Student Activities proudly presents The Oh Hellos with Dogwood & Holly in concert on Tuesday, November 17, 2015. The concert will take place in the LaHaye Event Space starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are just $8 in advance for students, $12 for general public, and will be $15 for everyone at the door. Purchase them

From The Oh Hellos website:

“The Oh Hellos began in a cluttered bedroom, where siblings Maggie and Tyler Heath (born and raised in southern Texas) recorded their self-titled EP in 2011. In the fall of 2012, the sibling duo released their debut full-length record Through the Deep, Dark Valley, an album full of regret and redemption, which they wrote, recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered themselves.

When the time came in early 2013 to bring the music to the stage, the Heaths reached out to friends both new and old and gathered together an ensemble of touring musicians the size of a circus, tumblers and all.

Their second full-length album, Dear Wormwood, is a collection of songs inspired in part by C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters and Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, mythology and folklore, and apocalyptic literature. The album tells the story of a protagonist trapped in an abusive relationship, by way of letters written to the antagonist. It was recorded, piece by piece, in the house where Maggie and Tyler live in San Marcos, TX, and much like The Oh Hellos’ live performance, the album presents two alternating faces: at times delicate, intimate, affectionate; and at others, soaring and towering and joyfully explosive.

Their influences range from Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens to The Middle East and the Muppets, bending and blending styles and genres into a unique mixture of eclectic folk rock.”

Joining The Oh Hellos will be Lynchburg/Liberty’s own Dogwood & Holly. Check them out on Facebook to see their remaining fall schedule, and go get some of their music on NoiseTrade.

On Friday, November 6, 2015, Student Activities is thrilled to welcome Andy Mineo back to Liberty on the Uncomfortable Tour, with special guest JGivens and narrated by Propaganda, starting at 8 p.m. in the TRBC Auditorium.

This will be Andy Mineo’s third concert event with Student Activities, and his performances remain some of the most exciting we have ever had. We certainly appreciate him, but we feel like everyone can always be a little more thankful for Andy. Of course, we should be thankful for all of the top representatives of holy hip hop. But with his latest release, Uncomfortable, Andy should get an extra handshake or a gift card or a gramophone-shaped trophy or something. But even if he doesn’t win any awards, his album should have direct and lasting effect on the way hip-hop artists, Christian ones especially, approach their creative efforts. In the first place, Uncomfortable serves as a reminder of Christian hip-hop’s place in popular music: the uncomfortable, anomalous middle. Lecrae lamented this for everyone with his last album, and Andy talked about it on Sway in the Morning (starting approx. 20:20) – for somewhat obvious yet different reasons, mainstream and Christian radio outlets are reluctant to embrace Christian hip-hop. Yet, the charts, album sales, and even the most recent Dove Awards hopefully show a changing tide in that regard. Second, Uncomfortable is another offering in the trend towards the importance of creating an album, not just a bunch of songs. Rock heads should love the fact that Andy was inspired by what he calls “psychedelic rock” on the new album, an influence one can hear in both sound and structure. Listen to the track “Strange Motions (ft. Willow Stephens)” and you can almost hear Pink Floyd trying to break through; the only problem with this song is that it’s just a little over 2 minutes long, so maybe he should have pulled a little more, prog/psychedelic rock influence in. Beyond that, the album does stick closely to the basic idea of the title: the album will certainly cause some discomfort, lyrically speaking, as Andy does not shy away from some serious topics. At least one reviewer sees this as a negative for the album, asking essentially, “Where’s the fun?” But as Andy has said repeatedly, Uncomfortable is meant to be an embrace of difficult questions as well as an honest introspection, equal parts confrontation and confession. “Now I Know” is Andy taking stock of where he came from in terms of early life influence. The title track pulls no punches in its address of social ills, paralleling it with American obsession with ease and comfort. “Vendetta” offers a challenge to political structures. “Hear My Heart” is an apology to his older sister, who was born deaf, for his having never learned sign language. Uncomfortable calls to mind two, fairly well-known pieces of sociology. The first is Neil Postman’s explanation of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World – in short, people will be controlled, not by pain or fear, but by pleasure, slowly consumed by ease and trivialities. The second is G.K. Chesterton’s famous response to a newspaper’s question, “What’s wrong with the world?” He replied, “I am.”

Sadly, Mali Music was a late scratch from the tour, so you will not be treated to a live performance of the excellent track “Desperados”. Happily, though, you will get JGivens instead. Be sure to check out all of JGivens’ music, but especially go watch the video for his song “10, 2 Get In” in all its 360 degree glory. Last but not least, the tour has Propaganda as its narrator. This is another show we cannot wait for, and we think you need to be there. Tickets are still on sale, so get to our website and get them while they last. It’s the Uncomfortable Tour featuring Andy Mineo, thanks to your friends at Student Activities.

