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LIVE: SWITCHFOOT – February 15, 2019

| 25 February 2019 | Reply

Venue: The Mill & Mine

City: Knoxville, TN

Date: February 15, 2019

Review and Photographs by: Rachel Craig

Switchfoot kicked off the second night of their Native Tongue tour at the Mill & Mine, a beautiful venue to showcase this rock band’s positive message and stunning production. The show began with singer-songwriter and guitarist Tyson Motsenbocker, who told stories in between soft acoustic songs about his time in India and how he started touring with Switchfoot. Direct support came from Colony House, an indie rock band from Franklin, TN. Vocalist Caleb and drummer Will Chapman are the sons of Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman, and obviously inherited his musical talents to captivate the audience with an energetic set. This show was also a homecoming for Colony House’s guitarist Scott Mills, who is from Knoxville. Their music was dynamic, switching between heavy rock ‘n roll, blues, and even some acoustic songs where all the band members lent their voices.

Switchfoot is a band that has continued to put out albums since The Beautiful Letdown released in 2003 and launched them into the spotlight. Despite this being their most popular album, the band is still writing and just released their latest music on Native Tongue. Switchfoot has been riding the line between being a mainstream rock band and a Christian band for years, mainly because of the positive, uplifting messages in their songs and their activism. The band even brought the non-profit organization Food For The Hungry on this tour so fans could sign up to sponsor a child and aim to end poverty. Switchfoot sounded exactly as I expected live, full of rock riffs, frontman Jon Foreman’s recognizable voice, and a handful of acoustic songs to give the crowd a chance to basically turn into a choir. Their show was also spectacular to see with gorgeous lights and a video board that played clips to match every song. The band’s older material received the biggest reactions, including “Meant To Live,” “Oh! Gravity.,” “Twenty-Four” and “The Shadow Proves The Sunshine.” Foreman ventured into the crowd several times by standing on the barricade and crowdsurfing, giving fans an unforgettable night. The band also stopped to recognize each other, especially keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas, who announced his cancer diagnosis in late 2018. After performing “Where I Belong,” the band returned to the stage to perform an acoustic encore (with the help of Colony House and Tyson Motsenbocker), and ended the night with their most recognizable hit, “Dare You To Move.”

This show was different than most concerts I cover, and it was a refreshing experience to hear songs that I had on repeat back in middle school. Switchfoot is far from being forgotten, like other bands that are known for their early 2000’s rock hits. I think this has a lot to do with the impact they want to leave on the world. As Foreman mentioned near the end of the show, “Tonight has a purpose bigger than rock ‘n roll.”

Setlist: Let It Happen – Meant to Live – Voices – Stars – Float – Live It Well – I Won’t Let You Go – Dig New Streams – Oh! Gravity. – Twenty-Four – The Shadow Proves the Sunshine – All I Need – Love Alone Is Worth the Fight – Native Tongue – Where I Belong – Needle and Haystack Life – Prodigal Soul – Dare You to Move

SWITCHFOOT LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

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Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries

About the Author ()

ToddStar - that's me... just a rocking accountant who had dreams of being a rock star. I get to do the next best thing to rocking the globe - I get to take pictures of the lucky ones that do. I love to shoot all genres of music and different types of performers. If it is related to music, I love to photograph it. I get to shoot and hang with not only some of my friends and idols, but some of the coolest people around today.

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