Oh, I feel like headbanging, it's foolishness, I know...
Apr 01 '02 (Updated Aug 05 '03)
The Bottom Line Delirious? just gets better with age, and Matt Redman can certainly hold his own. Both offer a great mix of modern rock and worship in a live setting.
Date: Monday, March 25, 2002
Performers: Delirious? with Matt Redman
Venue: Palace Theatre, Hollywood, CA
Ticket Price: $30
Expectations can be a nasty thing. Especially when it comes to Christian concerts. Often, bands can evolve over time, putting out an interesting array of songs in the process, some ready-made for fan consumption, and some a little more daring and experimental. When playing live, bands often face the dilemma of how to balance the new material with the old and keep their fans happy. This dilemma is especially difficult for bands whose early work has generated a high number of hits and “classics”, such as Jars of Clay or Third Day. If you’re primarily known as being a worship band, the challenge is even more daunting. This is definitely the case for the five-piece British rock act Delirious?.
I’ve seen Delirious? in concert twice before (the tours for Mezzamorphis and Glo), and both times, they succeeded in working their early worship material in with their edgier, more recent work. I managed to get a large group of people from my church excited to go see them after one of our worship leaders decided to surprise us with the band’s signature anthem “History Maker” one Sunday morning. It was still January back then, and I figured that by the time the March 25 concert date rolled around, the group’s latest album, Audio: Lessonover would have been released in the States. Having been familiar with the new songs since the UK release last August, I was looking forward to hearing them live, and I knew I could trust Delirious? to play enough old stuff to keep the old-school fans happy.
I didn’t realize until after I got the tickets that this was being billed as their Deeper tour. For those who don’t know, Deeper is a compilation of Delirious?’s best worship songs from their first three albums. It released in the States in late 2001, which infuriated me, since the American market is now over saturated with the same Delirious? songs as our Christian music industry attempts to milk the modern worship movement for all it’s worth. I knew the band had already toured the new album in the UK, and now here we were, about to get a rehash of the same old stuff in concert as if the new album didn’t even exist. Obviously this realization perturbed me.
I figured that it would be prudent to change my expectations at this point. I rationalized that hearing Delirious? play anything live was a great experience, even if I knew I would miss the more aggressive moments of some of their quirkier modern rock numbers. I told myself that part of the fun this time around would be bringing 12 of my friends (largest concert group I’ve ever organized) to experience the band live for the first time. I did my best to detach myself from my fondness for the new material (in all fairness, it hasn’t been very warmly received by most of the fans who have heard it), and set to working out carpools and collecting cell phone numbers and all the other nasty details that comprise getting a group of 13 people together who are scattered across the greater Los Angeles area and need to meet up during rush hour. Fortunately, all that turned out to not be as stressful as I expected, and before I knew it, we were all standing outside the Palace Theatre in Hollywood, half a block from the infamous intersection of Hollywood & Vine, examining the stars beneath our feet and wondering why we didn’t recognize more of ’em.
The Venue
The Palace Theatre is essentially a club. Even though L.A. is a huge market for any concert tour, it’s often tough for Christian bands to book decent venues on convenient dates - hence the inconvenient Monday show. Delirious? seems to like to play theatres, and I generally bear with them on that because they’re a good band. But I have to say, the Palace wasn’t the most ideal place for our group. The seating was general admission, which I also didn’t know until I was in the process of ordering the tickets, and when we got there, I found out why. The only seats were in the balcony, and even though our tickets said “Balcony”, we were encouraged to go to the floor (where there were no seats, just standing room) for a better view. Well, with a few tired teachers in tow who had been standing all day, and one friend in a wheelchair, that obviously wasn’t an option. So we had to go upstairs. That didn’t turn out to be easy for our handicapped friend, since the building had no elevator. She had to be carried upstairs by a gallant male friend (bless his heart). We found a clump of chairs at the very top of the balcony on the left side, where we had a clear view of the stage, even though we couldn’t see the upper half of the video screen behind it.
Matt Redman
I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the British worship leader whose renown is honestly only a step behind that of the band he was opening for. While I’m familiar with many of his songs (“Better Is One Day”, “The Heart of Worship”, “Holy Moment”, etc.), I’ve never been particularly captivated by his recordings of those songs. I had the opportunity to go to a free live worship event that he was leading in Van Nuys a few weeks prior, and passed it up since I didn’t know anyone else who was going. His opening set for Delirious? would be enough, right?
