Alive & Transported Premieres in Nashville - In Theaters Across the Country Tonight!
Category: Music
Official Press Release June 6, 2008
TOBYMAC PREMIERES ALIVE & TRANSPORTED IN NASHVILLE ONE NIGHT ONLY THEATER PREMIERE OF NEW LIVE DVD/CD TO HIT JUNE 9TH IN 101 THEATERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
TobyMac Alive and Transported Released Nationwide May 27th
— Multi-platinum and award-winning artist TobyMac premiered "Alive and Transported" in Nashville last night, to a VIP crowd of over 500 industry friends and family. On site to cover the event were the Logan Show, Hearitfirst.com and The Gospel Music Channel, where a full-length performance of "Made to Love" is available exclusively at gospelmusicchannel.com/tobymac_exclusive. Gospel Music Channel is pleased to present the video, offering a new, high-definition video streaming technology from Vusion. Earlier that morning TobyMac conducted a Satellite Media Tour to talk about the premieres with network affiliates in Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, Birmingham and more.
— A one night only film premiere of Alive and Transported will hit the big screen in 101 theaters in 87 cities across the country on Monday, June 9th, courtesy of The Bigger Picture, the alternative content distribution division of Access Integrated Technologies, Inc. ("AccessIT") (NASDAQ:AIXD). For theater listings, updates and additions, please go to www.thebiggerpicture.us/tobymac
— TobyMac will attend the premiers in Oklahoma City and Houston where the DVD was filmed to a sold out, record-breaking crowd of over 10,800, sponsored by KSBJ. In addition, there is a private screening with Toby & his band in Houston on June 10th for contest winners. They can win by attending the screening on the 9th, listening to KSBJ or going online at ksbj.org.
After years of requests, Alive and Transported was released on a DVD and CD combo on May 27th. As his fans will confirm, TobyMac has one of the most electrifying shows around, and the full-length project puts you on stage with Toby and the Diverse City Band as they perform "Slam" "Made To Love," "Gone", "Burn For You", "Diverse City", "Catchafire (Whoopsi Daisy)" and many more favorites.
Tobymac's latest studio album Portable Sounds was released in early 2007 and was his highest solo debut ever on the Billboard Top 200 chart (No. 10). In addition to sold out tour dates, four back-to-back radio hits, being named the GMA Dove Award's 2008 Artist of the Year, and R&R's Christian CHR Artist of the Year in 2007 TobyMac was also nominated for a 2007 American Music Award as Favorite Inspirational Artist.
We need your support on Monday night!
Category: Music
Here are the states that have theaters showing Alive and Transported on Monday, June 9th:
I know many of you are disappointed that the movie isn't playing in your area. The production was arranged by the company The Bigger Picture and I'm not sure how they choose which theaters but the best thing to do is to call or write your local theater and let them know that you would attend if they were showing it.
If everything goes well on Monday night, this might be something we do again! We really need those of you who ARE near a participating theater to attend! To find the list of theaters, go to thebiggerpicture.us/tobymac and for group ticket sales click here.
Also, use the banner & code below to help promote it in your area. Thanks!
Alive and Transported in stores now!!
Category: Music
The long-awaited concert DVD&CD (yes they are packaged together) hit shelves yesterday. Look for it anywhere great music is sold, or you can buy it online at amazon.com (go there now to see the live clip of "Boomin'") or musichristian.com. The live songs can be purchased individually or together via iTunes where you can also download the live videos of "Ignition," "Boomin'" or "The Slam" for just $1.99 each.
...and in theaters on June 9th! Catch Alive and Transported at movie theaters across the U.S. - one night only - Monday June 9th. Click here to see the complete list of participating theaters. The movie trailer is being shown now! If you have seen it, please let us know and include the city of the theater where you saw the trailer.
Meet tobyMac at the red carpet event in Oklahoma! If you live near Oklahoma City, you will want to be at the Warren Theater in Moore on Monday June 9th. tobyMac and the members of DiverseCity will be appearing so come say hello and watch the concert on the big screen.
Help spread the word with the rockin' new widget! Watch the live performance of "Ignition," see concert photos, sign up for text updates and more with the new Alive and Transported widget. Best part is you can embed the widget onto your myspace profile or anywhere that allows html code, and send it to your friends! Check it out now.
PLUS web site updates! Check out the new Alive and Transported look for tobymac.com as well as the new video blog series "tobyMac Answers Back."
