Winter Jam returned to Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night to a sold out crowd. A line gathered outside the arena a few hours before the show began.

The night started off with the Pre Jam party at 6 p.m. as We Are Messengers sang “Everything Comes Alive.” Lead singer Darren Mulligan had the crowd pumped early on by getting close to the audience.

Next, Stars Go Dim took the stage and  sang “You Are Loved,” “Walking Like Giants” and their version of the hymn “Doxology.”

Around 6:45 p.m. Dr. Ben Carson was brought onto stage to say the opening prayer. Carson was seen earlier walking around and greeting the audience before the show.

Then a video was played on the all of the big screens that were seen around the arena which included all of the nights featured artists in a montage.

Following the video, rapper KB instantly took the stage with much excitement coming from the audience as the arena had become full.

Following KB, rapper Trip Lee performed and pumped up the crowd even more. Trip Lee was the first artist of many during the night to enter the audience and give high fives as he traveled around the arena floor.

Members of Stars Go Dim Chris and Michael Cleveland introduced the founders of Winter Jam Newsong to the stage and they performed “Hallelujah (Bride in White)”, which was a fun way to begin off their set.

Then they took a more emotional and intimate turn as they performed a song about heaven, “Don’t it Make You Want to Go Home,” and a powerful song about Jesus’ resurrection entitled “Arise My Love.”

Lauren Daigle continued that more intimate and emotional feeling as she performed some of her recent hits “How Can it Be” and “First.” Many sang the words with Daigle around the arena. 

For the next performance, the Sidewalk Prophets brought two platforms onto the stage that lit up with many colors and text. The members of the band would take turns climbing on them while performing high above the audience.

They sang songs from past albums such as “Help Me Find It” and “Live Like That” and finished their set with one of their new songs, “Something Different.”

Pastor Tony Nolan spoke at a small stage in the center of the audience. He began his message by showing an optical illusion on the big screen in at the top of the arena.

The optical illusion had a secret picture inside of it that can be seen if someone looks hard enough. Nolan explained how hard these types of illusions are for him to figure out because of how distorted they are. He used this to talk about how God can be distorted in society.

Nolan went on to explain that some people he grew up around gave him a distorted view of God and that as he grew older he was able to learn that God isn’t out to get us but to care for us.

After Nolan’s prayer the main stage was set for the band Red. It had a completely different look that featured trees in the background, creating a darker tone.

Red performed heavier rock songs, such as “Feed the Machine” and “Take Me Over.” Their performance featured fire flaming up from the stage and sparks that came in during their finale while they played “Darkest Part.”

A preview for “God’s Not Dead 2” was seen on the big screens. This was the first of two movie trailers shown during the night. Another trailer was shown for the documentary made about the tour called “This is Winter Jam.”  

Matthew West’s stage setup was pushed forward as Red’s was taken down during the movie trailer and as the lights came up a little West began singing “Do Something.”

His performance of his song “Day One” brought confetti flying through the air as it came to a close, and then a video was played that featured a montage of people covering West’s song “Hello My Name Is” before West began singing it himself.

West brought a member of the audience onto stage as well giving him some time with the band and rewarding him with a free devotional book and CD.  

He concluded his set with “Forgiveness” and “Strong Enough” and explained that a lot of his songs are inspired by people who write to him and how the emotion of their stories have an impact on his performances.

Before intermission, author Stephanie Fast spoke at the center stage in the audience. Fast gave her testimony of her abandonment at age four and how a new family came into her life a few years later. After she was done speaking the audience cheered loudly for her as she exited stage.

Intermission lasted about 20 minutes and during that time Crowder’s band and Winter Jam’s stage crew were seen setting up the stage for his performance. A set was seen in the background that resembled a log cabin.

The lights became dim and Crowder could be heard singing the opening lines of upbeat “My Beloved.” He followed it up with the more emotional “I Am.”

A heavy beat from the instruments came for his song “Lift Your Head Weary Sinner” as Crowder finished with a wild mash-up of “I Saw the Light” and “I’ll Fly Away.”

Crowder’s log cabin set was cleared off and two big cloths were set up projecting words and symbols for the song “Run Wild, Love Free” as For King and Country’s performance kicked off.

The band did an amazing job interacting with the audience as well. They came into the audience and sang as their string section played in the center stage of the arena while performing “It’s Not Over Yet.”

“Priceless” slowed things down a little bit as they dedicated this part of their set to a more emotional feel.

During the final verse of their second to last song “Shoulders” many of the other Winter Jam artists joined them on stage to sing the final verse including Daigle, West and Sidewalk Prophets lead singer David Frey.

For King and Country ended the night with their hit song “The Proof of Your Love.” Streamers erupted into the crowd as the song ended and a final roar was heard from the crowd as the concert wrapped up.

Winter Jam 2016 once again brought a big line up with a wide variety of music to another pumped and excited sold out crowd to Wells Fargo Arena.