I’ve been looking forward to the Third Day / David Crowder Band concert for months. I’ve wanted to see Third Day for the past 10 years. I had a ticket once before - in 1999 - when they were about 30 miles from Little Rock. My wife was pregnant with our daughter and not feeling well at the time, and so I chose to not go. I’d not really had another good opportunity to see them until now.

The fact that David Crowder Band, who is one of my very favorites now, was playing with them just made this a must-see event. I was not going to miss it if it was at all possible.

So, last Thursday night I wandered over to Alltel Arena to check it out. The evening kicked off with Hyper Static Union. I’d not heard them, other than listening to a few clips last week before the concert. They came out and sang 4 songs, and were good. I’m not running out to buy their music, but I enjoyed them live. A humorous moment came when the lead singer asked the audience about “calling the Hogs.” This, unfortunately, set the crowd into a full on “Hog call.” I’m an Arkansas sports fan, but I’ve never “called the Hogs.” I simply refuse to do it. Nevertheless, these guys didn’t know what they were in for.

Next up was probably the #1 reason I came - David Crowder Band. They were just outstanding. My major beef with their set was that it was too short. I would liked to have heard more from them. I hope to see them again when they’re the main act, but the 8 songs they sang were excellent and they were an entertaining group. Crowder himself was also pretty humorous. They opened with a progressively louder instrumental piece that eventually moved into “Here Is Our King.” They sang primarily from A Colllision, with songs like “Wholly Yours”, “You Are My Joy”, and what was probably the best song of the entire show, “I Saw The Light.” They ended with “O Praise Him” and “Sing Like The Saved”, which really rocked.

Another thing I liked about their set was that, while it was a fun time, they also had the words projected in order to allow everyone to sing along. They intended not to just be a concert, but worship. It was great, and I think everyone was hoping they would come back out for an encore. But it was not to be.

After a brief intermission, the lights went down and Mac Powell, Brad Avery and Mark Lee came on stage with an acoustic “Blessed Assurance”. After a couple of verses, the curtain behind them dropped and the rest of the band kicked in and finished the song with them. From there, they moved into “You Are So Good To Me”, then really kicked it up a notch with “I Got A Feeling.” That got the crowd going and they sang a few more from recent albums.

Next up, Mac explained that their next song was one of their most requested. It was #1 on my list last week - “Thief” - and I was thrilled that they sang it. It was the highlight of their set for me. Next was a 3-song acoustic set, which ended with another of my favorites from their first album, “Love Song.”

After the acoustic set, they took off again with “Took My Place” and “Come on back to me.” An extended period of Mac speaking to the crowd preceded “Cry Out To Jesus”, in which he explained a little about how the new album came to be and talked about that song in particular. They closed out with “God of Wonders” and “Creed.”

The obligatory encore was next, and they cranked it up again with “Tunnel” from the new disc and then “Come Together.” Finally, they closed the night with “Agnus Dei.”

It was an oustanding show. I enjoyed it as much as any concert I’ve been to in the last 15 years, probably (including Alice Cooper at Huntsville’s Big Spring Jam in 2003.) I mentioned last week that Third Day’s recent records seemed to have sounded too much alike, but it was great to finally see them live. They put on a great show.

As with any show, you’re always hoping for a few songs that don’t make an appearance. DCB sang only 8 songs, so they couldn’t have sung all of my top 10 from last week. In the end, they sang 6 of them. I’d liked to have heard the other four, but time didn’t allow.

I suspect Third Day’s set list varies a little more considering a larger catalog. I’m sure songs drop off and others make the list on certain nights. They ended up only singing 3 of my 10, but it still was not really disappointing because they put on a great show and the songs they sang were great as well. And, while among my favorites, there are several songs on my list that I didn’t expect to make the cut anyway. However, “King of Glory” would’ve been a nice addition, and I was a little surprised “Your Love, Oh Lord” didn’t make the set list.

The only real disappointment was that I was hoping to see DCB return to the stage and sing a song or two with Third Day at some point, but that didn’t happen. I think that could’ve been the highlight of the night.

Overall, I was quite pleased and very glad that I was able to make it to this show. It was excellent, and if you have the chance to see it before the tour ends, be sure and do. It’s more than worth it.