Well, now I’m kicking myself. Mr. Redman has a solid backup band, and they really know how to create a solid atmosphere of worship. They rocked more than I expected, which gave new life to the opening number, “Everything that Has Breath”. I don’t think anyone in my group quite expected such an upbeat rendition of one of our church’s worship standards, but I could tell they liked what they heard, even if Matt’s vocals were hard to hear during the first few songs of his set. Matt wholeheartedly wanted the crowd to be able to worship with him, and with the words to his songs being displayed behind him in true contemporary church style, this wasn’t hard to do at all. Maybe we couldn’t see all of the words from where we sat, but we appreciated the help nonetheless.
Matt surprised me with a few songs that somewhere in my mind, I knew he had written, but that I had learned through other artists. “Undignified” really got the crowd moving with its peppy “I will dance, I will sing” chorus and its joyfully defiant tone. I had first heard this song on the David Crowder Band’s latest CD (it was one of the few that really stood out, and now I really know why), and it was easy for the crowd to get into. It’s a fitting song to get people moving, since it’s based on a Biblical account of King David getting excited and dancing before God in a way that was rather… um, embarrassing for those watching. I had been joking to my friends before the show that I tended to really come out of my shell and get jumpy and crazy and do something that might loosely be called dancing at concerts. Sometimes I get self-conscious, but having David’s story in mind helped me to just let loose and get into it.
Matt used a lesser-known number called “Climbing Up the Mountain” to segue between fast and slow songs during his tragically short set. Once the band had effectively brought the tempo down, Matt immediately went into what is perhaps his best-known composition, “The Heart of Worship”. Written at a time when worship had become too much of a spectacle in Matt’s home church, this honest ballad has quickly become a standard in many contemporary churches, and for good reason. It’s likely that most of the American audience learned it from SonicFlood’s first CD, but whatever the case, the song has clearly outgrown its writer, and Matt seemed perfectly comfortable to let the audience carry the tune for most of it. He effortlessly morphed it into the chorus of a newer song, “Let My Words Be Few”, at the end, which I recognized, thanks to Rebecca St. James’ latest album. “And I stand in awe of You…” It was great to hear the audience softly singing this line over and over. Something about the chord that Matt hits on the word “awe” is incredibly compelling.
Matt brought the tempo back up to close out his set, opting for two more songs that weren’t familiar to me - I caught on pretty quickly. The first was “Friend of Sinners”, with its compelling chorus of “This will be my story, this will be my song”, and then “Lord, Let Your Glory Fall”, which I think appeared on the All Around the World album that Matt did with a few other notable British worship leaders. The latter was especially striking with its tricky time signature during the verse, and it simple but strong chorus. Surprisingly, Matt and band left the stage during the song, leaving the audience to continue singing “You are good, You are good, and Your love endures today”. It was a humble and beautiful moment. I was struck by Matt’s humility on stage, and how easy he and his band made it to learn the songs that the audience didn’t know as well. I’d pay to see this guy again - hopefully as the main act next time!
Delirious?
After an intermission, during which a friend and I tried in vain to find a better vantage point, the D:boys came out on stage while their familiar “Game Over?” intro piece played onscreen. I was expecting that to lead into “Sanctify” like it does on the D:Tour Live 1997 disc, so it was quite surprising when guitarist Stu G suddenly ripped into the bouncy riff from “Deeper”, arguably the group’s biggest radio hit thus far. Wait, don’t they usually close with that one? No matter. They made it clear from the get-go that their set wasn’t going to be as predictable as I expected. Though it wasn’t a big surprise to hear a barrage of their most popular “worship” material, I didn’t exactly mind, because they hit us with “Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?” and “History Maker” early on - songs which I usually expect to show up near the end of their set. The band’s most recent modern worship venture, Glo, was not to be forgotten either, as evidenced by the marathon “God’s Romance”, which is always a good song to get hearts pumping with Martin Smith’s manic preacher-style singing and Stu G’s fiery guitar riffs. I sort of felt like a few of the opening numbers lacked in energy when compared to the album versions, but they’re all such passionate songs that I know it’s hard for the band to keep up with themselves at times.
Thankfully, surprisingly little of what the band was doing seemed like a rehash of past concerts to me. Snippets of older songs showed up in medley form - Martin tacked the chorus of “Revival Town” onto “History Maker”, and later threw in the “Glory in the Highest” coda from “Blindfold” and the “Keep me” chorus from “King or Cripple” in a reflective outro to “My Glorious”. The breezy radio hit “Everything” (complete with music video in the background) was a nice surprise early on in the show, since it’s one of my favorites from Glo and it was oddly absent from their set list last time around. Its abrupt ending set things up nicely for the hammering drums and gritty guitar at the beginning of “My Glorious”, which also seemed less energetic than the album version but still got me up out of my seat, with a triumphant jump and an idiotic cheer. Half the fun for me at concerts is to see how the band chooses to order the songs, and this clever inversion of the order in which the songs are placed on Glo was quite satisfying.
