104.7/The Fish brings Amy Grant, Switchfoot, Jeremy Camp, Jars of Clay for free Sept. 1 concert
Amy Grant is one of the legends of Christian music, who also had her fair number of pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s. CREDIT: AP
For the fifth year in a row, 104.7/The Fish brings Atlanta the largest free outdoor concert of the year on Sept. 1 featuring a variety of A-list Christian acts such as Switchfoot, Jars of Clay, Jeremy Camp and Amy Grant.
Teaming with the Atlanta-based Winshape Foundation as a primary sponsor, this massive undertaking is held each year at Jim R. Miller Park in Marietta. Doors open at 7 a.m. and music begins at 8 a.m. The concert ends with fireworks just before 11 p.m.
“It’s a good location as far as where our listener base is,” said Fish program director Mike Blakemore. “There’s a covered roof over the stage if it rains, yet it’s open air all around so you get that outdoor feel. It’s a nice combination.”
Grant – one of the most successful cross-over Christian artists with top 40 pop hits such as “Baby Baby” and “Every Heartbeat” – “has mainstream appeal that may bring in a new audience,” Blakemore said.
The concert draws 40,000 to 50,000 people a year. “We’re hoping for more than 50,000 this year,” said Chad Davis, promotions director for the Fish.
The final four acts will be, in order, Jars of Clay (at around 7 p.m.), Amy Grant (at around 8 p.m.), Jeremy Camp (at about 9 p.m.) and Switchfoot (at around 10 p.m.). Each will get about 45 minutes.
The acts earlier in the day are Sanctus Real, Hawk Nelson, The Afters, Kutless, Leeland, Dara Maclean, Jamie Grace, Jason Castro, for King & Country, Sidewalk Prophets, Jonny Diaz and Montell Jordan with Victory World Music. The final schedule order will be released next week.
Switchfoot was a headliner the past two years as well.
Concertgoers won’t be able to bring in ice chests, food or drinks, but there will be plenty of fair-like food options all day. Chairs, towels and blankets are acceptable.
Tickets are free and available at select BP, Ingles and Kid to Kid locations. You can also print out tickets at www.celebratefreedomatlanta.com.
Winshape Foundation, a non-profit organization that operates foster care homes, holds marriage counseling retreats and hands out college scholarships, is run by Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy and his wife Jeannette.
The concept was inspired by a Celebrate Freedom concert in a sister Dallas station 94.9/KLTY, that has run annually for 22 years at Southfork Ranch, site of the current TNT version of “Dallas.
Concert preview
Celebrate Freedom with Jars of Clay, Jeremy Camp, Amy Grant, Switchfoot and more
Doors open at 7 a.m. Music plays from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday Sept. 1
Free with $5 parking. Jim R. Miller Park, 2245 Callaway Road SW, Marietta, 770-528-8875, www.celebratefreedomatlanta.com.
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By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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41 comments Add your comment
Gentile Larry W A C H S
August 23rd, 2012
10:10 am
I can’t wait! I’ll be there dressed as a rabbi.
RouthernSock
August 23rd, 2012
11:08 am
Only ever heard of Amy Grant. And I don’t think I’d pay to see her for free.
bucket
August 23rd, 2012
1:37 pm
Switchfoot is one of the greatest bands performing today, secular or Christian. Their songs are awesome and real and their stage presence and performance is second to none in my opinion. We saw them in Athens back in May and that was one of the best concerts I have ever attended.
ash
August 23rd, 2012
2:12 pm
@ Bucket – High five! Switchfoot is AMAZING! so is Skillet if anyone likes that type of music. I heard them on the radio once and looked up more of their songs and fell in love! I wish I could go to this concert but I will be out of town!
Matthew Shardlake
August 23rd, 2012
2:18 pm
RoutherSock: Guessing you will not be missed.
Juan Carlos Diego Raul Sanchez
August 23rd, 2012
2:28 pm
Gentile – see you there lets slam a couple of bottles of manischewitz and hit on some over 30’s…WWLWD…What Would Larry Wachs Do
Fred ™
August 23rd, 2012
2:47 pm
Wow. Let the low class Christian bashing begin. It makes you so cool to bash some one for their religion…….. well only if they are Christian. Everyone else is protected.
