The 2014 Uprise Festival began as the sun set behind the Shippensburg Fairgrounds on Friday, Sept. 19. This festival is a two-day event that consisted of over 30 bands. It was a fun packed weekend for most, even if some got sunburnt.

Even walking in Friday night, the hill leading down to the main stage was packed with people as many wondered to find seats. This was a bit of a problem, especially if anyone tried to walk in late.
Also, the Friday night lineup left something to be desired. As someone who attended last year’s Uprise, I found that it was nicer to have one huge act both nights. By huge, I mean widely popular, even in secular circles. This year, the two main acts on Friday were For King & Country and Building 429.

For King & Country preformed halfway through Friday’s lineup and set the bar for other acts to follow. They started off their performance off with some upbeat tunes, pounding on drums and jumping all around the stage. But the real highlight of their performance was Joel Smallbone, the older of the two brothers that make up the band, who decided to walk through the crowd and join the band in the seating area in the middle of the pit and preform a few songs.

This was easily one of the coolest things to happen all night for the simple fact that Joel tried to get to basically all parts of the crowd involved. He even went into the crowd on the hill and met some people as he talked into the microphone.

Building 429, the closing act for the night, were also there to impress. Their most impressive feature was the fact they had a platform that went about 20 feet in the air while the lead singer belted out the lyrics to the end of one song. They also used the screens on either side of the stage to their full advantage as they had the lyrics to some of their songs as well as video footage from music videos. The lead singer also gave off a feeling that can only be described as “slick” as he moved around the stage.

This concluded the night and most audience members were back Saturday as well as many who were there to see the huge acts for the night. And many more stayed the full day Saturday.
This comes from the fact the previous year’s festival was a constant fight with the rainy and dreary weather for audience members and the crew, which led many to leave early. This year, it was sunny, and there was even a nice breeze to keep most from getting too hot. This made for a much more comfortable experience and allowed more wandering around the fairgrounds.

The festival also had blowup attractions, such as a wrecking ball and climbing slide, as well as and a rock-climbing wall, all of which had very long lines. These attractions were also right next to the food, which was a good as you can expect at a local fair.

As the sun started to fall, more and more people fought to get a good spot in the pit for the big acts. One of the biggest was Si Robertson and Justin Martin from the hit show Duck Dynasty.

Audience members gathered close to the stage to hear what the famed “crazy uncle” had to say, especially since Uprise gave members a chance to tweet questions that Si and Martin would answer. Some of the highlights of the Q&A were when Si talked about his service in Vietnam and how it showed him the kind of person he could be and it drew him closer to The Lord. He then finished up with a poem titled “Heaven’s Grocery Store”, which left the crowd quiet for a bit.

Family Force 5 were next and they definitely kept up their crazy reputation by rocking out hard. Thousand Foot Krutch then gave it their all, and the crowd only grew bigger. Red also rocked out hard with their “head banger” heavy metal.

This led up to the two most anticipated acts of the night, Lecrae and Skillet. Lecrae’s show started out with a light board that looked like someone was playing snake, mostly known from old phones. The rapper then came on through a cloud of smoke and got into the performance. He also used the screen behind him with clips from music videos and other various art.

His performance overall was wonderful and he connected well with the audience when explaining that he did not have a father figure in his life, citing that as the inspiration behind why he wrote one of his songs. He also made sure to promote his upcoming tour when he had the chance, which was slightly amusing.

And finally, to close out the two-day festival, Skillet took the stage and did their job. They also used the screen behind them and you could hear their guitar players were at their best. After a few songs John Cooper, the lead singer, explained that this was their last show in America and that they were ready to have a good night.

They rocked out for a few more songs and Cooper then basically preached, saying that as many letters as he has gotten about how many of their fans have said their music has saved peoples lives, Cooper wanted to remind the crowd no one is alone as long as they have Jesus and that that was the coolest part of his job.

They then finished the night with a literal bang, as fireworks went off right after their performance and even more were set off about ten minutes after that. All in all, it was a fun and musical weekend that I would highly recommend anyone attend next year.

View the full gallery at: http://www.theslateonline.com/gallery/uprise-festival-brings-rock-to-shippensburg

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