So I went to the Georgia Dome to see a concert last night. It seats about 72,000 people. Probably a few more for a concert because people actually get to stand on the football field for the show in addition to sitting in the seats. It is a BIG building. Too big for most artists to be able to do a show there. Not only would it be hard to sell that many tickets, but once the people are in there you have to do something so big that they feel entertained as opposed to feeling gipped for spending concert ticket prices to watch tiny people sing from a long distance.
Luckily the show was U2 and despite the enormity of it, they served up a spectacle worthy of the task at hand.
The staging was BIG, the sound was BIG, the band was larger than life. It was a good show.
And it got me thinking about the Christian music industry.
Throughout history Christians have always been at the forefront of the arts. J.S. Bach, Michaelangelo, and Handel to name a few are artists that put their faith into action and had a global impact.
Their creativity was unmatched and it impacted the world at large.
Unfortunately something happened in the 20th century as pop music became the dominant artistic musical vision for our culture. The church started playing catch up instead of leading the pack. Christian artists often became copy cats trying to replicate the latest sound rather than the trailblazers that their Spirit led creative impulses could have empowered them to become.
I sat and watched the show last night and wondered ...
What Christian artist could play a room this big?
Now I know that most rock stars are narcissistic and that Christian artists should leverage their gifts to point to God rather than themselves, but I was just thinking along musical lines.
Whose music could hold up as interesting in a room this big.
Who is writing epic songs for our God?
Who could reverberate the praises of our risen Savior in such an environment?
I am sure there may be others, but here's my vote.
David Crowder.
I've had his new album "Church Music" in the iTunes rotation for a few weeks now, and it is groundbreaking. 17 tracks and yet they all blend together into almost a seemless act of ... well ... worship.
Musically, it is a ride through modern electronica orchestrated with big strings, haunting pianos, and some fierce guitar work.
There aren't many tracks that your local congregation will be working into their worship sets for the same reasons that after Sgt. Pepper it was difficult for the Beatles to pull off any of their late work live. Crowder and his bandmates have put together an aural work of art that has layers and layers of textures.
The songs are epic, and they point you to God.
If you want to get lost in 73 minutes of cutting edge worship, go pick it up.
Yeah ... Crowder's sound would have been able to fill a Dome sized arena and make it work musically ... and how could he bridge the visual gap of a room that big? Com'mon it's Crowder, he could work a room that big with just his hair.