Chris Tomlin Jacksonville reviews
A little disappointed in the event
I was a bit disappointed with a few things...I'm sure some of them are my fault or lack of experience going to concerts.
I bought the tickets to see Bethel and Kari Jobe for my wife. Two of her favorite artists. Chris Tomlin was a bonus but not the reason for purchasing the tickets. We were informed about 36 hours before the event that Kari was not going to make it due to Covid symptoms. Totally understandable. And she was replaced by Lauren Daigle...who is a great replacement...but unfortunately for me, not my wife's favorite. I was disappointed that Lauren talked about being asked to perform early in the week, but the notification wasn't sent out until Friday at 9 am for a Saturday 7 pm concert. I didn't see the email until Saturday morning, and by that time, it was too late to get rid of the tickets.
We got to the entrance of the venue at 6:45 and saw that there was a large line to get in. Again, very understandable. After getting in line, we got about 150 from the check-in building when the line split into two. We thought that both lines were doing the same thing, and no one was there to explain the difference, so we stayed to the left. Well...the right line split again, and then again...the right line was actually 4 lines, and the left line was actually 1 line. It took nearly 30 minutes from the time we got in line until we were through the metal detectors and inside the venue. By that point, it was 7:25, and Bethel only had 25 minutes left in their set.
Lauren came on next. I'm sure due to the late notice, she didn't have her full band. It seemed more like a reggae concert which isn't our style. We ended up leaving the concert early to drive the 2.5 hours back home so the sitter could leave.
I'm sure Chris was great, but I can't comment either way.
The disappointment we had was more to do with the venue than anything else. There weren't any signs telling you where to go for the lines and not enough people to direct (or instruct) where the lines were forming. It would have been nice if they put the artist that was a fill-in first on stage since many of us bought tickets to see the other performers. Again, maybe my complaints are a lack of going to concerts, but it was not a great experience from a venue standpoint. However, the actual venue for the concert, the sound, the view, and environment we all great. Just my two cents.