Three very different artists slammed the “Theatre in the Clouds” at the Rose Garden on Saturday, Jan. 29, during the Portland, Ore. stop of the Winter Wonder Slam tour. Harmonic rockers House of Heroes and singer-songwriter Brandon Heath warmed up the crowd for tobyMac and his Diverse City Band.

A quick summary: All three bands excelled in their respective genres. House of Heroes melted faces. Brandon Heath elicited tears and rhythmic head-nods of agreement. TobyMac stuck to his crowd-pleasing formula with only a few tweaks to past performances. Not a lot new with Toby, but his tried-and-true is better than 99 percent of people's bold-and-new. It was an entertaining, uplifting night to be sure, worth a ticket if the show rolls into your neck of the woods.

Rather than paint you the classic picture of a concert experience, I'm going to review this tour in superlatives. Let's begin.

Strangest Tourfellows: While I personally enjoyed all three bands, I recognize that my tastes are of the eclectic nature. Let's face it: there's little stylistically that ties House of Heroes, Brandon Heath and tobyMac. Brandon Heath employs some hip-hop beats, so I can make that stretch, but House of Heroes? I was singing along to their brilliantly composed and written songs (even though the sound guys mixed them poorly—very bass-heavy), but most of the crowd awkwardly watched on. I understand that H.O.H. is on Toby's label, but having them on the tour seemed a strange fit—even if they are tremendously talented.

Best Strum: Jared Rigsby of House of Heroes has a tremendous full-body guitar strum. It is something to behold.

Best Hair: Drummer Colin Rigsby of House of Heroes had the best 'do of the evening, styling wavy locks that reminded me of '80s-era Prince.

Best Attention Grabber: Ever the showman, tobyMac was brilliant to unleash one of his Diverse City Band members, Gabriel, on the crowd to pump them up before the show, and to keep them entertained between acts. Between the first two acts, the emcee got everyone's attention by bumping around to Usher's “DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love.” He then took advantage of that attention by engaging in what he called his “Billy Mays commercials,” talking about a few causes with which Toby was involved, including A Thousand Hills Coffee Company, Camp Electric, and the Country Music Half-Marathon. Brilliant.

Best Local Appeal: I thought Brandon Heath had this one in the bag when he talked about how he's been coming to Portland for a long time, and that the locals liked the “old stuff,” but tobyMac won when he rattled off a list of things he did in Portland, including playing golf at Pumpkin Ridge, getting coffee at renowned Stumptown Roasters, visiting family in the area, and bowling with local radio personalities. He also included a picture of the Portland skyline while singing “City On Our Knees.”

Fastest Misjudgment: I'll give this superlative to myself, since on the first song I thought Brandon Heath had a band member solely devoted to hitting a single bass drum with a mallet. I thought to myself, “Now that's the kind of job I'd want!” until I noticed that he climbed into the keys/programming chair – pretty much the most difficult job in my opinion. Nevermind.

Most Current Set: With his new album Leaving Eden having been released just days before, Brandon Heath's set was the most current. Five of the nine songs in his set were less than a week old, commercially speaking—and they sounded every bit as good as the album. Fresh.

 Exclusive 2011 Winter Wonder Slam Live Photo Gallery (6)
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Most Influenced By Being With tobyMac On The Road: There was something extra funky about Brandon Heath's “Give Me Your Eyes” during this concert. I liked it. I just noticed it was funkier. I pictured Toby watching Brandon in rehearsal and then, with the help of Diverse City Band's DJ Maj, remixing it “Funky Jesus Music” style.

Best Atmosphere Change: While House of Heroes rocked arena-style, the crowd wasn't an arena-rock crowd. And tobyMac certainly had the crowd hopping. But Brandon Heath's set had a curious ability to transform the cavernous Rose Garden into an intimate, coffee shop-like atmosphere, particularly on the tender song “Love Never Fails.” His drummer even played “the box,” which is always good for some style points.

Best Michael Jackson Moments: Call me crazy, but I thought Brandon Heath's “Might Just Save Your Life” reminded me of a melody the late, great Michael Jackson would've sung—probably because I threw in a few “shamoans” in for good measure. This may or may not have to do with Toby's influence. During tobyMac's set, the band introductions were essentially a Michael Jackson tribute medley, with the drums banging to “Billie Jean,” the bass grooving to “Smooth Criminal” and the keys player jamming to “Thriller.” During a rap battle later between Gabriel and Shonlock, Gabriel signed off after an incoherent (but impressive) rapid-fire rap by saying “Rest in peace, Michael Jackson.”

Best Dance Moves: OK, we have to give this to the energetic, jaw-dropping Diverse City crew, of course, but honorable mention has to go to Brandon Heath, whose hip hop grooving gave away his Tennessee roots before he even acknowledged them. Brandon's two-step looked more suited for a country-western line dance—but it worked for him.

Most Unnecessary Disclaimer: At one point in his set, Brandon Heath admitted he was suffering from a cold, saying, “If I sound like I'm going through puberty, that's why.” Um, yeah, we didn't notice... AT ALL. You sounded that stinkin' amazing with a cold? Perhaps that's why you're a two-time male vocalist of the year, Brandon?

