By all accounts, the two-day Spirit and Song Festival at Kings Island amusement park in Cincinnati, July 11 and 12, was tremendous. I was there, and I should know, but there is no way one person can sit through 14 hours of music in the hot sun -- no matter how good it is or how uplifting it is. Consequently, I only saw a small portion of the entire 16 acts.

What I saw, however, was wonderful. Spirits were indeed lifted, and the crowd was receptive. The lengthy line-up of major acts included the Newsboys, Michael W. Smith, Jars of Clay, Point of Grace, John Elefante, Bob Carlisle, Jaci Valasquez, Guardian and Third Day. Also playing were Church of Rhythm, Dime Store Prophets, Tracey Harris, Jeni Varnadeau, Five Iron Frenzy, Model Engine and Dryve.

The heat was not pleasant, but the temperatures were better than many July days in Cincinnati. Plus, the sun was certainly more welcome than rain.

One of the pleasures of the weekend was getting to hear the new material that the artists are currently recording for their latest releases. Since Jars of Clay hit the big time on their first release, it was nice to hear that they are working on another recording -- thereby doubling their repertoire. The selections they played indicate no need to fear any dramatic changes in their style. The music was still rich and full, while maintaining a nice blend of solid rock and inspirational tunes.

Jaci Valasquez, Bob Carlisle and Michael W. Smith also played new material, which was received equally well. In fact, Michael W. Smith even taught the audience the chorus from one of his unreleased numbers so we could join in a giant sing-along.

Sing-alongs are always popular with Christian concerts because the lyrics are so darn important. With that in mind, all the headliners took time to draw the audience into lots of participatory singing -- sometimes standing, sometimes clapping, sometimes singing in rounds. As usual, the crowd responded with excitement.

One of the particular high points came when Michael W. Smith launched into his popular "Friends are Friends Forever." The entire crowd stood and linked arms around each other to make the chorus even more meaningful.

Since Michael was the final act of the final day, I think it's safe to call his act the weekend high point. It did indeed strike me as the best act, even though I did not go expecting him to be my favorite. But he is an incredible singer, skilled musician, high-energy showman and devout Christian who pulled the crowd in through words and music very well. He even taught us a song he learned from little children in South Africa.

Earlier in the evening, Jaci talked about learning to "pray without ceasing." It may be something we all strive to achieve, but at least we found it rather easy to pray for hours at a time during the festival. And the prayers were certainly exciting and uplifting.

-- by Deb Rieselman