But one group has paved the way for breaking the common stereotype of Christian music — and taken some hits along the way.

Struggling to escape being labeled as a Christian band, Stavesacre held nothing back during its live DVD concert shoot Saturday night at The Door in Dallas, reminding fans that it is a rock band, plain and simple.

Stavesacre chose The Door for the DVD shoot because of the large fan-base it has in Dallas.

“We’ve played in Dallas a bunch of times and we’ve always had good shows here,” said Mark Salomon, lead vocalist for the group.

“There are few markets in the world where we can guarantee to have a good show, and this is one of them.”

Saturday night was no exception.

Playing to a near sellout crowd, Stavesacre gave fans what they have come to expect from the group’s live performances.

Guitarists Ryan Dennee and Neil Samoy, drummer Sam West and bass guitarist Dirk Lemmenes created the appropriate melodic rock background for Salomon’s distinctive and edgy vocals.

And as front man for the group, Salomon worked the crowd in a way rarely found in rock music.

With its hard-hitting lyrics and equally hard-hitting music, Stavesacre has faced criticism within the Christian music industry, while influencing other musicians in creating their own sound.

We’re not Christian enough for the Christian music industry, but because we were on a Christian record label we were considered too Christian for the general market,” Salomon said.

It was the constant struggle with the Christian music industry that led Stavesacre to leave its long-time label, Tooth and Nail Records, for the general market label Nitro Records, Salomon said.

“Tooth and Nail is still considered to be a Christian label,” Salomon said.

“I know they’re trying to be just a regular, plain label, but they keep signing Christian bands. When I go into the record store, half of the time I can’t find our record, or it’s in the Christian music section, and that’s death for a group.”

Saturday’s show was one of the few the group has performed since joining Nitro Records in early November.

“For once we can say with integrity that we are a rock band,” Salomon said. “We are Christian people in a rock band.”

While members of the group are quick to claim their Christian beliefs, they said they felt their music had grown stale under Tooth and Nail’s direction, and decided it was time for a change.

“For five years we played the same circuits — churches that were filled with kids that don’t really care about music,” Salomon said.

“Those shows aren’t for us. A band like us is supposed to try to perfect our craft and be the biggest and best band in the world, not play the easy money gigs.”

Stavesacre released four full-length albums under Tooth and Nail, including the final “Collective” release, containing new recordings of Stavesacre favorites as well as some rare B-side material.

Stavesacre will be in the studio in May recording its next album for Nitro Records, due in stores by early fall, and can next be seen June 28 during the Van’s Warped Tour stop in Dallas.

Set List

1. Threshold
2. An Eclipsing
3. Sundown Motel
4. Tonight
5. Sad Parade
6. Alice
7. Island
8. Rivers Underneath
9. Gold and Silver
10. You Know How It Is
11. Minutesman
12. Keep Waiting
13. At the Moment

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