Cultural Opportunity #1 (Driven/Downhere Concert)

September 6th, 2009. Driven opens for Downhere. As sound check is delayed yet further into the night, the crowd slowly floods in. First, a couple hundred people, then about two thousand, and people are still coming. My band and I are nervously waiting backstage, wading in the muck that became of the baseball field after the torrential rain. We warm up, practice our songs a cappella (plus our instrumentalists that decide to sing their parts for the time being), and await the moment we go onstage. The time arrives. We slowly trudge up the ramp to the stage, set up, and go through the tedious sound check (Test, test, yeahyeahyeahyeah, test 1, test 2, yeahyeahyeah.). We look around to see if anyone's got a good shot at taking the mic away from him. The show begins. Whoever said that when the stage lights are on that you can't see anyone was seriously confused. I saw everyone: all two thousand something people out there, staring back at me. Yet, I wasn't scared, or even remotely flustered. Funny, really, especially as I was that one kid who cried at solo/ensemble because she wasn't prepared enough... I could do this! I had a switchfoot solo! Nothing's stopping ME now! I tried to run the lines to the first song through my head to check where my nerves were- oh no. : nothing. I panicked for a split second, then remembered once again why I was on stage. From there, I was set. The microphones were a little messed up, but it turned out ok. I could hear myself on the monitor, so that was good. I rocked it out just like in practice. The other singers saw me moving and loosened up a bit. We got nothing but good comments as we left the stage. So was my first concert.=]

"Free to Be Me" by Francesca Battistelli: At twenty years of age I'm still looking for a dreamA war's already waged for my destinyBut You've already won the battleAnd You've got great plans for meThough I can’t always see(Chorus)‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fenderGot a couple rips in my jeansTry to fit the pieces together But perfection is my enemyOn my own I'm so clumsyBut on Your shoulders I can seeI'm free to be meWhen I was just a girl I thought I had it figured out My life would turn out right, and I'd make it here somehowBut things don't always come that easy And sometimes I would doubt(Chorus)And you’re free to be you Sometimes I believe that I can do anythingYet other times I think I've got nothing good to bringBut You look at my heart and You tell me That I've got all You seek And it’s easy to believeEven though (Chorus)

"I Dare You To Move" by Switchfoot
Welcome to the planetWelcome to existenceEveryone's hereEveryone's hereEverybody's watching you nowEverybody waits for you nowWhat happens next?[Chorus:]I dare you to moveI dare you to moveI dare you to lift yourself up off the floorI dare you to moveI dare you to moveLike today never happenedToday never happened beforeWelcome to the falloutWelcome to resistanceThe tension is hereBetween who you are and who you could beBetween how it is and how it should be[Chorus]Maybe redemption has stories to tellmaybe forgiveness is right where you fellWhere can you run to escape from yourself?Where you gonna go?Where you gonna go?Salvation is here[Chorus]

"What Life Would Be Like" by Big Daddy Weave: I wish I was more of a man Have you ever felt that way And if I had to tell you the truth I'm afraid I'd have to say That after all I've done and failed to do I feel like less than I was meant to be And what if I could fix myself Maybe then I could get free I could try to be somebody else Whose much better off than me But I need to remember this That it's when I'm at my weakest I can clearly see He made the lame walk And the dumb talk He opened blinded eyes to see That the sun rises on His time Yet He knows our deepest desperate need And the world waits While His heart aches To realize the dream I wonder what life would be like If we let Jesus live through you and me What if you could see yourself Through another pair of eyes What if you could hear the truth Instead of old familiar lies And what if you could feel inside The power of the hand that made the universe You'd realize He made the lame walk And the dumb talk He opened blinded eyes to see That the sun rises on His time Yet He knows our deepest desperate need And the world waits While this heart aches To realize the dream I wonder what life would be like If we let Jesus live through you and me All our hearts they burn within us All our lives we've longed for more So let us lay our lives before the one Who gave His life for us He made the lame walk And the dumb talk He opened blinded eyes to see That the sun rises on His time Yet He knows our deepest desperate need And the world waits While this heart aches To realize the dream I wonder what life would be like If we let Jesus live through you and me