The Grand
Rapids Press
Friday March 19
by Terry Deboer
Receptive arena crowd adores dc Talk
Video images and mechanically driven lights combined with music
and a willing audience to help the dc Talk trio provide a
"Supernatural"
experience Thursday in Van Andel Arena.
The Grammy-winning contemporary Christian artists made their
"Supernatural" album the theme for their two-hour-plus
concert journey - fleshed out on a huge and modernistic stage
set.
The threesome, which includes Grand Rapids area native Kevin Max,
began the night with the bombastic "Dive," which was
supported by an incredible string of video clips.
Max and Michael Tait continue to offer most of the band's lead
vocals, with Toby McKeehan chiming in and handling the occasional
rap/hip-hop lines.
In all, 10 songs from the new release were covered in the show.
One of them ("Into Jesus") came while the players
gathered on a satellite stage which jutted out into the center of
the arena.
The "unplugged" session included songs like "My
Will," "What If I Stumble?" and a cover of U2's
"40," which is based on the 40th Psalm.
Notably, the singers performed a portion of "My
Deliverer," a tune co-written by the late Rich Mullins. They
also led the crowd of 7,948 in the chorus of "Awesome
God," another Mullins composition.
The artists regularly saluted music from decades past. Their
quick version of the Beatles "Hello, Goodbye" came
early on in the evening. But later
they had their players provide licks of songs such as
"That's the Way (I Like It)," "Jump," and
"Freak Out."
Even their own new song, "Since I Met You," is a retro
send-up with its quick but tight pop harmonies.
The concert was a homecoming of sorts for Max, a son of Max and
Elaine Smith of Cascade Township.
"There's no people like Grand Rapids people," voiced
the singer to expected cheers.
Max recently dyed his hair a dark red to audition for a film
part.
"It'll probably be blond and short again for (next week's)
Dove Awards," he told some fans after the show.
The dc Talk threesome continues to feature a road band anchored
by bass guitarist Otto "Sugarbear" Price. Price even
stepped forward to share vocals with McKeehan on
"Heavenbound," the band's first hit of 10 years ago.
On this tour, dc Talk has also brought an onstage DJ, who
provided several scratches and samples on the night.
Many of the dc Talk fans present sang right along with the band.
Even on newer songs such as "My Friend (So Long)," the
voices of the audience joined in.
The group's hit "Just Between You and Me" was performed
while the original concept video was shown on the large screen
behind the stage.
Most powerful in its presentation was the song "Red
Letters," which surpassed it's recorded version in dynamics
as well as its accompanying
slide/video images. The words on the screen reinforced the lyrics
in the song, which tell of the power and truth in the spoken
words of Jesus as
recorded in the gospels.
In some Bibles, those direct quotes are printed in red.
McKeehan had already read from the stage the biblical words of 1
Corinthians 13, known as the "love" chapter.
The band used the rocker "Jesus Freak" as part of its
encore. But at the close it was a lone McKeehan speaking his
testimony about how he was
touched as a youth by the God of the "supernatural."
And he invited the crowd to take the same step.
"If you seek him, he will find you," promised the
artist.
For the most part it was a super evening, which has become a
natural for the talents of dc Talk.
Earlier in the evening, singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp and her
band performed a half-dozen songs from her debut album,
"Kansas".
The show was opened by The W's, a neo-swing band with a
three-piece brass section which relished in performing its music.
That includes the
Christian radio hit "The Devil is Bad."