Yesterday was April 4, 2004—04/04/04. I could be mistaken, but this might be the only 04/04/04 any of us will get to live through. Isn’t that pretty cool?

So I’m just going to write briefly about the following topic, and then I’m going to enjoy what remains of this one-in-a-thousand celestial event. I went to a family gathering last weekend, Saturday, March 27th, and half the guests were the in-laws of my uncle. This means I wasn’t related by blood to any of them. Anyway, one of my… I guess I would call them my step-cousins, asked me out to a concert next week. She and I have known each other for about three years now, and since she lives right down the avenue from me, we’ve run into each other on the bus or subway several times. She kinda looks like the female ghost played by Joey Wang in “A Chinese Ghost Story,” so there’s a chance I’ve tried to be friendly and charming. There’s also a chance my behavior may have worked on her.

Now, there’s one little catch: She’s a Christian, and very devout. There’s a silver chain and cross hanging down from her neck—actually hanging OUTSIDE her clothing. Man, that’s devout! I once called her on a Sunday morning and asked what she was doing that day. She said, “Uh, I’m going to church,” with this “What else would I be doing?” tone. I felt so stupid. Okay, I was kidding about that part.

Back to the story. This concert she invited me to go to, it’s a Christian rock concert. Christian rock. I always assumed that was an oxymoron. My only exposure in my lifetime to Christian rock was the trailer to “Titan A.D.,” which featured a song by that band that sounded kinda like Stone Temple Pilots. Yeah, I know STP sounds like Pearl Jam, but this Christian band didn’t sound like Pearl Jam, they sounded like STP. Or maybe Bush. Either way, I don’t necessarily mean that as a compliment.

I am familiar with rock music, and enough of a proponent of rock’s integrity to admit that it likely evolved from jazz. Still, in my mind, the best rock music is about rage, loneliness, or in the case of the L.A. scene, sinnin’ down the Sunset Strip. Though I am uninitiated to the ways of the devout Christian, seems to me that a religion which espouses moral purity would encompass none of these three things. Are permutations or fusions possible? Certainly they are. However, not to be sacriligious, but such an unholy marriage strikes me as the stuff of desperate p.r.—Vince Neal finding God—as opposed to the collaborating of traditionally-disenfranchised, and stoned, musicians.

Clearly, I am conflicted. On the one hand, the girl is cute. On the other hand, I’m really not looking forward to a Christian rock concert, no offense to the City College Campus Crusade for Christ, Chinese Chapter, who are hosting the event. Is it possible I am mistaken about Christian rock? I mean, if there are so many members of the C.C.C.C.C.C.C. who like that kind of music, it can’t be that bad, right? Am I right?

Feel free to share your impressions, and general opinions, whether grounded in fact or not so, regarding Christian rock.