(Nashville, Tenn.) May 8, 2008 - Casting Crowns , featured guests Leeland and breakout artist John Waller , also known as “The Altar and The Door Tour,” just tapped off a year of memorable concert events, joining record-breaking crowds in 83 markets and tallying more than 450,000 in attendance nationwide since September.
“Our goal from the beginning was to point people to a daily walk with Jesus through our music and testimonies,” says Mark Hall of Casting Crowns. “I believe God has honored our efforts and people saw and heard Him clearly!”
Standing steady as the highest-grossing tour in Christian music for the 2007-2008 season, the tour captured countless entertainment cover features in newspapers coast to coast and most notable attendances in Nashville, with 10,000 concert-goers and 14,004 gathering to worship at Greensboro Coliseum. Incidentally, attendance of “The Altar and The Door Tour” set a career-high for Casting Crowns, garnering 100,000 more than its previous “Lifesong Tour,” which brought in a whopping 350,000 total.
“What an honor it is to serve God along side Casting Crowns and John Waller,” explains Jack Mooring of Leeland. “This tour never lost its overall focus, and that’s to lift Jesus higher.”
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Photo Caption (L-R): Leeland Mooring, Jack Mooring, Jake Holtz and Mike Smith of Leeland; Melodee DeVevo, Mark Hall, Chris Huffman, Megan Garrett,
Hector Cervantes, Andy Williams and Juan DeVevo of Casting Crowns; and John Waller. ]
“The Altar and The Door Tour” united 19,596 World Vision children with sponsors. Casting Crowns has now exceeded 30,000 career child sponsorships for the child relief organization.
Partnering with radio stations across the country has proven invaluable, as well, according to Jeff Taylor, General Manager of WAY-FM in Ft. Meyers, Florida, “The Altar and The Door Tour’ was the highlight of the year for thousands of WAY-FM listeners in Southwest Florida! The band members and crew were so gracious and kind - no rock stars here!! ...their ministry impacted lives for eternity.”
Well-seasoned promoters from the East Coast to the West Coast have not only been exceedingly encouraged by the attendances, but also revived and renewed by the response of worship from crowds. DC Concert promoter, Carol Auxier explains, “It’s an awesome feeling to stand stage side and look out into the crowd and see thousands of people in praise and worship, responding to the band in concert. Casting Crowns has a humble spirit like none I have seen, even though they have reached peaks in the music industry that few artists have reached.”