Purple Door 2007

Purple Door Festival August 17 and 18 2007 Ski Roundtop Lewisberry, PA

Chill Out! That one phrase really sums up Purple Door 2007. Although the music leaned toward the hardcore the atmosphere was very laid back and relaxed at one of the best festivals MusicBox attended this summer. What set Purple Door apart from all the other summer music festivals is both the pace and the purpose. The atmosphere is relaxed and stages are set up so that you can catch all the acts w/o feeling like you have to be on the run all day. Breaks are programmed into the schedule to allow patrons to fully enjoy the entire program with out all of the overlaps so common at other festivals. The purpose is another major difference. As a Christian music festival Purple Door is about more that just the music. It is a coming together of like minded fans and artists. With spacing between acts there is time to explore the numerous booths devoted to charitable and benevolent causes. As for the music program there were acts on a total of three stages, each stage with its own personality. The smaller “Gallery” stage is where acoustic and other ‘softer’ acts performed. MusicBox was especially impressed with Gallery stage performances by House of Heroes, The Apathy Eulogy and Bradley Hathaway. The two other stages were both ‘main' stages. The HM stage, sponsored by HM magazine, was devoted to harder bands, while the second main stage was a nice mix of hardcore, speakers and more mainstream acts. Some of this year's mainstage acts included The Showdown, As Cities Burn, Anberlin, Relient K, Family Force 5, Me Without You, August Burns Red, The Chariot and Norma Jean. Over the two days we were able to catch many acts on all three stages. Some acts that really stood out on the main stages were Spoken, The Showdown, Relient K and Family Force 5 on the main stage 1 and Norma Jean and Haste the Day on the HM stage. For a full lineup and links to all of the artists who played the 2007 Purple Door festival please visit the Purple Door website. In addition to the music program there were also speakers, seminars, booths with merchandise, an art gallery, a skate park, lots of food to be purchased and opportunities to find out about causes and charitable organizations.

For MusicBox one of the highlights of the weekend were seeing local favorites The Apathy Eulogy perform at this year’s Purple Door. We caught up with them after the event to ask them about their experience. They were invited by Purple Door organizers to apply to participate in the Mono vs Stereo new artists showcase. They sent in a CD, photo and bio and out of all submissions received they were one of only three bands chosen to play this years festival. When asked to describe their experience lead singer Rob said “Purple Door 2007 could not have been more fun for us as a band! We got to chill with so many rad bands, fans and friends. From the perspective of a chosen breakthrough artist, it was an amazing opportunity to share our music with a new crowd... but we were pleasantly surprised by the love from so many fans and friends that came out to support us!” As for the difference between playing a Christian fest and a secular music event Rob stated “The festival required artists to abide by certain rules, possibly the most noticeable of which was to abstain from voicing inappropriate content or use of profanity from stage. Overall the fest as a whole had a very family-friendly, positive vibe... but it was still a good time for all.” We also asked Rob what his favorite part of the event was and at MusicBox we couldn’t agree more with his statement “FAMILY FORCE 5 BABY!!!!”

Speaking of Family Force 5, one of MusicBox’s favorite bands of the summer, we were able to catch them at the ropes course at Purple Door. Enjoy the pics of them on the zip line along with some shots of their performance on the main stage. We have also posted some pics from our two days at Purple Door.

Overall we can sum up Purple Door as a great music event, an awesome opportunity to learn and grow and a unique chance to chill out in a positive atmosphere. For more information about Purple Door, this year’s artists and sponsors visit the links below.

Purple Door
PurpleDoor MySpace
Purple Door is a Christian music festival held every summer for the past 13 years in rural Pennsylvania. This year’s festival drew approximately 10,000 people who came out for the music and the atmosphere.

MusicBox wishes to thank Purple Door and its organizers.

Article and all pictures copyright MusicBox Entertainment 2007