From: tim@kudzu.viewlogic.com (Tim Foster)
Newsgroups: rec.music.christian
Subject: REVIEW: Steven Curtis Chapman's Great Adventure Tour
Date: 13 Oct 92 14:53:49 GMT
Organization: Viewlogic Systems, Inc.
Originator: tim@kudzu


I had the pleasure of catching this tour in Worcester Mass. on Oct.
8th.  Steven was joined by Out of the Grey and Susan Ashton.  One 
general comment before I review each artist was that the sound was
not done very well for the theater in which it was held.  The theater
had a very large and steep balcony, of which most was above speaker
level.  The speakers were not tilted, so alot of the sound seemed to
go under the balcony.  It must have been great to have been on the 
first level, but further up in the balcony it was very difficult to
understand the lyrics above the music.  The only time one could 
really understand the voices was when they were doing a soft song 
with only the guitar or piano.  There were a number of people in the
group in which I went who were not familiar with CCM at all, let 
alone these specific artists, and they were very disappointed that
they could not understand the words.  That said, here goes:

Out of the Grey - A very short set of only 4 songs, 3 off of their
first album (Wishes, Write My Life, and He Is Not Silent), and one
off their new album (yay!) which is due out after Christmas.  They
did all their songs with only Scott Dente on the guitar.  He is an
excellent player, but it just isn't as effective as with a band.
Her voice is excellent, but it suffered from the mic problems.  The
best song (IMHO) was He Is Not Silent, which has a really powerful
message.  It is really unfortunate that they did not get to play
with a full band.

Susan Ashton - Again, everything was great but the mics.  I'm not 
sure about the number of songs, but I'd say she performed about
40 minutes.  Also, I can only remember some of the songs she did 
off of her new album, "Angels of Mercy" (Here In My Heart, Grand 
Canyon, Alice In Wonderland, and Walk On By), since I'm not 
familiar with her first.  Fortunately, she had her band with her,
which really improved the presentation.  Overall, her performance 
was very good.

Steven Curtis Chapman -  This guy is so talented.  His writing, 
performing, and speaking ability are all top notch.  His show had
a little of everything in it.  I was also pleased with the length
and number of selections that he played.  His newer stuff is very 
upbeat (Great Adventure, Where We Belong, That's Paradise) and 
played well in concert with some of his older songs (More To This 
Life, For The Sake Of The Call, Busy Man, No Better Place).  At one 
point he solo'd on a medley of his popular "slow" songs from previous
albums (My Redeemer Is Faithful And True, His Eyes, His Strength is
Perfect, Waiting For Lightning, When You Are A Soldier).  Although 
it would have been nice to hear them all in full, it was good that 
he included as many as possible given the time constraints.  He also
did a full version of his newest ballad, Heart's Cry, as well as 
my all time favorite (and seems to be his too), I Will Be Here.  The
climax of the show had to be his humorous new rap song, Got To B Tru.
He even showed some talent with some pretty funky dance moves.  I
love the way he gets the audience involved with his concert, 
especially when singing along with him (My Turn Now, His Strength 
is Perfect).  He is truly a great entertainer, as well as a great
communicator of The Word.  Don't miss this if you have an opportunity
to see/feel it.
-- 

Tim Foster 
E-mail: tfoster@viewlogic.com