Sonshine 2012!  Truly one of the coolest places I have ever been!  My friend Zack and I headed up Wednesday morning.  Setting up camp and getting ready to hear good music, little did we expect to hear great music from the get go!

 RED and Third Day were up first!  RED was absolutely incredible as they got everyone’s attention with the fireworks and and a flash of lights making everyone jump and scream in excitement!  RED’s hard metal was particularly enjoyed by the crowd.  As soon everyone regained their senses, screams by them were heard everywhere!  This night was interesting because of the contrast between groups.  RED put on a great show, getting us all hyped up for worship with Third Day.

 

 

Third Day reminds us that God is beyond our galaxies!  We all sang together, truly a majestic moment I will never forget.  Third Day was celebrating 20 years of glorious music, and it was great worshiping together and enjoying the presence of God!  I wish I could have taken a picture of the crowd during this experience, but even that could not have done it justice!

 

 

The 2nd day started off with S.O.G. bringing something different to Sonshine as they were the first rappers we had seen there.  We all chanted, “Who is free?  We are free!”  It was a lot of fun, such an awesome group so early in the morning!

 

 

 

As the day went on I was very excited to see Manafest, as he is one of the most unusual artists I have heard.  He mixes rap music with rock with his own voice!  He is quite a performer, as he opens up about his music.  He rapped/sang a song called “Every Time You Run” was a song that he seemed to really connect with.  Manafest, as an individual, was the best performer I saw all week!  He was really awesome!

 

 

 

When I first got the schedule, I was personally the most excited to see the bands on the 2nd night.  Chris August, School of Worship, Group 1 Crew, Family Force 5, and Thousand Foot Krutch (in that order), were performing all that night!  Chris August was a smooth singer as he told stories of his skateboarding accident and how he found Jesus.  He just stood behind a piano and sang his simple melodies with one of the most incredible voices I have ever heard!

 

 

 

School of Worship was very good, but then came on Group 1 Crew!  They were incredible!  They shared testimony after testimony along with throwing out jesters to the parents telling them to join in with everyone dancing!  When Chris August came on to join them, everyone knew which song was coming: “He Said,” which brought on the best testimony of all!  The songs lyrics were so good and smooth, “… I might let you bend, but I won’t let you break,”  reminded us all of God’s grace!

 

 Then… Family Force 5 took the stage.  Easily the biggest party of both days as the lead singer came on stage in a giant bubble and rolled into the crowd!  They sang songs about love and how we can worship through dance, song… and screaming!  They continued to sing song after song that brought serious fun to the crowd.  Then they stopped the party, saying this would be their last song.  The song was called Superhero, singing about God as our Superhero… really awesome song to end with! 

 

Thousand Foot Krutch was next.  When they started the crowd went wild!  They kicked off similar to RED fashion, with fireworks and lights everywhere!  The crowd continued to go wild song after song, until TFK came to a slow part in their set.  Trevor McNevan,  the lead singer of TFK, begins to tell us why he wrote song “Be Somebody,” and how he wrote it with tears on his face of how he tried to be something different then who he was.

Sonshine in a whole, was incredible!  I had to leave early but I wish I could have stayed!  The whole experience was awesome, whether playing ultimate frisbee with some friends we met there, or sleeping in a hammock, or rocking out to great music!  I loved seeing all the groups perform together, and how Jesus could bring us all together to worship him.  Memories I will never forget!

 -CJ