And We're Off... by Brandon Schmidt Day 1 has arrived, and though it was a little wet, you could feel the energy that always fills Clay's Park.  I decided to take shelter in the vending tent (where our new Alive Store opened!) and the Woods Stage.  Both were pretty packed, and I thought everyone must have done the same...until I headed to the other side of the park and saw the true Beach-Stagers sticking it out amidst the wetness.  Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the quality and excitement of Alive performances seems to rise year after year.  The rains soon stopped, and we got a taste of sunshine for the rest of the day.  The night featured six of some of the best artists in Christian music today with Grits first showing everyone how to get down. Bethany Dillon showing us what good acoustic rock should be.  Matt Redman used his incredible gift of leading worship.  Rebecca St. James shared a message with us and then performed.  Kutless went a little crazy to their ever-growing army of fans, and MercyMe closed the night by showing Alive a lot of their new material.  I then headed to the Acoustic Cafe, where Matt Redman led us through a time of worship that turned out to be my favorite part of the day.  There was something about hundreds quietly worshipping God while the thundering outside reminded us of His greatness...a greatness that will surely shine throughout this week.
	our new alive store!	our new alive store part 2	our new alive store part 3
	inhabited	inhabited	mainstay
	pocket full of rocks	brandon from palisade and his friend, sarah	palisade
	palisade	dance!	bethany dillon
	grits	grits	still dancing
	haha	kutless	kutless
	kutless	kutless	kutless
	mercyme	mercyme	mercyme
	mercyme	mercyme	mercyme
	no mud!	hanging out at the food for the hungry tent	matt redman
	matt redman