The Todd Boys Take Over Cincinnati at Winter Jam 2013

Keep Calm and Jam On Winter Jam 2013

Remember a few weeks ago when I said I was taking Aiden to Winter Jam that weekend? Well…that didn’t happen. Stupid snow forced us to reschedule our trip. I picked Aiden up after school on Friday and we made the trip to Cincinnati to rock out with 10,000 of our closest friends at US Bank Arena so he could finally get his Christmas present. Yes…one of his Christmas presents was a road trip to Winter Jam.

waiting anxiously for Winter Jam 2013

With general admission seating, I knew we had to get there early to get a decent seat. It’s a good thing we got there when we did! The website said that the doors were supposed to open at 6 p.m. for the general admission audience. We walked up at around 5:15 and the line was already moving. Unbeknownst to us, the show really started at 6 p.m. instead of 7.

OK….the official show began at 7, but the Pre Winter Jam Jam Party started at 6. So if you have a chance to go to Winter Jam this year, be sure to get there early. That way, you’re guaranteed a seat (I hear people have been turned away from a few stops because the arenas have been filled to capacity), and you get to jam with the Winter Jam PreJam Party Jam. So you definitely want to get there early.

We had a great time at Winter Jam. To quote the Boy…

Best time EVER

I’ll admit that I was pretty excited to go to this concert. Even though I’m not necessarily his target demographic anymore, I’ve been a fan of TobyMac’s for more than 20 years. In fact, dc Talk might have been my first-ever concert (I’m a little bit fuzzy on this fact). It was pretty cool to be able to rock out to him with my son. That was a pretty neat experience – one I’ll never forget.

And while I was looking forward to the headliner, I must say that I was pretty impressed with Red. I think I would’ve been more impressed with them if I was more familiar with their music. We really liked when they blew up the stage.

The band Red on the stage

and again

The band Red at Winter Jam 2013 in Cincinnati

and again.

the band Red at Winter Jam 2013 in Cincinnati

Yeah. They liked a lot of fire. And we loved them for it. They put on a pretty good show, too.

Matthew West was a pretty good show, too. And it was for completely different reasons. He’s such a good storyteller in his song writing. He introduced a couple of songs to the crowd, including , Hello, My Name Is. I’ve been humming it ever since we heard it.

Matthew West Hello My Name Is

The highlight of the night was still TobyMac’s performance. Loved the drumline. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard a drumline quite like this one.

TobyMac's drumline at Winter Jam 2013 in Cincinnati Ohio

And at the end, he blew up the stage again.

TobyMac's grand finale at Winter Jam 2013 in Cincinnati

We crashed at a hotel in Florence Y’all. But before we could sleep, we had to find some food for our bellies. Other than sharing some popcorn at the concert, neither one of us had really eaten anything since lunch. We were hungry. The only fast food joint near our hotel that was still open was a Steak n Shake. Unfortunately, I think the entire town of Florence Y’all was there. After waiting a while, we decided to buy some Lunchables from the local Meijer and go to bed.

Of course, no visit to the Cincinnati area is complete without a trip to Graeter’s. I had their Blueberry Pie ice cream. It was uh-mazing!

blueberry pie ice cream at Graeter's

Aiden had Caramel ice cream with a pretzel cone.

Caramel ice cream on a pretzel cone from Graeter's

I think he liked it.

Aiden eating his caramel ice cream on a pretzel cone from Graeter's

The following two tabs change content below.
Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"
Spread the love