"And in all my life, I don't know if I've ever felt so alive."
--Switchfoot


Okay, so I may have lied on Wednesday when I said that we had perfect weather. Because today was perfect. B-E-A-Utiful. But enough about the weather - we have more important things to take care of.

As I first arrived to the festival today around 1:00, I wanted to change up my normal routine, which normally consisted of the following: falling down the gravel hill right inside the main ticket tent, picking myself up and pretending no one saw, making my way to the hill, setting up my blanket, sitting for a minute, eating an oreo, getting restless, then going to see
what's happening in all surrounding stages and tents.

So today I brought my guitar and headed over to the Family Fun Tent right away to audition for the first ever Alive's Got Talent. I signed up to audition, but they had so many contestants today that I will have to wait until tomorrow. I saw some of the acts auditioning. Man, Alive really does 'got' talent. I'm really excited to see the winners tomorrow night.

So then I went to the hill, set up my blanket, and ate an oreo. But there was no time to get restless--Vicky Beeching was playing at the Woods Stage at 2:00. Oh my goodness. She was incredible. Not only is she an extremely talented musician, she has the most amazing heart. She shared a lot of cool stories with us. She definitely stands apart from a lot of other artists, just simply based on that. I left that show really feeling like I was friends with her. She really connects to the audience. And that British accent, man. It's 'brilliant!'

After Vicky (can I call her Vicky? Of course I can. We're tight now, remember?), I headed over to the "Heart of the Artist" seminar with Switchfoot. How cool was it of them to let all those Alivers ask them questions for an hour? Those guys are great.

I also caught some of David Nasser's seminar at the Woods Stage. He told a hilarious (well, maybe 'hilarious' isn't the right word, but the way he told it was hilarious) story about getting his car stolen in Memphis one night after having dinner with Chris Tomlin. He used it to talk about the Jesus's call to love our enemies and turn the other cheek. It was a great talk, and afterward the crowd got into small groups to pray. It was really cool.

After David Nasser, I was ready to go back to my usual "beach spot" and take a little rest. That lake really is beautiful, isn't it? I could hear the distant sounds of Hawk Nelson and their army of crazy fans. It sounded like a rockin' time.

At 5:00 was Starfield, and they were incredible. I LOVE watching an entire field enter into worship. It was really powerful. In my opinion, Starfield is one of the most underrated bands of our generation. They have an amazing gift of writing worship songs that isn't seen in a lot of young bands out there.

After Starfield, David Nasser was back up. He's so fun to listen to.

Then, Leeland blew everyone away, I think I can safely say. (That totally rhymed.) Beautiful, beautiful music. Even more beautiful words. I love them.

After Leeland, the crowd was getting electric. Because next up, my friends, was the amazing, the wonderful, the bird, the plane--no, the superman--TOBYMAC HIMSELF, ladies and gentleman. I could not tear my eyes from the stage. I was extremely entertained, and. I could not stop smiling. And as if he was reading my mind, he ended with "Jesus Freak." I fainted. (Just kidding, but I could have.)

After Tobymac I got an apple dumpling, because that booth has been calling me all week. Dee-lish.

Now, I am at a loss for words. "Oh gravity, why can't we seem to keep it together?" Switchfoot was amazing. I feel like amazing isn't a good enough word. Stupendous. Fantastic. Actually, none of these words are doing it for me. I'll combine them to make a better, more Switchfoot-worthy word: amastutastic. (How about that?) They played both songs old and new, and Jon Foreman seemed to go everywhere...to the crowd with rope lights, on the roof of the barn/stage, and the front, back, left, and right of the stage (complete with wild screams from the audience every time he moved). They put on such a good show. And that was Switchfoot, boys and girls. Amastutastic.

Also, Switchfoot played "Only Hope." That made my week.

And to end for the evening, I must now pay homage to our T-shirt of the day, everyone. This one was hard. I saw a lot of honorable mentions today. It seemed like every other minute, I was going, "Oh man! Check that one out!" It was hard, but we have a winner:

"I hope you like animals, because I am a beast." I'm not sure what that means, but it has style.


Tomorrow is the final day of Alive'07. I seriously don't know how that is possible. Does this really have to end?