A HALLOWEEN TO REMEMBER :: Ron Gibson :: circa 1990
We went to a halloween party one time, of course Mark was George [Michaels]. Bill was dressed like the singer from The Cure (white face paint, spiked hair). Bob Herdman was a pirate and I was a theif in a trench coat with a stocking over my face. Barry wasn't there, he was on a date at the movies. Anyway, the party got a little boring so we decided to go to Huntington, WV to hang out and watch the cruisers on the strip. We were standing outside the car watching the cruisers go by. Me and a friend of mine (Dave) that drove us there took the stockings off our heads but kept our trench coats on and acted like we were security guards for "George". Some girls came up to us and wanted autographs so Mark signed as if he were George. I'm still not sure if they believed it was really him (Mark did a good job- even with the accent). We got a lot of stares. But the funniest part was afterwards when we were getting ready to leave- we saw Barry and his date drive by. He didn't see us (we were in disguise and in someone else's car) so we decided to follow him. Barry realized he was being followed so he tried to lose us. We gave chase and in panic Barry actually turned down the wrong way of a one-way street! We followed if you can believe it. Eventually we let him go. Later that night Barry recounts the story (not knowing it was us), saying that he was chased by some guys in a car and all he can really remember was one of the guys looked like a pirate! We died laughing!
 

LEFT BEHIND :: Will, Campus Life :: 1995
There's always the possibility of being left at a rest stop. "It happened to me," says Will, "just this morning. I had to call the police, and they had to track down the truck." And the driver, who happened to be Bob (yeah, two of the guys serve as drivers), had to turn around and head back to the rest stop. In the process of hurrying to make up time, Bob got a ticket.

THE MEANING BEHIND SOME KIND OF ZOMBIE :: HM Magazine :: Jan/Feb 1998
The Zombie concept came from lead singer Mark Stuart's experience as a kid in Haiti, where his parents had been missionaries. "He got to see how much, in a third world country, people are so poor, and in so much poverty," relates bass player Will McGinniss. "The witch doctors would use this potion to put people in a catatonic state, an then they'd have an antidote to bring 'em back. And he would kind of use that power over the village to manipulate 'em, and make 'em bow down to his god, and that kinda thing. And Mark got to see that firsthand."

Besides having to do with zombie-like Haitians, the title also symbolizes the Christian becoming dead to his or her sins. "We believe that only Jesus has the true power of resurrection," reminds Will, "and can resurrect people with dead lives into a new life again, and make a great change in their hearts."

ACCIDENTAL BAPTISM :: Mark, CCM Lifelines :: 2000
On the Geoff Moore tour, I was backstage and we were getting ready to go on.  I was all ready to go, I had my outfit on, and I hear them saying "Audio Adrenaline will be right out."  Then I'm walking towards what I thought was the stage and I fell - behind the stage, up to my waist - into the baptistery, which happened to be right in the back of the background.  I could see the crowd and everybody was looking around for me.  I had to wait and stop the show for a few minutes until I changed clothes."

OOPS! :: Ben, CCM Lifelines :: 2000
My parents let me borrow their camcorder when I was on the Steven Curtis Chapman tour and I brought my first videotape home to show them and I hadn't watched it yet.  I wanted to show them what I did.  They didn't really understand; they thought I dropped out of college and joined the circus.

So I brought this tape home and it was Thanksgiving.  Both sets of grandparents, aunt and uncle, brohter and sister were down in the basement watching this.  And one of our crew guys, without me knowing it, [had taken] the camera and filmed one of the guys in the shower for about three seconds.  So I'm just watching - it's all nice and everything - and all of a sudden - bleep - it's a naked band member.  So my parents are always making fun of me for that.

I haven't told any of the band members that, though.

SNOWBLIND ::  Bob, CCM Lifelines :: 2000
While on the Steven Curtis Chapman tour, Mark went snowblind while skiing in the Arapaho basin.
They had to put patches on his eyes, so he had these sunglasses on and someone had to lead him onstage.  If you didn't know what was going on, it just looked like, What a prima donna.  He walked out there with these sunglasses on; he was holding on to his microphone and not moving.  But he really was blind that night.