Alive and Transported, the new live concert DVD & CD from tobyMac and DiverseCity, hits stores on Tuesday May 27th. The concert will also be shown on theater screens across the country -ONE NIGHT ONLY- Monday June 9th. To find out which movie theaters are participating, visit www.thebiggerpicture.us/tobymac/ - more theaters will continue to be added too over the next week or so.
ALSO tobyMac and the band will be appearing at one of the screenings on June 9th ... Oklahoma! So if you live near Moore, Oklahoma, make sure you're at the Warren Theater on 1000 Telephone Road on Monday June 9th for the big event!
Alive and Transported on the Big Screen
Category: Music
Experience tobyMac's explosive live show June 9th with Alive and Transported on the big screen one night only! Don't miss these theatre events and your chance to see this live show like never before. Stay tuned for more info regarding cities and theatres!
The 39th Annual Dove Awards presentation has just concluded and tobyMac is taking home three awards! During the show televised live on the Gospel Music Channel, tobyMac accepted awards for Short Form Video of the Year - Boomin' and the big award of the night Artist of the Year. Earlier in the evening, Portable Sounds was named the Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year.
And for those of you who don't have access to the show, or anyone who just wants to relive the moments, here's what tobyMac had to say in his two acceptance speeches (he had not yet arrived when the first award was announced).
Short Form Video of the Year speech:
Wow, that was some tall, tall competition ... man, I didn't expect this at all ... but I do want to say, I'm so thankful ... first of all, it's almost ridiculous, we all know it, for one name to be on any of these awards. I mean, we know it takes a team. It takes family, it takes people keeping it real with you, loving you with strong love, telling you the truth about yourself. I am thankful for my wife Amanda who definitely tells me the truth about myself. [laughter] I am thankful for my label EMI, for my management Dan Pitts and Laurie Anderson - we've been together from the very beginning, thankful for my band who is incredible, and I'm thankful to the Lord because He continues to do what I plead with Him to do, and that is breath songs through me that are fresh, and meet people where they are, and tell them all about Him.
Artist of the Year speech:
What's up man, what's UP? Are you kidding?! This is crazy, man. i thought i was like Mr. Pre-televised awards! [laughter] Man, this is just proof that a very needy man ... i can't sit up here and play you a song on guitar by myself ... but i've been loyal to one prayer - and that is, "God, surround me with people that make me better. Surround me with people that make me sound better, that make me live better, that make me more love You more." I've been faithful with that since I moved to this town, starting with dc talk to today. God has been faithful time and again to surround me with people that sharpen me, that make me better. Starting with my wife Amanda, I love you, and my kids at home, I hope they're watchin - Daddy did it big, babies! God bless you guys!
Gearing up for Alive & Transported
Current mood: ecstatic
Category: Music
Now that the release of Alive & Transported is only about six weeks away, I'm starting to get really excited.
Yes, I've seen the tobyMac live show dozens of times. I practically have the choreography memorized [don't ask me to demonstrate that - I don't dance]. I was even in Houston for the second night of filming (you saw the blog right?). And still I can't wait to have the live show on CD and DVD, to listen to and watch whenever I please.
I remember back when Welcome to the Freakshow came out (yep I am a longtime dc talk fan, like many of you) ... I had no idea I would listen to it just as much if not more than Jesus Freak. I think what happens is that the songs morph into even more electric versions after being "road-tested" for so long. So it will be awesome to have the live versions of all the best tobyMac tunes. Plus while you're listening to it, you're kind of "transported" back to the concert and you can relive all the energy and excitement you experienced when you were there.
And then there's the DVD. I admit I am one of those people who buys concert DVDs. If I enjoyed the show, I definitely want to have it to be able to watch repeatedly. And if done right, the camera angles are so amazing that you can see more than you could at an actual show. That was especially true with the U23D movie. But what I'm *most* excited about with this release is to be able to show it to friends and family who have yet to experience the concert for themselves. Because, well, trying to describe the show with just words ... doesn't do it justice at all. And I have seen enough of the DVD to tell you that it looks and sounds amazing!
