Michael Ross
26 Jun 02

The Newsboys will wrap up their highly successful Love, Liberty, Disco Spring 2000 tour at the end of May. And after crisscrossing North America, performing in 69 cities with SONICFLOOd and Beanbag, these off-the-wall Aussies will go down in music history.

That's right, the Newsboys will carve out a strange (but cool) place in the record books as Christian music's first band to tour with, get this, an "inflatable concert hall."

With the flip of a switch, generators pump up the airdome like a giant balloon. Once the stage is moved in and the lights are mounted, it's showtime! The vinyl, tentlike shelter can hold more than 3,500 concertgoers. And as for acoustics and visibility, "There isn't a bad seat in the house," Newsboys lead singer Peter Furler says. "No one is more than 80 feet from the middle of the stage!"

Breakaway recently caught up with Peter to learn about the success of the tour, as well as the Newsboys' latest release, Love, Liberty, Disco. Here's our conversation:

Breakaway: What's with the inflatable concert hall? How'd you get the idea for it?

Peter: It came to us during the making of our Going Public album. The cover of that record features a photo of an early 1900s tent-the kind used during Christian faith crusades. That sparked an idea: Wouldn't it be cool to perform a tour in a giant tent?! But at the advice of concert promoters, we put the tent idea on the shelf. Everyone felt that we need to perform in large venues. Most tents have limited seating.

Now, six years later, you perfected the tent concept, turning it into something nobody has ever before tried.

That's right. I guess we're a little bored with the usual concert arena. We want more for our fans than just flying saucers and upside-down drums [new drum feats during the tour]. We thought it would be more "death defying" to take the actual arena on the road with us - creating a fun environment. Our own environment!

The concert is completely in the round, so not only does the crowd get to watch the band play, they get to see everyone on the other side of the dome having fun, too.

Tell us about your favorite tune on your current album.

It's track No. 5, "Everyone's Someone," which Phil and I wrote. I like the production, the sounds, the treatments. The lyrics speak of God's love for us - no matter who you are, where you've been, what you do or what you're going through. God's love has no boundaries.

This article can be found here, at Family.org