Third Day Weblog

10/19 - I know, I know...

You have a weak internet connection at the venue one day, a busy day the next, and the next thing you know you're like a week behind on the blog updates.

I fully intend to rectify the situation as soon as I can.

In the meantime, here's a little rundown of our last several shows:

Knoxville - Ate steak dinner with record company. Got a cool guitar cake from local bakery. Rocked.

Raleigh - Went to the movies. Mac played like three shows. Ate fried oreos and other great fair food. Rocked.

Louisville - Big awesome crowd. ONE Campaign "Stand Up" event. Rocked.

Charlottesville - Really cool historical town. It was C-COLD. Rocked.

There you go. I'll fill in some more details as I get the chance!

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10/11 - Check out Nigel's Tour Pastor Blog

Our good friend Nigel James is out with us again on this tour, and he's been updating his tour blog. Be sure to check it out. Nigel does a great job of sharing more of the heart of the band. He also posts notes from the studies we do together on the road. It's a great way for you to be in tune with what's going on with us from a spiritual standpoint. Also many people ask for specific things to be praying for. This blog makes for a great low key way to do just that.

Check it out!

10/10 - Oh, Atlanta

I think it's been pretty well documented here and other places how difficult it is for us to play in Atlanta. We have so many of our friends and our families at the show - not to mention our literal history as a band here - that we want it to be the best show of the tour. But because of the demands of having so many friends and families at the show, it's really hard to stay focused and be prepared. Throw in the fact that we often have a big video crew out to film our Atlanta shows, and you have one stressful situation on your hands.

But not this time. This was easily the best Atlanta show we've had, and one of the best shows we've ever had, period.

I don't know if it was that we went into it with the right attitude, or if we were just more prepared from being at the beginning of a tour, but it was awesome. Thanks to all of our friends, families and fans who came out and showed their support! Thanks also to local radio for all your help in getting the word out.

And it wasn't even just a tour show. It was the Third Day Family Picnic. We joined forces with Jars of Clay, Thousand Foot Krutch, and the Creation Tour to put on a rock and roll extravaganza for you. And despite the logistical challenges of pulling off such a big show, it was great.

A couple highlights for you:

The Devil Went Down to Georgia: that song has been getting better and better every night. It's so fun to play. And Bethany Olds RULES on the fiddle. End of story.

Agnus Dei: We brought out a children's choir from Africa to sing on that song. Really powerful moment.

Carry My Cross: we've been doing a shortened version of that song as a segue into Thief. It was incredible tonight.

Thanks again, Atlanta! Good times...

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10/8 - Tallahassee, FL

Welcome to the Revelation Tour, Fall 2009 Edition!

We've been working really hard the last couple weeks to get together a really cool show. After playing it in front of the good folks of Tallahassee, Florida, we can go ahead and land the helicopter on the aircraft carrier. Hang the banner. Make the speech. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

All kidding aside, it was a GREAT night tonight. Having the Glory Revealed folks open up is a breath of fresh air. They are all ridiculously talented. We look forward to introducing them to you a bit more over the course of the tour. We had Bethany Olds sit in on vocals and fiddle, including a ripping rendition of Devil Went Down to Georgia. I kid you not... We also had Trevor Morgan sit in on God of Wonders, and the whole gang helped us out on Devil Went Down to Georgia. Good times.

As for our part, it felt really amazing. Opening the show with Otherside was cool, and we revamped a few old songs like Consuming Fire, God of Wonders and Agnus Dei, upping the energy of the whole night.

It was a killer way to start off the tour! If you have the chance to see this thing when it rolls into your area, come on out and see us!

I look forward to keeping you updated as the tour unfolds. One new feature I've been experimenting with is the photo feed. Eventually I'll get that Flickr thing to the right happening, but for now, you can see the pictures throughout the day LIVE as I take them at http://marklee.posterous.com/ At the end of the day I'll post it here as well. For example, look below and see what's been going on today. The setlist is posted there as well.

Peace!

-Mark Lee

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10/8 - Tallahassee photo feed

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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9/19 - Georgia Music Hall of Fame

On Saturday night, we were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. It was easily one of the biggest highlights of our career. It ranks up there with Artist of the Year at the Doves or winning a Grammy. Wherever we travel we tell people how proud we are to be from Georgia. It's a good feeling to know that Georgia is proud of us, too!

