Celebrate Freedom - Texas CAMPout Recap!

I've been looking forward to this show since January and I can't believe it's over! :( What a crazy, insane, annoying, HOT, miserable, fun, INCREDIBLE day!!!

 

Ben and I left at 8am to head to Dallas. Stopped in Fort Worth & picked up a friend, went to lunch, then we were finally on our way. Unfortunately, everything took so long to do, that we didn't make it to the festival in time for Sanctus Real who I REEEEALLY wanted to see! :(

 

But...we did make it with plenty of time to spare before the CAMPout began! Hung around for a bit, watched a little bit of The Afters, then made our way over to the autograph area. Sadly we realized they had ONE line going for multiple artists so this was going to make it harder for us to hang out from 5 to 6 for J. Or so we thought. My friends and I got in line so they could meet the Newsboys. While we were in line, Steph and Lana both arrived...so when we got to the front we asked security if there was any way we could go over to J's table & wait for him there. He told me we could wait at the front of the line and just let people pass who wanted to get the other artists' autographs. There were so many of us together at this point that we ended up forming a mob at the front of this nice, straight, single-file line. Security was not liking us at this point. They kept trying to get us to form some sort of a line, but there was just no room. They walked around huffing and puffing. Then a new guy showed up and I thought "This is it...they're gonna kick us out or to the back of the line." The new guy was telling the first guy that very thing...that we probably should go to the back of the line and wait. By this time we'd been in line for almost an hour and the line was a mile long, winding up and down the pavilion several times and then AROUND the pavilion. If we'd gone to the back, we would not have been able to see J because they only gave him an hour! Fortunately for us the huffy, puffy first security guard told the new guy we'd been waiting for an hour & he didn't feel right pushing us to the back of the line. So sweet!

 

So there we were, a whole mob of CAMPers, waiting to meet J while security was not getting any happier! :( But J finally came out and after a quick interview, the signing began! I was lucky number one! :p I rolled up to him & he said "Hey! So good to see you again!" I pulled out my Right Here single for him to sign and he goes "Oh wow! More old school stuff huh?" :) I told him there was PLENTY more where that came from! :) Then we talked for a little bit about how hot it was and I asked how he was feeling. He said better but not 100%. He asked me to continue praying. Poor thing! I was MISERABLE in that heat. I couldn't imagine him having to get ready to sing & jump around onstage in it...all while not feeling 100%!!!

 

My time with him was short & sweet...no pics...just a quick hello, sign, goodbye. So there was a LOT that I'd wanted to talk to him about but didn't get to, but I wasn't about to take time from anyone else! I did mention it was a CAMPout though and he loved that! :) And with that, I moved along & watched (and shot pics) as Lana & Steph talked to him.

 

Then we all made our way over to the stage for the rest of the show. We all separated, but then Lana & her family eventually found their way back to us & hung out with us the rest of the night. We ended up pretty far back, but still had a great time regardless! Got to see the Newsboys, Mark Schultz, Kirk Franklin and then of course Jeremy! For everyone leading up to J, the audience was sitting down. Undoubtedly because of the heat! But then it hit me, surely they're all gonna stand up for J. If that were the case, I wouldn't even be able to see the screen! Sad! I just figured it didn't even matter but then Lilly, of all people, insisted that we go look elsewhere for a better spot for me. So cute! She said she wanted to get up and walk around. So she and I went and scoped out a few spots, but nothing was looking promising, so we settled back on our spot. Turns out, not too many people stood up so I was able to catch glimpses of the screen as people moved from one side to the other. Then a little bit into the set, Lilly said that she found me the perfect spot. She led me over to an area where NO ONE in front of me was standing!!! PERFECT! :) I gave her a HUGE hug for that! So we relocated and stuck with that spot for the rest of the show. A few stragglers came & stood in front of me now and then, but for the most part, I had a perfect shot of the screen :)

 

The show was of course AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, WONDERFUL....and so many more things....here's the setlist:

 

Give You Glory

Tonight

I'm Alive (we were all dancing to this one! Lilly even danced with me! :p)

This Man (new version....wow! Incredible!)
Walk By Faith (slightly new version)/Hallelujah?/Never Let Go (He didn't do Hallelujah! Don't know if it was due to time issues, but it made me sad! Still awesome though!)

Here I Am To Worship (love love love this one! Hope he keeps it in his set for the SLTB tour!)
Speaking Louder Than Before
There Will Be A Day

 

They had him do a pre-show interview & I managed to film most of that and also got a couple other speeches as well.

 

The festival ended with an awesome fireworks show!

 

We planned to be out of there by 11, dropping off Rachel by 12, and heading straight back home, but it took FOREVER to get out of the parking lot and we didn't even get to Rachel's until 2am, so we ended up staying there for the night and driving back this morning. Miserable!!!! We left early enough that it would be cool the whole way home, but when we got into San Marcos, we hit a 1 1/2 hour long traffic jam! Ugh! And it wasn't even for an accident or anything like that. It was because they were working on one of the road signs and felt it was necessary to close two of the three lanes on the highway to do this at noon! Ummmm...exactly how did ANY part of that make sense in their heads?!?!?! So we were hot, sweaty, and miserable for the second half of the ride home, but we made it home and that's all that matters :p

 

It's funny because I look back and think about how half the time I was in a car w/ no AC and one window that couldn't roll down....hot, sweaty....misery! Then I got makeup, sunscreen, sweat, and dust all in my eyes at the festival & spent the first hour in pain...then got 2 hours of sleep after the festival, and then the misery of the ride home. But somehow, I'm still able to say that I had an AWESOME time! :)