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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Delirious
with Chris Tomlin
Cleveland State Theater Cleveland, Ohio April 26, 2001 By Glenn McCarty Photos by Zik Jackson Rock and roll has always been discussed in religious terms, but few artists have actually been up to the daunting task of uniting religion and rock in their performances. Case in point: U2 spent the 90s trying to live down labels affixed them in the mainstream for records like The Joshua Tree, preferring irony and indulgence as their primary forms of expression. Perhaps this is what makes British rockers Delirious most remarkable. The lyrics to their most recent album, Glo, read like The Book of Common Prayer, and they could easily be passed off under the ubiquitous label of "Christian rockers." The band's live show, however, is another matter altogether. Their most recent stop in Cleveland, the culmination of a month-long U.S. tour entitled "The Glo Experience," reveals a band that's both passionate and provocative, and unwilling to let anything, especially labels, stand between them and the medium of pure rock. Young Chris Tomlin opened for the group, and revealed an exuberance and maturity beyond his years as he worked the crowd with amplified, enthusiastic acoustic rock from his four-piece ensemble. The short set gave way to a lengthy intermission, permitting the capacity crowd at Cleveland's ornate State Theater to get even more impatient for the headliners. When the quintet finally took the stage, to black lights and a house bass beat, they tipped their hand that this was not going to be a Sunday-morning church experience. The opening number, "God's Romance," revealed frontman Martin Smith polished and comfortable at the sort of theatrics necessary for rock and roll revelry. The group's Britizh sense of fashion also translated well to an American show. Smith's white hip-huggers and tinted trucker shades were mild when set against guitarist Stu Garrard's lime green ensemble bedecked with rhinestones and drummer Stew Smith's front-to-back sungoggles. Bassist Jon Thatcher was only slightly underdressed in black glasses and a floor length trenchcoat. The five transitioned smoothly into two more songs before pausing for a breath. "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble" revealed the band's origins as a church worship team, but muscular numbers like "My Glorious" showed the strides they've made in precision and imagination. Clearly, the Cleveland crowd benefited by it being the last stop on the tour. Smith and Garrard displayed an almost giddy enthusiasm as the night progressed, which erupted into a ten minute joke session (the highlight of which was Smith singing "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" as he plunked out "Heart and Soul"on the keyboard) as they prepared for their acoustic number, "Intimate Stranger." The transition from comic to serious, then back to straight-ahead rock was carried off with only slight hitches, and soon the band hit their stride with the complex "Heaven" and the crowd favorite "History Maker." As Delirious stepped back onto the stage for their encore (points off for a guitar tech readying a guitar for performance during the break. We like the suspense…), they immediately showed that they had more tricks up their sleeve. Smith had changed into a t-shirt emblazoned with the stars-and-stripes beneath a white leisure suit, and when he strutted onto stage, Garrard promptly launched into a Hendrix riff of the national anthem, and the roof fairly blew off the building. Smith proclaimed, "We're going to crank it up a little now," and the band delivered. Garrard leapt around the stage like a comic book hero for the opening of "Bliss," and drummer Stew Smith, on his second snare drum head of the night, didn't seem to be holding back any. The energy continued to rise when Tomlin and band rushed the stage for a punked-up version of the classic "Happy Song." Before things could get too much out of control, the band plunged into the anthemic "Investigate" which closed the night. For the parents, youth, and college students piling out of the theater into Cleveland's Playhouse Square, one got the impression the show had ended much too soon. It was a satisfying and stimulating exploration of rock and religion, time well spent in the church of rock and roll. Set List:
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