On Thursday, October 22, Student Activities will host The REDvolution Tour, featuring RED, with Tedashii, Capital Kings, and Wolves at the Gate, in the LaHaye Event Space starting at 7 p.m.

There are few certainties in life, but we know at least one: The LaHaye Event Space is going to get loud this Thursday. RED returns to Liberty for the second time in three years, this time headlining a tour with their very own name in it. And they deserve it. Red has been a staple of hard rock for around a decade now, having toured with many of the biggest names in hard rock/nu metal in that span, including Skillet, Breaking Benjamin, P.O.D., and Papa Roach, to name just a few. They are Grammy-nominated, Dove Award-winning, and the artists behind five, full length albums. Their latest release, of Beauty and Rage, is something more than full length, with 15 tracks and over a full hour of music. Bassist Randy Armstrong explains that the concept for the album deals with “the dichotomy of good and evil”, lead vocalist Michael Barnes adding that it is an exploration of “suffering and finding beauty in that”. This is the basis of the somewhat frightening imagery of the cloaked-and-plague-masked figures on the album cover and the art of the accompanying graphic novel. In terms of sound, you can hear many of the above-mentioned artists in their sound, but the new album adds the feel of some of Muse’s harder tracks, as well as hints of Sevendust and (look it up) Porcupine Tree.

To ensure none of you will ever, ever complain about not getting your money’s worth, three artists are accompanying Red on their tour. Likely the biggest name with them is Tedashii. His deep vocal tone fits perfectly with the rest of the tour, and with his latest release Below Paradise, we can hardly think of a rapper who fits better thematically, either. You also get up-and-coming dance artists Capital Kings, who should call to mind some of the sounds of Steve Aoki, maybe a little of the most recent Owl City, and maybe even a touch of LMFAO. Last, and certainly the loudest, you’ll also get Wolves At The Gate, who are going to probably going to set decibel-level records for the university. Their latest release, VxV, is a blast of metalcore a la Oh, Sleeper or early, heavier Thrice.

All in all, you will be hard-pressed to find a better way to spend $8 and/or your Thursday night. Tickets are still on sale, so be sure to head over to our website and get them before the price goes up at the door. It’s The REDvolution Tour, yet another great concert event brought to you by Student Activities.

On Friday, September 18, 2015, Student Activities will host the All the Earth Is Holy Ground Tour featuring Tenth Avenue North, with special guests Sidewalk Prophets and Dan Bremnes.

Tenth Avenue North has become one of the defining bands of Contemporary Christian Music. We hesitate to call them the defining band as long as artists like Casting Crowns, MercyMe, and Third Day are still around. But the thing Tenth Ave. has going for them is that they have Mike Donahey and those other bands do not. True, a band is not all about the lead singer, but seeing just one concert with Tenth Ave. demonstrates why they have risen to the top of the Christian music charts. Dynamic, magnetic, endearing, adorable: take your pick of terms to describe Mike Donehey. We got to see this on display first hand during the K-LOVE Fan Awards in Nashville this past May. Mike performed his expected duties during Tenth Ave.’s show performance, but in some ways he stole the rest of the show during the “Not So Newlywed Game”, a “how well do you know your significant other?”, Q&A segment featuring Kirk Cameron, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Steven Curtis Chapman, and their spouses. Sporting a gaudy sweater and Guy Smiley-level cheese, Mike took a short bit for the show and stole the stage from the show’s (supposedly) biggest stars. Few lead singers possess the quality to transfer from lead singer to game show host. For Mike Donehey, it speaks to a lightheartedness and fun quality about him, but also reveals the talent it takes to have the vocal quality and on-stage persona to pull something like that off.

As for Tenth Avenue North’s music and stage performance, that lightheartedness and fun shines bright. They are qualities that you can feel in every melody in almost every song, sometimes, perhaps, to a fault. For example, such positivity in melody and song crafting makes the ideas of their 2010 album The Light Meets the Dark a bit heavy on the “light”, and pretty light on the “dark”. This does not take away from the band’s heart in addressing life issues, however. It is clear on tracks like “The Struggle” and “Cathedrals” that there is hope and grace for us despite our weakness, and that resonates with Tenth Ave.’s listeners as much as anything else about the band.

