Lecrae, Andy Mineo and DJ Promote at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis April 30, 2015
DJ Promote opened the recent joyful three hour show before a mixed crowd of 3,000 mostly young fans at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, one of the final stops of the Anomaly tour.
We were seated in the second row of the balcony. As the crowd started moving at the beginning of DJ Promote’s set, so did the balcony – a lot! We had never felt anything like that before. Think of going through some turbulence on a flight, except you are sitting in the balcony of a theatre. The person sitting next to Tammy said it always happens. Later, in discussing this with an usher, we were told that the building was built that way to withstand an earthquake. They said we should have been there for the Lady Gaga concert when it was really shaking!
After a short set from DJ Promote, Andy Mineo came on to play an excellent high energy set, featuring songs from his Neverland EP and full-length album Heroes for Sale. Featured were such songs as “Neverland”, “The Saints”, “Bitter”, “Wild Things”, “Uno Uno Seis” (Spanish for 116), “Paisano’s Wylin”, “Rewind”, and “You Can’t Stop Me”.
Lecrae’s set contained mostly songs from his latest and chart-topping Anomaly album, beginning with “Welcome to America”. He effectively used video and song to tell the story of his life, as he was accompanied by a background singer, DJ Promote and a drummer. Other songs performed from the new album included “Outsiders”, “Fear”, “Wish”, “Dirty Water”, “Nuthin”, “All I Need is You”, “Good, Bad, Ugly” and “Give In”. This was more than just a concert, as Lecrae didn’t avoid the hard issues, including driving his girlfriend to an abortion clinic. He also played “I’m Turnt” and “Tell the World”. Andy Mineo joined Lecrae for a rousing “Say I Won’t” closer.
Along the way we had a marriage proposal by Lecrae’s former road manager (she said “yes”)! DJ Promote then led the crowd through some celebratory music.
Throughout the concert Lecrae talked about how much he loved St. Louis and how he felt that the city had adopted him. He thanked those from the St. Louis rap community who had helped him (including Thi’sl, J.R. and Flame), and then called on Thi’sl to join him for a powerful great version of “Fakin” from Gravity.
Lecrae is the real-deal. There is no artist I like or respect more. This was the second time we had seen him in concert, the first being a much shorter set at an outdoor festival. He and his fellow Reach Records artists are making a difference in an otherwise mostly dark genre by consistently producing high quality music.
MUSIC NEWS:
-
U2 on The Tonight Show Friday, May 8. U2 will guest on The Tonight Show on May 8th, nearly six months after a major bicycle accident forced Bono to cancel the band’s weeklong residency on Jimmy Fallon’s late night program.
-
Whatever Happened to Chris Rice? The popular Christian singer is now selling his artwork.
-
Hymns We Should Sing More Often: Rejoice, The Lord is King. Kevin DeYoung continues an intermittent series “Hymns We Should Sing More Often”, to remind us (or introduce for the first time) excellent hymns that are probably not included in most church’s musical canon.
- For the Church: Singing Variant on Benedictus. Randall Van Meggelen writes about the song “Variant on Benedictus” from Glory to the Holy One, which is based on Zechariah’s canticle of praise for redemption through the Messiah, the Son of David (Luke 1:68-79).
This week’s song, O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus, is a favorite of my wife’s. Few hymns paint such a vivid picture of God’s love as this one by Samuel Trevor Francis: vast, unmeasured, boundless free; rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me; Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love …It helps us visualize the immensity of Christ’s love, overwhelming us in the depths of His tender, triumphant heart. Ephesians 3:18 ~ And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
You can learn the tune and sing along at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/t/othedeep.htm
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
