TobyMac and KB Bring Celebrate MN to Life at The Ledge Amphitheater
Photos & Words by: Precious Drew
I’ll be honest: I came to Celebrate MN as a KB fan.
I knew KB. I knew what I was getting into. TobyMac? I knew the name, obviously, but I wouldn’t have called myself a fan going into the show. By the time I walked out of The Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park, Minnesota, that had changed.
I left a TobyMac fan.
The night started with Celebrate MN getting the crowd on their feet almost immediately, and the energy only grew from there. The audience was a mix of ages, from kids to adults, and everyone seemed ready to have a good time.
KB came out with nonstop energy, jumping, moving and getting the crowd involved from the beginning. But in the middle of all that energy, he took a few minutes to talk about his journey to finding Christ. He shared how a classmate gave him a Christian hip-hop CD that helped rescue him from a dark place and reminded him that Jesus sees him in his pain.
Then came “Church Clap,” and the crowd went crazy. 14 years after its release, “Church Clap” still got an entire room on their feet - immediately.
KB even brought kids from the audience onto the stage, eventually turning it into a sea of young people dancing and worshipping. There was no real down moment during his set. From “100” to “Blood 2,” KB kept the energy high while making it clear what the night was really about - Jesus.
Between sets, Reggie Dabbs brought a completely different kind of energy. His testimony about being given away as a child, growing up in foster care and eventually learning what it meant to be loved was one of the most powerful moments of the night.
Then TobyMac hit the stage.
At that moment, it was immediately clear who the crowd was most excited to see.
And honestly, I was beyond impressed.
The easiest comparison I can make is that TobyMac reminded me of Bruno Mars… but for Christians. The choreography, the upbeat music, the live band, the stage presence, the transitions and the way everything worked together felt incredibly polished without feeling overproduced.
Songs like “I Just Need U” and “Love Broke Thru” had the entire crowd moving, but what stood out most was how much attention TobyMac gave his band, DiverseCity. The crowd went crazy during the band’s solos, and you could tell these musicians weren’t just background players. They were a huge part of the show. And while I enjoyed all of the band members, the background vocalist, Deondra, strong vocal capabilities stood out to me the most.
TobyMac also got personal during his set, talking about losing his firstborn son and how he eventually returned to the Bible during one of the hardest seasons of his life. Throughout the night, his message stayed consistent: the show wasn’t about TobyMac. It was about Jesus.
That message showed up in some of the simplest moments, too. During “Promised Land,” fans throughout the crowd turned on their phone flashlights without being prompted, creating a moment that genuinely felt like worship rather than just a concert.
Even when there were technical issues with TobyMac’s microphone toward the end of the show, he and the band worked through it without letting it derail the night.
I came to Celebrate MN because I wanted to see KB.
I left talking about TobyMac, his band and the entire experience.
Sometimes the best part of a concert is discovering an artist you didn’t realize you needed to see live.
For me, that was TobyMac. See the full gallery below:
Comments