Copious Notes

The Herald-Leader’s Jason Morrow hung out with Hawk Nelson on Thursday. He had a video camera with him. Check it out.

Solomon Olds leads Family Force 5 at Ichths, Thursday. Photos by Rich Copley.

Toward the end of Family Force 5’s evening-ending performance at the Ichthus Festival Thursday night, frontman Solomon Olds asked how many people in the crowd had seen the Peach State band a few years ago, when it was playing one of Ichthus’ smaller stages.

There were a lot of cheers, which is totally plausible, because FF5 has been a buzz band at Ichthus for years, even earning an on-stage shout out from Relient K’s Matt Thiessen one year when the group was still playing small stages.

Jason Dunn leads Hawk Nelson on the Ichthus stage.

Similarly, Hawk Nelson has risen through the ranks, starting off with an appearance on an NBC drama as its calling card and taking early afternoon slots.

Thursday night, Hawk and Family Force 5 took rightful places among Ichthus headliners — acts that make slogging through a day of rain and mud worth it.

And they were worth it. Hawk Nelson sported a newfound maturity, particularly in frontman Jason Dunn, that made them seem right at home in the nighttime slot. And FF5 may have risen through the ranks, but when the band stepped on stage to close the night out, they seemed like they belonged there.

Thursday night, on the main stage, we saw the fruits of years of work paying off for two patient bands, and we saw two great performances.

Stay tuned: Herald-Leader videographer Jason Morrow spent Thursday hanging out with Hawk Nelson, and he had his video camera with him. Watch out for his film later this weekend.