The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, Christian music’s largest annual tour and Pollstar’s #1 tour in attendance for the first quarter of this year, announced its highly anticipated 2012 artist and city line-up during a special launch event held earlier this evening in Nashville.
Founded and hosted by Grammy®-nominated Christian music mainstay NewSong (pictured at right) and produced by Premier Productions, the Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular will be headlined by Grammy®-nominated alternative rockers Skillet. The 47-city tour will also feature Sanctus Real, former Newsboys frontman Peter Furler, Kari Jobe, Building 429, Group 1 Crew, illusionist Brock Gill, and national speaker Nick Hall. In addition, the OneVerse Pre-Jam Party will include performances from Dara Maclean, For King & Country, and We As Human. VeggieTales’ Bob and Larry will also make a special appearance.
Kicking off its 17th year January 6 at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia, the tour is slated to stop at Philips Arena in Atlanta; Dallas’ American Airlines Center; the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee; the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri; Charlotte, North Carolina’s Time Warner Cable Arena; the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas; and the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, among other leading venues, before concluding April 1 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Winter Jam admission is $10 at the door, with no ticket required.
“With one of the most powerful line-ups of Christian music’s top artists in Winter Jam history, we are thrilled to announce what promises to be our biggest tour yet,” said NewSong founding member and Winter Jam creator Eddie Carswell. “After seeing more than 90,000 people make decisions for Christ during last year’s tour, we enter Winter Jam’s 17th year of ministry excited to begin the adventure of what God has in store for us—and audiences around the country.”
Presented by Holt International, additional Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular sponsors include the University of Mobile, The Creation Museum, OneVerse, Wayne E. Bailey Produce, Texas TransEastern, Premier Christian Cruises, Xtreme Conferences, and Camp Electric.
Additionally, 2012 marks the continuation of the popular Jam Nation fan program, which will offer individual and group memberships guaranteeing free and early concert admission. Members also receive a limited-edition Jam Nation t-shirt, a collectible Jam Nation Platinum Access Pass, and can participate in a Jam Nation Q&A with select tour artists, among numerous other exclusive benefits.
Since its formation by NewSong in 1995, Winter Jam has featured many of the top names in Christian music, including TobyMac, Third Day, Newsboys, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Jeremy Camp, among others. The Winter Jam 2011 Tour Spectacular outpaced attendance for all other tours in the first quarter, including Bon Jovi, U2, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, according to Pollstar’s 2011 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales “Top 100 Tours” chart. In addition, for the first time in its history, the tour will hit 11 cities in the western United States this fall.
Celebrating 30 years in Christian music, NewSong has recorded 17 albums, garnering 20 #1 Christian radio singles and a Grammy® Award nomination, in addition to being inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, among numerous other achievements. The band’s now-classic 2001 ballad, “The Christmas Shoes,” was a #1 hit at mainstream AC radio and inspired the best-selling novel and top-rated CBS television movie of the same name. NewSong’s latest recording, One True God, debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Christian/Gospel Albums chart earlier this year. The project features the new single, “The Same God.” For further information on NewSong, visit www.newsongonline.com.
With RIAA Gold certification, current scans easily surpassing 800,000 units, non-stop mainstream and Christian market touring, and RIAA Gold certification for each of their three hit Active Rock and Christian Rock singles, two-time Grammy® nominated alternative rockers’ Skillets’ latest, Awake has cemented the band as a top rock act in both the Christian and mainstream markets. Awake hit the ground running debuting at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 200, selling over 67,000 units and peaking at No. 1 on iTunes® overall “Top Albums” chart and “Top Rock” chart. After two years, the album remains on the Billboard Top 200 with only a handful of other mainstream acts claiming the same honor.
With massive sales has come radio, awards and tour success, as Awake boasts four Active Rock radio hits with “Monster,” which was also AOL Music’s No. 4 “Mainstream Rock Song of 2009,” the No. 1 Christian CHR & Rock single “Hero,” which has been used by the NFL in their Sunday Night Football and NFL Weekend Kickoff promos, and their latest No. 1 mainstream hit “Awake & Alive,” a remix of which is featured on the TRANSFORMERS: Dark of the Moon soundtrack. And while Skillet’s intensely explosive live show consistently ranks within Pollstar’s Concert Pulse “Top 50 Tours,” the band also received the 2011 Billboard Music Award for “Top Christian Album,” and was Billboard’s No. 2 “Top Christian Album” and No. 9 “Top Alternative Album” in 2010. For further information on Skillet, visit www.skillet.com.
A complete list of Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular dates and cities can be found at jamtour.com.
TOUR DATES
10/27/11 – Hope Presbyterian – Cordova, TN
10/29/11 – Arkansas State University – Mountain Home, AR
10/30/11 – Emens Auditorium – Muncie, IN
11/02/11 – Sanford Center – Bemidji, MN
11/03/11 – Winona State University (Pulse Event) – Winona, MN
11/04/11 – Quant Field House at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, WI
11/05/11 – Kimberly High School (Power of One Festival) – Kimberly, WI
11/06/11 – Coronado Performing Arts Center – Rockford, IL
Skillet are coming to Europe to do a tour through several European countries, Norway, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, check out the tour dates below.
European Tour
November 19, 2011 Maata Nakyvissa Festival, Turku, Finland
November 20, 2011 IMI Forum, Stavanger, Norway
November 23, 2011 Club Bingo, Kiev< Ukraine
November 25, 2011 MILK Club, Moscow, Russia
November 26, 2011 MILK Club, Moscow, Russia
November 27, 2011 Glav Club, St. Petersburg, Russia
December 2, 2011 Christmas Rocknight, Ennepetal, Germany
December 3, 2011 Intersport- Red Blue Arena,Heilbronn, Germany
For more info and tickets, click here
Get more info HERE.
Related articles:
First names for ‘Christmas Rocknight 2011’ [June 2011]
‘Skillet’ to be featured on the ‘Transformers 3 “Dark Side of the Moon” Movie Soundtrack [May 2011]
‘Ben Kasica’ leaves ‘Skillet’ [Februari 2011]
‘Skillet’s’ ‘John Cooper’ on Touring Russia, Raising His 8-Year-Old Daughter [European Tour Starts Next Month] [Oct. 2011]
