Columbus Concert Weekend

Waaay back in May, Jake and I traveled to Columbus, OH to see each of our favorite bands play a show together: House of Heroes and Five Iron Frenzy. I hadn't seen HOH in years, and this was my first time seeing FIF. Both were so fun! The crowd was a little older because of the bands, which was enjoyable as well. It was neat to see entire families with little kids in noise-canceling headphones enjoying the concert along with mom and dad.

We decided to make a weekend out of the concert and hit some of our favorite places in Columbus the next day. Breakfast at North Market (best waffles EVER), lunch at North Star, ice cream at Jeni's, and dinner at Basil. We did some shopping as well; our favorite by far was Tiger Tree. Can't wait to go back soon!

Bits and Pieces

 

Browsing with Dad at an auction/ Winning bid on a birdcage/ Cool vintage chairs/ Kels with her '50s Drive-In mural/ Reds game for Kelly's birthday/ Orchid from husband/ Jake's view from his Denver Five Iron Frenzy show/ Jake and Reese Roper

The Rise, Fall, and Return From Death of Five Iron Frenzy

Hello friends.  Mr. Jake here.

Everyone has THAT band.  That band who, no matter how much you have changed, will always be your favorite band.  You might not have listened to any of their albums in months (or maybe even years), but if you heard one of their songs playing you could sing every single word.  If someone even utters part of their name, you would freak out and start talking about them for hours on end.  They are that band who affected you so deeply they are more than simply a band to you.  They are more like a mentor - navigating you through the trials and pitfalls of life, giving you the exact advice and words of wisdom you need for the phase of life you are dealing with.  THAT band.

Five Iron Frenzy is that band to me.  They were the first outspokenly Christian band I really got in to.  I had never heard anyone sing about Jesus so passionately, or even talk about Jesus so passionately before.  It made me yearn for something like that.  I remember laying on the floor of my room while in high school, and listening to the song "Every New Day" by them.  After it was over and the last note rang out and slowly faded away, I continued to lay there and think about what it means to truly worship and love God.  That deep, spiritual, and life-changing moment quickly went away when "The Godzilla Song" started blaring through my speakers.

That's another thing I love about this band.  They can be so deep and passionate, but they can also be insane, off the wall, and goofy.  They don't take themselves so seriously they seem unattainable, or that their level of faith and devotion can't be reached by us "normal" people.  Plus, if you know me at all you know I have a slight crazy side, so I loved it when they would just be completely ridiculous.  Their live album is a great example of how nuts it can get.

I can sit here and talk about how much they mean to me all day, but I always regret never seeing them live.  They broke up during my senior year of high school, and I was pretty upset about it for a while.  I mourned the loss of FIF for quite some time.  Eight years later, they've returned from the dead, and now I'm going with one of my best friends who I went to high school with (and just as avid of a Five Iron Frenzy fan as me) to Colorado to see their reunion show.  I wouldn't want my first time seeing them to be any other way.  I just hope I get a chance at some point in my life to tell them what kind of impact they had on me.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for them next.  They are going to do some great things.

Now, I leave you with a video of "Every New Day" by Five Iron Frenzy.  The very last song they played live eight years ago.  God bless.