Disciple’s SkeleTour spreads the good word to Adrian, Michigan

Have you ever stepped into a concert expecting to headbang yourself a headache and walk out of church instead? That is exactly what happened to me on the SkeleTour and it made the entire night so much better.

The Protest started the night with a bang, as Josh Bramlett and TJ Colwell screamed straight into their mics. Adam Sadler, one of the guitarists, kept the crowd engaged the entire time. In the middle of the show, Josh talked to the audience about an organization they work with that rescues kids from human trafficking and encouraged the audience to donate to the cause.

If they did, they would get free merch. 

Disciple then started their set with “Panic Room”, keeping up the energy of the night. It was hard to not be influenced by Kevin Young, as he was headbanged and jumped and threw all his energy into the songs. Guitarists Josiah and Andrew were just as wild. Halfway through the night, Kevin put on his pastor hat and became “Pastor Kevin Young”. He talked about seeking the kingdom of God: explaining that we can’t just read his word; we also have to live it out. He said that once we live out what Jesus tells us, the Lord will make us perfect in his time. He preached the gospel, encouraging non-believers to give their lives to Christ and then prayed for the people struggling in life and with the people who wanted to be saved.

After, there was another moment of worship, thanking the Lord for dying for us and saving us. I loved this moment, because I got to be in a room with fellow believers in Christ, knowing we all love the Lord and sang songs of praise together. We all struggle with different things in life and we may look different than each other, but in that moment, we truly did represent one unit — the body of Christ. Towards the end of the set, Kevin read the setlist out loud, with all the songs changed in reference to Star Wars. When they did the encore song, “Bow Down”, they all wore Star Wars shirts to represent their inner nerd.

Rock music, for me, always encourages rebellion.

What I love about both The Protest and Disciple as Christian rock bands is that they encourage rebellion against culture. They encourage rebellion against fleshly desires. They encourage rebellion against lies whispered from the enemy himself. Luke 9:23 says: “If you want to follow Him, you have to die to self daily, and by dying you actually live.” This is the life of a Christian and both bands follow this verse with their music.

Photography by Kayla N. Rising

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