Moment that most felt like New Year's: There was a two-minute countdown clock leading into tobyMac's set. Everyone was standing as the clock counted down from 10 seconds. It was as crazy as New Year's when the clock struck zero, leading into the first song, “Tonight.”

Best Color Coordination: The Diverse City Band was like a black, white and neon green-yellow army. Their clothes didn't match, but all the colors used in their outfits did. Even the stage pieces and instruments fit the scheme, too, including the back of DJ Maj's laptop, the electric guitar and the conga drums. The drum set glowed yellow, even when the lights were off.

Best Use Of Concert Video: I was thoroughly impressed with the mix of pre-produced video tracks and the live shots used throughout tobyMac's set. The live shots were the best I've ever seen, as special effects made Toby's live video artful and attractive. Some of the filters made the video look old; others made it look sketched. It was awesome. And from my seat I could see the VJ at the helm, essentially the eleventh member of the Diverse City band, rocking out in full body dancing behind the stage curtain as he hit buttons.

Most Christmassy Moment: TobyMac led us in singing “O Come Let Us Adore Him,” noting that “it's not just for Christmas; it's worship.” True.

Best Surprise: During tobyMac's set, Diverse City Band member and independent hip-hop artist Shonlock had some time to perform a little from his latest single, “Something in Your Eyes,” which was incredible. Good move. Honorable mention goes to the music video of Toby's son, Truett/TruDog; it was nice to put a face with a name.

Most A.D.D. Set: When you have four solo studio albums and a bunch more from the dcTalk days, it's no wonder tobyMac doesn't often get through a whole song. During most of his set, Toby performs portions of songs, typically arranged in a seamless medley, in order to keep the show moving, and to please the fans who want to hear their favorite songs. Most people today don't sit and listen to a full song, anyway; this was a brilliant nod to our attention-deficit culture and a way to action-pack a musical set.

Best Pre-Recorded Video: “Funky Jesus Music” was awesome because the video playing during the song was of popular Christian artists singing the tobyMac song, including Third Day, David Crowder, John Cooper from Skillet, BarlowGirl, MercyMe and more, in webcam-type format. It was a total geek-out moment for the diehard Christian music fan.

Most Recording Artists In One b=Band: I counted no fewer than five independent recording artists who are part of tobyMac's 10-member Diverse City Band. That included Toby, DJ Maj, Shonlock, Byron "Mr. Talkbox" Chambers, and Nirva Ready.

Best Team-Up: I loved seeing Brandon Heath join Toby on stage singing the bridge to “Get Back Up”: “This is love calling, love calling...” which seemed like a line that he could've written. Brandon earned extra points by coming out in a tobyMac T-shirt.

Best Use Of The Beatbox: The acoustic set tobyMac did at the end of the catwalk included just an acoustic guitar, Toby's vocals and the beatbox stylings of Gabriel. Not many bands use a beatboxer to provide the percussion, but Gabriel certainly delivered—even during Toby's rendition of “Pants On the Ground.”

Most Powerful Video: During tobyMac's encore, the Diverse City Band performed “City On Our Knees,” which included moving footage taken in New York City during the days immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as video taken in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It finished with a panoramic picture of the Portland skyline.

Best Quotes Of The Evening:

• “We always give you this promise – 'Portland, we're gonna give you everything we GOT tonight, baby!'” - tobyMac
• “We tryin' to reach the world – this Jesus thing isn't just for America, y'know?” - Gabriel, Diverse City Band
• “It turns out love never fails.” - Brandon Heath
• “If I hear 'Give Me Your Eyes' one more time, I'm going to kill Brandon.” - tobyMac (joking, of course)
• “My job is to love and serve you. Just tell me how. Take care of one another. Serve one another. Love our God with all we got.” - Brandon Heath
• “You don't have to work through a bunch of stuff to get back to God. Choose to turn around, and you'll turn around into the arms of the father.” - tobyMac

SET LIST

HOUSE OF HEROES

1. God Save the Foolish Kings
2. Elevator
3. So Far Away
4. Somebody Knows
5. In the Valley of the Dying Sun

BRANDON HEATH

1. Leaving Eden
2. Your Love
3. Stolen
4. I'm Not Who I Was
5. Love Never Fails
6. Might Just Save Your Life
7. Wait and See
8. Give Me Your Eyes
9. The One

TOBYMAC

1. Tonight
2. I'm For You
3. Showstopper
4. The Slam
5. No Ordinary Love
6. J-Train
7. Diverse City
8. Lose My Soul
9. O Come Let Us Adore Him
10. Made to Love
11. Boomin'
12. Something In Your Eyes (Shonlock)
13. Catchafire
14. Gone
15. Pants on the Ground (General Larry Platt)
16. Hold On
17. In the Light (dcTalk)
18. Get Back Up
19. Funky Jesus Music
20. City On Our Knees/God of this City
21. Jesus Freak