THE KID :: Tyler, CCM Lifelines :: 2000
When he started getting around 30, Mark made this big thing that he was really gonna work out and get back in shape.  It wasn't really a midlife crisis, it waqs just an excuse to set a goal that he probably had always wanted to set.  Right when I joined the band he was in the middle of doing it, and he always refers to himself as 'The Kid,' like a joke.  Like: 'Don't mess with The Kid.'"

So we went cliff diving in Kentucky, probably the second week I was in the band.  This is a place that Bill and Mark are all like, "Oh, yeah.  We jumped off here all the time.  We'll show you!"  And me and Ben go up to the cliff and we just jump off - it was really, really high, about 45 feet - and then Bill jumped a couple of times.  They were saying how they were going to school us.  Mark's a lot older than I am, but he schools me.  He's probably more in this prime than I am, you know?  And he's talking about how he's gonna jump off this cliff and how he's gonna show us... but he hasn't jumped off.  So we're like, "Okay.  Come on.  Jump!"  And he jumps and all these kids are watching, and he just goes into the water - bloop - as stiff as a board... And we were like: Where is he?  Then we hear him yell from up the river: "THE KID'S STILL GOT IT!'

MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT :: Tyler :: 2000
"There was a show one time when I tripped and fell on my face. The Supertones had just played. The stage was covered with sweat because of the Supertones. I slipped, fell down straight while I'm playing, slide across the floor on my face, hit a monitor speaker with my head and knock it off stage, and then stand up and act like nothing ever happened. And it looked like nobody even noticed! It was weird. But it was really embarassing, though. That was my most embarassing moment... when I stage-dove with my face."

BEST SLEEP EVER :: Scott Brickell, cheerfulheart.com :: 2002
In 1995 or 1996 I was still road managing Audio Adrenaline. We were traveling in a semi and we were remodeling the box of the semi. We lived in the front part and used the back for storage. Halfway through the renovation we went to Atlanta for a festival. Bob Herdman (formerly of Audio Adrenaline) drove us until 5 or 6 a.m. Bob got in a bunk and went to sleep. Everyone began to wake up and they were all sick. They called EMT and found out that everyone had carbon monoxide poisoning. It was pretty funny because I was still asleep and Bob poked with with a broom handle because he thought that I was dead. It was pretty crazy. We had to be put on oxygen and luckily everyone was okay. At the show that night our guitar player had to sit on a stool to play because he was still pretty out of it. I have to say that it was the best sleep I have ever had.

THE NEW BUZZ :: Will, Breakaway Magazine :: 2002
"I woke up a few weeks back, looked in the mirror and thought, I’ve had this below-shoulder-length hair for, like, 12 years. It’s time for a change."

"The first snip of the scissors made me look like a nerdy Alfalfa. I tried about four different looks before my wife ended up buzzing it all off. But since I wear a cap all the time, none of the band knew that I had a “hair deficiency.” So, I decided to pull a gag on Mark during a concert in San Diego. Just as we began our second song, I pulled off my hat. Mark totally lost it. He nearly fell off the stage and couldn’t sing anymore. The audience roared."

A WORD ABOUT DEDICATION :: Bob Smiley, passageway.org :: 2002

The biggest trial [for Festival Con Dios II] came in Albuquerque, N.M., when Mark Stuart became very sick and had to be taken to the hospital. This left our headlining act without a lead singer. Just before they were supposed to go on, the Festival Con Dios spirit of family kicked in: the lead singers from all the other acts agreed to sing one Audio Adrenaline song each, so the show could go on.

Adrienne Liesching (from The Benjamin Gate) started the show as the rest of the singers waited on the side of the stage for their turn. I ventured into the crowd to experience this never-before-seen Audio Adrenaline all-star act. However, as Adrienne was halfway through the opening song, Mark Stuart's voice echoed through the speakers."

I looked up to see Mark walk on stage to thunderous applause. He had left the hospital to do the show! They finished the song together, and Mark shouted to the crowd, "I've been puking my brains out all day, so the least you can do is jump for this next one!"

