Let me begin with a wee disclaimer. I realize proper journalism would probably require a full review of an entire event like one night of a tour, but sometimes you just have to work with the time you have. Being a husband and father, sometimes time out away from our offspring can be difficult to manage, so it's really no surprise that I can't even remember the last time my wife and I were able to zip off to a concert for an evening of just the two of us. But, with Switchfoot's Some Help from My Friends Tour landing 10 minutes away from JFH HQ in our hometown of Bethlehem, PA, things fell into place to make this happen.

Now, Switchfoot's summer 2024 tour unites them with two mainstream talents - a band called Blue October, and a solo artist named Matthew Nathanson. For each night of this tour, the artists will be rotating who starts, who plays second, and who basically headlines the night. And, for this particular night of the tour, it worked in our benefit that San Diego quintet (and one of our all-time favorite bands), Switchfoot, was opening up this evening in Bethlehem.

Although the venue is set so close to our homebase, this was the first time I walked inside the Wind Creek Event Center. It opened in 2011, and has housed some pretty well-known acts (heck, Gin Blossoms and Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar are coming there next month, and Skillet will be there in September). But upon clearing security and stepping inside, I was not only impressed with the layout, but I immediately knew I wanted to see more shows here.

According to Switchfoot's website, the show started at 6:30pm. While online information can be pretty fuzzy on what is a start time for the music and what is the time the doors first open, this particular start time is quite literally the time the show began. (Doors opening was at least an hour or more before the show.) For this tour, Switchfoot is continuing their limited VIP packages that fans can tack on to the standard ticket price, which, although certainly not cheap, includes a short, exclusive soundcheck set performance, exclusive swag, and an early entry to the show. Considering the prices of everything these days (Somehow t-shirts are now $40 and hoodies are $60?! What is going on?), it's not really a bad deal.

Switchfoot opened their set to the sweet, sweet guitar tones of their 2005 hit, "Stars," setting a nice vibe for the night. (If you're a fan of the band, it's pretty hard not to get jazzed up when you hear this song live.) I know the guys are continuing to celebrate 20 years of their 2003 album The Beautiful Letdown with a tour centered around it this fall (I believe it's mostly over seas, if not entirely), so I wasn't quite sure how the band was going to approach this summer tour. It would turn out, as the night unfolded, that their set list was pretty varied and malleable, as front Jon Foreman proceeded to throw out a planned song in exchange for a different one on more than one occasion.

But to continue the night's official kickoff, the band slipped into another scrumptious guitar-driven rocker with "Dark Horses." (For a band that used to be almost exclusively slower, pensive tunes in their pre-Beautiful Letdown days, I'm still excited to see them straight-up rock out on stage.) And probably to the surprise of most in attendance (fan or not), Switchfoot followed up their song with someone else's - a cover of "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys. They've been known to play it live on occasion, but I don't believe I've ever experienced it firsthand before. It was pretty much the apex of their rock trilogy that opened the set, for they followed it up with the far more paced and poignant "This is Your Life." At this point, Foreman hopped down from the stage and waded through the standing room General Admission area of the arena. Occasionally, Jon would spotlight a nearby fan singing along, by putting his mic in front of them, and I think most in attendance were surprised to find the vocals were often pretty good. (Let's be honest; usually, they're not. Ha!) I always enjoy seeing Jon mingle with the fans for a song or two; it's a nice way to include those sitting or standing further in the back of the venue, and connect with fans on a more personal level.

The band's self-proclaimed anthem for living, "Live It Well," was next - complete with Jon on acoustic guitar - and they surprisingly followed it with "Hello Hurricane," a song Foreman dubbed as being about "singing into the storm." The next song marked Jon's first deviation from the original set list. "Float," a key track from their 2016 album, Where The Light Shines Through, was an inspired addition, as it's always a fun one to experience in a live setting. Following "Float," Jon felt inspired to play another song not originally planned that he said felt right to play this evening. With a new solo album out, titled In Bloom, Jon proceeded to perform "I Propose a Toast" with an acoustic guitar. It was a nice little intimate addition to the night (although, that also meant that, considering "Sabotage" as well, that meant two less of the band's songs could be played, but they were both still cool live moments). The fan favorite "Dare You to Move" was a solid follow-up, and Foreman encouraged the audience to lift their cellphones in the air, using their flashlights to illuminate the room. That's always a memorable sight.

The anthem for life after death, when believers reach the other side, "Where I Belong," is by far one of my favorite songs to hear them perform live. And in usual fashion for this song's live presentation, Jon plucked a fan-made flag bearing the painted words of "Where I Belong" from the audience and held it up before draping it over his neck. It's a beautiful song, and I'm always grateful when they play it live. And with the close of the song, the guys broke into a raucous jam session, which fans who are familiar with their live show in recent years know can only mean one thing: their career-defining hit "Meant to Live" was next. It was most certainly a highlight of the night, and with roughly two minutes left on the clock for their set, they said goodnight, took a bow, and exited the stage.

Apparently we weren't the only ones who came just for these guys, as a surprising amount of people exited after Switchfoot's performance. Two more acts were still slated to follow (neither of which are really fitting for JFH anyway, I suppose), so there was still plenty of music ahead for those not quite ready to call it a night.

However, if you do catch this tour in your area, make sure you arrive at the announced start time since there's no announcement ahead of time as to which artist is playing when or in what order. Switchfoot only had an hour of stage time, but it was most certainly a solid and tight 60 minutes of music - so definitely don't miss your chance to see them if you can.