Music Builds Tour – September 13th at PNC Arts Center NJ

The Music Builds Tour made its stop this past weekend at the PNC Arts Center in NJ. The tour is a collective effort to help raise money for Habitat For Humanity with performances by Jars of Clay, Third Day, and Switchfoot. That’s a pretty diverse group of musicians on the same tour, who apparently share the same vision. The energy was buzzing throughout the arena before the opening act, Jars of Clay, took the stage. They wasted no time once they came out as they jumped right into their popular song Flood. I think that was the most energized set I’ve seen them perform (I’ve only watched them twice), mostly due to their recent change in musical style. Ever since their album Good Monsters, they went from folk/alternative to straight up rock music. That transformation in Jars’ sound was clearly reflected in their stage presence as they gave an awesome performance. They played a set that included songs like Flood, Love Song for a Savior, along with songs from their new EP Closer. Honestly, next to Switchfoot I think they gave the most solid performance. Speaking of Switchfoot, from the time leading up to their set, you could feel the excitement buzzing from the fans all over the arena. The moment they came onto the stage, the crowd went nuts. They opened with the song Stars, in which the crowd graciously sang along to. Jon Foreman and company brought out their ammo and gave one hell of a show as they rocked the Jersey crowd. They went through most of the fan favorites from their albums The Beautiful Letdown, Nothing Is Sound, and Oh! Gravity. One of the highlights of their set was when they played a live version of Beyonce’s Crazy In Love as an intro to their song Gone! It was pretty funny seeing sections of the audience go from rocking out to suddenly shakin’ their booty as Jon sang, "Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh". I’ve seen a lot of shows this past year in the NYC area, and this definitely goes down as one of the best. If you ever get the chance to see these guys live, you’ll surely get your money’s worth (along with your ears ringing the next day).