Juan Carlos Diego Raul Sanchez
August 23rd, 2012
2:58 pm
what are you talking about? i just want to hook up with my bro larry and pick up chicks…you need to watch Courageous and Judge Thee not…punk
Pandora
August 23rd, 2012
3:08 pm
I think you made a mistake. You have here that the first act will be on stage by 8 a.m. and the doors open at 7 a.m. (with the concert starting an hour later). Did you mean p.m. instead of a.m.?
Gman
August 23rd, 2012
3:13 pm
@Pandora – Did you see the list of musicians? Twelve besides the headliners and if each gets 45 minutes, starting at 8 am is when the concert begins.
Stryper
August 23rd, 2012
3:33 pm
Good ness, why is christian rock so terrible
yikes
August 23rd, 2012
3:35 pm
bwahahhahahahahhahahaha
Sad
August 23rd, 2012
3:47 pm
It is sad to see the negative comments about Christian music. These are great bands (and Amy Grant is ok) and if you don’t want to see them, you don’t have to. Just try to be nice.
Hungry
August 23rd, 2012
4:02 pm
Can someone pass the Grey Poupon, please?
Reason
August 23rd, 2012
4:22 pm
We Christians set ourselves up for some bashing because sometimes we don’t act, well, very Christian. So assume the comments are a result of less than admirable previous interactions with others who claim to be followers of Christ, and try not to make the same mistakes as those that came before you.
As for the music, I daresay that anything that draws 50,000 people probably isn’t too bad. The Braves wouldn’t draw 50,000 if they were in town Saturday.
JAJA
August 23rd, 2012
4:22 pm
There are great artists/bands whom will be there performing, some I like, or not so much. I am trying to understand all the negative comments. If you wish to go, go; if you do not then do not attend. It is free and you can come and go as you please. For all those who will be attending, ENJOY listening to some great ( and clean) music. BE BLESSED
bucket
August 23rd, 2012
4:26 pm
@ ash – Agreed on Switchfoot. Alot of people have heard Switchfoot, they just don’t realize it. They have become a mainstream band and do alot of secular venues and have commercials for Verizon, ESPN, the Braves, Hawaii Five-O, and some movie soundtracks. I saw Skillet in Augusta last year and they put on a great hard rock show!
RAPture
August 23rd, 2012
4:35 pm
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
DebDoes
August 23rd, 2012
4:53 pm
If ya can’t say anything nice…….go type elsewhere! Amy is great along with the others.
Best to Fish family and hope the skies are blue for the day.
G-Money
August 23rd, 2012
5:03 pm
This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy some good clean family time and fellowship. I personally would like to thank 104.7 and the Winshape Foundation. For those who are not attending may God bless you, and for those who have rude cynical remarks- again, may God bless you.
Rath
August 23rd, 2012
5:26 pm
@Juan Carlos Diego Raul Sanchez
please come so you can be bi+ched slapped in front of 50K of the ‘meek and humble’.
I offer to sin and will do the slapping of your punk face. Be sure and bring your ‘lady’ so she can see her man understand how to be humbled.
Joe
August 23rd, 2012
6:19 pm
I challenge everyone to watch/listen to the Atheist Experience TV show. They have a website, it’s on Youtube, and they have it as a podcast on iTunes.
Also, watch as much stuff as you can from Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins on Youtube.
I’m not telling you what to think or what to “believe”. But I am telling you that you owe it to yourself to look into the reasoning behind atheism/agnosticism.
Gary Chapman
August 23rd, 2012
6:26 pm
Amy Grant? I’d tap that.
Paula D
August 23rd, 2012
6:33 pm
Is divorce not a SIN?
I thought Amy Grant divorced her husband in 1999?
Wait, she claims to be a Christian but she DIVORCED her husband?
Hmmmmmmm..does that not make her chock full of sin?
Like most people full of hypocrisy,she will think none of the rules apply to her.
Guess I will have to catch her sometime judging others in the Chick-Fil-A drive thru.
