Pillar & Behold The Beloved Concert Review - October 2025

Pillar, an unstoppable force in Christian Rock, is one of my favorite all-time bands. When I heard that they were coming to The Junction Center in Manheim, PA, I knew I had to get tickets! Pillar had been on a hiatus since 2015 until a string of concerts in 2024 and 2025. The full crew of Noah Henson, Michael Whittig, Rob Beckley and Lester Estelle II came to rock, with the addition of J.R. Bareis (Love & Death, Spoken) on guitars and backing vocals. Originally this show was going to feature Spoken as well, but there were unknown circumstances that removed them from the lineup. Local rock band, Behold the Beloved, was the perfect fit for an opening band - they get the crowd moving and their faith-filled music packs a punch!

John Stafferi from WJTL (the local Christian radio station) came out as the MC for the evening. He talked about how important Christian rock is to him and the impact that it’s had on his life and the ministry of WJTL. He made references to Purple Door Festival and Purple Door Radio, which if you remember those days, yes, you are old! In case you didn’t know, John hosts the show “Some Sort of Rock Show” on WJTL. It plays every Friday night at 10 p.m. and Sunday night at 8 p.m. They play an assortment of talent ranging from Disciple to Rusty Shipp to Nate Parrish and so on. It’s great having local Christian radio that supports heavier music!

Behold the Beloved came out to a packed room. Being hometown favorites, a majority of the crowd was screaming their lyrics. The energy was infectious as they commanded the stage starting with “Toxic Lullaby” and then into “Dear Martyr.” Sean said that he spent the week leading up to the show fighting a cold and sore throat, but this crowd backed him up by singing along. They launched back into the music with “Playing with Fire” and “Untouchable,” a great call and response song. They brought it down a little with “Am I Broken,” which really taps into that feeling of wondering if you're missing something in God's plan or why things aren't working out the way you hoped. On the album, this song features Jon Micah from Kutless and while I wasn’t expecting to see him walk out on stage, I wasn’t sure if maybe we would be surprised by a guest appearance by Rob from Pillar. Unfortunately no, but still a great song and Sean gave a very passionate and heartfelt message about God’s purpose and plan for our lives and loving people in spite of their sin. 

They wrapped up their set with “Live Again,” “Clenched Fists,” and “Gratitude.” It felt incredibly encouraging being in that room with other believers who were worshipping together. Moments like this make us long for when we will finally see Jesus face to face and worship before Him. But for now, this is the closest to worshiping in Heaven while we’re still on earth. Great way to finish the set and if you honestly believe that Christian rock is not as strong as it used to be, you have another thing coming. Behold the Beloved is one of those bands on the rise and I’m so excited for their future and the future of Christian rock.

After a set change, it was time for the main event! I can’t remember the last time I saw Pillar, but excited was a mild word to describe the anticipation for a show that was a decade in the making. The stage went dark as the guitars started to hum and Lester made his way out to start banging on those drums. The crowd roared with excitement and anticipation as Pillar’s logo flashed on the backdrop of the stage. The band immediately launched into their biggest hit, “Fireproof.” Michael, Noah, Lester and Rob graced the stage together as Pillar and brought along J.R. who you might remember from his time in Spoken and Love and Death (with Brian “Head” Welch). J.R. matched Noah in dread flips and sick guitar riffs. They all showed that they haven’t lost a step going from the iconic “Fireproof” into “For The Love of the Game.” The crowd screamed back with every line.

The band and the crowd matched energy levels as they went back into “Hypnotized.” The melodic opening riffs transported me back to 2004 when it was released on “Where Do We Go From Here.” Off the same album, they launched into crowd-favorite, “Simply,” with the audience screaming back “You simply love!” speaking of God’s endless love towards a fallen world.

Rob took a chance for the guys (and himself) to catch their breath. The guys were excited to be playing shows together again. They said that as much as they love playing their own music, they also love playing other people’s music, which led into their cover of “Shine” by Collective Soul. It’s a fun tune that showcases another side of the band. They decided to get back to the “Fireproof” album for their next song, the energetic, rap-infused “Behind Closed Doors.” 

Rob then commented about how they shared the stage with Christian and secular bands, but they love highlighting Christians bands and Christian music. This led into the high energy “Turn It Up,” where the lyrics feature song titles from artists that they’ve played with, ranging from Michael W. Smith and Jeremy Camp to Relient K and Blindside. This is one of my favorite songs because it’s always a blast matching the lyrics with the bands. Between the crunchy guitars and the crowd throwing their hands from side to side, this was a fun song to see live!

Pillar threw themselves into another cover with their rendition of U2’s hit “Sunday Bloody Sunday” off of the “In The Name Of Love” compilation album. Between the rhythmic drum pattern to the distorted guitar riffs that make Noah throw his dreads back and forth, the song is definitely a popular one amongst fans. Then they pulled some songs from their Reckoning album with “The Reckoning” and “Everything.” The southern grittiness of the songs got the crowd head banging along. Even though these songs were over a decade old, they still felt fresh, seeing them played live.

Next up was “We Ride” from their last album, One Love Revolution. I wasn’t too familiar with the song but it definitely had the straight up rock stylings of their other songs, with Revelation themed lyrics. The band was still having a lot of fun as they bounced around on stage laughing and smiling as they rocked out. They closed out their set with two absolute bangers, “Bring Me Down” and “Frontline.” Honestly, their necks had to be sore as they continued to rock out. Earlier in the evening, Rob credited the durability of his voice to being the father of six kids and to his credit, his voice was still keeping up with the demand that these last two songs brought. By then, the crowd was starting to lose their voices from screaming every word!

As the band walked off stage, the crowd wasn’t ready for the evening to end as chants of “one more song” echoed in the venue. It didn’t take long for the band to appease the rampant crowd. They said about how much fun it is to play songs that the fans like and to play covers, but there are songs that they love to play and that’s what they ended with. They finished the evening with “Underneath It All,” an absolute banger. The band showed why they loved playing this song as J.R. and Noah did dueling dread flips. It was a great song to end on.

Overall, it was an amazing show, from beginning to end. All the memories of seeing Pillar in the past came flooding back throughout the evening. There was no way I was missing this show and I had no regrets! It was great to rock out to Pillar live again. This was one of the last shows that Pillar had set for this year, but they did confirm that there will be more shows next year. Here’s to hoping that Pennsylvania is on the list of shows for next year. If you enjoy Christian rock, Disciple and Honor & Glory will be headed to Lancaster to play at The Junction Center in December!