So here's the set list for both the CD & DVD:
1. Intro / Ignition 2. Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy) 3. Boomin' 4. No Ordinary Love (includes some of "No Signal") 5. J Train 6. Gone 7. Irene 8. I'm For You 9. In The Light 10. Yours 11. The Slam 12. Love Is In The House 13. Atmosphere 14. Lose My Soul (includes some of "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever") 15. Diverse City 16. Made To Love 17. Burn For You 18. Jesus Freak 19. Extreme Days
And if you want to go ahead and pre-order it, check out this deal where you can save on the Alive & Transported shirt and other items:
I am also doing a little impromptu survey ... curious as to which group of people is more anxious to buy Alive & Transported ... those of you who have seen tobyMac live in the past year, or those of you who haven't. Comments? —webGirl Jess
Concert DVD, Tour Downloads, New Video
Category: Music
Get Exclusive Tour Ringtones from the Boomin’ Beyond Measure Tour Have an AT&T mobile phone? You can rock out to the music of the tour every time your phone rings! For a limited time only, get exclusive tobyMac ringtones and answer tones, CV video, and wallpapers from the show at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Text BBM to 386 to get it all right to your phone, or click here to get your AT&T hookup online [search for toby mac].
Concert DVD/CD Releases May 27th The tobyMac concert experience has been captured on film and you can take it home this May! Alive & Transported will hit stores everywhere on Tuesday May 27 so mark your calendars. We are planning some exciting stuff for this release ... stay tuned!
tobyMac at the Rodeo Check out myspace or youtube for the entertaining new video blog ... get an insider’s look at the first stop on the Boomin’ Beyond Measure tour in San Antonio.
Here in the tobyMac camp we like to spread around blogging responsibilities ... you've gotten to hear from Gabe, dj Maj and even me. Well, now I want to introduce you to Philip. He has worked for tobyMac's management company for about six years now. Since two of the artists he works with were nominated for Grammy Awards this year (tobyMac and Mandisa), his boss invited him to go out to L.A. for the ceremony as well as the Boomin' Beyond Measure show. I asked him to be the web correspondent for the weekend ... so here is a rundown of his trip. –webGirl Jess
I think this was my third visit to Hollywood and I enjoy it more each time. On the flight out to LAX, my boss Laurie and I ended up sitting near Brenton Brown who wrote the song "Everlasting God." I just love the song—it says a lot and is upbeat—it has appeared in many of the worship sets I have led. After the long flight, I got my rental car and hit the roads in L.A. for the first time. What did people do before GPS? That thing is amazing—I get lost everywhere without it. Anyway, I got to my friend Samuel's house at around 11pm (which is 1am in Nashville). Samuel and I worked together in college at Anderson University so have been friends for awhile. At Anderson, we worked events and booking for the school's auditorium, which is basically how I got into the music industry. So I always enjoy catching up with Samuel when I'm in L.A. He is a great video guy—he worked on Dancing with the Stars for four seasons. He has the drive to get far and he enjoys what he does. Around 3:30am the adrenaline from traveling finally wore off and I went to sleep.
Saturday was a blast. We went to a great cafe and had crepes for breakfast—I was able to eat outside in my short sleeve shirt which is not something you can do in Nashville in February. Then we went to a park for some frisbee action followed by some sightseeing including the Hollywood sign. Later I headed over to the convention center to pick up my tickets for the Grammy awards. I saw a few friends while in line—the guys from Luna Halo and Ryan Young (brother of Ace Young from American Idol Season 5). It was fun to catch up a bit. After that, back to Samuel's house where his girlfriend made us amazing smoothies from Dr. Oz ... I think I'll have to make one sometime. Finally around 4pm it was time to head over to the concert. I should have gone earlier to catch some rides ... next time ... but I did have dinner with Laurie (my boss) and her niece Sarah at Citywalk.
Backstage, there is kind of a calm-before-the-storm feeling. Everyone is getting food, the stage is set, the doors are about to open. True Artist has two acts on this tour, Matthew West and tobyMac. I hung out in Matthew's dressing room and he showed me the music video we shot recently. I always try to get in the video somehow—I can be spotted for a second in the "Boomin'" video and in Matthew's new one as well. (By the way, if you aren't familiar with Matthew you should be—he is an amazingly talented songwriter. His new CD Something to Say is full of great songs, and chances are he has penned a song by another artist you like.) Next I went by the production office to say hello to those guys, then on to tobyMac's dressing room. It's a very colorful room as you can tell from the photos.
We all gathered in there for a pre-show talk—about God, different types of people and ministry in general. Being onstage, either as a singer or on the stage of life itself, you get so many people giving their opinion on how things should run in your life ... so we just talked about how we need to be where God wants us to be, and how we need each other to pray with and grow on this journey. I love the pre-show discussions, how they lead to a time of surrender and prayer, as we lay all that we have before God ... and how it's about Him before anyone walks on the stage.
