It was a blast from the past at the Harvest Crusade Christian Festival held at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA August 23-25 when Christian hard rockers, Flyleaf took the stage on Saturday.
The band was filling in for NEEDTOBREATHE after that band had to back out at the very last minute. Nevertheless, the show went off without a hitch. Flyleaf ripped through old favorites like “All Around Me” and “I’m So Sick” off of their 2007 self-titled album and newer songs off of 2012’s “New Horizons.”
Despite a new lead singer Flyleaf sounded almost exactly as when they first burst onto the Christian rock scene in the mid-2000’s. New singer Kristen May, who replaced Lacey Sturm, looked great with the group and brought a new light and positive energy to the group’s sound and performance.
The band seemed to have a new sense of maturity and held themselves very well on stage despite seemingly three-quarters of the packed Angels Stadium having no clue who they were. Despite the initial indifference, Flyleaf showed everybody that they were more than just the night’s replacements and received massive applause for their performance.
Also performing at the Harvest Festival on Saturday were Australian sweethearts For King and Country. The Sydney natives gave a captivating performance that had their lead vocalist and co-founder Joel Smallbone banging on several different drums as he belt out lyrics praising the Lord. Joel’s brother Luke was missing for the night as he was out for medical reasons.
Despite being down a major part of the group, For King and Country did not cease to disappoint. The charming young men made it clear that their message of the night was chivalry is not dead and women are to be treated like queens. Needless to say, that won lots of applause and screams of approval for the young ladies in the crowd. It also doesn’t hurt that the men in the band are unforgivably handsome.
You can check out both FlyLeaf and For King and Country on Spotify and itunes. For Flyleaf news and tour dates go to, www.flyleaf.com. Similar information on For King and Country can be found at, www.forkingandcountry.com.