milestones. Three if you count that this was the first time Dan brought me dinner to eat while I stood in the GA line well before the doors opened. The show was so cool, seeing them on that smaller stage. It was also the first time Dan and I saw Third Day play indoors. The other four times were in Houston at Astroworld and the Pavilion. So this was a very different Third Day show for us. Another reason I remember it so well was that my youngest, Asher, had a terrible headache and I had to hold him for most of the show. He actually fell asleep. How do you fall asleep during a rock show? Poor baby. But his headache eventually went away and he enjoyed the show as much as Dan, Jordan, and I did.

This has nothing to do with Third Day, but it’s an interesting story that happened on our way to Orlando, and I’d like to share. On our way to Orlando for this trip, we were driving to the airport. Close to the airport, Wayne Watson’s song Watercolor Ponies came on the radio. The song is about how quickly our kids grow up. Wayne and his wife, like Dan and I, have two boys, so the song really hits home. And this was Jordan’s 13^th birthday. My baby became a teenager that day! Hearing this song was hard for me. I was fighting the tears. I remember saying, “That’s the last thing I need to hear today.” After the song, I composed myself and said to Dan, “I haven’t seen anything about Wayne Watson in a long time. I wonder what he’s up to.” (At this point, I should probably mention that Wayne and his family live in the Houston area.) At that very moment, we pulled up to the Park and Ride gate. There was a car in front of us. I saw the driver, and could not believe it. It was Wayne Watson! (Pause to let it sink in that the guy that we were just talking about seconds earlier, the guy whose song was so appropriate, and moving me to tears on the radio two minutes earlier was now right in front of us in person!) We parked and rode to the airport with him on the Park and Ride bus. The boys got his autograph, and we talked about what he was up to, and about his two grown sons, and things like that. This remains one of the most amazing moments in our lives. Nothing big or earth-shattering. No life changing results. Just one of those little moments wherein God reaches down and gives you a gigantic hug that you will never forget!

My Top 20 Fav 3D Shows - #14 Concert for Katrina 9/2005

14.) Houston, Texas, September 19, 2005, KSBJ’s Concert for Katrina at Astroworld with tobyMac, the Crabb Family, and Natalie Grant – Seems like every show I tell you about has both really great things that happened and some not-so-great things that happened. This one is a bittersweet memory. This was the last time we ever went to Astroworld, because they closed the Six Flags amusement park right after this. That is sad, because our kids grew up there. Our family had a lot of fun there over the years. We saw our very first Third Day concert there, and a lot of other great shows. I guess it was only fitting that the last time we went to the park, would be for a Third Day show.

This concert wasn’t just a show. It was a benefit to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We Gomers didn’t want to just attend this show. KSBJ needed volunteers and 32 Gomers stepped up to the plate. We helped support the victims of Hurricane Katrina alongside Third Day. We worked in every area of this concert from greeting people at the gate, to loading equipment in and out, to working the merch and information booths, to praying with people. This concert was neat because the cost of admittance was a gas, phone, superstore or restaurant gift card worth at least $20. According to the Houston Chronicle, about 4,000 cards were collected at the concert! Many of those in attendance were hurricane victims themselves. KSBJ had invited them to attend for free, so they could have an evening of entertainment and hear the hope of the message of Jesus Christ. Third Day toured the center in Houston where some of the victims were living, talking to and praying with them, and mostly just listening to their stories. The guys were very touched by the experience. Here is a video about this event, including interviews with Mac Powell and TobyMac from the Somebody Cares website. (Either download it or let it load all the way before you try to watch it.)

 

Another cool thing about this concert was that the city of Houston declared September 19, 2005 officially Third Day Day in Houston, Texas! You can watch the video here. (If you looked at this already, look again. The audio is fixed!)

So we didn’t watch this show from the front row. We didn’t even get to see much of it. But we left this show with a lift in our spirits, knowing that we had spent our evening showing others the love of Christ. 

You can listen to this concert and hear Third Day receive the Third Day Day proclamation on the WIRED online radio. It is called Houston, TX (Benefit Show Part 1). (Part 2 is actually the show at AstroWorld on August 6, 2005)

My Top 20 Fav Third Day Shows - #15 Grand Prairie 2006

Grand Prairie, Texas, March 4, 2006, Wherever You Are tour with The David Crowder*Band -- At the outset let me say that this show should probably have gone on my least favorite list, too, because just about every one of the dozen or so Gomers that were there, and a few of the band members, and I think some of the crew, ended up getting this mysterious illness in the days following the show. It was some sort of a flu that just wouldn’t go away. Some of us had it for three weeks! But time makes us forget the pain. Here’s what happened that puts this show on my top 20 list of favorite Third Day shows.

