God's Not Dead Tour

The bell rings at 11:50 on Friday, my spring break has begun.  Now nothing stands between me and a week of no school, no tests, no quizzes, and no labs.  What my break does include is an immediate trip up to the suburbs of Chicago for a concert featuring Anthem Lights, Abandon, The City Harmonic (one of my new favorite bands), and my childhood favorite Newsboys.  The concert was great, though Hilarie's and my original seats weren't the best, we were able to make our way up from the middle of row U to the inside edge of row E...a significant improvement.  Though I went up to the stage to take pictures, not having to retreat 3/4 of the way back in the auditorium was definitely great. I did not know what to expect for the first two bands, and overall I thought they did okay.  Both The City Harmonic and the Newsboys were amazing.  I had never seen The City Harmonic live before, and I am so glad I got a chance to.  Seeing them alone made the concert worth it.  Never will you catch me missing an opportunity to see the Newsboys perform.  Ever since I was little I can remember listening to one of their albums with my friends or with my dad when we were working on something together.I also got the chance to put my 70-200mm f/2.8 to the test in a concert setting.  Overall I was happy with it, though I can definitely tell the difference between f/2 and f/2.8.  Not that you can find a 70-200mm f/2, it was just a stark contrast in settings between my new lens and the 85mm f/1.4.  Between those two lens I shot most of the pictures you'll see below (with the exception of the wide shots where I used the 14-24mm f/2.8).It'd been a while since I had been to a good concert, and it makes me even more excited for Agapefest later on in the spring.  Nothing like the spring and summer concert season.  I CAN NOT wait.  Enjoy the photos, I got a lot this time!!Alan Powell of Anthem LightsCaleb Grimm of Anthem LightsJosh Engler of AbandonElias Dummer of The City HarmonicSteve Lensink on bass for The City HarmonicA teenager takes a photo on his phone of The City Harmonic's performanceElias Dummer on piano and Aaron Powell on the electric guitar for The City HarmonicElias Dummer stands on his piano during The City Harmonic's performanceEvangelical preacher Bob Lenz speaks before the NewsboysDuncan Phillips shouts into the megaphone during the Newsboys performanceMichael Tait and Jody Davis rock out during the showMichael Tait works his way down the runway during a songDuncan Phillips pauses for applause after a solo during the showMichael TaitJeff Frankenstein rocks out on the keysThe crowd gets into the Newsboys performanceMichael TaitMichael Tait gets poses on the raised hydraulic platformDuncan Phillips begins his spinning drums actDuncan Phillips wails on the drums while spinning in a vertical circle during Jesus FreakAll the members from all the bands and Bob Lenz come out to perform the last worship song for the evening togetherPhotos Copyright: JD Maloney