Saturday, January 10, 2009
Concert review: Crowd warms to Winter Jam
An arena full of Christian music fans has at least one thing in common with any other audience: It’s loaded with consumers. And most consumers prefer the familiar.
About 5,700 people got plenty of familiar pop tunes and culture during the four-hour Winter Jam ’09 Thursday night at the 9,100-capacity Roanoke Civic Center Coliseum. The seven acts performing on the tour’s opening night delivered pop-punk, Disney pop, adult contemporary, rap-rock, even Americana, but laden with mainstream, modern Psalms.
The audience was up for it, reaching a nearly sustained roar as headliner and onetime Liberty University student tobyMac — dressed up like a mashup of Kid Rock and Beastie Boys’ Mike D — cranked tunes that summoned James Brown, Limp Bizkit, Run-DMC and Blink 182, among other acts. He finished the night with “Jesus Freak,” the chart-crossing hit he recorded 13 years ago with dc Talk.
But tobyMac, aka Toby McKeehan of Fairfax County, had plenty of recent tunes. He and his often deeply funky DiverseCity band, including a deejay behind him and three singers upfront with him, showed precision timing and musicianship on such tunes as “J Train.” That song combined James Brown-style 9th chords with contemporary hip-hop production, crunchy rock guitar and lyrics about the party-starting trip to heaven. Some of his raps were kind of silly — did he really say they were “boomin’ out the stere-ere-izo?”
Other songs dealt with living the life, in the contemporary Christian parlance. In “Gone,” he chided a guy who had cheated on his girlfriend. The audience responded strongly to “DiverseCity,” in which the band quoted such disco-era hits as “Play That Funky Music, White Boy,” “Love Rollercoaster,” “Le Freak” and “We Are Family.” Hands waved back and forth, cellphones beaming.
Brandon Heath preceded the headliner with a much mellower set of mid-tempo songs that fit the Americana category. Personal change was the theme of “I’m Not Who I Was,” while “Wait and See” is about holding onto hope because, “God won’t forget all the plans he’s made for me.”
Faux-hawked Canadians Hawk Nelson, dressed like the Knack circa 1979, channeled Foo Fighters, Blink 182 and Presidents of the United States of America on “The Show” and “You Have What I Need,” a song about youthful confusion.
In between sets, guest speaker and tour pastor Tony Nolan spiced his religious messages with something akin to a comedy routine.
The event mostly brought to mind a modern revival, but in a big-box arena, instead of under a tent. Show promoters marketed to this digital-age audience with a dizzying array of commercial information on two big screens at either side of the stage.
Audience members of mostly young people and plenty of parents could text message for free downloads and contests for a free mission trip and a contemporary Christian music cruise. The Precious Girls Club offered something akin to a Sim City for Christian children. Ads for GodTube.com billed the site as the largest Christian community on the Web.
But at a bargain price of $10 a ticket for that many acts on a 35-city tour, it’s hard to blame the promoters for slinging so many ads.
Show opener Stephanie Smith, signed to tobyMac’s Gotee Records, was dressed like Avril Lavigne, and songs like “Superstar” sounded like they’d come straight off The Matrix songwriting team’s assembly line.
Tween-boppers pureNRG struggled through a short set as their mikes shorted out and in, but they sang and tumbled enthusiastically, closing a short set with Kenny Loggins’ movie 1984 soundtrack hit “Footloose.” They were obviously more Ren than Rev. Shaw.
Francesca Battistelli’s “I’m Letting Go” was reminiscent of Sara Bereilles’ recent hit, “Love Song.” Her music would fit right into a secular adult contemporary radio playlist. She showed a strong and pretty voice, with members of host band NewSong playing solidly behind her.
NewSong followed with songs apparently influenced by U2, Eric Carmen and Richard Marx, flashing their lyrics on the big screens to stoke singalongs. While some of the other acts flirted with secular lyrics, the old-school guys of NewSong kept their words in the praise category.
