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A Winter Wonder Slam dunk

Rich Copley Herald-Leader Culture Columnist

We've seen a lot of dream tours lately.

Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman went out for a show that hit Rupp Arena earlier this year. Another heavenly lineup was Third Day, Switchfoot and Jars of Clay — who didn't get to Kentucky.

Thanksgiving weekend will close out with another great headlining duo, playing in Louisville, that offers a compelling look at the current state of Christian rock.

Winter Wonder Slam blows into Broadbent Arena with TobyMac and Relient K topping the bill.

With its growing mainstream cred, it seems a little surprising Relient is still taking part in faith-based tours. But as targeted at general-market listeners as its latest album, Forget and Not Slow Down, is, it's also a reaffirmation of the band's faith base. And by teaming with Toby, Matt Thiessen and company help present a microcosm of the best of Christian rock that is both reaching out and playing to the choir.

TobyMac has yet to score a mainstream hit, though that is certainly not due to a lack of quality, as Toby and his Diverse City Band offer a blend of hip-hop and rock that is second to none. And Relient K has moved out into the marketplace by being another crack ensemble that has shown a faith-based band can write songs with mainstream appeal, and secular audiences don't mind.

So here it is, a tour that shows you where Christian rock is going: in several different directions.

Coming next year

One big marquee tour making a return to Rupp Arena for the third straight year is Winter Jam, the Newsong-presented tour on which the venerable band willingly plays second fiddle to current chart-toppers. Headliners for the 2010 edition, which will be at Rupp on March 13, are Third Day, Newsboys, Tenth Avenue North, Fireflight, Sidewalk Prophets, Robert Pierre, and Revive. This will be the area's first chance to hear Newsboys with former dc talk member Michael Tait on lead vocals.

Tickets are $10, and they are available only at the door. Visit www.hearitfirst.com/winterjam for more information.

Review: David Crowder Band at Southland

Yes, it was the Church Music Tour. And yes, the guys in the David Crowder Band showed up in their Sunday best.

And this sold-out concert did in fact take place in a church — Southland Christian, to be precise. But it was also a Friday night, and that was the spirit Southland's visitors from Waco, Texas, embraced the most.

Throughout its career, David Crowder's group has made complete albums, and Church Music is no exception. But DCB doesn't tour albums. It tours its hit-heavy catalog. Like his albums, Crowder arranges those hits into a concert as satisfying as the studio efforts.

New quickly mixed with old on Nov. 6 at Southland as early selections included the Crowder classic and worship staple There Is No One Like You and the disco-drenched selection Church Music — Dance (!). The latter was yet another chance for Crowder to show his love of gadgets, employing the T-Pain app on his iPhone to achieve a vocoder effect several band members demonstrated — bassist Mike Dodson invoking the prototype Autotune song, Cher's Believe. A few tunes later, guitarist Jack Parker had the banjo out for the regular Bluegrass barn burner I Saw the Light and I'll Fly Away.

We've gotten used to seeing that Bluegrass bit at the Ichthus Festival, but one of the coolest things about Friday night was Crowder's close proximity to the audience, allowing for a more intimate atmosphere and the exchange of several gifts, including a McDonald's toy pony and a bottle of Dr Pepper that had indeed been shaken. What Crowder gave back was a whole new way to think about church music.

The concert opened with like-minded artists Seabird and Danyew, who did brief, rousing sets.