...lead singer, Jon Foreman, and bassist, brother Tim, lived in Virginia Beach in the 1980s.

Tim, 30, remembers it well. "We were just surf punks, so we would just spend all of our time in the North End."

The area has changed a lot since then, he said.

"I've been to town maybe once or twice a year since we've been touring for the last 12 years, so I've been able to watch it. It's really a fun, hip place these days."

They don't worry about labels, either. Do the Christian rockers make up a "Christian rock band"?

That label doesn't quite work for Foreman.

"I think it shrinks what, to me, is the most important aspect of who I am. I think my faith is bigger than a genre, and genres were invented to sell records."

Jon Foreman, who writes nearly all the band's songs, uses them to explore themes of soul-searching and socio-political consciousness.

"Everyone is on their own journey, and whenever you try and define people ... it puts them on display like [they are] in some sort of a zoo cage," he said. "[These songs] are basically signposts on the road of the journey that I'm on, where I'm learning the need to understand the world around me."

“It’s some new territory for us musically,” Butler told Alternative Addiction in a recent interview. “I think people are going to be surprised when they hear it, that it’s Switchfoot. I’m thrilled about it, to finally have the capacity and the freedom to do it.”

...not only has their band grown in size over the years (with the addition of Jerome, and later with second guitarist, Drew), but their show has grown increasingly more dramatic. While still fun in many ways, front man Jon Foreman's stage presence has grown a bit more theatric in mood. When he speaks about issues - whether carefully brushing elbows with politic topics or spiritual issues - they're often cryptic for the sake of being poetic or poignant. Gone are the days of the college-age trio singing about Chem classes or company cars. I guess these changes stand out so much more when sandwiched between a free spirit like Randolph and the jovial down-to-earth blue collar personalities of Third Day. Regardless, love or hate the changes Switchfoot have made, they still put on a strong indie-flavored pop rock set.

Hola folks,
We've settled in on a list of tunes for limbs and branches- thanks to everyone who put their two cents in! I used the votes and my own thoughts on the songs to come up with the following list of tunes:

Your Love Is Strong
Behind Your Eyes
The Cure For Pain
Resurrect Me
Southbound Train
Broken From The Start new guy 1
House Of God, Forever
Instead Of A Show
A Mirror Is Harder To Hold
In My Arms
Learning How To Die
Over The River new guy 2

see you out there on the road...
peace!
jon

Labels: concert reviews., interviews., news, pictures.