Confession time! I am not a concert person. Personally, I always felt like I would struggle to enjoy the loud, and chaotic environment. However, this year me and my friends decided to go to Winter Jam 2025. For those of you who don’t know what Winter Jam is, no worries! It sounded like a specialty fruit spread when I first heard it.
Winter jam is basically a Christian concert with various artists. Although the invitation was for all of our church’s young adults, only a handful of us went.
Fortunately, as I was the one organizing everything, it was actually simpler to keep track of a few young adults.
Let’s Fill Up!
Considering I couldn’t go anywhere on less than a quarter tank of gas, I started our outing with a fill up. Of course, I had no choice but to have a little impromptu photo shoot while I waited.
After Miracle (my car) was nice and full it was time to pick up the gang. We all decided to meet up at the church and then ride up with me. I felt like a girl mom as everyone slid into my car one by one.
After everyone was buckled and ready to go, we set off for some sustenance!
Road Food: Bojangles
While getting ready, me and my friend Cecilia spoke about getting Bojangles before we headed to the concert. Since we left early (sort of) we all agreed that Bojangles would still be the best place to stop.
Normally, I would eat their tender meal because I love some Bojangles chicken tenders. However, since I wouldn’t have my hands available and I can’t eat my tendies without my honey mustard sauce, I opted for their chicken sandwich meal.
My review: Delicious! 8/10!
The meal would have been better if the fries weren’t saltless. They were as bland as they come, but the sandwich was more than enough.
On top of everything, I ordered a Bo’Berry Biscuit and to my delight, it was heart shaped!
Getting Inside The Venue
Of course the day I am responsible for transporting a group of young adults, it decides to be dreary and wet outside.
The sky was a sad grey, the sun barely made an appearance all day, and the rain was cold and torrential.
Okay…torrential may be an exaggeration, but it was still pouring out there!
Fortunately, we yapped and ate our food as we made our way to the colisseum safe and sound. It did take a while to find parking, but once we secured a spot it was time to meet with our friends who were already in line.
Once we were all together, we had to wait in the bone chilling weather as we waited to get into the venue. Fortunately, we came towards the beginning of admission time, so we didn’t have to wait long.
During the planning stage of this trip we made a game plan for once we got inside the building: Hold onto each other and stay single file line. Our tallest friend, and veteran Winter Jam expert lead the group through the packed crowd. With his expert guidance we were able to maneuver safely through the crowd and secure some side seats in the stadium.
Once we were in, we could finally begin the real fun!
Winter Jam 2025
In short, the concert was enjoyable. Like always, there are pros and cons. Since I am not a concert connoisseur I am not going to go into the ins and outs of the concert itself. Rather than talking about the venue and the lights I am going to speak on my experience alone.
The Performers
Unfortunately, I did not know a lot of the artists that performed. I haven’t listened to Newsong since middle school and Anne Wilson’s music isn’t really my sound. I don’t know if the radio station is in other states, but the majority of the concert was what I call: K-Love music.
I want to preface what I’m about to say by stating there is nothing wrong with K-Love music. It’s just not my cup of tea. However, that didn’t stop me from enjoying myself. The majority of the concert I spent eating my popcorn and enjoying the show. The lights, energy, and pyrotechnics were enough to entertain me when I didn’t know a song or artist.
Out of all the artists that I wasn’t familiar with, I ended up enjoying Anne Wilson a lot. I’m personally not a fan of the country sound but I did like her song Songs about Whiskey. I thought it was creative and a lot of fun.
My Favorite Artists
Don’t be fooled! I may not have known every performer, but I knew a few. And the artists I did know, I had a ball listening to them. The two artists I specifically came for was KB and Skillet.
Thank God, they did not disappoint.
KB played some of my favorites like 10k and the old pew baby favorite Church Clap. Needless to say, I was about to fall out of my seat with excitement. I don’t listen to him regularly, but it was nice to hear him as he used to be one of my staple artists in high school and early college. Plus, KB knew how to bring the hype and not just rely on performing his songs.
Skillet
Skillet was my favorite artist and the committee who put together the itinerary knew that was the case for most of the audience. Skillet was placed as the last artist which prevented a lot of people from leaving early. It was a smart move, but I did have my issues with how they used their time (more on that later).
However, skillet was the life of the concert. I haven’t head banged in a while and it was very much needed (life has been a little much lately). Of course, my favorite song Monster was played which had me screaming to the roof of that stadium! However, I did not like how long it took us to get to the Skillet portion.
Begging
In between artists they would do sermonettes or fundraiser speeches. I didn’t mind the sermonettes even though they kind of toed the line of being kind of corny. It was the fundraising I took issue with. I will not go into detail, but they spent a solid 30-40 minutes trying to convince the audience to donate money to sponsor a child. I do not like dry begging, and I have been a Christian long enough to see it in nearly every large-scale function.
Asking for money was not the problem, but without going into detail, I was annoyed most with the delivery. Again, I have no problem with people asking for money for good causes, but something about the delivery of the request felt scamm-ish. Plus, it took way too long between artists because they were trying to emotionally bait people (many of them being young people) to spend their money.
Overall, the concert was fun, energetic, and exciting. I plan on going back next year. This time I’ll make sure to listen to all of the artists so I can get a little more involved in the concert
With Love,
The Road Writer
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