So then we go to a huge meet and greet—people really only get a second to talk to the artists. I see some old friends there so it's fun to catch up with them. Pretty soon, it's time for the show. AT&T is sponsoring this tour, so they make an announcement about some giveways for the texting fans. Then, a video intros Matthew West. He was amazing, SO funny—if you see it you'll know what I'm talking about. He crams a lot of his hits into the set and ends with a worshipful moment with "More" and everyone sings along. So definitely learn the tunes before you hit the show ...
The tobyMac set is next—I hope you get to catch the show sometime. It starts with "Ignition" (hope I didn't spoil that for anyone)—I could seriously watch the performance of that song over and over again. The set is rockin' for sure ... what I love most about working in the tobyMac camp is that everyone truly enjoys the show. No matter how many times we see it ... everyone from Ryan the tour manager to Tony from booking to me ... we get groovin' when the tunes are played from stage. Not to mention that tobyMac is just a blast to see live.
I think everyone will be able to experience it, even if you can't make it to a show, when the live DVD comes out. Anyway, at the end of the set, the group flows into "Made to Love" then "Burn for You"—it's so powerful, like if it goes on any more, I would think Jesus is returning ... it's just such a powerful moment and for awhile the "work" side of this fades away and I'm just someone lost in the moment and the music, knowing that I am a child of God who is made to love Him and all I want to do is burn for Him in all I do. As the band leaves the stage, I realize I am exhausted ... on my way out I say 'hey' to my roommate Adam who is doing merch for Jeremy Camp. I'm gonna miss Jeremy's set but I am beat and I need to rest up for the big day ...
It's the morning of 'Grammy day' ... as I'm getting ready I remember watching the Grammy Awards as a kid. The show always went late so I never got to watch until the end but I always enjoyed it. Looking in the mirror in my suit I just thought "are you seriously going to the Grammys?" One of those is-this-really happening moments ... and I'm like "yes!" On the way there, we stopped to pick up Toby and his wife Amanda. Driving through the traffic, Toby scribbled names on an envelope I gave him, to make sure he didn't forget anyone in case he had to give an acceptance speech. Most of the awards are handed out during the pre-show so they aren't on TV.
We arrived around 2pm and our categories were announced around 3. It's a little awkward because the artist has to prepare to win or lose and you never know what's going to happen with the Grammys because all different genres of "Gospel" music are crammed together in one category. And who knows how many voters actually listen to the nominated music. So, neither Toby or Mandisa (super good album and powerful singer) won but it was still cool they were nominated. Of course we do this for God and not the awards so neither winning nor losing is really important. Outside, we ran into the folks from Casting Crowns, Paul Meany from Mute Math, and songwriters Aaron Rice and Jamie Moore (you'll see their names in the liner notes of tobyMac CDs).
We also saw some of our guys—Ryan, Ben and Maj—who were waiting in line for their pit passes. Maj knows somebody who got them up front and in the pit for the televised part of the show ... pretty cool. Then, Toby and Amanda got in a cab to go meet with friends, and I was hoping I'd get their tickets on the floor if they didn't come back, haha. For dinner, Dan (my other boss) and I went to a cafe on a corner near the Staples Center which ended up serving GREAT food.
We got back to the Staples Center for the big show and in our seats about 10 minutes before 5pm when it started. I loved it!! I thought it was a great show even though I expected a little more since it was the 50th anniversary. Oh well - really no complaints here! Towards the end, we decided to move to the floor and sat in front of the teleprompter. They don't allow photos but I tried to snap some. I enjoyed a lot of the performances, especially the legends who probably won't be performing much longer.
I had heard Michael Jackson was going to be there, which would have made me SO happy, but he was a no-show (I wasn't too surprised). After the show, we ran into some people we knew, chatted with them, and then we were off to Grammy party 1. Dan said sometimes the music is good so lots of people go to this party, plus you get free food and drinks. I was happy we ended up getting to see Natasha Beddingfield—she's a good singer. We got gift bags too—hair product but hey I'll take it!
Grammy party 2 was the EMI party - parent company of Forefront Records. Some artists were there—Robert Randolph, Corrie Bailey Rae, George Martin, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Yoko Ono. It was cool but it was getting to be time for bed.
On Monday, before leaving L.A., Dan and I met up with Michael Tait at the home of producer Ben Moody. Ben wrote a lot of hits for Kelly Clarkson and a lot of other artists. He has a cool house and he showed us some stuff from the Star Wars movies (the newer ones). Michael has been working with Ben on a new record, so all you Tait fans out there just hold tight ... more to come from our friend.
And at last it's back to the airport and a long flight back to Nashville ... home sweet home!
ecstatic
Concert DVD/CD Releases May 27th
