Switchfoot announced it's 23-show Festival-style concert tour spanning three months in late 2008. Rock bands that are gonna be part of the tour include Switchfoot, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Third Day and of course, Jars of Clay.
The tour will benefit Habitat for Humanity's home building in many ways, as in collectively donating $1 to Habitat for Humanity for each ticket sold during the tour. Also, funds raised from ticket auctions, special merchandise items and event packages will be designated to fund Habitat for Humanity in each tour city.
The tour will start on August 21st in Detroit, MI and conclude in Denver, CO on October 12th. Pre-sale of ticket will be distribuited by Live Nation and and Transparent Production, starting on May 9th. Jars' link to buy tickets is here. Official site. More info here.

Labels: Tour

Jars of Clay plays the Miracle Theater in Pigeon Forge, TN.
• Chad, Steve, Gabe & Charlie rise from the ground striking fierce poses to "The Final Countdown"
• Matt emerges in a cloud of smoke.
• Dan flies.
• ...and all this to make life just a little more exciting at the ChilliPepper Conference '08

credit goes to Gama for pointing that out!

Labels: Tour, Videos

David Carr (drummer for Third Day) and Charlie Lowell (keyboardist for the Jars of course) have been interviewed by Gary Hizer of the Urban Tulsa Newsweekly.

Whereas Third Day's album retained the basic structures of most of its holiday classics, Jars of Clay was more liberal in its treatment of those songs with Christmas Songs, often with stunning results. Fortunately, I was able to catch up with keyboardist Charlie Lowell just after the first couple of shows, to discuss Jars' take on the holidays.

Go ahead, and have an interesting read about Christmas Songs, now from another Jar, here.

Labels: Christmas Album, Tour

Check out what concert reviewer Dave Tianen of the Milwaukee Journal Star had to say about the Christmas tour in his article, Christian Rockers Take Christmas Music Further:

Jars of Clay steps even further away from the predictable mode of most contemporary Christmas music. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" opens with a pulsing bass line and then builds momentum to a full, almost U2-ish finish. "Little Drummer Boy" opens with a very simple percussion line and almost a toy piano accompaniment and gradually grows to roaring guitars and a full prog-rock finale.

He reviews the whole concert...to read what else he had to say about Jars of Clay, click here.

Labels: Reviews, Tour

Right from the beginning of their set, Jars of Clay put the small but energetic crowd into the holiday spirit...Lead singer Dan Haseltine wore a black-and-white scarf and often sang near a silver Christmas tree onstage....The band played a mix of their original material and classic Christmas tunes, including “Love Came Down at Christmas.”

Check out this article about the past Christmas show of Jars and Third Day in Fayetteville, NC.

Labels: Articles, Tour

According to this post on the Jarchives forum, Jars of Clay will be selling live recordings of their Christmas tour performances after each night's show. Instead of burning CD's, they will be selling USB flash drives with both the concert and the Christmas Songs album in digital format.

Click here for an earlier discussion regarding the USB flash drives, or click here for an article discussing the new tour audio distribution format.

Labels: Christmas Album, Rumors, Tour

Even though this was a church venue (as in Highland), the show was very energetic and Dan made people come up to the stage. There was even a girl on this show that held a "Jealous Kind" sign thourgh the main set and in the encore Dan made her and her friend come to the stage to sing it (video below). All this information is courtesy of Patty and her reports. Thanks!

Set list:
Good Monsters
Work
God Will Lift Up Your Head
Nothing But The Blood
Love Song For A Savior
Mirrors & Smoke
Peace Is Here
Hibernation Day
Love Came Down At Christmas
There Is A River
Oh My God
Frail
All My Tears
Flood
Dead Man
Love Me
Revolution
(encore) Jealous Kind (Partial & by request, Dan sang with two young women on stage)
Valley Song (By request. Dan forgot a verse)
Worlds Apart (Partial & by request)
Liquid
Light Gives Heat

Peace Is Here


Love Came Down At Christmas


Jealous Kind


Gallery here on Jarchives.

Labels: Tour, Videos

More reports from the road continue to roll in, this is the setlist, pictures and some videos from that show, courtesy of Patty.

Hibernation Day


Frail


Set list:
Good Monsters
Work
God Will Lift Up Your Head
Nothing But The Blood
Love Song For A Savior
Mirrors & Smoke
Overjoyed (partial & by request)
Peace Is Here
Hibernation Day
Love Came Down At Christmas
There Is A River
Oh My God
Frail
All My Tears
Flood
Dead Man
Love Me
Revolution
(encore) Collide (partial & by request)
Liquid
Lonely People (by request)
Worlds Apart (partial & by request)
Light Gives Heat

Gallery of pictures on Jarchvies available here.

Labels: Tour, Videos

Some friends went to a Jars concert in Anaheim last Wednesday and although HOB security didn't let them take pictures, they manage to get some nice gallery that you should check out. This was an amazing show because Dan announced that they would be filming that day (I wonder for what...) and because of that, I can see the reason of making a long and interesting setlist:

Good Monsters
Work
God Will Lift Up Your Head
Nothing But The Blood
Love Song
Mirrors and Smoke
Peace Is Here
Hibernation Day
Love Came Down At Christmas
Frail
There Is A River
Oh My God
All My Tears
Flood
Dead Man
Love Me
Revolution
Don't Change

Encore:
Liquid
Baker Street
Light Gives Heat

Credit goes to Zak for the gallery and Jason for the setlist.

