I do enjoy it when my two worlds collide. This does not often happen as a very part-time theme park blogger and a very full-time American Baptist (ABC-USA) minister. Florida’s largest contemporary Christian music event (supposedly), held at Universal Studios Florida, Rock the Universe, is a crossing of those streams. Yes, Egon taught us not to cross the streams in Ghostbusters, so this merging of worlds is awkward at points.
The Rock the Universe event used to happen in early September before Halloween Horror Nights started. Since in the Orlando area, Halloween can start as early as mid-August (looking at you Walt Disney World), the event has moved to near the beginning of year. In 2022, it is scheduled to happen January 28-29, 2022.
This event usually involves some of the top artists in contemporary Christian music. This year is no exception with a great lineup.
On Friday January 28th, the headliner group is For King and Country. Joel and Luke Smallbone are part of famous Christian music family. They fit the pop/rock genre. They have won four Grammy awards. –It helps to have a brother in Hollywood film industry.
They have created some impressive music video such as “The Proof of Your Love”, “Shoulders”, and “Burn the Ships” to name a few. They were in the movie “Priceless.” They have signed to do a concert movie also. Their shows are well done and undoubtedly will feature more than a few drum solos.
Also on Friday night, the very talented Matthew West, Rhett Walker, Jordan Feliz, and Riley Clemmons will perform.
On Saturday January 29th, the ground-breaking, and long-lasting group, Casting Crowns is the headline act.
This group lead by Mark Hall started in 1999 and is still leading worship and performing concerts. Casting Crowns would be considered more adult contemporary in terms of style. Saturday night features a larger variety of styles of music with other talented artists such as Zach Williams, Big Daddy Weave, We the Kingdom, Cory Asbury of Bethel Music, and Social Club Misfits will round out the headliners.
Rock the Universe is an after hours paid event that is not included with regular day admission, so tickets will need to be purchased through Universal Orlando. You will find that a wide variety of tickets options and hotel packages offered.
There will be a few other opportunities for guests besides the main concert stage. There will be a Coca-Cola FanZone, located in the New York section of Universal Studios Florida. This will offer guests a chance to connect with and get autographs from the artists.
A smaller stage for newer up and coming acts to perform will be in this area also.
On Saturday night, at the Music Plaza stage, there will be mini worship service including special appearance by some of the artists performing.
On Sunday morning, there will be a non-denominational worship service also. These worship events will fill up quickly based on history.
In addition, many of the ride attractions will be open also for this event.
If you can tolerate a gigantic crowd of loud teenagers that sometimes forget that their faith teaches compassion, then this music festival could be a great time for you. If my work schedule allows, with the crossing streams, I would love to attend this event in 2022.
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.