As I said, there were about a dozen or so of us Gomers there, all in orange. We arrived hours and hours before the show, as we always do, because this was a GA (General Admission) show. That means first come first served for the good seats. To some of us (me included!) the “good seats” means right up against that rail, as close to the stage as possible. Mac, as a musician, thinks “good seats” are back by the soundboard, or at least in about row 15, because the sound quality is much better back there. He said to me in New Orleans this year, “If you watched the show from back there where the sound quality is better, you might say to yourself, ‘Hey, these guys sound pretty good. They are a pretty good band afterall.’” I told him I already know they are a pretty good band, and that the fun is being up close, because you feel you are a part of what’s going on. (That’s true whether you are at a theater production, concert, or even at church! I don’t want to be a spectator, watching from far away. I want to be up close and involved!) While front row may not be the best sound quality, we hear just fine up there. Besides, another part of the concert experience that we Gomers love (love, love, love!) is taking pictures! Taking good photos requires an unobstructed view, which means the front row. And getting there early and hanging out outside the venue means lots of time to have fun together before the show! So if we get there a couple of hours before the doors open, even when the weather is not the best, it is so worth it!

At this show, we were well rewarded for getting their early! About an hour before the doors were to open, Mac, David, Tai, Mark, and Scotty came out and played an acoustic set for us! (For Scotty, “acoustic” means he played the accordion.) I don’t remember the set list, except that they played Blackbird! How special that was! How sweet of the guys to come out and do that for us! I think God enjoyed it, too, because there appeared behind the band, right over their heads, a rainbow! (Check this picture. Look on the right above Tai.)

My 20 Fav Third Day Shows - 17 & 16

I was going to give you 15 - 17, but I have to run, so I only had time to do two more right now. Sorry! But here's two more of my top 20 Third Day shows.

16.) Nashville, Tennessee, April 1, 2006, Wherever You Are tour & G3-06! In April 2006, we held the G3-06 (Great Gomer Gathering 2006) in Nashville. About 65 Gomers came from all over, Canada, Holland, Australia, and all over the USA! We met at Rocketown for a day with Third Day. We started with worship led by Hyper Static Union, followed by a word from the Word by Nigel James. (You can read one of the messages Nigel gave us in his new book, Lessons from the Road.) After that, Tai came up and told us all about his trip to Uganda to walk with the children there to safety. It was very moving. We then watched the movie Invisible Children: Rough Cut. Wow. What an incredible movie. It was hard to bring ourselves back to the idea that we were here, hanging out with Third Day, after the hardships we had just witnessed on the movie. But now we felt united in a cause, and it was the perfect place to be. We were ready to work together. With that thought, Dale and I stood in front of the rest of the Gomers to discuss where the Gomers were headed. We talked about things on the horizon like our new Gomertopia online community. Then we had a Q&A time with the band. After that everyone lined up for a rare thing, the chance to have your photo taken with all of the members of Third Day! You can almost never get them all together like that at a Meet & Greet, so we knew this would be special. Finally, we had a delicious Mexican buffet for lunch. Everyone kind of filtered out after lunch, moving the party over to the parking lot of the Titan’s stadium for a Chevy Ride & Drive. They had a couple of fast cars there for us to ride along in. The Third Day guys got to ride in the brand spankin’ new corvette. It was fun to watch them speeding around the track. That night, we went to the Third Day concert. It was beautiful to see all of those orange Gomer shirts in the front rows! And Third Day rocked the place! Right after the show, we were escorted to the Wherever You Are gold record party! And it was fancy. They had special gold record collections for us. It was a set of all three WYA CD covers in a special box, signed by the band in gold Sharpie. What a collector’s item! And what an honor to be at that party, and to have shared the entire day with Third Day. (The photo album is here.)

