I felt about useless for helping out with the set-up, but I did manage to get my hands on the shade-pavilion set-up for the sound guy. Everything else seemed to be well-covered.
The first band was By Grace, a young three-man band out of Clinton. They play a nice retro-style melodic rock. Keep up the good work. They sound like a band to watch for. Next was another one I hadn't heard before -Edified. They were another three-mand band. These guys opened with an equipment malfunction on the lead guitar. The drummer and bass player covered quite nicely with some great jamming while another amp was found for the lead guitar. I didn't hear anything weak in these guys, except that they didn't have a CD for me to take home. When I thought, "weaknesses", I considered vocals, lead and bass guitar, drums and the message. Edified plays hard rock with lots of bottom and great polish. Another thing I liked about Edified is that they didn't neglect spoken witnessing for those who might not have been able to make out the message in the songs.
As I sat watching and talking to people between bands, I spied a young lady who looked familiar, then I spotted her kids, and posed the question: "Are you guys, by chance, from Kingsville?" She gave me a puzzled look for a bit, then I said, "Bookmobile." A smile of recognition came across her face. It turns out her family has had connections with Hot Dogs for Jesus concerts for some time, or at least connections with a band or two. Grandma, who usually brought the kids to the bookmobile, often had stories of injuries the little boy sustained. At least he didn't fall into a campfire this time, but he did manage to tumble down part of the concrete bleachers of the amphitheater. Luckily, his forehead broke his fall. OK, probably too much detail here.
Inner Flame was up next. They've got a new drummer, but still have their exquisite Texas blues-rock sound I've grown to love. I thought the bass was a bit more pulsing this time, too. I keep hearing about a DVD they've made, but haven't gotten to see it yet.
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