My Point Of Grace Concert Experience July 18, 1998

by

Jenny Franz

When my sister-in-law, Pamela, and I first arrived in Detroit Lakes, MN (around 2:00 pm), we couldn't find the Soo Pass Ranch, which is where "Spirit Fest Midwest" was being held. We kept driving and driving but saw nothing. We were almost ready to turn around and ask someone for directions when we saw hundreds of campers parked on a "hillside".

It was kind of in the middle of nowhere, and Pamela said, "somehow I just don't think this is it." It was a three day camping thing though, as well, so we kept going. A few miles down the road we saw a sign--"Spirit =46est Midwest"--That was it!

We followed this long line of cars into a field half filled with cars. We paid the $3 parking fee and parked where they told us to. The only thing was, it was 2 miles from the "ranch", which meant we had to carry our lawn chairs and everything for 2 miles!

It had rained the entire way down. But when we got there the sun was definitely shining!! And it got really hot!! I got burned on my face and legs! Especially my nose!:) There were a lot of bugs too! I got 31 bites!

Everything was really expensive! For example, it was $2.50 for a 20oz. bottle of pop. And how convenient--you couldn't bring any food or beverages on the site! Hot dogs were also $2.50, and a small glass of ice was 50cents!

When we finally got to the grounds (after walking the 2 miles), we needed to exchange our tickets for a stamp which went on your hand. Again, we didn't know where to go so we followed the crowds to a ticket booth. Oops, wrong booth...we got sent to 5 different booths! Finally the sixth one was a winner.

Once we were in, we went to find the main stage, which is where Point Of Grace, 4HIM, and Amy Grant were to be performing that evening. We needed to put our lawn chairs down. We passed the acoustic coffee house where they had artists like Sarah Hart and Rick Alias, the gospel stage with artists like 3 Soul Cry and New Creation, and the alternative stage boasting groups such as Aflame and Plankeye. Finally, there was the main stage--the biggest and the best.

We put our chairs down then (which was good, because when we came back there were TONS of other chairs behind ours...so we got better seats because we put them down right away!) and headed to look at the many different concession stands they had set up. They sold everything from sunglasses and hats, to T-shirts and photos, to food and drinks...they even had a place where you could get tattoos! There was nothing Point Of Grace though! Lots of 4HIM and Amy Grant, but no POG.:(

We sat down after walking around for a couple hours (Pamela spilled pop on her shorts too! hehe!). Anyway, all of a sudden (4:17 pm) as we sat there baking in the sun, I heard a band start playing Steady On! There was a tape of them singing, playing quietly in the background! It was right then when it hit me--I was ACTUALLY going to see POINT OF GRACE!!!!

It was really cool that they played it at that moment, because I was already singing it in my head! See, almost the whole way down Pamela and I were listening to the e-CD repeatedly! ( Many thanks to Angie for sending it to me!)

So, after they played Steady On, the band kept on "warming up" for another hour, and we sat there listening. "Hey! hey! Check one, two, hey!" that's all they said over and over again.

Around 6:00 pm the Power Of God band (which consisted of many different people like Ashley Cleveland, Dez Dickerson, Terry Clark, Paul Todd, Phil Driscoll and many more) started playing. They were suppose to begin at 5:15, but everything was running behind because they all had to stall--for Point of Grace!!

The band went on forever, and because they were trying to "waste" time, they had all these different people sing and play over and over again. The crowd was getting annoyed, and they kept on doing the wave. They even had people from the audience stand up and sing! I just wanted Point Of Grace.

Finally, a little after 7:00 pm Dawson McAllister began his 45 minute speech on the "Prodigal Son". After awhile the crowd started to get "fidgety". I think they were all kind of anticipating the concerts to follow.

About 10 minutes into his speech, I looked behind us and this girl had a POG shirt! Pam asked me if she should ask where she got it, and I'm like "oh yeah!". Pamela said "Hey where did you get that?"

The lady said that the Points had called from their bus to say that their plane was 45 minutes late! The reason they couldn't sell and Point Of Grace stuff before was because the Grace girls hadn't given the prices for their merchandise! They had the stuff there but didn't know how much to charge for it! So, now they had the prices. Pamela promised she'd take me to look at the stuff after the girls sang!

Meanwhile, Dawson was still talking, and I was beginning to wonder if POG was going to make it! Then I saw Denise backstage (carrying Terry's 3 month old son, Cole, I think! but it was pretty far away! Spencer, Denise's 9 month old, was at home with his Daddy, according to his Grandma, KK). There was this space between the stage and a fence where I kept seeing people, mainly Shelley, walking back and forth!

During the altar call I could see four people in a circle. I didn't know for sure if it was them. I later found out it was...Shelley said onstage that they had been praying for those who had made a commitment to follow Christ.

Then at 7:52 pm...out came Heather, Shelley, Terry, and Denise! Heather was wearing a grayish dress with spaghetti straps with a white tank top underneath; her hair was down, and she had it behind her ears most of the time. Shelley wore dark blue jeans and a white shirt (not tucked in); her hair was down also, but she didn't put it behind her ears very much. Terry had on a black skirt with green flowers on the bottom and a black shirt; her hair was pulled back. And Denise was wearing a black t-shirt (tucked in) and jeans with a black belt; her new haircut was bouncing all over.:)

They were singing their newest single, Steady On!! I was amazed! I couldn't believe I was actually seeing them! They looked like four angels! Totally cute!