17.) Dallas, Texas, February 22, 2002; Come Together Tour w/ Paul Colman Trio and Bebo Norman – My first show after the inception of the Gomers! Dan and I drove up to Dallas and met with Sally and Carol, a couple of girls who were the queens of the message boards at the time. It was the first time I ever met in person anyone I had met online. It was still little strange, but this was the beginning of many such trips to meet many new Gomer friends! The show was at a huge church called Prestonwood Baptist Church. Tai came out to meet me in the line outside the venue. He was a little unclear on my Gomer name, though. He came at me; arms open wide, shouting, “Big Mama!” I said, “Big Bottom!” And we hugged. But then I told him, “It’s not ‘Big Mama’, it’s just ‘Mama’.” I may be a big fan, but I don’t want anyone calling me “big”. ;-) Everyone in a Gomer shirt got to have a Meet & Greet with the band! And Third Day played Gomer’s Theme just for us! They played a lot of other “old school” songs that night like How's Your Head. It was an amazing show! The coolest part was the realization of a boards fantasy. Mac actually gave a shout-out to the Gomers from the stage!!! Wow! Dreams really do come true! This show was proof of that!

My 20 Fav Third Day Shows

Mark Lee posted his top ten favorite Third Day shows, and then he asked, “What about you? What's YOUR favorite Third Day show you've seen?” How can I choose? I’ve seen Third Day 52 times in the past ten or so years, in 12 states -- Texas (26), Tennessee (7), Louisiana (5), Florida (3), Georgia (3), Missouri (2), Kentucky (1), Alabama (1), Wisconsin (1), Illinois (1), California (1), and Oklahoma (1). I’ve seen them play at small indoor shows, at huge outdoor festivals, at medium sized shows in beautiful theaters, at recording sessions, in bars, in churches, and at amusement parks. I’ve watched Third Day with my own family and with extended family, with friends that aren’t Gomers (image that!) and lots of friends that are Gomers, with fellow church members who later became Gomers, with strangers that later became close friends, and with industry people. I’ve watched the show from the front row, on the lawn in back, somewhere in the middle, and from the merch booth. (The only places I haven’t watched a Third Day show from is in the wings on the side of the stage, or standing by the sound board.) I’ve seen them perform rock songs, worship songs, covers of other rock band’s songs, and just silly songs, all the while standing on amps, jumping in the air, dancing a jig, sitting on stools, everything except standing on their heads! And I’ve enjoyed every show. So how can I pick a favorite? Nonetheless, I’ll give it a shot.  So here they are. I'm posting a few at a time, because as an ADD kid myself, I believe in short blog posts, but I tend to be long-winded. So here, starting at the end and working my way back to #1, are the last five of my favorite 20 Third Day shows. (By  the way, this does not mean that I didn't like the other 32, just that they didn't stand out as much as these 20 did.)

20.) Nashville, Tennessee, April 21, 2008 - (GMA Week), Premier of Music Builds Tour with Jars of Clay and Switchfoot – How cool to be at the special sneak preview of this historic tour! I love all of the new songs from Revelation, and I think Third Day is stronger than they’ve ever been. They played a version of Thief that made me put my camera down and just experience it. Mark Lee played a solo during that song that just blew me away. I’m serious. At the end of it, I realized that I had my mouth open and I might have actually been drooling a little bit. And I’ve loved Switchfoot since Beautiful Letdown came out. (I only liked them before that.) On stage, they really make me feel it! And I’ve always liked Jars of Clay. I just wish Robert Randolph and the Family Band had been there, because they are slammin’!!! I can’t wait for this tour! I think it’s going to take the country by storm!

19.) Dallas, TX, October 20, 2007, Texas State Fair – This was a fun show, even though it was hot and we were in the full sun all day. I had never been to the Texas State Fair before. (I had been to the Michigan State Fair twice as a kid. Once to see The Cowsills, and once to see the Hudson Brothers.) so this was cool. About a dozen or so of us Gomers met there at the stage and plopped our lawn chairs down for a day of staking out our territory. We did take shifts, watching the chairs and coolers and stuff, while the others walked around the fair and ate all manner of food fried and on a stick. There were even a couple of acts that came on in the afternoon to entertain us. I wish I could remember the guy’s name, Billy something? He had some interesting songs. Terra has them memorized. Once the show started, there were some Gomers up at the front that I had never met but knew from emails and the boards. It was great to get a chance to meet them. And of course, Third Day was super! I got some amazing pictures! But the reason this show makes my top 20 list is that it had been one year, almost to the day, since I last saw Third Day perform. Yes, fellow Gomers, Mama Gomer went one whole year without seeing Third Day play live! Hope that never happens again!

