Last Thursday, Jimmy and I headed to Dallas for The Music Builds Tour concert featuring Third Day, Switchfoot, Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Jars of Clay.

It was a fun evening and a great show.

Mark arranged our tickets, so we had to go to a special “Band Will Call” line – which made us feel…special. We also had to enter the venue through a special gate, which also, in fact, made us feel…special.

It doesn’t take much.

We opened the envelope and saw that he’d put Meet and Greet passes in there but the Meet and Greet had already ended by the time we arrived. Being the nice guy that he is, though, Mark sent a messenger out to our seats with passes for the after show Meet and Greet.

Messengers make us feel special.

Again, it’s the little things.

Yet, regardless of all this rock star treatment Jimmy and I are still a businessman and a suburban mom, and we brought all the coolness that entails with us to the concert.

Example #1

My wardrobe is in such a sad state of suburban mom-ishness that the outfit I wore to the concert…? Yeah, it was the SAME outfit I wore to play group on Monday. Don’t pity me. Send me gift cards. And a babysitter.

Example #2

To further enhance our coolness, the first thing Jimmy did after we found our seats was buy some bright orange ear plugs. Trendy.

The Concert

We missed a lot of Jars’ set but we saw all of Robert Randolph and The Family Band. They were amazing. Very different and very creative,

Switchfoot put on a GREAT show. They’re great at connecting with the audience – which is hard with such a big venue. They created a lot of entertaining and memorable moments.

And Third Day was, as usual, incredible. What struck me the most about their set, besides the great music, was that they actually shared the Gospel. I’ve attended a LOT of concerts and it’s actually pretty rare for artists to share their faith in an intentional and clear way. There’s such a sense of sincerity that flows from them that it wasn’t preachy. They were just sharing what they’re all about.

Very cool.

Check out the tour dates for The Music Builds Tour here. If you can go, I highly recommend the show.

Meeting Blog Friends

The most fun part of the evening, though was meeting blog friends. Between sets, Jimmy and I were able to meet “Diane in L.A.” who is a frequent reader and commenter here. We chatted about kids and concerts and gum chewing.

She also was gracious enough to introduce us to David, Third Day’s drummer.

The Meet and Greet

After the show, JImmy and I stood in line for the Meet and Greet. We were standing in line behind a family with two teenagers in wheelchairs.

As people began to line up and fight for position, Jimmy said, I sure hope everyone let’s them go first.

But while we were walking into the meeting room, we overheard their parents asking the guard, “We need passes? Where do we get them?”

Jimmy, being the amazing man that he is, immediately found the “Guy in Charge” of the Meet and Greet, told him about the situation, took off his Meet and Greet pass and said he’d like to give his pass to the kids outside.

I totally married up.

“Guy in Charge” told Jimmy to keep his pass and he’d take care of the kids. I’m so glad Jimmy said something!

I Don’t Think He Knows He’s Famous

As soon as the band walked into the room Mark walked right over to us and treated us like long lost friends. We chatted for a bit and then I tried to take a picture of Mark and Jimmy with my phone:

Great pic, huh?

Well, Mark had to go around and meet all the other people in the room, so Jimmy and I went to find Stephanie, Mark’s wife. She was just as sweet as could be. We talked about blogging, her business and motherhood.

About 5 minutes into our conversation, Mark came over with a photographer in tow and said, “We’ve got to get a good pic!” Seriously, how thoughtful was that?

Thoughts on Fame

As we were walking to our car, Jimmy and I just talked about how considerate and thoughtful Mark and Stephanie are. I was so impressed and inspired to treat people better than I do.

Not that I treat people badly, but I want to make people feel famous. My friend Annie, wrote an amazing post that you must read.

The line that struck me was when she said that she wants to treat people in such a way, that when they walk away they wonder, “Am I famous? Because she made me feel famous…”

I want to treat people like that.

Fun Tweets and Lame Analogies

Jimmy and I cracked up while we were driving home when we saw this Tweet from Mark.

(Incidentally, a lot of people started following me on Twitter after that Tweet. Maybe they thought I was famous.)



Hmmm…so if we treat other people like they’re special, people watching us will think that person is special and treat them well.

I guess it’s kind of like clutter on your kitchen counter. If the counter is clean, everyone puts their stuff away, but if you leave one thing on the counter, everyone starts dumping their junk.

It really matters how we treat people. Others notice.

How’s that for an analogy?

Your Turn

When was the last time someone made you feel “famous?”

(Click here for more posts around the blogosphere about Third Day.)