Lifesong Tour Wraps
CASTING CROWNS PERFORMS FOR MORE THAN 350,000 FANS ON HIGHLY IMPACTING “LIFESONG TOUR”
More Than 43,000 Audience Members Respond to Salvation Message
World Vision Receives Over 12,000 Child Sponsorships
(Nashville, Tenn.) May 17, 2006 – GRAMMY Award winning group Casting Crowns and featured guests, Nichole Nordeman, Josh Bates and speaker Tony Nolan, corporately known as the “Lifesong Tour,’ recently sang to the final packed house of the tour after a three month, 47-city spring run that marked 19 sellouts and connected them with more than 209,000 fans. With the spring and fall legs combined, the Lifesong Tour closes with 84 markets notching up an incredible 357,000 in total tour attendance.
In addition to remarkable ticket sells, the Lifesong Tour had a major ministry impact. The tour saw over 43,000 individuals make decisions for Christ and allowed Casting Crowns the opportunity to unite more than 12,000 World Vision children with sponsors.
Lead singer Mark Hall recalls, “We prayed for three things to happen on the Lifesong Tour: that people would come to know Jesus, that believers would grow closer to Jesus, and that they would walk away challenged to find their ministry in the body of Christ. God was honored and Jesus was lifted up and He let us be a part of what He is doing in 84 cities.”
Nichole Nordeman adds, “It was a great experience to see so many people over much of the country, these past several months. I'm not sure when I have enjoyed playing music live as much as I did on this tour...I felt as though I hit the lottery every night playing with such amazing players. God was, as He always is, faithful to show Himself to me in very new and unlikely ways...and I am richer for the experience.”
“It was awesome to see that Casting Crowns’ individual lives for God offstage are just as powerful as their collective music onstage,” notes Josh Bates. “It was a real encouragement to my personal walk with God just to get to be with them on the road as my friends and for me to be a part of this tour.”
Guest speaker and tour pastor Tony Nolan states, “Casting Crowns has redefined what it means to be a Christian artist. God was so thick in every venue and we saw over 43,000 decisions made for Jesus with over 85% of those being for salvation. Glory to God.”
The buzz in each market was electric and exceptional numbers helped make the Lifesong Tour one of the most successful bills of the spring. “The Lifesong Tour was the most well attended Christian event in this park’s history,” said Brian Davis, Promotions Manager, Six Flags New England. “Six Flags New England creates family fun and fond memories by providing our guests with a diverse entertainment package. Casting Crowns exceeded all expectation, delivering an unforgettable and powerful performance.”
Among the tallied 19 sell-outs for the 3+-hour concert were concerts held at Penn State, Liberty University, Missouri State University and the last two back-to-back concerts in Manheim, PA. The artists, partnering with KTIS radio in St. Paul, drew the largest audience on the tour at the Xcel Center, gathering 10,419 eager fans, according to the Pioneer Press. “The Lifesong Tour was most certainly the highlight of the year so far! This one will be hard to beat! The response from our audience was overwhelming!” says Dan Wynia of KTIS FM in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
North Carolina promoter, Richard Young saw combined sales of over 16,000 tickets between Charlotte’s Cricket Center and the RBC Center in Raleigh. “To see the counseling room filled with praying people and lives being changed is a blessing you never forget and a reminder of why we do what we do,” says Young.
“From the musicianship of Josh Bates to Tony’s evangelistic zeal to Nichole’s transparency and Casting Crowns’ worshipful posture, the Lifesong Tour was truly an event for the whole family that challenged my wife and me while introducing our young children to what a Christian concert should be,” said Bob Smithouser, Editor of Plugged In Magazine, regarding the Denver concert.
Platinum-selling and GRAMMY Award winning band Casting Crowns was named Group of the Year for the second consecutive year at the 37th Annual Gospel Music Awards last month. Earlier this year, the band received its first GRAMMY for its sophomore recording, Lifesong (8/30/2005). While this project was certified Gold after just 12 weeks in the market, the band has sold a career total of more than two million records in its short career. In 2004, Casting Crowns’ self-titled debut album quickly earned the highest first-week sales of any debut artist on Nielsen SoundScan Christian market sales chart for the year, eventually selling over 1.3 million units. The project’s three radio singles all spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on numerous charts, including a record-breaking 13 weeks at number one for the mega hit, “Voice of Truth.” For the year 2004, Casting Crowns was the most played artist on all Christian radio formats combined, and performed to more than two million people in concert. Currently, the band’s fifth radio No. 1 “Praise You in This Storm” remains atop Christian radio charts.
Prolific singer/songwriter, Nichole Nordeman, returns to Dallas and to the writing room to begin work on the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2005 release, Brave. Widely considered a gifted essayist, the two-time “Female Vocalist Of The Year” will also pen a monthly column titled ‘Loose Ends’ for CCM Magazine beginning with the June issue of the popular music publication.
Other upcoming projects include Nordeman’s contribution of an original song called “You Are Good” to “Sing Over Me, Worship Songs and Lullabies,” a collective set to release on August 1. In addition to upcoming solo dates, Nichole will perform at Women Of Faith Conferences in Atlanta, Sacramento, Vancouver, BC and Glendale, AZ. “Real To Me,” the third single from Brave, debuted this week and is currently moving on the AC Top Indicator with 26 R&R stations adding the song out of the box. ‘Brave,’ the title cut from her fifth recording, became Nordeman’s fourth #1, holding the position for four weeks and “What If” climbed the charts to #5.
The Lifesong Tour was the first tour of this length for Speaker/Tour Pastor Tony Nolan. Look for more Gospel preaching from Tony at SHOUTfest, Atlanta Fest, Winter Jam and K-LOVE Family & Friends Cruise.
Josh Bates, the 23-year-old singer/songwriter who hails from Kentucky, caught the attention of concertgoers this spring. Josh will return home to begin the writing and recording process on his second album and can be seen on June 4 on Hour Of Power from Crystal Cathedral, which is syndicated to a worldwide audience of an estimated 20 million viewers.
For more information on Casting Crowns and for updated concert listings, please visit www.castingcrowns.com or www.reunionrecords.com.