Despite this, no one can fault Tenth Avenue North for writing catchy songs. The videos for just two of them, “Worn” and “You Are More”, have been viewed on YouTube over 10 million times. And you can certainly hear their improvement in quality and polish on Cathedrals, especially on dynamic and honest tracks like “For Those Who Can’t Speak” and “Forgive Me”. Plus, as it is with many, excellent bands, their live show has propelled them to fan-favorite status, as evidenced by their numerous Dove and K-LOVE Fan Awards nominations.

That live show will be here in the Vines Center on Friday with another K-LOVE fan favorite, Sidewalk Prophets, and up-and-coming artist Dan Bremnes. The show gets started at 8 PM, and tickets are available by clicking on the Tickets tab on our website here. It’s sure to be a good time at the All the Earth Is Holy Ground Tour featuring Tenth Avenue North, brought to you by Student Activities.

On Tuesday night, Student Activities hosted Dustin Kensrue and The Rocketboys in concert at the LaHaye Event Space.

One of things we love most about Dustin Kensrue’s music is the appropriateness of his voice for both the style and thematic elements of his songs. Of course, much of that is natural ability, but this is not just an observation that Dustin has a great voice for rock music. No, it is appropriate in the sense that despite his grit and growl, his vocal quality moves effortlessly between tracks regardless of tone or topic. Anyone who was in the building last night heard this on full display throughout the nearly 90 minute, 20 song setlist.

But before Dustin started, fans were treated to a terrific set by The Rocketboys, their sound reminiscent of groups like Band of Horses, some of the more atmospheric moments of Kings of Leon, and the rockier moments of Coldplay. The highlight (for me, at least) was the soaring track “Carry Me”. Everyone was treated to their version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, which closed the show. The Rocketboys then served as Dustin’s band for just under half of the concert and were nearly flawless in their accompaniment. “I love these guys,” said Dustin between tracks, and their fit together made the feeling seem mutual.

Dustin sang 9 of the 10 songs on his excellent, new album Carry the Fire, opening the show with the first two tracks on the album, “Ruby” and “Back to Back”. Fans were also treated to most of his first album Please Come Home. He made it clear during the solo, acoustic portion of his set that songs from his worship album The Water & The Blood would not be part of the show (though he did perform the absolutely crushing track It’s Not Enough from that album). From the earliest moments, the power, depth of emotion, and ease with which Dustin sings was evident, perfectly demonstrated on lighter-hearted tracks like “Pistol” and heavy-hearted tracks like “There’s Something Dark Inside of Me”.

Much of Carry the Fire deals with darkness, a theme that appears throughout his other work as well – darkness as evil, whether within us or in the world around us, or, as he pointed out in the commentary to the track “In the Darkness”, as that which is unknown. There is a requisite familiarity with such things, one that comes from honest introspection, that allows someone to sing about them and sound like they’re telling the truth. Dustin accomplishes this on his studio albums, but hearing it in person made it an enrapturing experience. “You are all very respectful,” Dustin whispered into the mic in a quiet moment between songs. Though the crowd was a bit quiet, lack of noise shouldn’t be confused for disinterest. It was more like intent focus, even reverence. Which would you rather have: too much “WOO!”-ing, or none at all? For Dustin’s show, quiet worked just fine.

Dustin covered three songs as well (four, if you count “A Song for Milly Michaelson” by Thrice), each of them with themes that fit perfectly with much of what he sings about in his own music. He explained that he likes to choose pop songs that, if you can peel away the fabrication and façade, actually have a lot to say about love, relationships, and truth, and then proceeded with Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball”. Somehow, Dustin made a song so easy to hate completely easy to love. His performance of Lorde’s “Buzzcut Season” was possibly the highlight of my night, as Dustin singing her words, “Nothing’s wrong when nothing’s true”, added a new dimension to an already excellent song. But the defining moment of the night came from the last song of the night, a cover of a Tom Wait’s song called “Down There By the Train”. “This song gets the gospel better than 95% of the songs that play on Christian radio,” Dustin said calmly. Read the lyrics. Listen to the song. It is hard to argue with what he said. Dustin sang much about difficulty, fear, and sin throughout the night, but he ended the show with grace.

Dustin Kensrue makes excellent music, he crafts lasting stories with hymn-like poetry and themes that touch on the deepest parts of life. But most of all, he tells the truth. Every one of his songs is worthy of consideration and exploration. Hearing him perform some of those songs live in concert last night was nothing short of outstanding.

On Saturday 2/28, we proudly hosted Jon Foreman for a sold-out concert in the LaHaye Event Space. On a cold Virginia night, this proud San Diego native sang, laughed, and shared with a really excited crowd. Jon is not a stranger to Liberty University, having played here with his band Switchfoot several times over the past few years.

