A five-dollar Christian concert doesn’t elicit high expectations, but I was nevertheless semi-excited to see bands that probably would not sound very good in person. The Rocks and Reeds Tour featuring Ever Stays Red and Rottingdam November was either going to be a great value for Friday night entertainment or a mistake of Christian-moshing proportions. Fortunately, it was the latter.

Both bands are played fairly regularly on Effect Radio, one of my favorite radio stations. I like Ever Stays Red enough not to change the station when they’re on, but not quite enough to actually own one of their CDs. Rottingdam November meant nothing to me except that they are from the Boise area, meaning I feel obligated to support them since they are operating under a very low glass ceiling.

The number one rule of Christian concert-attending is to not go hungry. I had made that mistake before a Carman concert once, and four hours later, my stomach had started looking at my colon rather insidiously. Friday night’s menu called for Carl’s Jr., which is exactly what it would do every Friday night if I were single.

However, things were not as good as usual. My typical order is the Famous Star value meal (minus cheese), but this time, I had a coupon, frugally affected my decision-making. By purchasing a large coke, I was entitled to a free Western bacon cheeseburger. I did not know that I would be paying for it later in ways my intestines only knew how.

The amalgamation of patty, bacon, onion ring, cheese and barbecue sauce was difficult to look at, so I ate the whole thing mostly without looking in its direction.

With full stomachs (and sick stomachs), we drove out to the concert. The venue was a new church in West Boise called Pursuit, and it turned out to be a large office building with carpeted floors. There were no pews and only a handful of chairs, which practically begged the 12-18 age demographic to start moshing into each other.

After a boring opening act by the church’s worship team, the concert got underway.
Rottingdam November played an entertaining set made possible by their proliferation of guitarists. We counted five, but there could have been a sixth hiding behind an amp. It was awesome in its unnecessity. At various times, the lead singer, the lead guitarist, the bass guitarist, the piano player, and some guy who was way too happy to be there were all strumming along to the beat of emo-rock. Some songs featured all five, which is either a show of cutting edge musicianship or an acute inability to say no.

Apart from their guitar troupe, the music wasn’t half bad. Hard rock songs led into a slower ballad, and they pulled each type off rather well.

Of course, what would a Christian concert be without poorly staged audience involvement. Rottingdam’s happened when the piano player/guitarist #3 ran out in the crowd to play some chords with the fans. Sadly, no one noticed him, probably because they were too busy focusing on the other four guitars. During another song, guitarist #2 went all falsetto on us, resulting in giggling from my friends. I guess you had to be there.

Ever Stays Red played next, and they were very professional in their set. You could obviously tell the difference between Rottingdam (just happy to be there) and Ever Stays Red (music professionals who want nothing more than to never work a nine-to-five job) from everything to stage presence to visuals and music.

By this point in the concert, we had moved dangerously close to an amp the size of my brother, meaning that hearing loss was a very real possibility. Every Stays Red is not a particularly hard band (we later classified them in the car as indie rock, alternative, folk), but they were loud nonetheless.

Wanting to get my five bucks’ worth, I had done research on the band beforehand so that I would know what songs they sing, and I am happy to say that it paid off. I recognized every song they did, which always makes the concert experience better. The lead singer was a genuine guy, although his Nazarene-like oratory over sappy piano music was a tad on the long side. The guy playing lead guitar was awesome. He was tall and lanky, and he jumped around the stage like a gangly, hyper child. If he had been in Rotterdam, he probably would have knocked down or seriously injured two or three guitarists.

After ESR had played their last song and after one of the Rotterdam guys in the audience had started the encore chant that made them play one more, we headed for the exits. Our ears hurt and our clothes smelled like tween B.O., but we were glad we went. The music was good, the people were entertaining, and the whole thing only cost five bucks. Not including a night’s worth of acid reflux.