By now, it's not as stunning as it once seemed; that the Christian pop group that formed just an hour's drive east of Greenville College in Nowhere, IL, before moving to Nashville and recording its self-titled debut for Essential Records, would kick-off the day-long live concert celebrating the playlist of modern rock KPNT.

While I have always been confident that sooner or later, preferably sooner, a Christian alternative group would have a major commercial break-through, I confess that I didn't hear this one coming. I thought The Choir, 77's, or Vigilantes of Love, maybe even Lost Dogs, would impress some wild major market DJ, who'd play the song until it became a hit, and soon they'd be on 120 Minutes talking about the long, slow years of playing church basements. Then, the door opened, Christian artists would gain the attention I've long felt they deserved from the mainstream world. But it happened very differently. The success of "Flood" on nearly every radio format, I confess, remains an enigma to me. Sure, it's catchy as all get out, with its America ("Horse With No Name") melody line and smart hook, bright acoustic guitars and unusual string interlude, but so are lots of better songs that haven't become hits.

Even weeks later, as I sit with my notes to shape this review, "Flood" has outworn its welcome on the Modern Rock airplay chart in Billboard magazine, but is in the mid-20's on the Mainstream Rock chart, and after achieving a peak position at 37, it's slid to 54 on the Hot 100 Singles chart after 12 weeks. Obviously this isn't Hootie and the Blowfish-level success, but it's awfully impressive for a band that's on a modest alternative Christian rock label, who's managed a surprising and awe-inspiring cross-over.

Live on the large Riverport stage at 1:00 in the afternoon, Jars of clay seemed to recognize that they were playing to a somewhat skeptical audience.

They dove into "Liquid," the record's opening track and played eight or nine more from their debut with as much energy and intensity as you can muster with two acoustic guitars out front. Matt Odmark and Stephen Mason played with enough aggression and movement to hold the audience's attention (at least at first), while singer Dan Haseltine moved around as if singing to a much bigger, harder sound than "Jars of Clay has yet to deliver. I was impressed that they didn't hide their outspokenly religious material in favor of this "secular" audience, even following "Liquid" with "Like a Child" which opens with the words "Dear God…"

However, even in such a short set, Jars' music lost its impact as they moved deeper and deeper into the album. Bouyed by just the acoustics, Haseltine's unique voice-which sounds so warm and emotional on the disc-gets lost in the mix. I wonder if he's got a strong enough vocal instrument to cut it in the long run. After 30 minutes I felt they really needed to consider adding an electric guitar to the mix, something/anything, just to keep us from dozing off. Instead, they played their hit.

Sitting in front of me were four young girls who used most of the Jars set to gossip about friends from school and practice looking cool while learning to smoke cigarettes. When the band launched into those now familiar chords from "Flood," the same girls hopped to their feet and sang along through the whole song-every word.

No Doubt followed and rocked the place with its dizzyingly energetic ska/punk dance pop, as the audience grew in size and festive attitude. The musical highlights came in sets by Garbage and Cracker. But, later in the afternoon, one of the four girls returned and over her arm was a brand new Jars of Clay t-shirt. Something connected; she was going to keep listening. I've been waiting for this for a long time.*

*Transcribed from 7ball Magazine, Sept/Oct 1996, page 16 and 17.