It's been a busy week in Count Me In Concerts world: the LOVE CAN Tour last Sunday, and the SONGS OF HOPE Tour this week. But it's been all good!
Songs of Hope featured the Robbie Seay Band, Bethany Dillon, and Caleb at The Underground at Alleluia! Lutheran Church in Naperville. Opening artist Caleb, featuring Caleb and Will Chapman (yes, that Chapman family, as in Steven Curtis), played three songs that showed the family talent. But this was not their daddy's music. Caleb features a fresh voice and perspective. Look for more to come from this yet-unsigned artist.
Bethany Dillon brought her guitar and beautiful voice, accompanied only by her drummer. She mentioned how some major life changes (marriage to Shane Barnard of Shane and Shane, and relocation from Ohio to Texas) inspired some of her newest writing. A mix of old and new songs followed. Her earlier songs "Beautiful" and "All I Need" are still among my favorite tunes of hers.
Robbie Seay had been fighting flu-like symtoms all day, but rest and good home cookin' seemed to energize him. He and his 3 bandmates opened their set with new tune "Love Invades," followed by one of my all-time favorite songs, "Song of Hope (Heaven Come Down)." I was not disappointed!
The band covered the Jon Foreman song "Your Love is Strong" which I enjoyed more than the original (perhaps because I am tired of Foreman's version). Current radio single "Miracle" was next, and this song is poised to be another RSB classic. Speaking of which... Seay introduced the next song, which wasn't on the original set list, saying, "We were told if we didn't play this we would not be welcome back here!" So came hope, coffee, melody in the form of hit song "New Day." (Why wouldn't they have played it, anyway?)
I was especially impressed with by the talented new guitar player, Matthew "Frodo" Kidd, who bears a striking resemblance to the Elijah Wood character for which he is nicknamed (penetrating blue eyes and all!) The entire band played a tight set and, in spite of being under the weather, Robbie Seay pressed on and even stuck around to meet fans, as he always enjoys doing.
Count Me In Concerts loves doing shows at The Underground; the atmosphere and the people are very inviting, and the artists agree. Who would you like to see there?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Love Can!
The LOVE CAN Tour, featuring DecembeRadio and Sevenglory, made a stop in St. John, Indiana, last week. This was Count Me In Concert's first show at Suncrest Christian Church, where several hundred fans filled the worship center and rocked out!
The show opener came from Chicago's western suburbs to play their first high-profile rock show. The David Yeager Band has a solid Chicago-area following, and this was their first venture into the NW Indiana area. Their indie/folk sound was well-received by the audience even though most were unfamiliar with their tunes. Opening with "In Your Sight, I Am Sound," the title track from their cd, they drew the audience in with their solid blend of rock and worship. My only disappointment is that frontman David Yeager didn't bring his violin out for a song. (As the opener, the DYB was only able to play four songs) Don't miss these guys when they do a full set.
Area favorites Sevenglory have been on the LOVE CAN Tour with DecembeRadio for the past months. After a weekend of planes, trains and automobiles (they had been playing a weekend retreat in Ft. Wayne, concluding with a morning session followed by quick flight to the Griffith airport), the band brought a great set infused with a few new songs. Unfortunately, bass player Gabe Johannes wasn't able to join the band on stage due to technical difficulties. But DecembeRadio's keyboard player was on hand to fill in the notes.
After a Compassion International appeal, DecembeRadio took the stage by storm. "Love Found Me" led off their set and got everyone up and rockin'. The band brought songs from their self-titled first cd and current release Satisfied.
After a solid rock set, frontman Josh Reedy took it down a notch to a more intimate set, humorously called "songs we wish we'd written." Reedy paid tribute Michael Jackson with "Man in the Mirror," and encouraged everyone to listen to the great message of this song. "Higher Love" followed, and Reedy challenged anyone under 30 to name the original artist (Steve Winwood). During this song, guitarist Brian Bunn was featured on mandolin and then banjo, showing his musical versatility. The next cover, dubbed their "guilty pleasure," was "The Climb" (do I even need to mention Miley Cyrus?) . I liked it waaaaaay better than Cyrus' version.
"Drifter, ""Everlasting God," and "Be Alright" rounded out the set, and brought the tempo back up to finish out the evening with the rock tune, "Gasoline." These southern rockers definitely left the audience Satisified!
The show opener came from Chicago's western suburbs to play their first high-profile rock show. The David Yeager Band has a solid Chicago-area following, and this was their first venture into the NW Indiana area. Their indie/folk sound was well-received by the audience even though most were unfamiliar with their tunes. Opening with "In Your Sight, I Am Sound," the title track from their cd, they drew the audience in with their solid blend of rock and worship. My only disappointment is that frontman David Yeager didn't bring his violin out for a song. (As the opener, the DYB was only able to play four songs) Don't miss these guys when they do a full set.
Area favorites Sevenglory have been on the LOVE CAN Tour with DecembeRadio for the past months. After a weekend of planes, trains and automobiles (they had been playing a weekend retreat in Ft. Wayne, concluding with a morning session followed by quick flight to the Griffith airport), the band brought a great set infused with a few new songs. Unfortunately, bass player Gabe Johannes wasn't able to join the band on stage due to technical difficulties. But DecembeRadio's keyboard player was on hand to fill in the notes.
After a Compassion International appeal, DecembeRadio took the stage by storm. "Love Found Me" led off their set and got everyone up and rockin'. The band brought songs from their self-titled first cd and current release Satisfied.
After a solid rock set, frontman Josh Reedy took it down a notch to a more intimate set, humorously called "songs we wish we'd written." Reedy paid tribute Michael Jackson with "Man in the Mirror," and encouraged everyone to listen to the great message of this song. "Higher Love" followed, and Reedy challenged anyone under 30 to name the original artist (Steve Winwood). During this song, guitarist Brian Bunn was featured on mandolin and then banjo, showing his musical versatility. The next cover, dubbed their "guilty pleasure," was "The Climb" (do I even need to mention Miley Cyrus?) . I liked it waaaaaay better than Cyrus' version.
"Drifter, ""Everlasting God," and "Be Alright" rounded out the set, and brought the tempo back up to finish out the evening with the rock tune, "Gasoline." These southern rockers definitely left the audience Satisified!
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