Pictured above:Third Day

The logistics seem monumental.

Eight musical acts going to 44 cities in a traveling road show is a lot of bus and truck activity. But now in its 15th year, the Christian music cavalcade of bands called the Winter Jam Tour is still going strong. And it's drawing crowds.

"We had 20,000 people one night recently," said Dawn Michele, lead singer of the rock band Fireflight, of a date at the Greensboro (NC) Coliseum.

The appeal of Winter Jam -coming to Van Andel Arena March 25 - is enduring. Last year, the Jam was headlined by the Grammy-winning TobyMac (aka Toby McKeehan) and drew 11,000 youthful fans to downtown Grand Rapids.  The key is a mix of well-established and up-and-coming artists, and a no-ticket, $10-at-the-door admission policy - plus a pass-the-hat segment during the evening to help defray costs.

"I know it doesn't make sense on paper to do it that way," said Billy Goodwin of the host band NewSong. "But somehow, the (financial) needs are met."

This year's headliner is Third Day, a popular Christian pop-rock act - the first ever to make the cover of Billboard Magazine. The quartet has won multiple Grammy and Dove (Christian music) awards, and has sold more than six million CDs.  Newsboys is a band that's been around for 20 years, but has been re-energized by new lead singer Michael Tait. The quartet has a new CD coming in the spring.  Two bands very much on the rise - Fireflight and Tenth Avenue North - are also spotlighted on this year's bill. The latter is nominated for 2010 Doves as Group of the Year and for Song of the Year ("By Your Side").  Add to the mix the newer "pre-show" acts (Revive, soloist Robert Pierre and Mike's Chair, filling in on the local date for Sidewalk Prophets), the host group NewSong, plus speaker-evangelist Tony Nolan and you've got the Winter Jam formula for a nearly four-hour "music and more" spectacle.

WINTER JAM TOUR Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids March 25, 7 p.m. (pre-show starts at 6:15 p.m.) No advance tickets necessary. $10 at the door, plus free-will offering jamtour.com, (616) 742-6600

It was Goodwin and his NewSong band mates that came up with the Jam idea back in the mid '90s, merely trying to increase the number of people at concerts. As the years went by they added other artists to the concert bill, and the crowds grew as well. Now they're playing major arenas.

Last year's Winter Jam was among the top five attended tours in North America, according to Pollstar Magazine.

"It's faith driven," Goodwin added. "We never know how many people will show up each night."

Through Feb. 24, an average of 9,000 youthful fans per show had shown up on the tour which ends late in March. On some nights they've had to turn folks away.

"There were long lines to get in, but they moved fairly quickly and I still got a good seat," said Ashley Lange, a Grand Rapids Community College student who attended last year's event at Van Andel.

One tip for Winter Jam attendees - don't hang too long at the concession areas during the show. You might miss one of the artists. For example, each of the three "pre-show" acts get only 15 minutes of stage time.  Tenth Avenue North guitarist Jeff Owen has been living the challenge.

"You spend your whole day preparing for a very short set," he said. "We only sound checked the first night of the tour. After that we've just tweaked things."

The band has had three solid Christian radio hits from its one and only album. On some nights, that's all there's time for.

Fireflight (pictured left), fronted by Michele, has a four-song set - two of them from its brand new album, "For Those Who Wait." The lead singer is nominated for a Dove as the industry's top female vocalist. Winners will be announced April 21.

The venerable Newsboys, the long-running group which headlined its own tour at Van Andel in 2007, has roughly a half-hour on stage during Winter Jam.

"We kind of mathematically edited our song set - chopping out choruses and verses so we could get 12 songs in," said keyboardist Jeff Frankenstein, a Detroit area native.

The band has brought along its "satellite" stage pod which juts out in front of the main platform, which includes some high-rise surprises.  Headlining the tour is Third Day, a band which just won its fourth Grammy Award for its "Live Revelation" CD released last year.

"It took us a few shows to get into a groove for a 45-minute set," said drummer David Carr. "The biggest challenge is to do justice to the Third Day experience," he noted.

The band manages to touch on both rock and worship elements during the night, mixing rockers like "Other Side" and "Tunnel" with the worship-inspired "Call My Name" and "God of Wonders."  Evangelist Tony Nolan gives a presentation as part of the evening. By now Carr has heard it numerous times.

"He shares the Biblical message asking what does it profit you if you gain the whole world but lose your soul," he said.

Carr notes that the Winter Jam tour model is a certainly a different one.

"But you get a lot of people there," he said.

Various video links and podcasts from Winter Jam and its artists are available at hearitfirst.com or jamtour.com.