pat loughery

Both of the guitar mags I picked up at the grocery store for something to play around with include P.O.D. articles, and then today my first issue of Relevant magazine shows up with the guys on the cover.

I went to see a show that P.O.D. headlined last year with our former worship leaders. We went because his favorite band, Blindside, opened the bill. I had heard POD’s album Satellite, and really liked it. I was incredibly impressed with the live show of both Blindside and P.O.D. – both were an absolute blast in concert.

I found myself aging before my very own eyes – two things happened at that concert that I thought would never happen.

1. The music was too loud, so I put in earplugs.
2. I actually found myself yelling to my friend, “I like the music, but I can’t understand a bit of the lyrics” (for the Blindside part).

I realized that my old days of concertgoing may be winding down :-).

Anyway, after that show I signed up for both bands’ email lists to see when they’re back in town next. I haven’t picked up either band’s new album. But P.O.D. has me very curious. I get emailed at least once a week, usually more, with a bunch of hype about what a wonderful band the guys are, I need to email/phone/etc MTV to get their single in rotation, yadda yadda yadda. Hype, hype, hype.

And meanwhile the lead guitarist leaves the band and they hire a new one. Accusations fly back and forth about what really happened. P.O.D. begins to distance themselves from their “Christian musicians” label, and the new album causes Christian retailers to decide not to carry it due to the cover art.

I wonder, now, what’s happening with these guys. I don’t care whether they choose to be labelled Christian musicians or not, frankly that doesn’t much matter. But are they using that label in order to sell albums, to promote an image that isn’t authentic? I don’t know the band, I just had higher hopes than what I’ve seen in the last year… Maybe I’m just expecting something different than what they can deliver. I guess not everybody can do it, but wouldn’t it be an interesting message if they lived their (presumed) faith out front?

Cash did it, and was the most real artist we’ve seen in decades. Maybe ever. It’s too bad he was so unique.