The Glorious Rise Of Christian Pop

At 9 p.m., Newsboys hit the stage in a flash of lasers and pyrotechnics. A tired roadie is unimpressed. He saunters behind the sound booth and shakes his head. "Christians just cannot crowd-surf." When being passed overhead by the crowd, these teens just can't relax. They sit straight up, stiff as a church lady in a pew, bobbing and listing until they topple sideways into the crowd. But in the mosh pit, spiky-haired boys do a fine job of knocking the bejesus out of one another, stopping midslam only to let a bunny-hopping conga line slip through. Then it's over. Newsboys leave their Con Dios brethren with a prayer, the lights come up and the kids begin picking up trash--voluntarily--before boarding their buses for home.

"We're experiencing what alternative music experienced--it starts as this small thing and blows up," says singer Furler, as an ESPN special on extreme sports plays on the trailer's overhead TV. "To me this is the underground right now, know what I mean? Now you have big record companies involved 'cause they're sniffing at the bucks. But we know that. We're not stupid. We know they're not trying to promote the name of Christ." Faith--the ultimate alternative.

© 2001