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But AA is history, and they they must feel they can afford to be candid. That candor comes before they embark on a new band concept, The Know Hope Collective, while Stuart and McGinness tour under the not entirely appropriately named Audio Unplugged. With electric guitar, keyboard and drums accompanying McGinniss on bass, the sound aproached the loudnes of shows I have witnessed by Audio A proper.

AA woud not have been the proper vehicle for Stuart to lament the dissolution of his first mariage, and thereby experience closer fellowship with Christ. In a haggard voice that was one of the reasons for AA's break-up, Stuart exposed his life in a way that others in his position might neve dare.

No one among the 400-plus at the former middle school made into the local Youth For Christ hang-out likely came for Stuart's public catharsis.  The discussion of the his divorced was couched in a time of reminiscing over AA history and accomplishments. McGinniss and Stuart shared with warmth and self-effacing humor.

And, of course, music. The rollickingly silly "Big House" received the loudest appreciation. It came as no great surprise to hear Stuart tell of how the song's popularity came as much from circulating among church groups (where many teens had the mistaken impression that their pastor had written it) as it did from radio play.

Arguably most affecting of the night's six AA dusties, though, was "Ocean Floor." Stuart spoke of how he wrote the that languid number for a friend abandonned by his wife and how it was first first song Stuart heard on his car radio after his first spouse left for good.

The second half of the show emphasized non-AA  praise&worship material and talk of the band's greatest legacy in non-musical outreach. The p&w included the standard "God Is So Good," a Matt Redman piece and "Jealous God," a newie the aforementioned collective's debut project, due spring 2010. Insofar as an evocation of so fierce an attribute of the Almighty, it's awfully mellow.

Stuart became more animated when speaking of The Hands And Feet Project that his old combo founded. Its most dramatic outgrowth is an orphanage in Haiti (where Stuart lived a while as a missionary kid) with some nigh miraculous results for some of children who arrive there. Especially compelling was the story of a girl left to die in a public latrine and dramatically rescued. \Disappointingly, the guitarist, keyboard player and female background singer who assisted Stuart on lead vocals, neither he nor McGinnis introduced them nor the drummer. And in what seems to be de rigeur conduct for CCM acts regardless of how appropriate their lyrics are for sing-alongs, a screen was set up to display them behind the band;and most of the time they, and the Scripture verses Stuart cited, were right. More pleasingly, they didn't play the ego game of encore anticipation, but had the lights brought up after their final number, "Hands and Feet."

Local guys Book Club are usually, supposedly a full band. Here they performed as an acoustic duo. The double acoustic guitar instrumentation recalled '80s-'90s English duo Phil and John. Lead singer Ben (didn't catch a first name) sounds like the more tuneful brother of The Fray's Isaac Slade, and his lyrics recall Slade's mingling of vagueness and specificity as well. The intermittent softLOUDsoftLOUD dynamic belies the lingering influence of grunge (because I doubt these cats have any Pixies in their iPods). It's a commercial, yet fairly inventive, sound that could get them out of their bur and into Nash Vegas with the right break.

Jamie Lee Rake