So much diversity packed into so little space. In the span of one long day, Purple Door has some of Christian music's finest bands, artists, and speakers meeting in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Purple Door is one more piece of evidence that there is a booming music scene in central Pennsylvania that I, for one, am grateful for.  At the festival, one can experience good music throughout the day, stop by the arts exhibit around lunch, and take part in a panel discussion after dinner.  

In the nature-filled setting of a local high school campus, the second annual Purple Door started on time, nine a.m. This I can attest to, because I was late due to traffic and road construction delays. All of which caused me to miss the first band, Reveal 302, and arrive in the middle of Brandtson's set. Brandtson, a very cool band starring two of the members  from Six Feet Deep, played on the side stage set up in the midst of a small clearing in some lovely tall trees. The side stage was the main attraction of the day with bands like Brandtson, Upside Down Room, and a super show by Ghoti Hook--who announced that Conrad, the guitar player, was leaving the band. This was shocking news here in central PA because Ghoti Hook is a local band and played their first shows around Lancaster.  

Ghoti Hook was followed by the modern rock of Plumb. Fold Zandura rocked the fans, the rocks, and the trees with some thick praise music.  Jyro paused in the show to chat about praise and rock and roll, saying that, "Believers need to keep in mind the things that really count in this life. Only what is done for God will last. This world will all disappear one day," he declared, " and rock and roll will go with it. There will come a day when there will not be any more rock and roll, and we won't even mind because we will be with Christ." It struck me as interesting to hear a  premier rock and roller say that rock music will cease to be important. Finally, Five Iron Frenzy's hot ska music had the sweaty skankers kicking up their heels.  

The organizers of the event put in some hard work, and it showed in the way everything flowed and moved. The location of the food, and the stages, and the art shows made maximum use of the space they had on the campus. Near the food vendors there was another stage set up under two shade trees, depending on the position of the sun. Throughout the day the sun beat down on most of the performers so that during nearly every show the artist would say something about the heat. The temperature was over 100 degrees most of the day, cooking the four thousand or so people that attended. The only respite was in the arts exhibit, where there were a couple of cool spots. To visit the arts display auditorium, one had to go inside the school and walk about the partitions looking at the photos or paintings. Off to the side, there was a room set up as a piece of art itself. The room was filled with objects, broken and strewn about with several televisions playing a video tape of the artist's creation. Daniel Smith had brought his autobiographical quilt Volvo to put on display, which I had seen at Cornerstone.  

Daniel Smith had also brought his brothers and sisters to do a show as Danielson Family, singing their own brand of eclectic, acoustic, and Spirit-filled rock music. They played on the smaller stage near the food court, the "Prism Gallery Stage," to a good-sized and receptive crowd. Nick Giaconia, Rainchildren, Steve Scott, and Sarah Jahn, the latter in particularly fine voice, also played on the same stage along with poetry readings, talks, and group discussions. The folks at the festival could also visit the merchandise tent throughout the day to buy T-shirts and CD's of the bands and labels represented at Purple Door.  

As the day finally began to cool off and the sunset approached, we took our places standing and sitting on blankets spread out on the grassy baseball diamond's outfield behind the school building. Jawbone Hill opened the main stage shows to a warm reception. It was nice to settle in and enjoy being in one spot to hear the music. Morella's Forest stirred things up though, with their loud, noise rock behind Sydney's breathy, beautiful voice and Shawn's extended feed-back guitar solos. Morella's Forest's show was one of the festival highlights. Sixpence None the Richer was next up and played a beautiful set. They tried a lot of their new material, which was wonderful even on first listen. By this time it was dusk and the sun had gone down, but the clouds rolled in and unleashed a tremendous storm. This, unfortunately, interrupted Bart Campolo's talk about Compassion International and delayed the last two bands of the night. On the positive side, the rain felt good after a day of one hundred degree heat, even if I was soaked. The downpour finally stopped and, after some time to dry off the stage, ska filled the night air as the Supertones hit the stage. The Purple Door was alive again, dancing and skanking up a storm (excuse the pun). Unfortunately, the Supertones had to play an abbreviated show and so did the last band, Third Day. Underneath a fantastic light show provided by the lightening clouds that were now a little to the north of us, Third Day played an affecting set of poignant and prayerful songs. One song, in particular, had a lyric that stuck with me: "Lord take my heart because I'm not strong enough to give it to you."  

The promotional literature described the festival as "Concerts, Poetry, Visual Arts; A Celebration of Arts & Faith." I saw and enjoyed all this. I also enjoyed meeting new people, surprisingly finding old friends--I even shockingly ran into my nephews there. The sights and sounds of Purple Door are not to be missed if you are in the Lancaster area! And it's worth the trip if you can drive from points north, south, east or west. As I stood in the night, reflecting on the day, pretty tired and very wet, I remembered the bands I had seen--especially Ghoti Hook, Upside Down Room, Morella's Forest, and Sixpence None The Richer. And also, the people that had made the day memorable and the phenomenal natural light show in the clouds. It was a very good Saturday!