The other singers continued to help Mark out throughout the night, and Bart Millard (from Mercy Me) closed the event with a praise song. I will never forget seeing a group of singers that didn't care about competing bands, different styles, or CD sales. They just wanted to party with God. They wanted to Festival Con Dios.

more (quite candid) comments from an AudioA fan at the same FCD:
"At the beggining of the concert we were told that Mark was taken to the hospital really sick and that he wouldn't be there that night. I was upset that he wasn't going to be there, but as you can tell he was.  But they said that the singers from each band would come out and sing for him. So Adrienne was the first one out, she didn't know the words so she had them infront of her.  Then halfway through the song Mark came out and she stayed... they kept up with bringing people out so we had a very unique concert... you can see that Mark really was sick, he was always sitting on this chair, he carried it back and forth with him and gladly let other people sing... He mentioned something like we should watch out 'cause he may throw up, EEW!!... It was nice to see him but I would have been happy to see him for one song then he left. I felt so sorry for him! I was like, you go take care of yourself! Go get better! But yeah, I'm glad he was there... I like how everyone was so willing to help Audio Adrenaline out when Mark was sick, they all came out and sang."

DUDE, WHERE'S YOUR CAR? :: ForeFrontrecords.com :: Jan 16, 2003
Known to be a prankster himself, Audio Adrenaline frontman Mark Stuart was on the receiving end during a recent visit to ForeFront. After chatting with some of the staff, Mark inadvertently left his car keys lying on a filing cabinet. Of course, we seized the opportunity to "get him." We moved his car from the front of the ForeFront building to a parking space obstructed from view by another building. Then we avoided Mark as he looked for his car keys (which we had quietly returned to the filing cabinet). As he headed to the front door, several of us crept behind him in our best sleuthing posture so we could witness his response. Once outside he was quite surprised to find his car was not where he had left it. Gotcha, Mark! Thanks for being such a good sport!  

ADVENTURES @ LIFEST :: CCMplanet.com :: July 15, 2003
During Audio Adrenaline's performance at Lifest, lead singer Mark Stuart went beyond the call of duty when he traded in his cool spats for a hat with a fan. Turns out the young lady really dug his shoes, so Mark made a deal with her that he would take the shoes off his feet and give them to her if the fan would just give him her hat! So, Mark finished the show with no shoes on, but a nice, new hat!

DANCE-OFF :: onairprep.com :: Oct 30, 2003
To get a glimpse into the "less serious" side of Audio Adrenaline, I just got this little tid bit from the road. Seems when the AA guys were headed to Washington, IN this weekend for a show, they decided to kill time on the bus by holding a "dance-off." The contestants included Audio A's Ben Cissell, and Tyler Burkum as well as other brave members of the Audio A team. They competed for the coveted title of Best Dancer on The Bus. With Mark Stuart presiding as one of the judges, the contestants were graded on talent, creativity and costume. Tyler ended up taking home the title.

HIT & RUN :: CBNliving.com :: 2004
A prime illustration of Audio Adrenaline’s road tested resiliency took place on a recent tour date in the Midwest. The band has been traveling with a 1960’s era British touring car (similar to a Cooper Mini) that they bring onstage each evening. On this particular night, stage technicians were to raise the car into the air with the aid of steel cables to give fans the illusion it was flying. There was only one problem. The car got loose onstage and rolled approximately five feet forward striking Stuart in the back. The vehicle nearly pushed him off the stage forcing him to stop singing. After a brief pause and a great deal of laughter the band restarted the song and the concert proceeded without further incident.

THE ADVENTURES OF SOREN & OSTEN :: Scott, audioaCOM :: July 27, 2005
On Sunday evening when Tyler and Ali were getting ready to go to the hospital, Soren went upstairs and put gel in his hair, combed it and then pretended to put on deodorant. After putting himself all together, he came back downstairs to announce he was "ready to go." Soren was quite disappointed to find out he wasn't going on this trip and that mommy and daddy would come back and get him tomorrow.

STORY #2 (NEXT DAY): Upon Soren's much anticipated arrival at the hospital, he ran into the room where Ali was in bed. In a dead sprint between the door and the bed, he threw off his train cap, socks and shoes. He then climbed into the bed next to Ali, held out his hands and said "Where's my brother?  Bring him to me; I need him!"

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