Uprise Festival 2013

Hello everyone! I'm soooooo sorry I missed posting last Friday! Things got really busy. I had school to do, and then as soon as I was done I had to pack up and leave for Shippensburg for Uprise Festival 2013. It was worth it though - I had a blast! So I have some pictures here, and maybe links to

The main stage.

videos if I can find any.

For those of you who don't know, Uprise Fest is a Christian music concert that takes place at the Shippensburg Fairgrounds every year. It starts on a Friday night and then goes all day Saturday, so it's kind of a condensed Creation Festival. I went last year to see Disciple and Thousand Foot Krutch, and it was great. This year was even better. Altogether it was me, my dad, and my friends: Aaron, Steven, Steph, Brittany, Jordan, Patrick, and Jessica (not the same Jessica as last year though). Click the jump to read more, see pictures, and maybe some videos if you're lucky!

We As Human performing.

Alrighty, so, Uprise Fest. I'll start with Friday. We arrived around 6:30-7:00, which means we missed the first two bands, but that was okay. The first band we heard was We As Human, who I really wanted to see. If you haven't heard of them, you can click on that link up there, which will take you to their Facebook page. I found them through Skillet, because when I bought Rise, I got a code for two free We As Human songs. Anyway, they're a really good band. I got to the main stage in the middle of their show, so I didn't see everything, but I do know they performed songs like "Strike Back," "Zombie," and "We Fall Apart." I can't find too many live videos, but they're really good songs, so check them out sometime.

Justin Cordle on the phone.

After WAH was done, the lead singer, Justin Cordle, announced that they would be signing autographs for twenty minutes at the merchandise building, which was practically on the other side of the fairgrounds. Jessica, Patrick, and I took off running. I stepped on a rock and twisted my ankle (it hurt a lot), but it was totally worth it. All three of us got Justin's autograph. The best part though was that Jessica called her friend Emily (who is a big WAH fan), and Emily was able to talk to Justin on the phone. It was so awesome.

Mike Donehey of Tenth Avenue North

After We As Human, we hung around for a bit before watching the Tenth Avenue North concert.We bought some stuff (because it's impossible to go to a concert and not buy anything). Over the weekend, I think I bought three wristbands (I got another one for free, too). Anyway, we went back to the main stage a little later to watch Tenth Avenue North.

Tenth Avenue North.

Now, I'm not a big TAN fan, but their show was pretty good. They performed some new songs like "Losing" and "Worn," and some older songs like "You Are More" and "By Your Side." Mike Donehey, the lead vocalist, talked a bit throughout the show. He said some pretty funny things that I can't really remember now. But all that to say, Tenth Avenue North put on a good show.

Then, as the headliner for Friday night, Skillet performed! If you're new to this blog or just never noticed, Skillet is my favorite band in the universe. I saw them at WinterJam last year (2012), which was awesome, but Uprise Fest was even better. I'll try my best to remember the order of the songs they played, but I'm not making any promises here.

Skillet opened with their new intro and "Hero." The intro was really cool, so even if you don't like the band, you should click that link to check it out. After "Hero" was "Whispers in the Dark" and "Comatose." Now, after that, I kind of lose track of the exact order all of the songs were in. So I'm going to just put all of the songs they performed in a list so you can watch all of the epic videos.
"Sick Of It"

John Cooper (Skillet) singing

"Circus for a Psycho"
"The Last Night"
"Not Gonna Die"
"Those Nights" (my favorite!)
"Rise"
"Awake and Alive" (If you watch the video, you'll see that Jen's mic wasn't working at first. I felt bad for her)
"Savior" (This one surprised me)
"American Noise"
"Monster"
"Rebirthing"

And that was just Friday night! Saturday was... Well, let's say it was an adventure.

Fireflight getting ready to perform

It had been drizzling on and off that morning, but that didn't stop my friends and I from playing on some of those inflatable obstacle course things. We did that for quite some time, had some lunch, then I went to go see Jason Dunn, former lead vocalist for Hawk Nelson, perform. The best part was when he sang "California." That made my day. Anyway, right around 2:30-3:00 ish, just as Fireflight was taking the stage, it started pouring. Fireflight still performed though, much to their credit. I left about halfway through the show though because I realized our lawn chairs and stuff were getting drenched.

After that, things started getting a little more crazy. We watched Nine Lashes and Oh Sleeper perform in a barn-ish building. The Rockstar Stage, where they were supposed to play, didn't have any sort of overhead covering, so their concert was moved. The sound quality wasn't the best in there, but both bands did a pretty good job.

After that, a few of us went back to the car because we were soaked. The others stayed behind to listen to Jep and Jessica, cast members of the show Duck Dynasty, speak. To make a long story short, there was a little adventure involving our van and the muddy field/parking lot, but we were able to see Family Force 5 perform that night.

FF5 was one of the first bands I ever really listened to, thanks to an illegally copied CD. I hadn't listened to much of them since then, but surprisingly, I knew a lot of the songs they performed. "Love Addict" (sorry, there's only part of the song there) was played, of course. "Fever," "Cray Button," "Chainsaw," and "Kountry Gentleman" were also performed. Oh yeah, and a little bit of trivia for you: two days later, Family Force 5 announced via Facebook that lead vocalist, Solomon Olds (a.k.a Soul Glow Activatur), would be stepping down from his position in the band (you can read the whole announcement here). Anyway, I just thought it was cool that we got to see his last show.

After FF5, the Newsboys performed, but I can't say I stuck around. I was cold. And wet. And exhausted. So I sat in the van with a few of my friends while we waited for the others to come back.

Despite the rain and the mud, it was an awesome weekend. I can't wait until next year!