the moon is a magnet

"Lately music has been my compass: it's neither the map, nor the road but a steady constant that can help me make sense of the both. Most of the time, the songs that I write are more honest than I am."
~Jon Foreman

On Tuesday, I went with my bro and his friends (I was the elder of the group...haha) to catch Jon Foreman's show at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco. I hesitated at first about going because the show didn't begin until 9:30, so I knew I'd get home around 2 am. But then my brother hit me where it hurts with a comment about me being old and losing my college vitality...so obviously then I knew I had to go to prove him wrong!

Jon Foreman is the lead singer of Switchfoot, one of my favorite bands, and during the last year he has released 4 solo EPs for each season - Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. Like Switchfoot songs, his solo stuff is insightful and introspective but the musical sound is way different---on some tracks he definitely has a Sufjan Stevens vibe going. For his live show, he was accompanied by a cello and drums and it was a wonderful, stripped down sound.

Some of his songs sounded even better in person and he threw in a few Switchfoot songs as well ('Only Hope' and 'Dare you to Move'). He is such a gifted songwriter and it's hard not to be convicted by his lyrics. However, his songs never sound preachy because you can tell he wrote them for himself as an outlet to articulate his mixed feelings towards American Christianity and the church and the pain and hurt in life.

Again, another concert I'm so glad I didn't miss....live shows re-energize me in a way not many things can!

Waiting for Jon to play

My brother's beard is frightening