Three Christian rock bands will play at the PMAC, as the “These Days,” a national Christian rock tour featuring bands By The Tree, Phat Chance and Across the Sky, will stop in Baton Rouge tonight.
Christ the King Catholic Student Center’s outreach group will sponsor the event, and Candice Zeringue, a member, said the excitement among students has grown since the tour announced it will stop in Baton Rouge.
“We actually got really good responses,” she said. “A lot of people were excited about it because By The Tree came already to LSU. They came with After Dark when they had the After Dark concert, so when everybody knew that By The Tree was coming a lot of people were really excited about it.”
Depending on Monday night’s turnout, Zeringue is optimistic about the future possibilities of more Christian bands coming to the LSU campus.
“If this one turns out as good as we think it is, we’re going to try to get other Christian bands to come because the manager that’s with By The Tree is also with FFH, which is also a popular band,” she said.
Zeringue said bringing the tour to the campus happened almost by accident.
“We got ahold of the manager of By The Tree, it was an Internet response to a fan club,” she said. “We got the manager’s phone number, and we talked to him, and he was really excited about it. He thought it’d be awesome for the tour to come here.”
Headlining act By The Tree was named one of the best new artists of 2001 by ChristianityToday.com, and has been featured on MTV. The band received two Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, including one for Modern Rock/Alternative recorded song of the year and Modern Rock/Alternative Album of the year.
The “These Days” tour will travel to 40 cities before its conclusion, By The Tree’s Web site said. The name of the tour is taken from the title of By The Tree’s sophomore album, “These Days.”
Soundscan, the organization that measures sales of records of all genres, cites that By The Tree’s debut made them one of the top 10 new Christian artists of the year, solidifying their entrance into the realm of Christian rock.
The bands provide an eclectic variety of music, for By The Tree has a more rock’n’roll sound, while Phat Chance’s music is softer, Zeringue said. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $8 for LSU students. They may be purchased at Ticketmaster or the PMAC box office behind Mike the Tiger’s cage.