This past Saturday, my elder two boys and I made a trek south to Fish Fest, a Christian concert down in Irvine, CA. We were guests of Mr. Benjamin OLIN (see HB #29), the lead singer of the Christian rock band This Beautiful Republic. The Band was great! It wasn't my typical brand of music but I really, really liked it.
Ben OLIN is the best kind of star. Not only did he comp our tickets, he spent time at the foot of the stage after the sound check chatting with fans. The audience seemed to love the band's performance and grew notably as their set went on. I believe they gained several new SoCal fans - not the least of whom were my two boys and I. My boys absolutely had a great time. Benjamin, my oldest, is a very talented musician for his 12 years. My Ben learned a LOT about how to be a great band leader from observing Ben OLIN.
After the set a crowd gathered at the band's "merch table" and waited to meet him. One of the guys associated with the band seemed pleasantly surprised that such a decent-sized crowd (us among them) was content to wait at least a half-hour to meet the band in the SoCal Summertime heat.
If TBR is playing in your area you should see them and tell your friends to see them. Visit their website (http://thisbeautifulrepublic.forefrontrecords.com/) and their MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/thisbeautifulrepublic) for more information and tour dates.
