I’m not sure where to start in blogging about Revelation Generation, but I can say it was a great festival. Last year, during tropical storm Ernesto, I dragged a friend along to the festival despite the weather. My main motivation for this was to see Plumb perform, as I had never seen her and she is one of my favorite artists. The choice to venture to the festival was a mistake, which I realized as soon as we got there. Most performances were cancelled, including Plumb’s, and the wind and rain were constant and relentless, and we were up to our ankles in mud.

So, needless to say, this year I was greatly looking forward to  Rev Gen, despite Plumb not being in the band lineup. On the New York Stage, the first band I saw was Buidling 429, who was pretty good. I’m not up on their newer stuff, but I enjoyed their rendition of “Glory Defined.” Frontman Jason Roy was engaging and the band did a nice job. Shortly after 429, Grits performed, who were originally scheduled before 429 but they were flip-flopped since Grits was running late. DJ Manwell came out first and cut up some records which was cool. Bonafide and Coffee came on and performed a number of their most popular songs, including “Ooh Aah”, and the newer hit “Open Bar”, which got the crowd off its feet. They tried to get the crowd to choose their last song, but no one seemed to know any to request. They did “Here We Go”, which seemed to please the audience. Later on I got to meet them and get a picture, which was cool. I’ve been listening to their stuff for about five years now.

This is where I wished I could have fast-forwarded to 6:15 pm, when Skillet was scheduled to perform on the Philadelphia Stage. But since I could not do that, I hung out with a couple friends who had arrived late to the festival. We watched Brian Littrell, who drew a large crowd. He made a couple of humorous references to his Backstreet days. His set included a sad song about people who were looking for loved ones after 9/11 took place. His other songs I was not familiar with. Next on the same stage was Nicole C. Mullen. Her music is not quite my style, but I have to say she put on a great performance. She was very passionate and included portions of memorized scripture in her set.

Finally, it was about 5:45 pm, and I decided to grab some dinner and head over to the Philadelphia stage to see Skillet. After buying my “food tickets”, I realized the lines for the food were way too long and would cause me to miss some of the Skillet performance. So I skipped it, cutting my losses on the $6.00 I spent on food tickets, and just walked over to the stage and met up with my friend who had been watching other bands there. There was a very large crowd gathering to wait for Skillet. After the announcement lady went on for a bit, the band came out, and they came out firing. I don’t remember what song they started with, but the set included “Better Than Drugs”, “The Last Night”, “Comatose”, “The Older I Get”, “Whispers in the Dark”, and “Rebirthing” off the Comatose album. I’m not familiar with their previous albums, but I know they played “Savior” off the Collide album and another couple songs. This set was awesome, there’s no other way to describe it. The band was very energetic and animated onstage, and sounded great. If I’m not mistaken, John, Korey, Ben, and Lori all won the CCM Reader’s Choice Award for being best at their instrument. I can see why. Adding to the energy were plumes of smoke shooting up from either side of the stage, kids moshing up front, and many beach balls of various sizes being batted around the crowd. I was located toward the left of the stage, and close enough to get some decent pictures. This band is a blast to watch perform, and I hope to see them again. I’m also getting the Collide album.

After the performance I walked over to the tent to get in line for Skillet’s meet and greet, which had already accumulated a couple hundred people. The tent was set a ways back from the New York Stage. Jars of Clay was performing, and I could hear them and see them up on the large screen while I waited in line. They performed the hits from the Monsters album, and some well placed older material. After about 45 minutes, I got my photo signed by all four band members, who were very friendly. The line had continued to lengthen, and the band must have signed for hundreds of people. I hadn’t seen any other band attract a line like this all day. Though if Jars did a meet and greet, I bet that was a long one too.

At this point it was almost dark and I made my way back to my friends who were in the crowd waiting for the Newsboys to come out. It was a bit of a wait, and I noticed that Mute Math’s album was playing over the speakers for quite a while. When the Newsboys finally came out, there were fireworks, and blazing light shows galore as the band started off with “Shine.” They also played “Wherever We Go”, “Something Beautiful”, and “I Am Free” off the “Go” disc. There was a long catwalk running from the stage a good distance into the crowd. I was about 15 feet from it. Peter came all the way out a number of times. He stayed there for a while and played a drum solo on a platform that elevated a good ten feet, and gave some of his testimony and a mini sermon which was inspiring. To the crowd's delight, he also did some dancing like David did, as he put it. Duncan’s drum platform also elevated on stage, and rotated in some crazy angles which was entertaining to watch. The band played a medley of some older hits, including “Entertaining Angels”, “Not Ashamed”, and “Where You Belong.” They then played a full rendition of “Breakfast”, which got quite a reaction from the crowd, and at least a few people up front had brought the customary Cap’n Crunch cereal boxes. I believe the band ended with “Your Love is Better Than Life.” Between the music, stage theatrics, testimony, smoke and fireworks, it was a phenomenal performance and showed why after all these years the Newsboys remain a crowd favorite.

I would have to say that I enjoyed Skillet the most out of the acts that I saw, though the Newsboys were great. At the end my friends and I just sat in my car for a while because the crowd was so massive, there was no getting out anytime soon. Despite the crowd and long food lines, I’ll be back next year, assuming they have a quality band lineup again. Also a word of advice if you go-bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer, you’ll be glad you did.