Tag Archive for: TheBlast.FM

Angel Machine Performing “Repent” at KCF 2021

Angel Machine’s Wayde and April Seraph performing the song Repent at Kingdom Come Festival 2021.   Here is the video of them performing that song:  https://business.facebook.com/TheBlastFM/videos/3009077236079764/

 

Behold The Beloved Rocks At KCF 2021

Behold The Beloved rocked the main stage Saturday afternoon at this year’s Kingdom Come Festival.  And no, Disciple’s Kevin Young did not venture out early in the day of their set to join in the collaboration they recorded.  That would have been too much strain on Young’s voice, with all the screaming, yelling, singing and preaching Kevin does during Disciple’s 14-song sets.  But it was a good BTB show, nonetheless.

Here is a video of the first song of the set:

https://rumble.com/vj5vx5-behold-the-beloved-at-kcf-2021.html

 

Red Returns To The Stage With A New Drummer

Red and their new drummer Brian Medeiros played a sold out show in Dallas last night…their first concert since the pandemic.  Here is the band posing with the fans at the show. 

The Letter Black Interview Wednesday June 30th On The Blast / Concert Footage Link

The Letter Black was the headliner Friday night at Kingdom Come Fest near Greentown, Indiana.  We have the video of them performing Rise here:  https://fb.watch/v/1dJudYn2o/

The Blast’s Colin Cruz talks to Sarah and Mark Anthony from The Letter Black on Wednesday June 30, 2021.  Time: TBA (sometime between 9 am and 3 pm USA/Canada Central Time).

Relent Rocks At Kingdom Come Festival 2021

Relent rocked the humans at the Kingdom Come Festival Friday afternoon.  It was a high energy, sweaty set that was a lot of fun.  We shot a video of the opening of their set, here:  https://fb.watch/v/uPgxBfiu/

Band interviews and a lot more coverage commence this week and will last for weeks on air on TheBlast.FM radio stations and on our websites.

Skillet Interview On The Blast Tuesday

Tuesday, a look back at the conversation Colin Cruz had with John Cooper of Skillet, talking about when Cooper met one of his favorite childhood rock stars. And it was that rock star that wanted to meet Cooper.  Tuesday, June 8, 2021 at 1 pm USA/Canada Central Time.

Kingdom Come Festival 2021: Even Bigger Than Last Year

Kingdom Come Festival (Friday and Saturday, June 18th and 19th), 2021 is like two festivals in one, as (at least for now), KCF has absorbed the Capstone Music Festival and encapsulated into a side stage at the Kingdom Come Festival.  (See what we did there?) (Previously, it was two separate Christian rock festivals in Indiana, spaced two hours and a week apart).  The two fest are friendly with each other and working together as the body of Christ.

Well, this year…

KCF sees the the return of Disciple as a headliner and The Letter Black headlines as well.

Other Blast bands on the main stage include:  The Protest, Chaotic Resemblance, Awaken, Behold The Beloved, Relent, Amongst The Giants, Attaboy, Zahna, We Are Vessel, and TJ Harris of Decyfer Down. 

And on the Capstone Music stage:  Gold Frankincense and Myrrh, Grave Robber, The Persuaded, Theody and Firebrand.

The festival was a lot of fun last year and TheBlast.FM will be back again this year.  Stop by our Blastin’ booth and meet us, get some free glossy Blast Cards and stickers and buy a Blast t-shirt.

The festival is at the Howard County Vietnam Veterans Reunion Grounds near Greentown, Indiana.

 

Interview With Brian Head Welch Of Love And Death / Korn Tuesday On TheBlast.FM

The Blast’s Colin Cruz caught up with Brian “Head” Welch, lead singer of Christian hard rock band Love And Death, earlier this month, and the interview will air tomorrow/Tuesday during Colin’s show, in the 2 PM hour, USA/Canada Central Time.

Welch was addicted to alcohol and/or drugs from the ages of 15 to 33 but he has been radically set free from addiction by the power of Jesus Christ!   We’ll hear some of that testimony and hear about new music Love and Death.

Skillet And Stryper To Share The Stage In Minnesota This Summer

Two huge bands that begin with “S” from two different eras will share the same stage soon:

Skillet…which began in the mid to late 1990’s and has never stopped rockin’…

And a resurgent 80’s band that lead singer John Cooper grew up listening to as part of his Christian metal album collection:  Stryper.

Skillet will be headlining Friday night September 10th at the Rocktember Fest in Hinckley, Minnesota.  Immediately preceding Skillet will be Stryper.   The rest of the bands at the fest are secular hard rock.

The timing is a bit ironic.  Cooper had recently been spotted in public by a casual music fan who said (paraphrasing) “You look familiar…aren’t you in that band…that Christian rock band…Stryper?”

Well, in case you have any trouble telling the bands apart (LOL) here is your chance to clearly differentiate between the two.

We’re not 100 percent sure, but at press time, we believe this is the first time these two bands have shared the same stage on the same night.

 

John L. Cooper “Awake And Alive To Truth” Book Review By Colin Cruz, TheBlast.FM Program Director

Skillet fans: if you haven’t read this yet, you should.  I love Skillet lead singer John L Cooper’s heart.   In his debut book (self-published) he talks about his earliest memories of belief in Christ.   He also talks about how some secular rock industry types were telling him he needed to drop the Jesus talk if he wanted the band to reach his full potential.  But it didn’t take he and his wife Korey long to figure out that that conversation was just a devilish distraction from what God had called the band to do.

He and Korey reminded each other that they would not be ashamed of Christ.

Pontius Pilate once asked “What is truth?”  Pop culture seems to ask that question today.  So many people believe in relative truth, each person believing in his/her/their own “truth.”

But as Cooper writes, there IS such thing as ABSOLUTE TRUTH, and that Truth is established by almighty God.

The book outlines how Cooper became awake and alive to absolute Truth.

He talks in the book about the flawed thinking behind Post-Modernism, Relativism, Marxism, and how those thought processes have worked their way into the Church.

Cooper talks about the Authority of the Word of God, and how The Bible is the final word on everything.

In this book, you’ll also learn why “fun is not fulfillment.”  “Huh?” you ask.   That’s why you need to read this.

Outside of a few clerical errors that another round of proofreading could have cleaned up, this is a very good read and a great volume, especially for someone’s first book.

I did a lot of highlighting in the book;  I have used it once already in the context of a devotional with my teenage kids; I will definitely read it again, and rather than tell you more about what it says, I urge you to buy a copy and read it yourself.

The book is solidly Scriptural.

The only thing I take issue with is the (probably not purposely) implied dismissal of all the Christian Rock radio airplay his band received prior to their acceptance in the mainstream.   He writes in Chapter 7 that in 2010, Skillet “was just beginning to air on radio stations for the first time.”  Um, excuse me!?

I was one of many music directors/program directors/DJ’s that played Skillet 14 years earlier than that on FM radio beginning in 1996 when the band’s debut self-titled album came out on Ardent/Forefront.

I met John, Korey and the rest of the band when their sophomore disc Hey You, I Love Your Soul was their latest record, and the FM radio station I worked for at the time brought them in concert to our annual festival.

Skillet thanked me and that radio station in the album liner notes for albums 3 and 4, Invincible and Alien Youth.  So, of course he knows this.

Don’t forget your Christian Rock Radio roots, John.   We’ll still be playing your stuff after (and if) the air goes out of your mainstream radio success balloon.

The little things that stuck in my craw aside, this is definitely a worthwhile read.   And yes, I still have mad respect for John L. Cooper and Skillet.