Needtobreathe Workplay Birmingham, AL 10/4/13

When Needtobreathe announced that they would be doing a tour entitled "The Stomping Ground Tour" I probably got a little more excited than I should have. According the Bear, Bo, and Seth, "The Stomping Ground Tour is about us getting back to our roots. There is nothing more exciting than feeling music together in an up close and intimate setting. We are inviting our fans to experience some of our favorite venues across the country that played a big part in making us the band that we are today." Workplay in Birmingham is one of those venues. I have gone there for years, but I never had the opportunity to see NTB there. That is the reason why I was overly excited to see them on this tour.

I got to the show early: so early in fact, the band was sound-checking. I love sound-check. It is one of the perks of getting there early. Sound-check included

Oh, Carolina/Squeezebox (New song/The Who cover)

Outsiders

Lay Em' Down

White Fences

A Place Only You Can Go (?)

More Time (?)

(Random Acoustics)

New Song

Difference Maker

Through Smoke

Keep Your Eyes Open (extended drum solo)

The opening band was Ivan & Alyosha from Seattle, WA. They were fairly decent. They played

Fathers Be Kind

Who Are You

I Was Born To Love Her

Easy To Love

The Fold

On My Way

Running For Cover

Be Your Man (This song was my favorite!)

Needtobreathe's stage set up could be described in one word: FLOWERS! There were flowers every-freaking-where. This was the first time I had seen NTB since April and I was pretty stoked because, hello, it is NEEDTOBREATHE, one of my favorite bands ever. They played

Oh, Carolina (New song. It rocks)

Squeezebox (The Who cover)

Wanted Man

Drive All Night

Washed By The Water (Always has the best crowd sing-a-longs)

Lay Em' Down

The Outsiders

The Reckoning

More Time

Through Smoke

Keep Your Eyes Open (no track)

(Encore)

Difference Maker

Devil's Been Talking

Something Beautiful (See below paragraph for details on this song)

For Something Beautiful, the band walked to the balcony in Workplay without microphones and proceeded to play this song. It was beautiful because everyone was extremely quiet and you could hear the guys harmonizing.

During NTB's set, Bear made several comments about Workplay and the New Album. In regards to Workplay, he gave a shout out to Will Hoge and Graham Colton for bringing them out on tour in the past which allowed them to play Workplay.

In regards to the new album, which was supposed to come out in October, Bear said "You'll get it when you get it. Things happen"

This was probably my least favorite Needtobreathe show because I went into it with high expectations of hearing old songs and hearing more than 13 songs. But, I cannot be disappointed because I got to spend a Friday night in one of my favorite venues, with one of my favorite bands, with one of my favorite people (mom).