KEY POINTS:
Lads keep your shirts on and girls leave your bikini tops at home if you're going to the Parachute Festival this weekend.
It's not that bikinis are banned but "modest dress" is encouraged at the Christian music festival - thought to be the largest of its kind outside the United States - which starts tomorrow at Mystery Creek, just out of Hamilton.
Organiser Mark de Jong says the festival is based on Christian ideals and one of those beliefs is no sex before marriage.
"So we just say, 'Look, if you're walking round with very little clothes on then you're going to cause people to be tempted'.
"And it's about respect for other people. You know, this is not a sex fest or a chance to get laid, this is a music festival and just bear that in mind with the way you dress."
The festival guidelines also state there can be no boys and girls sharing tents - unless they're married.
This year organisers are expecting a record crowd of as many as 30,000. Previously, the biggest crowd was 24,500 in 2005.
De Jong puts the increase down to the line-up being one of the best in the festival's 16-year history.
He says headliners Third Day are the biggest Christian band in the world, and Dave Dobbyn is the major local star. Also on the bill, made up of 100 bands playing on seven stages, are hip-hop acts Nesian Mystik and Rapture Ruckus, and Australian metalcore band the Valley.
A main non-music drawcard is speaker Joyce Meyer, who in 2005 was voted one of America's most influential evangelical leaders by Time magazine.
"Music is moving away from the hip culture into a real niche focus," de Jong says, "so you have got to cover a lot of bases ... you've got pop-punk with Falling Up, Third Day which is older rock, the modern church worship kind of stuff with Darlene Zschech and the Hillsong and Rebecca St James which will maybe appeal to the younger girls.
De Jong believes the main difference between Parachute and other festivals - such as the Big Day Out - is the chilled-out vibe and atmosphere.
"There's just a lot of positive peer pressure here. A lot of people who come aren't Christian but they just feel like it's a safe place. It's not at all threatening and people are respectful.
"So you've got all the elements of a big rock festival but you've also got the sense that your kids could walk around here without an adult."
* Parachute Music Festival at Mystery Creek, Hamilton from tomorrow until Monday. Gates open from 11am for pre-registered concertgoers and at 1pm for gate sales. The music starts at 6pm.
Thousand Foot Krutch
From: Toronto, Canada
Sound like: Straight ahead rock'n'roll that merges pop-punk and alt-rock.
Why see them?: Despite the silly name these guys have leapt around on stages with bands like Jimmy Eat World, Three Days of Grace and the Donnas.
Lyrics from the song Phenomenon: "Don't let these spiders crawl up beside us, they want to bite us, inject the virus/Raise up your lighters, praise to the righteous, need you to guide us, get prepared to go."
Third Day
From: Atlanta
Sound like: Worship rock with a Nickelback meets Pearl Jam sound topped with a southern vocal twang.
Why see them?: Because these guys are big, having sold more than six million albums worldwide and won two Grammy awards.
Says singer Mac Powell: "As a band, we have had many friends and family who have experienced significant hardships and loss. My hope is that you are able to connect personally to each verse [of Cry Out To Jesus] through your own experiences. I hope that we can remember that we can find our strength, peace and hope when we cry out to Jesus."
Rebecca St James
From: Born in Sydney, now based in Nashville Sound like: Evanescence with more bounce and less goth.
Why see her?: Because she's one of Christian music's hottest properties - both in looks and music - and she's the unofficial spokeswoman for True Love Waits, supporters of teenage sexual abstinence.
Says the ever-humble St James: "I'm not called to be a star. God has called me to be a servant."
The Lads
From: Grew up in New Zealand but based in Tennessee
Sound like: Rollicking, melodic pop-rock with hints of hokey ska and 80s pop.
Why see them?: Because they're local lads done good and making it big in the Christian music scene.
Says singer Mark Millard: "We can do everything we can think of to try and convince people about the reality of God, but I sometimes imagine God saying, 'Good job lads, but I'll take over from here', which is exciting because that's when things really start to happen, lives are transformed and changed."
Rapture Ruckus (aka Brad Dring)
From: Wellington
Sounds like: Hip-hop with bursts of rock, or, as Dring might say, a cross between Rage Against the Machine and Dr Dre.
Why see him?: For some slick and bangin' beats with penetrating and conscious raps.
His bio says: At age 18, still struggling with a drug habit and tripping out in the backseat of a friend's car, Dring heard God speak to him about where his life and music were headed if he stayed on this track. Thankfully, he listened. Next Sunday Dring hauled himself out of bed and went to church with his mother.
