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Chris Rice has certainly come out of his shell lately, introducing two volumes of the instrumental Living Room sessions, following the release of his last contemporary pop release Smell the Color 9. And now more than ever, Rice is hitting the road in support of all the above, taking a break from his time ministering to various youth camps and retreats. "I didn't go out to play tours like this all that often," said Rice during his Chicagoland stop. "But I'm actually having a great time."

Since the first time Rice came through the windy city on Michael W. Smith's "Live the Life" tour, his stage presence has grown by leaps and bounds. During that 1998 stop, Rice came with only an acoustic guitar in hand and baseball cap to cover his face. But this time through, he seemed a lot more open to dialoguing with crowd members and story telling. Musically, the energy of his set also increased, thanks mostly to his full backing band.

Rice's Trinity performance was broken into two sets, both of which provided a sampling of Rice's entire catalogue. The first half highlights included "Clumsy" and "Sometimes Love," both off of his Rocketown debut Deep Enough to Dream. The live renditions had a much fuller sound thanks to the band's playing and audience members singing along. The crowd particularly got into the worship-tinged ballad "And Your Praise Goes On," during which Rice added some brisk acoustic guitar strums. 

The second half begun with a lot of comedy, as Rice launched into his piano rendition of the Super Mario Brothers theme song. The laugh out loud moment brought people that had stepped out during intermission back in the full attention of the concert. That joy carried over into Rice's take on "Lord I Lift Your Name on High." But it was the near classic ditty that chants the words "What if cartoons got saved?" that stole the show. The song's hysterical lyrics mixed with Rice's imitations of everyone from Kermit the Frog to The Jetsons' dog Astro, make it instantly memorable.

On a more serious note, songs like "Smell the Color 9," and "Face of Christ" showcased Rice's introspective and clever writing style. Those songs, along with "Questions For Heaven" and "Life Means So Much" reaffirm Rice's place in the Christian music scene as a premiere thought-provoking storyteller. Thankfully, Rice was sparse with his solo instrumental piano playing moments in the show. Significant instrumental portions would have certainly prompted the tired eyed students, weary from mid-term studies, into a dream like state. Instead Rice stayed upbeat, conscious of his audience, and willing to share with all his heart to a group of attentive ears.