“There’s no other name by which I am saved,” the band sang. “Capture me with grace/I will follow you.”
About 5,700 people got plenty of familiar pop tunes and culture during the four-hour Winter Jam ’09 Thursday night at the 9,100-capacity Roanoke Civic Center Coliseum. The seven acts performing on the tour’s opening night delivered pop-punk, Disney pop, adult contemporary, rap-rock, even Americana, but laden with mainstream, modern Psalms.
The audience was up for it, reaching a nearly sustained roar as headliner and onetime Liberty University student tobyMac — dressed up like a mashup of Kid Rock and Beastie Boys’ Mike D — cranked tunes that summoned James Brown, Limp Bizkit, Run-DMC and Blink 182, among other acts. He finished the night with “Jesus Freak,” the chart-crossing hit he recorded 13 years ago with dc Talk.
But tobyMac, aka Toby McKeehan of Fairfax County, had plenty of recent tunes. He and his often deeply funky DiverseCity band, including a deejay behind him and three singers upfront with him, showed precision timing and musicianship on such tunes as “J Train.” That song combined James Brown-style 9th chords with contemporary hip-hop production, crunchy rock guitar and lyrics about the party-starting trip to heaven. Some of his raps were kind of silly — did he really say they were “boomin’ out the stere-ere-izo?”
Other songs dealt with living the life, in the contemporary Christian parlance. In “Gone,” he chided a guy who had cheated on his girlfriend. The audience responded strongly to “DiverseCity,” in which the band quoted such disco-era hits as “Play That Funky Music, White Boy,” “Love Rollercoaster,” “Le Freak” and “We Are Family.” Hands waved back and forth, cellphones beaming.
Brandon Heath preceded the headliner with a much mellower set of mid-tempo songs that fit the Americana category. Personal change was the theme of “I’m Not Who I Was,” while “Wait and See” is about holding onto hope because, “God won’t forget all the plans he’s made for me.”
Faux-hawked Canadians Hawk Nelson, dressed like the Knack circa 1979, channeled Foo Fighters, Blink 182 and Presidents of the United States of America on “The Show” and “You Have What I Need,” a song about youthful confusion.
In between sets, guest speaker and tour pastor Tony Nolan spiced his religious messages with something akin to a comedy routine.
The event mostly brought to mind a modern revival, but in a big-box arena, instead of under a tent. Show promoters marketed to this digital-age audience with a dizzying array of commercial information on two big screens at either side of the stage.
Audience members of mostly young people and plenty of parents could text message for free downloads and contests for a free mission trip and a contemporary Christian music cruise. The Precious Girls Club offered something akin to a Sim City for Christian children. Ads for GodTube.com billed the site as the largest Christian community on the Web.
But at a bargain price of $10 a ticket for that many acts on a 35-city tour, it’s hard to blame the promoters for slinging so many ads.
Show opener Stephanie Smith, signed to tobyMac’s Gotee Records, was dressed like Avril Lavigne, and songs like “Superstar” sounded like they’d come straight off The Matrix songwriting team’s assembly line.
Tween-boppers pureNRG struggled through a short set as their mikes shorted out and in, but they sang and tumbled enthusiastically, closing a short set with Kenny Loggins’ movie 1984 soundtrack hit “Footloose.” They were obviously more Ren than Rev. Shaw.
Francesca Battistelli’s “I’m Letting Go” was reminiscent of Sara Bereilles’ recent hit, “Love Song.” Her music would fit right into a secular adult contemporary radio playlist. She showed a strong and pretty voice, with members of host band NewSong playing solidly behind her.
NewSong followed with songs apparently influenced by U2, Eric Carmen and Richard Marx, flashing their lyrics on the big screens to stoke singalongs. While some of the other acts flirted with secular lyrics, the old-school guys of NewSong kept their words in the praise category.
“There’s no other name by which I am saved,” the band sang. “Capture me with grace/I will follow you.”
.....Advertisement.....
