The Summer of Rock!
By Andy Argyrakis, senior music editor, GospelMusicChannel.com
Now that the long Memorial Day weekend is over, the nights are getting longer and the smell of barbeque is in the air, summer’s officially in full swing. But the true barometer of the season is unquestionably the festival circuit, which is once again overflowing with a series of red-hot rock acts from the past and present. While certain soirées are regular Christian music fixtures (such as Creation, Cornerstone, Kingdom Bound, Ichthus, Alive and Atlanta Fest), a recent poll of artists indicated several under-the-radar festivals gaining newfound momentum. So with that, here’s a sampling of where to catch ample amounts of rock in an outdoor environment anchored in the gospel.
Purple Door’s a powerhouse
For the past 14 years, Lewisberry, Penn.’s Purple Door festival has steadily ascended from a small regional celebration to a national destination. This year, fans from across the country can descend upon the Ski Roundtop from August 14–15, taking in sets from a slew of crossover favorites and core Christian market rock n’ rollers. Anberlin, Family Force 5 and mewithoutyou lead, alongside a stellar supporting cast including Disciple, Project 86, Fireflight, Seabird and Spoken.
“Purple Door is purposely designed and booked to reach today’s generation featuring many styles of music – hardcore, punk, rock, rap, hip-hop, emo, acoustic and on and on – as well as many [crossover] acts,” says festival producer Chris Strayer, indicating the secret of the event’s success. “You tie this together with seminars and speaking and you have something for everyone. Oh yeah, we dropped our ticket prices. We realize that times are hard so we wanted to do our part. The price of our tickets, including the gate price, is the cheapest since 2004!”
Fans are sure to get even more bang for their buck considering several artists will also be speaking, including Project 86 frontman-turned-author Andrew Schwab. In addition to debuting tunes from the band’s forthcoming Picket Fence Cartel, he promises to create a uniquely intimate experience for the fans.
“It’s always cool to have that type of interaction with people alongside the stage performance of the band,” he muses. “You can connect with people and say things in a completely different way than just yelling at them!”
Disciple’s leader Kevin Young is also ready for double duty at Purple Door, which he explains won’t be much different than the regular dialogue already a part of the band’s concert performances. “I do a lot of speaking anyway so it shouldn’t be hard to balance,” he suggests. “As far as what I will speak about, I might give my testimony [but] I’m not sure yet. You’ll have to be there to find out.”
