Yesterday I met Steve in the Loop. We ate lunch, talked about ministry, took some photos and then headed out for the much anticipated Beirut concert. Steve introduced me to Beirut when their first album came out. They quickly became my favorite band. I’m not a music critic, nor am I a music guru like Steve. All I can tell you is that listening to Beirut takes me to a different place in my mind and heart. It is soulful music that pulls from European folk traditions using a wide variety of traditional/natural instruments. The venue was the Portage Theater in Chicago, with a 1900+ seat auditorium. It was a good thing we bought our tickets early. The show sold out.
We ran into Zach Condon, the principal man behind Beirut, while hanging out before the show, and like the dorks we are we asked if we could get a picture with him. He was beat from the tour, but was happy to chat about those Take Away Shows while we took a couple pics. We also met a couple from Michigan, Travis and Shannon, who came for the show. After chatting for a while we found out they are Christians and favor sound Reformed theology. Another member of Redeemer was at the show as well; Jason the artist/musician/all around great guy. After Alaska in Winter finished “their” set I talked to the Tour Manager, Joe, and he gave me permission to shoot the concert.