18.) San Antonio, TX, December 4, 2004, Live Wire Tour with tobyMac and Hyper Static Union – During this tour, Mac chose four people, two girls and two guys, to get up on stage and sing a verse of Come Together. It became quite a status thing. Many of the regulars on the boards got to get up there and sing with Mac. We even had tee shirts made that said, “I sang with Third Day”. Personally, that is not something I’ve ever wanted to do. Mac asked me, several times, “Are you sure you don’t want to get up here and sing?” but I’ve always refused. I can’t sing, and I don’t feel the need to prove it to the world. (Although, I will shout the lyrics into the mike when one is put in front of me at a show, as I did at the Columbus show and the Lubbock show.)But my husband, Dan, did want to get up there and sing with Mac and the guys. I found it a little hard to believe at first, because Dan is not the kind of guy that will do that kind of thing. He’s kind of quiet. But cool! Dan’s brother’s family was with us at this show, and our nephew Hunter also thought it’d be cool to be a rockstar for a few minutes. So they volunteered. Below is the video of that night. I’m so proud! Of course, I got Dan the tee shirt for Christmas. 

I think that is enough for today. Tomorrow I'll share more of the top 20 Third Day show that I have been to.

My Least Fav Third Day Shows

I'm working on a blog post (or actually several) about my top favorite Third Day concerts. Which made me wonder which are my least favorite shows. The band has asked me this before, but I've never answered them. My job is head cheerleader, and I don't like to talk about the negative things. But I thought I'd make an exception, just this once.

I really can't say that there have been any Third Day shows that I didn't like, or was disappointed in, especially as far as the band goes. I've never seen a show where Third Day didn't give their all, and really put on a great show, no matter what the circumstances. But as I look through the list of the 52 shows I've been to, I can find a few wherein there were things could have been better. You will find that a few of these shows are also on my favorite shows list.

1. Houston, TX, March or April of 2001, Sugar Creek Baptist Church, Offerings Tour with Kendall Payne and Lincoln Brewster. Third Day did two shows here because the first one sold out so quickly. Silly me, I thought that since they said they added a second show for people that didn't get a chance to get tickets for the first show that that meant I shouldn't go to the second one to give others a chance to go. So we went to just one show, which was fine, but it was GA and this was before I understood the concept of getting their early so you can sit close. We sat in the very back row. But neither of these things is why this heads my list of least favorite shows.
   The reason this is my least favorite show is because I loved this show, this band, so very, very much, and as we left I felt so unsettled. I wanted to do something for them, for these guys that had brought me so much joy and fun over the years. This band that had given me wonderful ways to worship my Lord Jesus. There had to be something, but what? It was right after this that I joined the boards, and about a month after that that God gave us the Gomers. My question was answered.
2. Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 7/11/03, Lifest – Not a bad show at all, but I only saw half of it. I missed the first half of the show because I was playing paintball with my family and the guys from Pillar and East West. Then we had to go to the Pillar bus so I could put my video footage of our adventure onto Rob's computer. So yeah, not a bad reason for missing part of a show, but seeing only half of a show is enough reason to put it on the least favorite list. I feel incomplete about this show. I am also bummed out because I didn't find out until later that Tracey Kapela was there, and I missed meeting her. But it was a great show, for as much as we saw.

Mark Lee’s Fav Third Day Shows

In this post on the Third Day blog, Mark talks about his top ten Third Day shows. He lists the 2004 Great Gomer Gathering in Houston, Texas, as his third favorite show. I started to put my comment there, but it started to get a little lengthy, so I decided this would be a better place.

That "sea of orange" in the audience was quite a sight! I'll never, ever forget it. I sent KSBJ email after email telling them that this was going to be the first Great Gomer Gathering, and could they help us surprise Third Day with a "sea of orange" by having everyone, all 14,000+ audience members, wear orange. How awesome that would be!!! Third Day would take the stage and be totally amazed at the love and support from the audience. It had been my fantasy for years (still is) that there would be tons of people at every show wearing Gomer shirts. This idea was just an exaggeration of that fantasy. I had no idea it could be as awesome as it was! At the concert, Dan and I walked all around the Pavilion, up on the grass hill, just looking at 12,000 or so people dressed in orange (there were about 2,000 hold outs). This may sound silly, but I cried. It was so beautiful! There was so much love poured out to this band I loved, our chance to give back a little of the love Third Day had given to us for so many years. Later, Third Day's manager told me that when Tai exited the stage he told her, "It don't get no better than this." Mission accomplished!

Of course, now I have the problem of trying to figure out what the Gomers can do to top that! Any ideas?