Joel Hanson in concert!

June 7, 2003

Hadlock Field, Portland ME

    I never got the chance to see PFR in concert, and I was kind of disappointed in the fact that their record company (after releasing Disappear) went under and they disbanded. But when I found out that he was playing in Portland, ME, I was very excited. I was finally able to see the main man of PFR live in concert. Me and my friend Bill made the 100 mile trip from Boston to Portland, and I'd say it was worth the ride to meet one of the most underrated and best singers in Christian CCM. He only did 9 or 10 songs, but he picked some great songs from his solo albums. Live versions of "Broken", "Missing Love", "Captured", "Set Us Free", and "Fly" were all great songs and are a must hear. I think the best songs played were "Still Greater" and "Missing Love". I could listen to those songs over and over. His band he had rocked out on most of the songs they played in the set. Joel still has his chops, and I think he has some great potential to regain his popularity in the time to come. I was able to bring my ok digital camera and get some shots from the performance. It was raining outside, and I guess they were going to have it in the middle of Hadlock field, but they held it inside, so there wasn't the best acoustics or view for a lot of people. But Joel and his band still did a fantastic job. I also got to ask him if PFR was going to have a reunion someday, and he told me the story about how the record company went under right after "Disappear" was released. But he said PFR was still touring (ANYONE KNOW WHERE/WHEN and how I can get the info?) and that it could happen that PFR would release more albums if the opportunity came their way. Here are some pictures from the performance.

From left to right: Jay (the webmaster), Joel, and Bill. Group shots are always the best.

Below are the good shots of Joel and the band performing.

There's Joel jamming out on a solo! :)

Discussing stuff with the band ;)

Here's a picture of the Seadogs game we watched afterwards.

See that guy in the light blue shirt to the top right of the men standing at home plate? That's Joel Hanson, singing the National Anthem! He sang it great!

HERE are some other miscellaneous shots from the concert: