Creation West 2005 was the first time I've been to a Christian music festival in six years. A lot has changed in the Christian music scene, my involvement with music promotion and my own personal life, so I was excited to go back and experience what was a very memorable event in my past.

Now that I have had ample time to reflect on the 4-day event, I've come to realize a number of things.

First, I'm getting older. It's evident as I walk around and witness the large amounts of kids and teenagers enjoying the music. To think that I was at that stage of life 10-15 years ago is quite depressing. However, at age 27, I feel I can still blend in. As John Cooper, lead singer of Skillet, put it, "Just because you have kids, doesn't mean you have to stop rocking." Even though I don't have kids yet, I could relate, while complaining that the music on the Fringe stage behind me was too loud. The movie Grumpy Old Men is currently coming to mind.

My age was also evident as I attempted to dodge the sun at every opportunity, even if it meant having no view of the stage or participation in the crowd. Six years ago, I welcomed the challenge to get as close to the stage as possible. When the girl next to you fainted from heat exhaustion, or the 13 year old behind you cooled you off with the lukewarm backwash left in his water bottle, you know you made it. But with 100+ degree heat beating down on you for 9 hours a day, along with the wisdom that suddenly appears as you grow up, shade was sought in every corner. While it did affect the experience overall, it was expected so we were prepared.

Second, Christian music is shifting from the old-school to the new-school. The schedule included younger bands getting closer to the nightly line-up than ever before. Typical safe artists like Rebecca St. James, Michael W. Smith and Audio Adrenaline closed out the nights but it was very refreshing to see Jeremy Camp, BarlowGirl, Relient K, Kutless, Joy Williams and Jeremy Camp get some prime spots in the nightly line-up.

The Fringe stage also offered a number of opportunities to see more of the rock arts including Falling Up, Hawk Nelson, Disciple and Sanctus Real. Standout performances were given by Superchick, Thousand Foot Krutch and Mute Math, which were amazing live and got great response from the crowd.

There were some disappointments as Shawn McDonald cancelled his late night, acoustic concert and Casting Crowns arrived a couple hours late. Had we stuck around, I'm sure their show would have been amazing, but we were planning on leaving camp late that night anyway so we missed it. The morning and mid-day schedules were pretty weak (with Michael Gunger and Starfield as exceptions, both of which blew me away with their sets), which left a lot of downtime and walking back and forth between campsite and venue. I would have also loved to see Third Day, Jars of Clay and T-Bone attend. I'm shocked Switchfoot didn't show up.

Overall, I was extremely encouraged by the event. Record crowds came out (I've heard numbers between 20-30K) to witness what I saw as a continuing shift in Christian music in one of the most beautiful outdoor venues in the country. It's just a matter of time before Michael W. Smith can no longer host the candlelight service or Newsboys close out the event with "Breakfast" (been there, done that) and their catalog of hits. What's fun is the speculation of who will take their place. My money is on Jeremy Camp.