Dilligent Promotions and RadioU succeeded in luring this writer to the first youth group targeted tour since 2008’s Never Going Back to OK tour featuring The Afters, Falling Up and Everyday Sunday.

This show, the Shine a Light tour, happened in the hard to miss Church Next Door, located on the west side of Columbus. A huge auditorium was filled up by a traveling production, presented by Last Hope Productions (the main career of Silverline frontman Ryan Edberg).

LNYX, the electropop project of ex-Philmont frontman Scott Taube, kicked things off with a blistering 20 minute dance party assault on the sparse but engaged audience. I felt too old for this show most of the time, but I wasn’t surprised by that. LNYX, in spite of looking bored onstage a few times, delivered an on point set, backed by a drummer who played double duty on this tour with them and Shonlock. The set ended predictably with radio hit “Captivate,” and those in attendance seemed satisfied.

Loftland, a band new to most in attendance, followed up with another short set. This one was chock full of clean cut, lite pop rock directed at the KLOVE/The River spectrum, with just enough muscle to keep things interesting. Their frontman took a moment to share his heart and name drop some artists he admired growing up (Switchfoot, NeedtoBreathe, Newsboys, and TobyMac). They must be a young band indeed if they are name dropping Needtobreathe as a career inspiration! Fans of Tenth Avenue North would like these guys. Their performance didn’t really grab me but they accomplished their goal well – to warm up the crowd with some God-directed pop rock.

Shonlock performed the most high energy set of the night. The smaller crowd did nothing to faze the rapper in question, as he and his entourage led the onlookers in chants, movement, and Christ-inspired gang signs. Yes, autotune made an appearance. Not liberally, thankfully – but effectively. One of my friends at the event (a long time musician who loves metal) was so impressed with Shonlock’s drummer that he took a moment to gush about his ability to him after their set.

Silverline played a woefully short, yet enjoyable set that mostly consisted of radio singles released by the band in recent years. Spotlights, strobes, and projections of lyrics adorned a stage show behind a band that obviously knows what the heck they’re doing. “Hold On,” the first track from the 2013 release Lights Out appropriately kicked things off – followed up by the title track and recent radio single “Vicious.” Edberg’s vocals live are nearly identical to what we hear in recorded form, something that not all of this band’s peers can claim as a characteristic. “With the Angels” and current single “Never Looking Back” slowed things down a bit, and the band ended their set with a brief cover of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” which everyone enthusiastically ate up. As many might have predicted, the set ender was arguably the band’s biggest hit, “Voices in the Night.” Some technical difficulties briefly delayed the start of the song, but the entertainment value of Silverline’s guitar and bass players strutting around with air hose blowing smoke at strategic intervals during the song made up for the snafu. My only criticism might be that the air blowing was so loud that it distracted me from the mix of the song – maybe if I wasn’t standing right next to the stage it wouldn’t have been an issue.

Now that you’ve read this review, watch some YouTube footage of the show I found:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGeek8auoqc&h=297&w=450] [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6B_rk5IX4I&h=297&w=450]