04/06/00
by Jane Holahan

It's not every band that brings its own building with it on its concert tour.

But The Newsboys, the popular Nashville-based Christian band, will arrive in Hershey Saturday with its own airdome in tow for two shows.

And why bring your own venue with you?

"It's never been done before," says Peter Furler, lead singer and co-founder of the Newsboys. "We're a band that gets tired of itself. We don't look back and rest on our laurels."

So how has the tour, which is now at the half-way mark, been going?

"There have been waves of regret and waves of joy, but I'm so glad we've done it," Furler says. I don't think we could have done another arena tour. I think we would have grown sterile. This has given us a second lease on life."

Actually, the group has two airdomes, which leap-frog each other from city to city.

The state-of-the-art dome holds about 4,000 people and can withstand rain and most high winds. It takes about six hours to set up and the crew numbers 25 for each dome. Every place they play has to have an area 180 by 150 feet for the dome as well as an alternative area in case the winds are too high.

"It's looks temporary, but it could be set up permanently," Furler says. "When we are done with them a guy in Texas wants to buy them for mission trips."

The dome is one of the best venues to see a rock show in, according to Furler.

"The sound is incredible," he says. "The show is in the round, so there's a 360 degree view. You can see everything from a different angle. The drum rider turns so Duncan (Phillips) can face any side of the crowd he wants to. And nobody is further than 40 feet from the stage ."

And since the band is basically in the same building every night, sound checks aren't necessary.

The group got the idea in 1994, when their "Going Public" album was released. They posed in front of an old fashioned revival tent.

"We thought it would be neat to take the tent out on tour. Then the record took off -- it was our first gold record -- and the promoter told us we were crazy. We could tour in big arenas, so we got talked out of it."

But the idea kept percolating for the band members who come from Australia, New Zealand and the United States but all now live in the Nashville area.

"We talked the financial guys into it," says Furler, one of the down under members. "Not to sound pompous, but we're probably one of the only bands who could do this. At the beginning, the band was out there working 12 hour days welding, hammering, fixing things. We resorted back to the old days of being construction workers. There were a lot of days we were ready to give up. But it's something to tell the grandchildren about."

The tour is supporting the band's eighth record, "Love Liberty Disco," which fuses disco music with melodic hooks and the idea that everyone needs to be loved, both by God and by humanity.

"God cares about our loneliness, not just our falleness," Furler says.

Furler says the band struggles with the label of "Christian band."

"We definitely follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. (But) you can't say Christian music -- there is no real such thing. It's the only form of music defined by lyrics. "

The band got together in "Blues Brothers" fashion, by picking up members here, there and everywhere.

From http://www.lancasteronline.com/religion/music/dome.htm