Rock and Worship Roadshow kicks off tour in Cape Girardeau

MercyMe, born of a worship band, has had plenty of success since debuting in 2001.

It has received awards from Billboard and GMA Dove, and has been nominated for a Grammy. Last year, its song "All of Creation" was named iTunes Christian Song of the Year as well as Billboard's Christian Song of the Year.

After all those accomplishments, the bant decided to do something for its fans.

The band founded the Rock and Worship Roadshow three years ago as a way to pull back from high ticket prices as a way to show its appreciation for the fans.

The 2011 tour will kick off Jan. 28 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. The tour features five top Christian bands: MercyMe, Jars of Clay, Thousand Foot Krutch, Matt Maher and The Afters.

MercyMe guitarist Michael Scheuchzer said that as the band was touring, members wanted to make their shows bigger and better and more entertaining, but didn't realize that their ticket prices were getting so high.

"It got a point where we were getting e-mails from people, not really complaining, but people who were saying that I wanted to come to the show but I just really couldn't afford the tickets," Scheuchzer said.

After touring as an act on the religious music tour Winter Jam, MercyMe saw that a $10 ticket could work. Wanting to do something for the fans, it started the Rock and Worship Roadshow in 2009.

"We're so thrilled to hear on a nightly basis, 'Yeah, I got to bring my kids,' or 'I got to bring the whole family to the show,'" Scheuchzer said. "We didn't know if it would make it past the first year, and it's having its third birthday, so we're pretty stoked."

Scheuchzer said cohesion among the bands is critical when touring, and he is excited about this lineup.

"We wanted it to be something for everyone," he said.

The band picks other bands for the lineup, so they can control the feel and tone of the tour.

"We kind of know who we are, musically, so we try to fit people around that," Scheuchzer said. "You know, if someone is a MercyMe fan, their kids might not be, so we try to find somebody their kids would like and build a full show that feels like a festival, basically."

Josh Havens is the lead vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist for The Afters. The band first toured with MercyMe in 2005, which was their first big tour as a band.

"We've been touring ever since; we just finished a tour through the Northeast and Midwest in the fall," Havens said.

Havens agreed the $10 ticket price opens the door for a lot of people.

"You can hardly see a movie these days for 10 bucks," he said. "A lot of tours that I've wanted to go see are expensive tickets. I recently saw U2, and man, I had horrible seats; in the new [Dallas Cowboys stadium], and it was still $120 a ticket."

Carol Anderson, Rock and Worship Roadshow publicist, said the dates on the tour are helping the growth of the Roadshow.

"They're going into some different markets this year," she said. "They're starting earlier. The last two years, they didn't kick off until March."

The earlier start is letting the tour branch out from the West Coast to reach out to more fans -- the ultimate goal of all the bands.

"We make music so that our fans can walk through this with us, and we want them to be a part of that," Havens said. "By making a ticket that's affordable, you're breaking down that one barrier, at least, and making it possible for everyone to come."

All tickets for the event are $10. No advance tickets are being sold.

VIP tickets are available through www.therockandworshiproadshow.com. A donor pass is $50 and gives early entry, a souvenir VIP tour laminate, a tour T-shirt and early access to merchandise. A VIP donor pass is $100 and gives all of the donor benefits as well as a meet and greet with MercyMe.

Scheuchzer said because this is the first show of the tour, there's a chance that many of the musicians will be arriving a day early in Cape Girardeau to do tour rehearsals.

"Bring your church group down there to harass people," he joked.