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I saw Grammatrain live.

Let me repeat that.

I SAW GRAMMATRAIN LIVE!

No, really. This is kind of a big deal. Grammatrain was one of the first Christian rock bands I really got into. I was a big fan of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, the tail end of grunge when I "got saved." DC talk were cool, Newsboys were alright, but Grammatrain was right up my alley. "Believe" on the first Seltzer compilation POW!  AWESOME IN YOUR FACE.  Lonely House?  More like AWESOME HOUSE.  They did a second record and it was ALSO AWESOME.  So much awesome to go around!

Then they broke up.

Recently, I made a list of bands I've seen.  Grammatrain, along with Nirvana, Circle of Dust, Common Children, made the "bands I wish I could have seen and never will be able to" section (a list which also includes Stavesacre but I GET TO SEE THEM AT CORNERSTONE 2009--YAY).  Needless to say, I was stoked when I learned that Grammatrain was reuniting  to create some new music, and heck, they're even doing a couple reunion shows.  Two, to be exact.  One in Germany, and one in Seattle.

HEY.  WAIT.

I LIVE TWO HOURS FROM SEATTLE.

I GET TO SEE GRAMMATRAIN.

Admittedly, I was just a little bit concerned that I wouldn't be seeing "real" Grammatrain.  Stewart has been vocal about his disenfranchisement with Christianity over the past few years, and I wondered if that would affect Grammatrain's new music and performance.  Surely they would ignore the more blatantly "Christian" songs containing lyrics Stewart no longer believes in or agrees with. Whether it's right or wrong, a small part of me was terrified that the evening would be marred by some kind of political or anti-religious statement.  Another part of me really dislikes that I feel that way.  It's reasonable to hope somebody who has left the faith returns, but I don't know Pete Stewart on any level other than as a fan of his music.  It bothers me when online people have discussions about some artist's journey when all they have to go on is assumptions.  People aren't debates.  They're people, and life is rarely so simple and easy as all that.  Hell, I have my own issues with what passes for "faith" right now in North America, ... look, reality was and I won't deny that I had some nervousness about the whole shindig.  I decided to say a quick prayer and let it go.  It's not my place to do anything more than that.

You know what?  I really didn't need to worry about a damn thing.

After sitting through boring, non-hard rocking opening bands (Sorry Aaron Sprinkle, I just don't like Fair very much...), Grammatrain finally took the stage in front of their classic "arrow circle" backdrop.  Dalton Rorabeck looked the same as in old press pics, bald with an awesome long goatee - just slightly swelled.  Paul Rorabeck was a skinny long-haired drummer man.  Bearded Pete Stewart, covering his short hair with a toque, looked different from the guy with the pretty black hair we're all used to seeing.

Then they started playing.  And that amazing, unique, melodic but rocking voice soared through a packed, small, throwback punk club.  The band on stage is not a group of older guys trying to recreate the past, I thought.  THEY ARE GRAMMATRAIN.

For 90 minutes, the boys rocked out like it was nineteen ninety-seven all over again.  They opened, surprisingly, with a new track but the crowd quickly caught on to the sick riffs of "Damaged."  Then "Execution."  "Lonely House."  "Fuse."  Another new track... YES.  "SICK OF WILL"!  The crowd badly wanted to mosh, but it didn't quite happen, but those of us who could THREW DOWN.  HEADBANGING!  Are they going to do it?  Are they --- "JONAH!"

The new material fit right in, truly sounding like a natural evolution of the group's style, modern without abandoning the grunge and classic rock influences.  The old material rocked our faces.  The band broke out the acoustics for a mellow rendition of Humanity.  I was mildly surprised/disappointed that they did only the one song in that style, hoping for perhaps "For Me," but there was no way Grammatrain was going to play a setlist of just -my- favorites.  Everybody in attendance got to hear several personal favorites, by the sound of it, even if nobody got all their favorites.

What made this show more than just another rock show was the true humility and sheer joy the band exuded at being able to play a reunion gig.  They seemed surprised that so many people wanted to see Grammatrain after all these years.  The crowd, of mostly late-twenty punks like myself who discovered Grammatrain in our disheveled teen years, and mid-thirties folks who were probably in Bible college ten years ago, enjoyed every second, just thrilled to have this opportunity.  Old-school Grammatrain shirts were surprisingly prevalent (how did these people maintain them for so long?); most of the fans knew every word.  It wasn't a "perfect" performance, evidenced by Stewart forgetting the lyrics to "Need's" first verse, or a bad sound mix on "Spiderweb."  None of that mattered.  This was a happy moment.  The band's between-song chatter was relaxed and comfortable, making the concert more of a gathering of old friends than a staged performance.

Pete's guitar playing soared, his vocals were delivered with complete passion and intensity (whatever his personal feelings on some of the lyrics may be at this present time), Dalton's basswork was a treat to watch as he yanked on the strings with flying fingers (no pick hooray!), and Paul's intricate, focused drumming kept it all together. It reminded me just how much I miss pure hard rock music played by talented musicians.  Too much wannabe nu-metal out there, too many boring bass players doing stupidly simple riffs (quarter notes with a pick blech), too many vocalists who have to scream when powerful singing would do better (I love screaming, it just seems out of place on a lot of modern rock). Wow. This band was - no, IS great. I miss them.

After 85 minutes with no intermission, Stewart pointed to the sky and said "This one's for Larry," the band launching into their rendition of Larry Norman's "Six O'Clock News."  It was over; the band stuck around and talked to many of the fans before the club finally said people had to leave; I bought Stewart's recent solo record and a copy of the new Grammatrain EP Kneeling Between Shields; and my wife and I left to drive home to Vancouver, tired but happy, still slightly disbelieving that we were had the opportunity to see grammatrain in concert after all these years.  It was a fantastic evening that made me excited for music in a manner I have not felt in quite some years.

Thank you, Grammatrain, for bringing back the AWESOME.
 

SETLIST
Damaged
Execution
Lonely House
Fuse
Forever
Sick of Will
Psycho
Spiderweb
All
Jonah
Enemy
Humanity
Need
Believe
Six O'Clock News