Uprise Festival 2025 Review - Day One

I remember the first time I heard about Uprise Festival, in the mid-2000s, back when it was still called Vertical Fest. Scott (Bubba) Brown brought this festival to life, from a small local festival to a huge, multi-stage event. According to Bubba, “We don’t want to just come to a rock concert, we want to be a light.” Twenty years later, Uprise Festival continues to be a mainstay in the Christian festival lineup. This festival brings a blend of CCM, worship, rock, metal and hip-hop to the Shippensburg Fairgrounds every September. The festival is always jam packed with concerts, since it hosts 3 stages - Main Stage, Rockstar Stage, and the Hip-Hop Tent. Festival goers can also enjoy a large food court, kids activities, merch vendors, a 5K run, and tent/RV camping. This year, in celebration of the 20th Anniversary, they extended the festival thru Sunday, instead of the usual Friday & Saturday schedule. Last year, my wife Jen and I attended for the first time, so we were excited to return this year! 

Friday kicked off around lunchtime with Strings & Heart on the Main Stage. They’re a three-brother band based out of Texas and honestly, they sounded great. They had a soothing and relaxing sound, reminiscent of your local coffee shop bands. If you haven’t been to Uprise, the walk from the main stage to the Rockstar stage is the entire way across the fairgrounds. When it’s 80 degrees and the sun is beating down on you, it feels like a much longer walk. So much for cool September temperatures! We were rewarded for our journey with seeing Magdalene Rose, formerly of the sister-fronted band, GFM. Jamming out to songs like “Teeth Eater,” “Modern Genocide,” “Can You Fix Me” and “Shark Spray, ” she started the Rockstar Stage out right! She introduced “Teeth Eater” with an emotional story about her journey with an eating disorder and how surrendering to God helped her overcome it. Magdalene really brought the energy, screaming & singing with passion, while dealing with 80 degree heat on the blacktop. 

After her set wrapped up, I was eagerly anticipating the next band. Bloodlines is an incredible, spirit-driven metal band from the southern tip of Texas. The incorporation of theology and scripture in their lyrics, as well as incredible guitar riffs and brutal drum blasts, lend to Bloodlines becoming one of the next big things in Christian metal. They started their set with the anti-pornography anthem, “Holiness Cries.” It did not disappoint! My one regret during their set was not capturing a video of the wall of death in the pit for the song “Lotus.” This band is absolutely incredible and if you haven’t gotten a chance to check them out, you won’t be disappointed.

Following Bloodlines, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down and discuss music & faith with the band. However, this meant I had to miss seeing The Protest on the Rockstar Stage. While I was talking with the guys, Jen was over at Main Stage watching Leanna Crawford sing her heart out. A Nashville implant from the Northwest, she’s embraced her new hometown by saying “ya’ll” frequently. She’s a breath of fresh air, sharing the stories behind her major hits like “How Can You Not See God” and “Still Waters (Psalm 23).” The crowd all laughed as she said during an acoustic set “I’m going to sing one more song before my band comes back out,” as the band, who was sneaking on stage behind her, looked startled and tried to sneak back offstage quietly! She then launched into a beautiful acoustic version of her breakout hit, “Truth I’m Standing On.”

A highlight of Uprise is the variety of bands and types of music that you’ll see and hear. Honor & Glory took the stage on the Rockstar stage with their blend of rock and worship, to a packed audience. During sound check, Josiah serenaded the crowd with the guitar riffs to Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way.” Once the show started, they brought their blend of high energy fun with wholesome passion for Christ-honoring music. Fun fact, if you happen to find yourself in Lancaster this December, Honor & Glory will be playing with Disciple at the Junction Center. They included several original worship songs, like “You Are God (When the World is On Fire),” as well as several covers, “Battle Belongs,” and “Firm Foundation (He Won’t).” The latter earned Honor & Glory a Grammy nomination this past year, and is a great, edgier version of the popular worship song. 

Over at Main Stage, Jeremy Camp was kicking off. Jen caught the second half of his set. He packed his set list with crowd favorites, like “Out of My Hands,” which are popular but not particularly memorable. What stood out about his show, other than the fact that he looks like he could bench-press a small army, were the throwback songs he included. Emotional ballads from his past, like “I Still Believe” and “Walk by Faith,” had the crowd in tears. He threw in one of his edgier early hits, “Take My Life,” referencing how his band wasn’t used to playing it anymore. Jeremy closed out the set with his new, rock-forward single, “No Survivors,” which includes the powerful line, “If I’m going to live, then there’s some things that need to die!” Overall, a solid performance. 

Speaking of solid performance, the Main Stage crowd was beyond hyped for the closing act of the night, Skillet. Fueled by pyro and fog blasts, the concert started off with a bang, with “Surviving the Game.” However, the mix of the first few songs left John Cooper & Jen Ledger’s vocals sounding shaky. Thankfully this improved throughout the show. Skillet rocked out hit after hit, including “Rise,” “Feel Invincible,” and “Legendary.” John spoke about the heaviness of the previous week, with the murder of Charlie Kirk, but instead of giving a political speech, he instead pointed the crowd towards the Gospel. Frequently referencing the 20th Anniversary of Uprise Festival, Skillet launched into several throwback hits, like “Whispers In The Dark,” “Comatose,” and a surprise, “Those Nights.” 

For fans who have seen Skillet before, they recognize the trademarks of a Skillet show, the ripping guitars, heavy bass, and Jen Ledger thrashing on the drums. Over the years, they’ve included more elements with John’s CO2 arm blasters, rising guitar platforms, masked cello player, and colorful LED animations. They closed out the set with “Monster” and a guest appearance from Jeremy Camp, who commented afterwards how sweaty John was! Of course, fans expected an encore performance, and Skillet delivered, with a blood pumping rendition of “The Resistance” to end the night.

With the first night wrapped up, we headed up to our campsite to crash into bed, anticipating the adventures the next full day of concerts would bring! Check out our review of Uprise Festival Day Two!