 The Georgia Music Hall of Fame people hosted a dinner at the Georgia World Congress Center, and the awards show was broadcast live on local television. We performed and received our award alongside other awesome musicians like Collective Soul, Berry Oakley from The Allman Brothers, and Chuck Leavell from the Rolling Stones. We had a great evening with friends and family from Atlanta, some of our longtime music associates from Nashville, and even some of our fans from around the country.

 Thanks so much to everyone who made it such a special evening!

 (I'm going to post some pictures up here when I get the chance...)

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9/5 - San Angelo photo feed

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9/5 - San Angelo, TX

As I type this it is 1:23 AM. We just walked off stage. Seriously. This has been one long day for us. I'm sure it was also a long one for the fans who braved it to the bitter end. We just finished playing a festival outside San Angelo, Texas.

 Yes, we have a song called San Angelo. Yes, we played it tonight. It was actually the first time we've ever played it live. And I owe each and every one of you an apology. This was a moment to be filmed. To be captured for posterity. But, alas, I left my video camera on the bus. In this YouTube era, maybe somebody got it on film. Email it to me. Facebook it to me. Something.

 Despite the challenges of the long day, it ended up being a pretty great show tonight. We opened the show with San Angelo and went from there. We did a pretty similar set to what we've been doing this summer, although we added You Are So Good to Me by request. It was cool getting to play together again after a 3 week Glory Revealed hiatus. And the crowd was AWESOME.

 So thanks so much for having us. Thanks for sticking it out!

 I've been doing a little photo feed today. It didn't work exactly like I had hoped, but I'm going to upload the pics to the blog in just a minute here.

 We've got some interesting travel plans ahead of us: driving to the hotel, then driving to Dallas. Flying to Kentucky for a big rock show there tomorrow. I'll check back in here sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, remember - we're all on Twitter. Follow us there!

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8/09 - San Antonio, TX

Tonight's show was a special one. We were invited by Pastor Matt Hagee to do a show for the Sunday night service at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio.

 It's hard to go into a situation like that without envisioning how it's going to go. Sunday night service? People will be sitting down the whole time. A segment of the crowd will be bent out of shape because a rock band is playing. Not a good scene.

 Well, we were WRONG. It was an an unbelievable show. The crowd at the church were ready for worship, and they tracked with us the whole night. Our set was a little different than recent shows, because it was a church service. But it was really great. And there was some great ministry time with Pastor Matt as well. We did an encore, and I think we could have done another had we wanted. It was that kind of night.

 We had a great time hanging out with Pastor Matt and his family. Our dear friend Max Lucado was there as well. And our tour manager Lott lives in the area, so he brought several friends out. It really felt like a family gathering in a lot of ways.

 Thanks to everyone in San Antonio and Cornerstone Church. It was a night we won't soon forget!

 Tunnel
I Got a Feelin
Slow Down
Call My Name
King of Glory
Thief
Revelation
You Are So Good to Me
I Believe
Otherside
Cry Out to Jesus
God of Wonders
Creed

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8/09 - Heavenfest, Brighton, CO

First off, let me tell you. They've got a really cool thing going on with Heavenfest. 80 artists in one day. We were there. Heavier bands like Kutless, Disciple and Skillet rocked the crowd hard. There was a worship stage with amazing artists like Phil Wickham, Matt Maher and Glen Packiam. It was also obvious that a lot of prayer went into the event.

 We had a good day today, if a long one. Flew in from ATL, hung at the hotel a bit, then had some great burgers at Old School Burgers outside of Denver. Went to the site, signed a bunch of autographs, then got ready to take the stage.

 Things took a turn for the weird at this point. A huge storm system was blowing in, so we were trying to hurry to get the show in. And for some reason we had a bunch of technical issues. Guitars and pedalboards not working, strange buzzes, keyboards not sounding right. A bunch of things conspired to make our onstage lives a little uncomfortable!

 But the crowd came through in a major way! It was obvious that people at this festival were ready to rock and ready to worship. So it ended up being a really fun show, despite any technical difficulties.

 After the show we had a nice meal with some of the folks who brought us to Cherry Hills school back in May. Great times talking about old school CCM artists.

 As I type this, we're flying to San Antonio for another show. I have a feeling it's going to be another great one tonight!

 Setlist, as best as I can remember it:

 I Got a Feelin
Rockstar
Slow Down
Thief
God of Wonders
Revelation
Otherside
Creed

 NOTE: things got a little shoetened due to weather and curfew issues. We'll cone back and do a full on rock assault real soon!

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