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Last night I attended the most violent concert I've ever been to—and believe me, I've been to a lot of them. The thing is, this one was a Christian show.

I've wanted to see the rock-rap-reggae band P.O.D. live for a long time. They're one of the best mainstream acts around and it just so happens they're Christians. Not the in-your-face kind, though—and, like so many other artists of faith out there, they don't like to be classified as a "Christian" band. They're a band whose members happen to be Christian, and who promote positive messages about life and love and God in their music, without inserting "Jesus" into every chorus.

Before the show—at the Nokia Theater in New York City--I waited on the open floor close to the stage for the first of three opening acts. I relaxed, and anticipated the night would be full of good, loud music I could dance and bop my head to. It didn't exactly go that way.

The first act, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, a Christian hardcore metal band, approached the stage and immediately launched into their first song—screaming and thrashing about. As I strained to hear the music, I felt a punch to my back. I turned around, and a huge mosh pit had formed behind me. That's cool, I thought, I could deal with it. I grew up during the grunge era and have been to a lot of shows where pits opened up. No biggie. I'd just try to move away to another spot on the floor.

Then, it happened. Instantly, the pit transformed from a lively group of people jumping around and dancing erratically to a dangerous circle of violence and aggression. The group, at this point about 10-15 people, mainly guys, began punching and kicking everyone on the edges of the circle. I am familiar with this wild, aggressive "slam dancing," but would never expect it at "Christian show." Besides, there are certain unwritten rules to participating in a mosh pit--namely, no punching or kicking, especially people outside of the pit.

I was pushed to another side of the dance floor, along with my friend who'd accompanied me to the show. I found a "safe" spot, away from the mayhem, and tried to get back into the music. It was kind of difficult to though, since the drummer constantly threw drumsticks into the crowd, and not once, but twice, almost poked in the eye. The lead singer also thought it was Christianly to spit into the crowd at least five times per song.

The next band, The Chariot--which has been described as Christian southern metalcore (I don't make up the genre names, people)--had a similar sound to Sons of Disaster, though with an interesting country sound. Another mosh pit quickly opened behind me. I didn't know about it until a tall teenage boy went flying into me, kicking me in the back of the head. I've never been kicked in the head at a mainstream concert, and here I was, getting beat up at a Christian show. Would Jesus would go for this kind of behavior? If he does, I certainly didn't get that memo.

As I tried to move away from the new pit, I glanced toward the stage to see the lead singer using the microphone stand as a sword, pretending to chop the heads off some of the people in the front of the stage.

Pillar, a hard-rock band composed of Christians came on next. (In an interview with Beliefnet last year, singer Rob Beckley objected to the label "Christian band," calling it "stupid," adding, "The Beastie Boys aren't Buddhist hip-hop"). At this point in the show, a big smoke cloud filled the air. Kids everywhere were smoking pot. "At least this will calm them down," I thought.

Oh, was I was wrong.

A fight broke out toward the end of Pillar's set, but luckily I was out of harm's way. However, I didn't get to enjoy the rest of the performance as much as I would have liked to, because I was constantly watching my back to make sure I wasn't punched or maimed. Overall though, Pillar put on a great show, singing some new material off their upcoming album, as well as old favorites like, "Bring Me Down."

Finally, P.O.D. came on, and they were every bit as wonderful as I imagined they'd be. Although plagued by some technical difficulties, the band was composed and polite and got the entire crowd singing many of their hits, including "Will You," "Boom," and "Youth of the Nation." It was a stellar performance, which coupled a great selection of hits with lead singer Sonny Sandoval's visable passion for the music he was singing.

At one point, Sandoval threw water into the crowd--something common at many hard rock shows where the audience gets hot and sticky. Although I had seen this many times before, it took on a new meaning at this show. It was if Sonny was baptizing the crowd, not into his religion, but into his music. It was very touching to see this. It almost made up for an entire night of being battered and bruised by an unruly crowd.

Almost.

Normally, when I go to a rock concert, most of the people in the audience have their hands in the air, making the "sign of the devil" with their pinky and pointer fingers extended, rocking out to the music. They're not holding their hands out in prayer. Usually when I see women in the audience reach toward the stage, she's trying to grab the lead singer and rip his clothes off, not reaching toward heaven as a sign of worship. And, most times, when I see people embracing in the audience, it's because they're on drugs or leaning on someone because they're drunk, not because they're loving on their neighbor as Jesus would want it.

But last night I saw all that and more, as I had my first experience at a Christian rock concert--Third Day and the David Crowder Band live at the Nokia Theater in Times Square, New York. I knew it would be much different than any show I'd experienced before, but I don't think I was prepared for exactly how different it would be.

Because New York isn't exactly known for its Christian rock scene, I expected plenty of empty seats. I was wrong: The place was packed and, unlike the more mainstream shows I've been to, people weren't pushing, shoving, and spilling beer all over the place. People were actually polite. I figured they must all be from rural parts of Jersey or something, and not real New Yorkers; they couldn't be! (Later in the night, a show of hands proved me wrong—most people seemed to live in the New York City area).

The David Crowder band, who walked away earlier this month with three Doves at the Gospel Music Awards--including best Rock/Contemporary album for "Collision," best Rock/ Contemporary Recorded Song for "Here is Our King," and for their work on the best Special Event Album, "Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia"--opened the show. The wild-haired, Jesus-bearded Crowder had a wonderful rapport with the audience and put on a great performance. The crowd, especially the younger people, sang loudly and jumped around like it was a mosh pit at a House of Pain concert—except they all linked arms like old friends and no one seemed to get hurt or stepped on.

Before launching into his "rock opera," "You Are My Joy," Crowder said we were going to "have a little church here in the middle of the Nokia Theater." Up until that point, the concert didn't seem so religious--like in many concerts, much of the lyrics were drowned out by overpowering percussion and guitars--but now we were going full throttle into worship.

Right after Crowder's set, Tai Anderson, bass player for Third Day, came on stage to talk to the crowd about the documentary, "Invisible Children," which tells the story of children in Uganda who are kidnapped and forced to fight for rebel armies. "Standing up for justice is our role in the body of Christ," he said, encouraging the audience to get involved with the cause.

A short while later, Third Day approached the stage to wild applause. Playing a variety of hits, such as "Cry Out to Jesus"--for which they won a Dove award for best Pop Contemporary Song of the Year--"Rock Star," and oldies like "Consuming Fire," the audience reveled in the mix of worship, rock, and country. One of the best moments of the night was when Third Day's lead singer, Mac Powell, invited the David Crowder Band back on stage to sing a cover of Hank Williams Sr.'s, " I Saw the Light."

At the end of the night, right before he led the audience in a prayer, Mac Powell, lead singer of the group, made an interesting point when he said, "Down south, being a Christian is a cultural thing. But here in New York City, if you're a Christian it's for real; it's not a cultural thing." I wasn't sure if he said that because of the idea that New York City is a cesspool of sin, or because it's a place where people aren't very open with their faith. Either way, it made me think.

Throughout the show, I felt more uplifted than I do that one time a year I go to church. There was a genuine goodness in the air, which showed itself to me in a way that my traditional Catholic church does not. Although I've always been a music person and a God and Jesus person, I've never been much of a church person. But if I could find a place where I could, as Third Day lead singer Mac Powell says, "live my faith through music," I think I'd have a better shot of going to church more regularly.

But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop listening to Metallica.