Over the years, delirious? have released many concert recordings. However, the concert experience does not get any better than this, the band's only Blu-Ray release. Thanks to the technology of the Blu-Ray disc, the video and audio quality are like they have never been before. Watching this on your home video system is definitely the closest to feeling like you were there.
Over the years, delirious?
The five guys from Littlehampton, England known as delirious? have had an amazing career. From leading worship for a local church movement in 1992 to being a pop radio hit in Germany to playing for hundreds of thousands in Hyderabad, India, these guys have done it all. Fall 2009 brought their farewell tour of the United Kingdom. Thankfully, the last show of the tour, at London's iconic Hammersmith Apollo, was recorded for all of us to enjoy. Even though delirious?
In my family, the Christmas season does not start after Halloween. It doesn't even start after Thanksgiving. We usually put the Christmas tree up 3-5 days before Christmas. In our family and at my church, the period after Thanksgiving until Christmas is called "Advent." This time is a period of planning and preparing for the birth of Christ Jesus. It's a time to remember the great wonder that God the Father sent his son, Jesus, to earth.
Their first album in nearly three years, Switchfoot have said Hello Hurricane has been the hardest record they have ever made. The band tracked over 80 songs out of 150 written, the end result being 12 remarkably cohesive tracks. Between the aggressive rock numbers and powerful ballads, Hello Hurricane is a solid release embodying tales of struggle and loss intertwined with the overlying theme of hope and love. Their seventh studio release, Switchfoot prove their music is as important now than ever.
Much of America these days is, as it always has been, defined by the coasts. The East Coast is the birthplace of America and the original states as well as the worldwide leaders in fashion and commerce. The west coast brought new avenues of trade, the gold rush, and now the worldwide leaders in technology and entertainment.
A few years back, I remember standing in the massive crowd at Creation Festival waiting for a band by the name of BarlowGirl to take the stage. There were a group of guys standing right behind me. I remember these guys making comments about having to stand through a "chick band" so that they wouldn't lose their spot for a later set they were waiting for.
BarlowGirl's set began, and it was great as always. I couldn't help but over hear those same guys from before the show, only now the comments changed to ones such as "Dude, they were so good!" Believers they now are.
Ask most bands whether having an iconic lead singer is a good or bad thing and they'll likely tell you that it's a little bit of both. On the one hand, having a strong, readily-identified presence behind the microphone can often be just the ticket to propel a given musical collective to the very heights of commercial triumph. On the other side of the coin, though, many of those same groups have stood by and watched helplessly as fan interest fell through the floor in the wake of their vocalist's departure.
After hit single and title track from 2006's album, Nothing Left to Lose, took off Mat Kearney found himself on the road continuously. Supporting acts like John Mayer, Sheryl Crow and The Fray as well as his own headline stints, Kearney has been making a name for himself ever since.
A high-profile single is often a two-edged sword. On the positive side, it can offer a struggling artist the exposure they need to bring their music to a much wider audience. On the other hand, it can often paint the performer in question into a stylistic corner as they churn out a series of like-sounding copies in an attempt (usually, an unsuccessful one) to replicate its success.
The world of music boasts no shortage of artists who cut their teeth within the friendly confines of the duo or full-band setting before venturing out to try their hand in the solo arena (think Justin Timberlake, Eric Clapton and Dolly Parton).
Music lovers and critics alike have often contended that the most praiseworthy trait any artist can possess is a willingness to try something new. Perhaps this is true because such intrepidity also carries along with it the risk of alienating the performer in question from the better portion of their existing fan base.
Having spent over a decade touring and recording with their respective bands — Switchfoot and Nickel Creek — both Jon Foreman and Sean Watkins have strayed from their well-known sing-along choruses and strong guitar accompaniment to a more stripped down, darker release. While it takes a few listens to fully understand the depth of this disc, Fiction Family proves the versatility and staying power of both musicians in a time when not many bands are leaving their comfort zones.??
Try as they may to be objective, even the most serious musical analyst, if they're being truly honest, will tell you that their favorite songs aren't necessarily the ones that make it to the top of the charts, or those whose composers are the most technically proficient or even the ones that the highest number of their fellow critics laud as essential.
For many a member of the Christian alt-pop camp, February 26, 2004, will forever remain, to quote FDR’s famous 1941 war address, a date which will live in infamy. It was on that day that Matt Slocum sent an open letter to CCM Magazine informing the music world at large that Sixpence None the Richer, the group for which he had served as lead guitarist and songwriter for over a decade, would be no more.
Jars of Clay is at it again.
Making the decision to form a power trio can prove to be a risky undertaking. To be sure, without the aid of one or more additional musicians to fill in the gaps created by the typical guitar/bass/drums arrangement, the songs of the average musical threesome are mostly left to stand or fall on their own intrinsic merit. The good news for Scott Gordin and his fellow Southern California-based bandmates, Jesse Manzano and Chip Gumienny, is that the compositions on their debut effort, Make Me a Worshiper, fit squarely into the former category.
I have been, from my youth, a "Rocker Chick." I attended every "Monsters Of Rock" tour in the '80s as well as Queensryche, G&R, Scorpions... you get the picture. I have also never been a fan of "female-fronted" rock bands. When an associate recently handed me Firelight's Unbreakable CD, he assured me, as a rocker, I'd like it. I smiled politely. Not wanting to offend, I took the CD. (Who passes up a free CD anyway, right?)
For everyone who wondered if they had seen the beginning of the end for Third Day, the band answers back with its best CD to date. From the opening track they proclaim "This is Who I Am."
"I’m the son of a good man, I’m the child of an angel," read the lyrics. "I’m the brother of a wild one, and I’m looking for direction, I’m the lover a beauty, I’m father of blessings, I’m the singer of a love song, but is that all I’m good for? This is who I am!"
As odd as it might seem for a pop/rock artist with such a formidable singing voice, Dave Pettigrew didn't spend his teen years before a full-length mirror learning to emulate powerhouse vocalists like Robert Plant, Luther Vandross or even Steve Perry.