Jesus Saves! Passes to Moses, he shoots, and scores
August 23rd, 2012
6:54 pm
Sunday morning is the most segregated day in the history of man kind. I swear theres got to be more than one heaven.
mike lum
August 23rd, 2012
6:59 pm
Paula, Amy Grant will tell you she is a sinner. I’m pretty sure all 50,000 attending the concert are as well (including me). And your point is?
gab
August 23rd, 2012
7:07 pm
The Bible says that none of us is without sin. The point that non -Christians don’t understand is that while of us have sinned, Jesus Christ died on the cross to give us a chance at forgiveness.
Kar
August 23rd, 2012
7:16 pm
I thought that half of those groups had left Christian Rock to go for mainstream money.
Joe
August 23rd, 2012
7:20 pm
gab,
What about the people who lived and died before Jesus? Did they have a chance at forgiveness?
Not an Atheist
August 23rd, 2012
7:52 pm
Joe, while atheism has a certain mathematical probability, the problem is it reduces all forms of life to nothing more than self sustaining chemical reactions. Nothing more. Antything more is just imagination at work (no different than the atheist claims about religion) Anything you think you know about morality or ethics or anything similar is just a belief. Unless you can explain it with a periodic table of elements or the laws of physics, it is just your imagination at work. A broccolli, a fire, and a human are the same. Each consumers energy or fuel until it runs out of and perishes.
My morality of selfishness and debauchery has as much validity as yours. I feel no more remorse over stealing your food, money, enslaving your children than an asteriod feels plowing into a planet and wiping out the dinosaurs. Anything you think you feel about morality is just your overactive imagination.
Helen
August 23rd, 2012
8:02 pm
If atheists truly don’t care, why do they waste time downing those who do?
MountainDawg
August 23rd, 2012
8:30 pm
Pop of any sort (”Christian” included) is junky. Y’all wanna hear some good music uplifting music, have a listen to some good old time Southern Gospel…The Happy Goodmans, Statemen Quartet, Florida Boys, etc. This modern mess cannot compare!
Joe
August 23rd, 2012
9:10 pm
Helen, who said atheists “don’t care”? I think if you’ll find that most atheists care a great deal.
And “Not an Atheist”, I have no idea what you’re trying to get across. You’re all over the place.
michael howell
August 24th, 2012
9:20 am
The word says “Blessed are you when you are persecuted for my names sake” We are creating a wonderful day for families to come out and enjoy themselves for free. If that is something people feel is worth attacking instead of making a difference in the world I think that speaks volumes about them. Slam away…and bless us.
boots
August 24th, 2012
12:04 pm
Let me get this straight – a great radio station and charity team up to put on a free show with some very positive music for Atlanta families. Switchfoot is one of the leading alternative bands in any marktet, and Jars of Clay has been a staple of alternative radio for years. Amy Grant is a long-time star. Meanwhile the trolls on this board make comments about having sex with the stars, mocking Christianity, and making Chick-fil-a comments. Geez. I, for one, am glad that this concert is happening, will take my family and am grateful for it.
Barnum
August 24th, 2012
12:38 pm
boots,
I hope you don’t think Joe was “mocking Christianity” by asking that question. That was an innocent question and has yet to be answered. I actually wonder the same thing.
JimmyZ
August 24th, 2012
12:57 pm
I look at it this way. Both Jesus and Heaven are real, and I will get to go there and see Him, or they’re not.
If they are, I’m in good shape.
If it’s all a myth, I spent my Sunday’s listening to some great music at Mountain Lake Church, and living my life under a belief system with Love at it’s core, for which I’m probably a better person anyway.
The folks who don’t believe, on the other hand, don’t come off so good.
Blaise Pascal
August 24th, 2012
2:02 pm
I agree Jimmy. “Believe” just in case.
Answer to joe
August 24th, 2012
11:12 pm
Answer: Since the fall of man, the basis of salvation has always been the death of Christ. No one, either prior to the cross or since the cross, would ever be saved without that one pivotal event in the history of the world. Christ’s death paid the penalty for past sins of Old Testament saints and future sins of New Testament saints.
