Album Reviews
Movies
Concert Reviews

Top 10
Resources
Contact Us

Caedmon's Call is, in my opinion, the greatest band in America today. Now I can't claim myself as one of the hardcore fans who has been following them since their independent _My Calm/Your Storm_ (1994) days or that I have paid triple digits (yes over $100!) for their first fan club CD (_Guild 1_, 1997) on e-bay, but I do consider myself a loyal Caedmon's follower. I would like to immediately make the claim that this does not skew my opinion of this concert. I can readily admit to some disappointment at their performance I saw two years ago in Ridgeland, MS, but can say that they have totally redeemed themselves. The show was filled with just about everything for which I go to a concert.

One of the immediate draws of the show was that I knew the opening acts would not be the usual disappointing drawl that the audience wants to hurry up and get over with. The two acts continue in the tradition of performers whom Caedmon's Call has "discovered" (or married!) who go on to garner mainstream or cult popularity by themselves. Watch out for these two great artists. The first (wife of lead singer Derek Webb) Sandra McCracken came to the stage front and center with nothing but her guitar, and blew me away. I was familiar with Sandra from her release _Gypsy Flat Road_ but was impressed that her voice was even more remarkable than on the album. Unfortunately, she only played three songs. I could have listened for two hours. Next up was Randall who, as my friend pointed out, sounded a lot like a young James Taylor. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had some incredible piano playing skills. His piano solos even garnered some cheering and "woos" from the audience. His songs were very entertaining, and shifted from serious to witty subject matter. The more playful songs spanned such topics as a Laundromat and The Peanuts, and were quite delightful.

After the great pre-show, it was time for the main act. The show kicked off with just Derek Webb and his electric guitar, with a quick Rich Mullins cover of "Save Me." This followed immediately into two of the songs from the In The Company of Angels release: "Before There Was Time" and "Who You Are." These opening songs really displayed the vocal/instrumental power of Caedmon's Call. The seven member band exudes a variety of personalities and musical ability. The three singers bring with them a wonderful arrange of talent. The emotional (but far from "emo"), sometimes raspy vocals of Derek Webb, the passionate and personal voice of Cliff (who would provide for hilarious witty banter throughout the night), along with the strong, soaring singing from Danielle, are always great one at a time, but even greater than the sum of the parts, when blended together. Josh Moore, the talented young keyboard player, dishes out beautiful keyboards/Hammond B-3, while sporting his new beatnik attire (complete with burning incense). Jeff Miller has a clean bass, enjoying the concert as much as any audience member. And finally, one of the strengths of Caedmon's, its dual percussion section: Todd Bragg provides for the more traditional drum set where Garett Buell has a wide variety of percussion toys, standing for the duration of the concert. The two have amazing synchronicity, and the sound was both lush and powerful.

The concert continued with an unfortunately slowed down "Thankful." The next song, written by Sandra McCracken for the upcoming Caedmon's album, "Walk with Me," is reminiscent of Shawn Colvin, and shows some promise for the new album. "Love is Different" and "40 Acres" followed. The band left, and Derek Webb took the stage alone, sometimes joined by wife Sandra. He plays 3 songs for his upcoming solo release, "She Must and Shall Go Free," "Lover," and "Beloved." These songs are truly amazing musically and compelling lyrically, and definitely are ones Derek understandably couldn't have brought out through the Caedmon's Call outlet. This whole situation reminds me of the current situation with another great band, the Old 97's, whose lead singer also just released a great solo album The Instigator. The last song was preceded by a powerful sermonette, challenging the Church to get back to the core truths of the gospel.

The band returned with the classic "Lead of Love." Immediately after this song, the concert took a dramatic turn towards some straight rock and roll with a great cover of U2's "In God's Country." I had to leave my seat for this one, but was unfortunately alone on the front row in my pursuit (some audience members were perhaps shocked at the turn of style and the playing of "secular" music). The vocally beautiful "This World" led the concert into a worship section, moving into "Thy Mercy." Cliff then taught the audience the vocals for "Warrior" and the concert turned into a great time of worship with other songs: "Step By Step" and "God of Wonders."

The concert seemed to end with the usual closing song "Hope To Carry On." The band returned for an encore led by "There You Go." A fairly dramatic set change occurred for the final song. The two percussionists stepped downstage to their smaller, more specific percussion sets, and Josh Moore strapped on a large bass drum. Cliff introduced the song as a new step for Caedmon's, and they finished the concert with the new "Hands of the Potter," an upbeat, percussion-led fun song, sure to be a new classic (but no, it's not the new "Thankful"). I was very pleased with the performance of Caedmon's Call. This concert contained such a wide variety of musical styles, showing off their wide arrangement of strengths. I think fans of a lot of styles of music could find something here, and you always leave a Caedmon's Call concert pleased and with a smile on your face.