Edit: it looks like Jars of Clay's blog has been updated with some info about this show, this is from Steve:
Here's a shot from the House Of Blues in Anaheim. Rock was brought. And lots of audience enthusiasm, too.
So, there's been some fun video taken on this trip, as well. Stay tuned for some of that. California adventures. Lots of In and Out Burgers. Lots of tummy trouble after that. Lots of jogging the next morning.
Read it here.

Labels: Tour

Credit: tebz10

Labels: Interviews, Tour

First they wanted your sweaters; now they want your Christmas videos! Check out the latest news post from jarsofclay.com:

The air is changing, leaves are turning, yellow school buses are out in force everywhere, and we at Jars of Clay HQ are preparing to launch our tour with Third Day and we need your help!

We are looking for holiday home movies to use as a video backdrop during our shows. We have some of our own, but think that you might have some that are far more fun and interesting. You know the ones we're talking about: Great Grandma on that floral couch from the 70's opening a box of peanut brittle, or cousin Billy gnawing on those Legos from Uncle Milt. Or the ones from the blizzard of '78 with everyone in snowsuits that make them look like formless jellybeans. Or Dad shovelling the driveway while being pelted with snowballs. Or the one of your baby sister bawling on Santa's lap at the mall. You get the idea...

If you have footage that you think is too amazing for words, we would love to see it and with your permission, include it in the video montage we'll be putting together for the "Christmas Offerings" tour.

Please send your film either on DVD or VHS tape to:

Jars of Clay Holiday Films
c/o Nettwerk Music Group
1201 Villa Place, Suite
Nashville, TN

Please send your submissions by November 8th.

If you already have the footage on your computer, we will have a site ready next week where you can upload it.

We're looking forward to seeing what you send in, and even more excited to see the final product!

Happy Holidays!!

Labels: Tour

A review of Jars of Clay's performance at Lifelight Fest has been posted at ArgusLeader.com:

[Songs like] the band's big secular crossover hit "Flood" - which featured Haseltine stalking the stage like Mick Jager minus the sexual swagger, and the repetitive pop tune "Love Me" brought people's hands up into the air.

Read the full article here.

Labels: Articles, Tour

Tonight I made the trek to Lincoln, Nebraska to see Jars perform for the State Fair.

The band was in rare form tonight, playing to an audience of around 1,500 that seemed to get more into the show as the night went on.

In addition to playing the usual INXS and Gerry Rafferty covers, Jars also performed their rendition America's Lonely People during the encore.

I'm not an expert writer when it comes to concert reviews, but I can say that it was an excellent show - the band seemed real pleased with the crowd's receptiveness. Dan spoke about the Christmas album, Steve plugged Magnificent Me, and the giant earth ball was tossed about with great fervor.

Here are a few quick notes about the show:

Jeremy was missing in action tonight. A stripe-shirted bearded fellow filled in with a different flavor and few mishaps.


The summer shorts have now been etched into history with this new commemorative t-shirt.


If you happen to catch a Jars of Clay show before next Tuesday, the Essential Records version of Live Monsters is now available at the merch table.

Set List:
Good Monsters
Work
God Will Lift Up Your Head
Nothing But The Blood
Take Me Higher
Love Song For A Savior
There Is A River
Oh My God
All My Tears
Flood
Dead Man
Love Me
Revolution
Don't Change
(encore)
Liquid
Lonely People
Baker Street
Light Gives Heat

Labels: Reviews, Tour

Jars of Clay will be playing at Lifelight Festival for the first time this Friday. Check out this accompanying article that refers to recent "controversial" comments from Dan when the band played Sioux Falls earlier this year:

...Dan Haseltine shocked some people when he used his interview with Link to rant about the problems with Christian music – from the belief that all Christian musicians are right wing Republicans to the notion that Christian artists can’t write a song about sex.

Read the entire article here.
For more information on Lifelight Fest, click here.

Labels: Articles, Tour

Third Day has posted the Christmas Offerings tour dates including venues, pre-sale dates, and public sale dates here.

Thanks again to Chelsa for letting us know!

Labels: Tour

According to this article at cmspin.com, the Christmas Offerings tour dates are as follows:

Nov. 29 - Rome, GA
Nov. 30 - Murray, KY
Dec. 1 - Greenville, SC
Dec. 2 - Myrtle Beach, SC
Dec. 6 - Chicago, IL
Dec. 7 - Bloomington, IL
Dec. 8 - Minneapolis, MN
Dec. 9 - Milwaukee, WI
Dec. 13 - San Antonio, TX
Dec. 14 - Houston, TX
Dec. 15 - Tulsa, OK
Dec. 16 - Memphis, TN

We'll be sure to let you know when tickets go on sale!

Labels: Tour

"Get your tickets early, and a portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Blood:Water Mission, the African mission work started by Jars of Clay.”

There will only be 12 shows, and tickets go on sale September 7th! Read the announcement at Christian Today.

Labels: Tour

"We're thrilled to have someone with the popularity of Jars of Clay - a band that has made a huge impact on the Christian music scene for a long time."

Check out this great, expectant article about Jars' upcoming show in Joseph Riley Park, Charleston, SC.

Labels: Articles, Tour

Several famous artists are going to play for free in the California Mid-State Fair (Paso Robles, CA) at "The Budweiser Fort Frontier stage" which offers 3,500 seats. Among the artists (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Elvin Bishop, Chubby Checker & the Wildcats), Jars of Clay is scheduled to perform on July 29th. Each act will play two shows a day, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

For more information about California Mid-State Fair summertime shows and all artists performing there, click here.

Labels: Articles, Tour