During this concert, he pulled material from various parts of his career. We heard some Switchfoot favorites such as ‘Dare You to Move’ and ‘Only Hope’. He also performed some of his older solo material such as ‘Your Love is Strong’ and ‘Southbound Train’. One of the main highlights of the night was hearing Jon play some new tunes that aren’t even released yet. These included the songs ‘Terminal’ and ‘The Patron Saint of Rock & Roll’. He explained that he has new material being released later this year. The crowd latched on, singing along, shouting suggestions, and having a great time.

The instrumentation was very bare – just Jon on acoustic, and a cellist (the very talented Keith Tutti). This stripped down set sounded surprisingly full – full of textures and layers. Jon’s fantastic vocal range, along with Keith’s creativity on the cello gave the whole evening a really unique sound. They came out for an encore, and the crowd was clearly happy. Jon told everyone that he was having a great time, even veering from his intended set list. “It feels like off-roading in a train” he told the crowd.

We still have some more great concerts this semester. Be sure to get your tickets soon for Propaganda on April 2 and Colony House on April 20. As always, keep up to date with concert info by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Based on my credibility as an 19-year-old female who has 16 original Spotify playlists, 23 Pandora Radio stations, and 12 unique car radio presets (which after all are the only true measure of musical competency), I am more than qualified to say that the upcoming Britt Nicole and for KING & COUNTRY concert on November 7 will be one for the books.

There is no doubt that Britt Nicole is an extremely talented and multifaceted artist. There is also no doubt that she draws upon many genres and styles in order to (p)raise the roof, so to speak. After all, if you take a listen to her music through the years (she’s been a front-runner since her debut in 2007), you can hear undertones of acoustic, R&B, punk, indie, and even some dubstep amidst the notoriously confining label of “bubblegum pop”. Her anthemic ballads and introspective lyrics round out her more upbeat and light-hearted tracks.

There are a plethora of reasons for virtually anyone to listen to and enjoy a performance by Contemporary Christian Music’s “Golden Girl”, so there are no excuses not to come and see her in concert! And speaking of her latest chart-topping album (Gold, 2012), you can expect to “See for the First Time” many “Breakthrough” songs which chronicle the “Amazing Life” of “That Girl”, whether you’re “Ready or Not”.

Don’t forget that the award-winning Australian duo, for KING & COUNTRY will also be in concert with Britt Nicole. The visionary, poignant, and deeply creative songs by this band of brothers will not disappoint, nor will their delightful accents.

So mark your calendars today, and be sure to grab your tickets early. You better get ready to behold the awesomeness of this matchup, as well as “worship your socks off” with two of the most creative and endearing artists that we are proud to have perform here at Liberty University!

Last week, the Nashville-based band All Sons & Daughters made their way to our campus and lead a powerful night of worship to a sold-out crowd of over 600. This was only the second show in the new LaHaye Event Space and it could not have been better. Not only did they play for nearly 90 minutes, they also provided stations for attendees to take communion and write out prayers. They capped the night off with an unplugged version of the classic song, Heart of Worship.

Not only are they talented musicians, but they were great people as well. From their band members to their crew, it was a pleasure working with each of them. Their concern for their craft was evident, but so was their heart to lead others in worship.

Do you have suggestions of bands you’d like to see play in the LaHaye Event Space? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter, or you can email us at studentactivities@liberty.edu.

Andy Mineo is no stranger to Liberty University – he was here in March 2013 and put on a killer set. But this time around, he’s headlining, which can only mean the performance will be even better. If you’re not familiar, Andy is relatively new to the hip-hop scene; his first full-length album, “Formerly Known,” released in 2011. Since then, he’s been on the rise, hitting the road with Christian hip-hop heavyweights like Lecrae and Tedashii. And he’s not afraid to take a stand and tell the truth within the mainstream hip-hop community. If you saw his performance on MTV’s Rapfix Live 2013 Cypher Blowout, you know what I mean.

Andy’s not traveling alone; KB will be here too! KB is yet another Reach Records artist who’s making a name for himself. After traveling with Lecrae on the Aquire the Fire tour in 2010, and soon after getting signed to Reach Record, KB has gone on to tour the world, releasing a mixtape, a full-length album, and an EP in the process.

On September 19, Andy and KB are making their way to Liberty University and we couldn’t be more excited!

If you want to get a good seat, be sure to get to the Vines Center early. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. General admission AND floor seats are still available – you can pick them up here.