All Things New

I had the opportunity to go see the All Things New tour featuring Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Tomlin, and Casting Crowns. What an incredible experience.

I have never been a huge Chapman fan (not that his music isn’t incredible), but was really looking forward to seeing Chris Tomlin. His music is awesome. I have heard Casting Crowns on the radio, but never paid too much attention. Tomlin was the focal point for me.

Well, the entire concert was awesome. Every one of the groups were great live. And the guitar was heavy. None of that light grit you hear on the processed studio cuts. They were all rocking. Chapman’s Telecaster was amazingly distorted, as was his guitarists (one of them was using a Gibson through a Mesa Boogie). Tomlin’s guitarist was similarly equipped. Crunchy guitar beyond my wildest dreams.

Mark Hall, a youth pastor by calling, was very funny and met with people during the intermission to talk about Youth Ministry. Tomlin’s set featured songs from his newest disc, Arriving, which features such songs as Indescribable, Holy is the Lord, and Mighty is the Power of the Cross.

Chapman though was the highlight of the night. He would come out and play a couple of songs while the roadies tore down the stuff from the previous band. During one break, he was out there with his entire band and they did an acoustic set. Amazing. Chapman has some chops and so doesn’t his band. He played a Dobro during one song and my jaw just dropped.

So, you’ve heard about the concert from a musician’s point of view, now we will talk about the worship. It was amazing to see the Cumberland County Civic center packed to the gills with people to see these inspiring artists, but also to see all these people lifting their hands and worshipping our Creator, and having a good time to boot. Somewhere along the line, someone put forth this view that being a Christian means not having any fun. Somebody dropped the ball on that one.
If you get a chance to get out and see any one of these groups live, do it. You won’t regret it.