Christian bands get message across

By NATHAN CHANDLER

Courier Staff Writer

WATERLOO

Steely gray skies and unusually cool June air stifled attendance at My Waterloo Days' first-ever Christian rock concert Friday at Waterloo Municipal Airport.

However, inclement weather did little to dampen the spirits of performers or the crowd -- which numbered about 100 -- who came prepared with winter clothes and blankets to huddle under.

The concert was conceived last year, when organizers realized MWD's Friday night slot had unrealized potential.

LaDene Bowen, chairperson of the 1998 festival, said, "The expense for the venue was already there, because of the Saturday night laser show. We wanted a show with broad audience appeal, and we thought the Christian show would be really popular in the community."

Dreamer's Edge from Cedar Rapids got things off to a raucous start, aided in part by a state-of-the-art sound system rented for the occasion.

The band, part of the ministry at Antioch Christian Church, had a set list composed of original songs complemented by cover tunes from Christian bands such as DC Talk and Jars of Clay.

Band member Jason Pecor said the group focuses on evangelism, but some songs deal more with life-style concerns.

"One song called 'Walk Away' is about how people sometimes turn their back on other people's problems, and as Christians, that's probably not the best thing to do," he said.

While the band's modern sound borrows from the secular world, every song has roots in Scripture, he added.

The four-man group itself sprang to life from prayer, according to K.C. Kelly, formerly the sole musician at Antioch.

"A few years ago, we started praying every week for new musicians to join the church, and pretty soon they started showing up," he said.

In addition to Dreamer's Edge, the church now has enough musicians to fill two more individual music groups.

The show's headliners went by the name of Doxa, a Greek word with several meanings, including praise, glory, honor and integrity.

Now in its 10th year, the band has toured with Masterpeace, Bride, Whitecross, Halo and Kim Boyce, among many others.

Unlike the opening band, Doxa's members are a hodgepodge of denominations. The group has included Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and others.

Yet they are consistent in their ideals when in comes to making music -- their songs always portray life from a Christian perspective.

Shawn Anderson, the band's founder, formed the group when he "felt the need to do something more edifying with my music."

He related that although he was raised in a Christian home, his music, and his life, were not always based on the ideals he grew up with.

In his late teens and early 20s, he played in a secular band on the bar circuit.

Like other people he knew, his life got tangled up in "drinking, drugs and that kind of stuff. But I felt awful -- we were playing every night, every week and it just wasn't what I expected," he said.

Anderson resolved to change his life, and the message of his songs.

"Stylistically, we're influenced a lot by bands we grew up listening to. I like to say we sound like '80s arena rock, and I always really liked bands like Journey and REO Speedwagon. But lyrically it's obviously very different."

Indeed, cable television viewers would have difficulty finding a video for "Dead-N-Gone," which states, "You believe all you've been told/Man is a monkey and has no soul/Nothing sacred, nothing new/MTV is law to you."

Anderson is not the only one in Doxa with a background based on secular music.

Sean McCombs, who has played guitar for Doxa for five years, said he "always wanted to be in a band."

In high school, he played in a bar band until his parents began attending church services regularly.

"I noticed some changes in them. Then I started going to church, and I noticed some changes in my life. Then I decided that the bar thing just wasn't for me, I didn't feel good doing it anymore," he said. "I realized there must be something more to this life than going through and just dying."

McCombs considers the band "part of God's ministry," but said testimony delivered from the stage should not be enough for Doxa's members.

"Part of being a Christian is to reach people and to share the Gospel, but being onstage is actually easier than talking to people one-on-one sometimes. I don't think we should use that as a crutch and not go out and personally talk to people."

Timm Dalman, the group's new bass player, said Doxa music helps him fulfill his purpose in life.

"I got restless with Christian music for a while, but in the end my life without God was kind of an empty existence," he said.

"I realized that I was at my best when I was doing the work of the Lord. I know now that there is more to what I'm doing than just this show tonight. If we can reach just one person, the things we do can have an eternal impact."

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