(7:30) Second song of the show is "Little Help From My Friends" and I can't help but think about how much this applies to a band. The fact is, not everyone in a band is going be on their game every show, every night. Heck folks might not even be in the best mood every night - but band members lean on each other. They support each other when they're not feeling up to snuff, and they lift each other up on stage - it's a real group effort, and you can see that when these guys are together, and esp. when they are on stage. I'm not going to lie, there was some tension in our little family earlier today for whatever reasons, but now the conversations have been had, the show has started and everything is fine. Pretty awesome. Third song tonight, "Prodigal Son". Pretty ironic that Sam prefaced this song with a humorous story about squandering wealth.
(7:35) Band intro's...could anyone look more Scottish than Drew? And yet Steven Hopkins get the biggest round of applause. Who says we don't have groupies? Next song on the list is U2's 40, which I really love....esp. with our guest base player tonight really bringing out the bottom. Tonight's benefit concert is to help raise money to help feed and shelter the homeless, and so I find this song to be particularly apt. When you're hungry and on the street, how hard must it be to wait patiently to be uplifted, and when it happened, how can you not sing a new song to the Lord? Sadly not every soul is uplifted, which is why nights like tonight are important and necessary. Tonight The Sloan River Project is doing something truly Christian, and maybe even holy.
(7:45) Next up..."Broken". Really nice sounding vocals on this one tonight. Also lyrically inspiring. Band went into "Shine On" after that, which feels like a really good transition. Sadly Josh cut the very entertaining song intro about the hippie commune up north somewhere, which is where this song was purportedly written - maybe because I had a good chuckle over said story last night, but whatever. Sometimes less is more, though I do think the origins of this song as worth explaining sometimes. Josh got a nice and well deserved round of applause at the end of "Shine On" - he sounded excellent. Now, "Trying To Find A Purpose" by Vertical Horizon. I love this song!
(7:55) You know what's really entertaining? Watching five white guys do a reggae song like "One Love" which is what's going on right now. It's such a happy song, everyone starts dancing in place while the audience sings along. It's a good time. Having the esteemed Kathy Tuggman singing harmony is a really great addition as well. Now Sam is introducing "Umbrella" which means we're getting to the high point of the show, at least in my humble opinion - from here the band will go into "Long Train Runnin" (LTR for short) which is unquestionably the best song SRP has. Right now though, we're in the middle of "Umbrella" and with the energy these guys put into this song, it's hard not to get up and dance. I'm watching the crowd to my left, and everyone is singing and grooving to the beat. Fun stuff! Sam's totally right on about a comment he made earlier, the lyrics to this song really are more meaningful than I think Rhianna or whoever wrote them meant for them to be.
(8:05) And sure enough LTR ends the show...hope you've all enjoyed this little stream of consciousness experiment. I'm gonna shut down and listen!
What an awesome concert tonight! I really enjoyed all the guys (although I do miss the sweet voice of Josh's beloved --- yes, somewhat prejudice since she is related). Love all the old/new songs and love ending with Turn, Turn, Turn. Keep up the great music guys!!! I will be reading, thinking and praying for you through the rest of the amazing tour!!!!
ReplyDeletelove the live stream!
ReplyDeletespeaking of umbrellas we could use them here. it's been raining for pretty much 24 hours straight.
it sounds like the show was fabulous; no doubt the music was holy. the whole living in Christian community thing is holy work, too.
love y'all, e he and sprig