When they finished Shelley wipes her forehead and says "I thought it was suppose to be cold in Minnesota!" (It was over 90 degrees!) She then introduced them.

"This is Heather Floyd and she's from Norman, Oklahoma." *crowd cheers* "And this is Denise Jones, and she's also from Norman, Oklahoma." *everyone cheers again* "And this over here is Terry Jones, and she's another Okie. She's from Norman, Oklahoma too." *people cheers once more* "And I'm Shelley Breen. I'm NOT from Norman. I'm from a little place called Little Rock, Arkansas." *Jenny and only a few others cheer* (I don't know why no one cheered for her!:( Then she goes, "well, soooorry, but I can't help it!" Then I yelled "poor Shelley!" but I don't think she heard.

She talked for awhile and then said, "y'all don't say "y'all" up here do ya?" *crowd answers "no"* Shelley says, "oh, well we love Y'ALL anyway.....I guess" Then she giggled and the crowd laughed!:)

Next they sang "Faith Hope and Love", "Jesus Is", and "Sing a Sing"! All three were awesome! "I'll Be Believing" came next, which Pam was really happy about because it's her favorite POG song:) That song was awesome too! Heather did her "scream thang" as I call it, and they did adorable dances! Some were different from the video.

Denise was a very energetic little thing throughout the entire concert...bouncing all over the stage! It was so cute - obviously! This lady next to me goes to her husband and says, "That one with the blonde hair...black shirt...too much caffeine maybe?" I was like "awww, Poor Denise!" (not out loud:) I thought they were ALL adorable!

Speaking of Denise, she was the next one to talk. She introduced their new band! "They've only done three shows with us actually. They're awesome!" It was so precious how she said "awesome"! She said it really fast and it was so cute!:)

Anyway, these girls kept on holding up these signs for the Points to say happy birthday to Julie. So, Denise goes, "These girls are holding up these birthday signs, so happy birthday Julie! How old are you?" She must have said "old" Because Denise half-laughed, "old? she said old!...no your not." Then she went on talking.

Then they brought out their stools and sang an awesome medley including as Denise said "some of their favorite songs" : "Dying to Reach You", "Without The Love of Jesus", and "One More Broken Heart"! It was cool because they only had a guitar to back them up so you could hear their precious voices better!

After that, they sang "Jesus Will Still Be There" and "Circle of Friends"!:) Heather then came out and gave a speech about the Apostle Paul and her recent study on him. It was awesome! She talked about following God down any road at any cost.:) Guess which song came next? hehe!

But during Heather's speech I was rewinding the film in my camera and it was so loud! So all these people turned around and looked at me! I was so embarrassed! I only took 40 pictures though. And I kept standing up (even on my chair) to take them! There was this one guy and he kept lifting his hands up RIGHT when I was going to take the pictures though! It happened so many times. Sometimes I just took them between his arms! hehe! why not?:)

OK, so yes, after Heather's speech they did sing "Any Road, Any Cost" and also "Keep The Candle Burning"! Way awesome!!

Then Terry talked and she asked, "How are y'all in MInnesota? MinNEsota. MinneSOta. MinnesoTA." And it was so cute! Because she said it putting the emphasis on a different syllable every time! It was way cute!

And then she asked, "How many of you guys are from South Dakota?" Some people cheered and she goes "yeah? well, we're gonna be there - in Fargo."--Fargo is in North Dakota though! Cute huh? She got her states and cities mixed up:) aww....

They ended with "Better Days" at 9:01 pm! Shelley said, "Thanks for coming! We love you and God bless." They waved, walked off the stage and were gone.

Pam and I immediately went to go find the girls. 4HIM and Amy Grant were after them.

So, anyway we took our chairs and set them up against this fence and then we walked into the restricted area... we didn't know it was restricted though! oops! Pamela asked this guy--who was really nice—if there was any way we could possibly meet POG. We told him we had presents and stuff.

There were three other girls there asking the same thing so the guy went backstage to ask the girls if they would be signing or not...

While he was gone this lady turns to me and says, "Do you know the Point of Grace girls? Do you know Shelley? She's a friend of my friends." I'm like, "Yeah! I know them all!" hehe! (I don't think I "know" them the way she meant! hehe!)

The guy came back and said that they were in talking to me press and they MIGHT be signing. So, he told us to go wait by where the records were being sold. I think he was just trying to get rid of us though!:) So, off we went....

Of course we stopped at the T-shirt "shop" first! I got two! The "girls rule" one and the one with the picture of them with Heather on top then Terry, Denise, and Shelley! They're both cute!

We waited for about an hour and a half...we saw no sign of them. 4HIM was finished with their concert so we thought that maybe the press would want to talk with them now, and Point of Grace could come out and sign. But they never did.

We went back to the restricted area one more time JUST in case. I think I could see them under this tent talking to the press. We were just standing there...we still didn't know it was the restricted area until this guy came over to us and he asks "do you guys have a pass to be back here?" We're like, "uh, no..." So we had to leave....he followed us out, and was blocking the way back in.

So we just got our chairs and left because it was already 10:30pm and the drive home was 4 hours long.

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