This year at my church’s high school winter retreat our high school pastor was very persistent to obtain a band called Family Force 5 as our Saturday night concert. Well we successfully booked the band for a night of great fun! Traveling from Atlanta, GA all the way to a retreat center in what is considered Antelope, OR was to say the least, very exhausting. Upon arrival the band sat down for some good old hearty spaghetti from the great folks at Wild Horse Canyon. Only later to find out that some of the band members got a little bloated, or so it was rumored by Soul Glow Activator (Solomon Olds).
The band started off by playing “Replace Me” and I instantly noticed that they all were slow to start. I compared this show to the first time I’d seen the band perform in September at Joshua Fest. Maybe it was the fact that a few hours before they were driving for 4 and a half hour and had just flown 6 or maybe because the band was bloated from that hearty meal? Anyway, after about 3 songs the crowd of around 200 finally started getting into it. And then when I started enjoying it more and more. Family Force 5 ran through most of the songs on their album including some of my favorites “Luv Addict” and “Earthquake.” During “Kountry Gentlemen,” Soul Glow went to throw his guitar to Xanadu, only to have it crash onto the ground. Luckily the guitar survived! Another cool part was how Soul Glow incorporated the camp’s theme What is Love into the set by playing the song “What is Love” by Haddaway… imagine that. The band did many of their quirks to get the crowd involved including “Put Ur Hands Up.”
Overall the show ended up what I expected it to be. A great show, from one of the most amazing live bands around! They love to party and have a good time while keeping the focus on God. I was very pleased to see at the end Phatty (Joshua Olds) came out and asked if he could pray for the group. After that the band just hung around hanging out with us. Probably one of the best concert choices we could’ve ever come up with! Be sure and check out Family Force 5 when they’re in your town!
Article by Jeremy Koering