One thing I do enjoy about the release of Deeper is that it has brought some old songs to light that might have been overlooked by fans in the vast sea of mostly long, meditative songs that made up the double disc Cutting Edge. Most of the stuff they picked from those two discs is an exact match of the tracks I program in whenever I play Cutting Edge, since I have a hard time being patient throughout the whole thing. It was wonderful to hear the ballad “Thank You for Saving Me” work its way into the set - Martin did this one with Tim Jupp playing solo on the keyboards, and I honestly didn’t realize that the other three guys had left the stage. I actually wished this one had gone on for longer (since it’s one of the tracks that is worth drawing out to six minutes plus on Cutting Edge with its fluid piano melody). I could tell the sound folks were having some technical problems because there was a distinct buzzing sound coming from somewhere on stage during the otherwise quiet moments of this song. I think the band had blown out on amp or something during “My Glorious” - but then, that just goes to show how passionately the guys were playing.
Martin gave himself (and the audience) a little breather by talking for a little while about the band’s history (they’ll be celebrating their 10-year anniversary soon) before getting on with the music. He can be a genuinely funny guy at times (though I have this theory that anything’s twice as funny when you say it with a British accent), but it was clear that the object of his monologue was neither a comedy routine or a cheap attempt to get the crowd on a Jesus high. He simply took the time to talk about a song that had become bigger than the band itself, a song that it humbled them to hear sung in foreign languages when they traveled to churches around the world, a song that they had recently re-released as a CD single, which went Top 40 on the UK charts… a little tune called “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever”. It’s interesting to see how this one has morphed over the years - Martin now sings the verses in a more regular pattern to make it easier for folks to sing along, unlike the choppy manner in which he originally sang it on Cutting Edge. Having said that, I don’t know if I like the re-tooled version. The band seems to have changed up the chords during the verses and given it a more eerie feel, even though the tune is the same. But then, I don’t think any of the remakes recorded for “Deeper” outdid the originals. Martin had mentioned that the band would soon be recording some of their classic material in Spanish, and it was cool to hear him intermingle a few Spanish lines into the song everyone there must have otherwise known by heart.
Another great surprise was up next, as Martin asked the audience if they wanted to hear something new. Since I fully expected the band to deny the existence of Audio: Lessonover, I figured it was time for “Not Forgotten”, the one new song recorded for Deeper. But they surprised me with “Show Me Heaven”, a feisty new rock anthem that they had written during the Glo sessions, held off on recording until the Audio sessions, and were now playing for the first time in L.A. It looked to me like I was the only one there who didn’t know the words - everyone else politely listened while I stood up and sang and acted like a fool. I was happy to finally be rewarded with some new material. Martin was great during this song, bringing the audience in with some energetic “Whoo!”s during the chorus, and floating around in the audience as the song hurtled along to its sudden end.
I had to chuckle as the familiar electronic intro to “Heaven” started up next. This made me happy, because 1) This meant the band had time to venture outside of their straight ”worship” material, 2) The juxtaposition of two songs with similar titles was clever, and 3) They were finally playing something from Mezzamorphis. Even though this song wouldn’t have fit the criteria for Deeper, the chorus “Heaven is my home, and there’ll be no shame to bear” took on a new, worshipful light in this context. They managed to keep me guessing (and looking like an idiot) by drawing out the soft break before the chorus comes back in, and then by pulling off a sharp transition into “Sanctify”, which I first confused with “Awaken the Dawn” due to its rhythm and opening guitar riff. “Sanctify” is a definite classic that took its time, but eventually became one of my favorites. I don’t like how Martin drags out the soft ending of the song in concert, but it still led nicely into a few more oldies-but-goodies.
The group rounded out their set with “Obsession” (complete with the “Obsession Oscilloscope” reverberating on the video screen) and “I’m Not Ashamed”. I had never heard a full version of the former in concert (they cleverly fused it onto the end of “Kiss Your Feet” a couple years ago), so this felt new to me even though it was old. Jon Thatcher (he’s the cute guy that all the girls go crazy for; every band’s gotta have one) really made the people tremble (and quite a few of them plug their ears) with the trademark bass intro while Stu Smith methodically pounded out the time. I’ve always loved how the song starts slow and ominous and then catches fire - even though it’s one of the band’s earliest, it’s one of their most rocking and passionate numbers. The same can be said for “I’m Not Ashamed”, which speeds along like a runway train, gaining momentum as Martin very nearly goes crazy with his sold out devotion to Christ. These were great picks to close out the proper set; I only had minor quibbles with the fact that the second verse was skipped in both. Given that they run longer than eight and six minutes (respectively) in the original versions, I guess the band can’t always fit everything in.