The requirement for salvation has always been faith. The object of one’s faith for salvation has always been God. The psalmist wrote, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:12). Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed God and that was enough for God to credit it to him for righteousness (see also Romans 4:3-8). The Old Testament sacrificial system did not take away sin, as Hebrews 10:1-10 clearly teaches. It did, however, point to the day when the Son of God would shed His blood for the sinful human race.
What has changed through the ages is the content of a believer’s faith. God’s requirement of what must be believed is based on the amount of revelation He has given mankind up to that time. This is called progressive revelation. Adam believed the promise God gave in Genesis 3:15 that the Seed of the woman would conquer Satan. Adam believed Him, demonstrated by the name he gave Eve (v. 20) and the Lord indicated His acceptance immediately by covering them with coats of skin (v. 21). At that point that is all Adam knew, but he believed it.
Abraham believed God according to the promises and new revelation God gave him in Genesis 12 and 15. Prior to Moses, no Scripture was written, but mankind was responsible for what God had revealed. Throughout the Old Testament, believers came to salvation because they believed that God would someday take care of their sin problem. Today, we look back, believing that He has already taken care of our sins on the cross (John 3:16; Hebrews 9:28).
What about believers in Christ’s day, prior to the cross and resurrection? What did they believe? Did they understand the full picture of Christ dying on a cross for their sins? Late in His ministry, “Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Matthew 16:21-22). What was the reaction of His disciples to this message? “Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”" Peter and the other disciples did not know the full truth, yet they were saved because they believed that God would take care of their sin problem. They didn’t exactly know how He would accomplish that, any more than Adam, Abraham, Moses, or David knew how, but they believed God.
Today, we have more revelation than the people living before the resurrection of Christ; we know the full picture. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Our salvation is still based on the death of Christ, our faith is still the requirement for salvation, and the object of our faith is still God. Today, for us, the content of our faith is that Jesus Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Answer to joe
August 24th, 2012
11:12 pm
Enter your comments here
Great lineup
August 25th, 2012
5:31 am
If I’m counting correctly that’s 16 artists in one day. I’m guessing not every artist will get the whole 45 min., but really – 16 artists for free. If you don’t like all of them, you’re bound to like one or two.
Chances are, if you’re familiar with the artists you’ll know their songs, but here’s a few for reference:
Sanctus Real – Forgiven, Lead Me, Whatever You’re Doing (Something Heavenly), We Need Each Other, The Face of Love, Keep My Heart Alive,
Hawk Nelson – Friend Like That, One Little Miracle, Bring ‘Em Out,
The Afters – Light Up The Sky, Lift Me Up, Life Is Beautiful, Never Going Back to OK, Ocean Wide,
Kutless – What Faith Can Do, Strong Tower, Even If, Sea of Faces, All Who Are Thirsty, I’m Still Yours,
Leeland – The Great Awakening, Follow You, The Sound of Melodies, Tears of the Saints,
Dara Maclean – You Got My Attention, Unreachable, Suitcases, The Day Love Was Born,
Jamie Grace (from Georgia) – Hold Me, You Lead, Show Jesus,
Jason Castro – You Are, What If I Fall, Who I Really Am, It Matters To Me, Wait (For A Miracle),
for King & Country – The Proof Of Your Love, Busted Heart (Hold On To Me),
Sidewalk Prophets – You Love Me Anyway, Live Like That, The Words I Would Say, Love, Love, Love
Jonny Diaz (brother of Atlanta Brave Matt Diaz) – More Beautiful You, Beauty of the Cross, Scars, Hold Me, Love Like You Loved, Stand For You,
Montell Jordan with Victory World Music – Shake Heaven, These Hands
Switchfoot – Stars, Dare You To Move, Always, Meant To Live, The Sound, On Fire, Gone, Mess of Me, This Is Your Life, Dark Horses, This Is Home
Jars of Clay – Love Song To a Savior, Two Hands, Out of My Hands, Work, Five Candles, Trouble Is, Like A Child, Flood, Dead Man (Carry Me),
Jeremy Camp – Walk By Faith, I Still Believe, This Man, There Will Be a Day, Overcome, The Way, Take You Back, Let It Fade
Amy Grant – Better Than A Hallelujah, Lead Me On, Somewhere Down The Road, That’s What Love Is For, Saved By Love, Takes A Little Time.
.