Pages Tour: Bebo Norman in Concert

Recently, we had acquired some free tickets to see Bebo Norman in concert. He was part of the Pages Tour with Shane and Shane and Shawn McDonald.

So, on Wednesday night, Billy and took advantage of some babysitting from my mom and trekked out to the West Side of Evansville for the show. (On the way, we stopped for the complete luxury of ice cream, which I believe we should eat only slightly more often than we drink alcohol.)

Upon arriving, the crowd was sparser than I had anticipated. We arrived about 1/2 an hour before the concert started, but by the time Bebo Norman got on stage, the audience had multiplied.

Those people who came late really missed out. Not only did we get a spot really close to the stage, but Shawn McDonald had been replaced in the tour by a personal favorite of mine Monk and Neagle. I was super geeked to hear them announced and even more floored to hear them play. Their first CD is great. I got as a $3 add-on to a CD-club purchase about 3 years ago. I had never heard of them, but the 30 second clip sounded good. When I got the CD, I was amazed. So, to see them play live was a nice time.

Bebo took the stage next. As expected, he was awesome. He had a larger band than the last time I saw him, which was in a school gym about 4 years ago. Back then, he traveled with a guy named Gabe who plays every instrument known to man. These days, he's added on another guitarist and a drummer.

Bebo's set was great because he's beyond talented as a lyricist and musician, but I often felt like the electric guitar was overpowering his voice, I felt like this also hindered the worship at the end of his set. When I go to my church, I like that I can hear people around me. At this concert, I could only hear the performer. That is fine for a show. But when it's a time for corporate worship, I like hearing random Dan (or Clever Dan)next to me just as much as I hear the worship leader.

Still, Bebo himself is a very down-to-earth person, and watching his set...hearing him play and listening to him talk...feels like you're right around the campfire with him.

I think one of the nicest parts of the evening was sharing it with Billy. Billy's way more into music than I am. He always knows of more cool bands, so I liked that I've been able to introduce him to a couple of my favorite artists and that we got to experience them live together.