With many of the usual closers already out of the way, I was at a loss to predict what the band would close with as the floor began to shake and the audience made their desire for an encore known. Amusingly, an old home video of the band began to play on the screen, with Martin strumming an early version of “Revival Town” while spinning around on a merry-go round with Stu Smith playing the bongos to keep time and Stu G. sticking his face into the camera like an idiot. Midway through the video, things turned electric as the band took stage again, and Stu G. ripped into the song’s bridge with another powerful guitar riff. The band finished out the song and then proceeded to thrill us with three more, which was thrilling, considering the disappointing one song encore they gave me the last time I saw them. Even more thrilling was that the song they chose to play next was another new one - “Fire”. It’s probably the most aggressive track on Audio: Lessonover, sort of like a cross between their earlier hit “Bliss” and U2’s “Elevation”. The lyrics were extremely hard to make out live, but the chorus made up for it as Stu G. bellowed “I, I, I believe!” while Martin went into full falsetto mode. Careful there, Martin. We don’t want Bono to sue us now, do we?
Did I mention “Bliss”? I was fully expecting my favorite Delirious? song of all time as Stu G. began to noodle around on his guitar after “Fire” was suddenly extinguished. There were about three different times when I yelled “YEAH!!!!!”, only to realize he hadn’t started the song yet, once again making me feel like a moron. But eventually, the familiar heavy riff kicked in, and the boys blazed through a song that is always a highlight of their concerts. For some reason, I had never realized that Stu G. sang the low part during the song’s quiet bridge (“It’s the simple things that satisfy…”), even though they’ve done this song every time I’ve seen them. Sometimes I’m as observant as a brick wall!
I never understood why the guys thought “Investigate” (one of the most stunning tracks from Glo) made a good closing song. They ended with it on the Glo tour, and apparently they’re still doing the same thing. I absolutely love the song - it just ends too abruptly to offer a sense of closure. Despite that, the haunting chords were a perfect compliment to Martin’s plea to “Shine upon the darkest place in me”, and the coda was just sublime as the band hammered it out with one final burst of energy. These are always the best moments of a Delirious? concert - where there needs to be no distinction between the “rock” songs and the “worship” songs, because the act of rocking out is an act of worship. I can honestly say I loved every minute of it.
If it had been a Friday or Saturday night, I probably would have hoped they could go on even longer, but honestly, they gave a solid set for a weeknight. Perhaps the crazed “Happy Song” fans went home unfulfilled once again (they’re a lot like the crazed “Watchtower” fans at a Dave Matthews concert, if that helps any), but I didn’t care. The band gave us an excellent combination of well-loved favorites and intriguing new stuff, and they pulled it off with genuine excitement, all without having to resort to the theatrical excesses that often drag down some of my other favorite bands during their live shows. Delirious? is a top-notch live act - they consistently choose great opening acts (well, except for Raze, but we won’t go there) and they’ve likely learned a thing or two when they themselves have opened for mainstream acts like Matchbox 20 and Bon Jovi. Not many bands can reach that broad of an audience - but then, we can thank the lack of a CCM ghetto in England for some of that.
Sadly, you’ve probably missed out on this tour if you haven’t caught it already, but never fear - Delirious? is a relentlessly hard-working act, and even if they only spend short stints in the US (they’re family men, which I deeply respect), those stints happen rather frequently, so be sure to keep up with their tour schedule and go see these boys tear it up in concert!
Matt Redman set list:
Everything that Has Breath
Undignified
Climbing Up the Mountain
The Heart of Worship
Let My Words Be Few (chorus)
Friend of Sinners
Lord, Let Your Glory Fall
Delirious? set list:
Deeper
God's Romance
History Maker/Revival Town (chorus)
Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?
Everything
My Glorious/Blindfold (coda)/King or Cripple (chorus)
Thank You for Saving Me
I Could Sing of Your Love Forever
Show Me Heaven
Heaven
Sanctify
Obsession
I'm Not Ashamed
Encore:
Revival Town
Fire
Bliss
Investigate
My Ratings:
Delirious?: 4.5 stars
Matt Redman: 4.5 stars
Show overall: 4.5 stars
Band Members:
Martin Smith: Lead vocals, guitar
Stuart Garrard: Lead guitar, backing vocals
Tim Jupp: Keyboards
Stuart Smith: Drums
Jon Thatcher: Bass
Website:
http://www.delirious.co.uk
(I can't seem to find Matt Redman's site at the moment)
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Epinions.com ID:
divad23
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 in Music |
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Member: David Martin
Location: Pasadena, CA
Reviews written: 571
Trusted by: 263 members
About Me:
Just add an implicit "in my humble opinion" to every sentence I write.
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