Man, what an incredible week at Momentum! The music was awesome, people were engaged and really singing from their toes, and it was awesome to be a part of. The majority of people actually raised their hands after my super-literal "lets raise our hands when we sing 'we raise our hands,'" challenge! There were definitely some goosebumps moments, some "holy-crap-this-is-like-a-glimpse-of-heaven" -type moments. And of course, it seems like so many of the best moments are borne out of those situations that I have lower expectations about. Call it a "God-thing", I guess. It was awesome.
We pulled some vintage 90s songs out of the storage closet, and they worked really well, and people really engaged with them. Classic Darlene Zschech and Rich Mullins...We've only done the "Awesome God" tag once or twice at Momentum (and never the full song..."When we rolls up his sleeves he ain't just puttin' on the ritz...?!" It's amazing that one of the most powerful and timeless choruses of the past generation could have such horrible lyrics on the verses), and we've never done "Shout to the Lord." People know it though, probably from years and years of Christian radio saturation, and there's something really redeeming about re-introducing songs that haven't been heard or sung for years, especially doing them in a new way. Our iteration of "Shout to the Lord" wasn't a radical departure from the original, but doing it in the acoustic setting, using Lincoln Brewster's faster, more high-energy arrangement as a template, and with two phenomenal backing vocalists thickening it up with harmonies, it really worked well. Add in some of Mr. Brad Sinclair's phenomenal flutter strumming on acoustic, and some of Mo's excellent djembe-handling, and we had a downright inspirational performance of a great sing-along song.
"Clinging to the Cross" has quickly become one of our favorites at Momentum. We on the Music Team love it because it's got some phenomenal harmony/melody interplay, and the simple iv-I-IV harmony on the intro is incredible. The lyrics are fantastic, and it just really draws people in.
This was my first week playing on my new Roland RD-700GX, and I've got to say it was an absolute treat. It's seriously like sitting down at a beautiful concert grand; it feels like it, it sounds like it, and it's as inspiring and fun to play. The "Ultimate Piano" patch is absolutely one of the best pianos I've ever heard. I still can't hardly believe I get to play on this thing from now to kingdom come...
Music Team
Julie Cruz - BGVs, lead vox
Mo Ingram - djembe
Glenn Smith - bass
Brad Sinclair - acoustic, BGVs, lead vox
Jill Pate - BGVs, tambourine (which was freakin awesome on "Son of God!")
Me - keys, lead vox
Songs
"Unchanging" by Chris Tomlin
"Son of God" by Tim Neufeld
"Clinging to the Cross" by Tim Hughes
"Shout to the Lord" by Darlene Zschech
"Awesome God" by Rich Mullins
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3 comments:
Joe - Good summary on a powerful set. And it's great to see you using the blog for something as practical and relevant to the Mo fellowship as this. It's blogalicious!
From the perspective of someone who "knows" both sides of the experience, this Sunday was definitely cool. Going retro for the last two songs struck a chord with me, though I do love the new stuff we're doing.
Oh - and there was a NOTICEABLE difference in sound with the keys. I think Roland is a keeper...
Man, it makes me so happy that others notice a difference in the sound quality of the Roland. Other non-piano-geek-types, that is.
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