Surreal

Growing up as a child of the 80's, I developed a love for 80's hair bands. It was almost my way of being "rebellious" without being over the edge. Sure these bands were "hard rock" or "heavy metal", but really they just played pop songs wrapped up in guitars. Usually they were songs about love, women, cars or just being happy.

One of the bands that I got into in the late 80's was Poison. This was a band who had all the traits of a successful hair band. Great songs, big choruses, and the women loved them. I never got to see them during their "hey day", but since they reformed in '99 with the original lineup I've caught them at least 4x.

I have a good friend that lives in LA who has toured with Poison. He called me a year ago to tell me that CC Deville had just gotten saved. Then June 23rd of this year, he called to tell me that CC showed up at church on 6.22 and rededicated his life. The tour would be hitting Nashville on July 8th, so my friend called CC and put us on the list. I told him I'd love to encourage CC and bring him some books and music to help him in his walk.


Fast forward to last night, July 8th. Bonnie and I made our way down to the Sommet Center. After checking in at will call, we found out that Poison hadn't turned in their guest list yet. At 6:45, I received a call from CC on my cell wanting to know where we were. He sent up his personal assistant to get us and took us back to his dressing room.

This lead to a hour and half converstation about what God is doing in his life. To say this was surreal is an understatement. First off, I'm sitting in the dressing room of one of my favorite band members, then to top it off, he's talking about his salvation experience, and how he's getting chill bumps talking about what God is doing in his life. Then he's asking Bonnie and I questions on how he should handle things. After about an hour, my pastor Pete Wilson and Brian Alexander came down to spend some time with us and CC. CC asked us to watch the show and see if there was anytime we felt that he wasn't honoring God. Wow.

The show was pretty awesome. Filled with all the hits, fist pumping and pyro.


After the show, we went back and spent another 20 min with CC in his dressing room. We were able to share our thoughts on the show, and spend a few more minutes encouraging him. At the end, we all gathered around and prayed for our new brother in Christ. I told CC that Bonnie and I may try to go see them again in Atlanta in a few weeks, to which he asked me to make sure and hold him accountable when I see him.

All this to say, CC has had a wild ride with his life. He's sold over 25 million records, played to millions of people, and now he's made a new turn in his life for Christ. He's going to have a tough road ahead with the temptations that the road and the lifestyle that he leads brings. Please keep him in prayer as you read this, or hear a Poison song on your local Jack FM or classic rock station.

Below is a video I shot at the show, not the best quality but you can sense the excitement.

The Story Continues..

So sorry it took a few days to continue the story. On Friday, Bonnie I had the chance to go to another taping of PBS's "Songs and Lyrics" show. The taping on Friday afternoon was a special one for Bonnie, as it was her first time to see and hear Mindy Smith in a live setting. It was really fun for me to watch Bonnie be giddy about something like this. Mindy ended up singing one of her favorite songs called "Raggedy Ann" which made Bon really happy. After the performance, Mindy stayed around the stage to meet and take photos with people. Bonnie was a little nervous about meeting her, but after some prodding she gave in. She ended up getting 20-30 seconds with her, a great photo and a memory that will last a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzu3Ihyq50c

Very Fun Night!

Last night was one of those nights that I will remember for a long time.

During our small group get together at the park on Tuesday, Lee Steffen mentioned that there was a taping for PBS Storytellers type show going on this week, and that he had an email to get us on the VIP list. Come to find out, Thursday night (last night) was Richard Marx/ Kenny Loggins and 3 Doors Down. Happens that I've always been a fan of Richard and Kenny so I knew it was going to be an amazing night. Bonnie and I went down with our friends Greg, Robin and Brittany. On the way down to the taping, I got a call at 430 that Metallica was going to be doing a private show at the Basement Club here in town. The club only holds a couple of hundred, so it was going to be amazing to see a band of this magnitude at such a small place. I knew that we already had tickets to the taping, so we proceeded to that thinking how cool the Metallica show would've been.
We ended up getting front row (plenty of camera time, I'll be the chunky one next to my beautiful wife)for the taping. The show was great, each of the 3 did 5 songs a piece. I won't spoil the songs so you can be surprised when you catch it on tv soon.
After the show all the artists hung out, so Bonnie encouraged me to go down and get a photo with Richard Marx.

We then left for home. On the way back, Bonnie had to stop by her old apartment. The route we took had us going by the Basement club. As we drove by, all the busses were still there, so we turned in and parked. There were some people waiting around outside so we thought, why not. Turns out, we got to meet Robert (bass player) and then James (lead singer/guitar) for Metallica.
What really surprised me was how nice they were. I guess you always think these "heavy metal rock stars" are going to be angry etc., this was not the case. In fact, Bonnie made a comment that her camera battery was dying almost under her breath, and James looks around and says "who's camera battery is dying"?
Last night once again showed me how amazing a wife I have. It was getting late as we were driving by the Basement, and she could've easily said she was tired and had to get up early. She didn't, her immediate reaction was to turn in and wait as long as it took, smiling and being amazing the whole time. She showed me love and unselfishness in that instance last night.
Today we got to the TV taping again. Just so happens today Bonnie's favorite artist Mindy Smith is singing. It's fun to see her excited and almost nervous about it. Hopefully I'll have a new story and photo to share tomorrow!