| The On-Line Music Review & Information Ministry |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Concert Review |
| Truth, Hope & Love Tour March 22, 2009 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania Building 429, After Edmund Above The Golden State & Kimber Rising Concert Review Written by: Kevin Davis [kevin.davis@christianmusicreview.org] |
| For complete local tour schedules and ticket info, please visit: |
Truth, Hope & Love Tour 2009 came to The Family Worship Center in Lansdale, PA on Sunday,
3/22/09. I have enjoyed Building 429 since their debut album in 2004 and I’ve been looking forward to
seeing After Edmund in concert since I first heard their song “Thank God”. I highly recommend
checking out the tour if you get the chance.
The first band at this concert was the newly signed Kimber Rising, whose debut album will release on
INO Records in the fall. They are 3 women, and they sang 3 songs. Two of the women are sisters
and all 3 of them sounded great harmonizing together. I’m looking forward to their debut album. They
reminded me of Out of Eden with touches of BarlowGirl and Point of Grace with a pop style sound.
The next artist was Above The Golden State. Michael Watson, the lead singer and main songwriter
traveled and performed alone as his band mates were involved in a church ministry function. Michael
is very engaging and started off with the hit song “Sound Of Your Name”. He got the crowd of about
700 people involved right away and had us singing along the whole time. He was wearing a jacket and
before his 2nd song he removed his jacket and told us due to ESPN2 he had adopted Philadelphia as
his pro sports town and revealed his world champion Philadelphia Phillies t-shirt and put on a Phillies
baseball cap to a rousing applause. He continued singing with current single “I’ll Love You So”,
another great song with a catchy melody. He then slowed it down and brought out a cello player who
played along with his prayer-song “Scared”, which was a nice reflective time. He closed with the new
song “Under The Mercy” which has also just been released as a single. It is another slower song and
Michael played harmonica during the song which was fun. Great up and coming band from Oregon,
hence the band name. He reminded me of John Lennon and The Beatles, and also Rush of Fools and
Starfield.
I couldn’t wait for the next band After Edmund, named for the Chronicles of Narnia character
Edmund representing humanity. Their debut album “Hello” was my favorite debut album of 2008 and
one of my top 10 albums of the year. They are all classically trained musicians and their energy and
musicality are two of the reasons I love this band. Having met and talked with lead singer Mitch Parks
about their song “Come And Rain Down”, I’m an even bigger fan now. The guys are all great and put
on an amazing show. The opening song was a new song called “Backwards”. Very cool message and
vibe. The next song was “Fighting For Your Heart” which has a great musical intro leading to the
passionate chorus: “let it go, say goodbye, call this an emergency, love’s fighting for your heart to be
free”. I had to ask Yates from the band the names of the next songs “The Colonel Popcock's Tea
Time of Doom” (instrumental) and “Return on the Sackbut” (instrumental). Both songs were amazing
musically and watching the guys all switch instruments with each other and each show proficiency at
more than one instrument was awesome! Mitch then set a worshipful tone with “Clouds” with the
chorus: “hello, hello, You’re always lifting me above the clouds”. He had the audience all singing along
and then transitioned to “Here I Am To Worship”. The next song was also instrumental called “Dear
Hellen” aka “Like a Dream” which led to the incredible closer “Thank God” which may be one of the
best songs I’ve ever seen performed live. The energy, musical talent and passion of this band is
undeniable and I expect big things for Grammy and Dove Award nominated After Edmund. “Hello” is
my choice for rock album of 2008. Here’s a picture of me and Mitch Parks from After Edmund.
After over an hour of great opening acts, then came headliner Building 429 who I last saw in 2005
opening for Casting Crowns on the “Lifesong” tour. Since then, they’ve released 3 more albums and
changed labels to INO Records and I consider the newest self-titled release to be the best of their 4
albums and one of my top 10 albums of 2008. They kicked it off with "Not Gonna Let You Down", a
rock anthem from the new album which set the tone for a great rock show. They continued with a 2
song worship set including "I Am Free" and "Sing Like The Saved". They brought up a crowd of fans
to sing along with them during “Sing Like The Saved” including Amanda from Kimber Rising who
belted out the end of the song with her amazing vocals. Here’s a picture of Building 429.
They continued with hit song "End Of Me", another worship song about finding true life in Jesus: "All
I've longed for I found finally at the end of me". The great set continued with the instrumental intro of
"Bullet The Blue Sky" by U2 with lead singer Jason Roy shining a spot light on the crowd. My favorite
2 songs of the night were next starting with "You Carried Me", the standout hit from “Iris To Iris”.
The music video was playing on the screen behind Jason and it was uncanny how perfectly he
matched up with the video. The highlight for me came next with new single "Always" a story-song
which reminds me of “Praise You In This Storm” by Casting Crowns. I got the chance to interview
Jason about the song for a devotional and I was blown away by the power of the song and the
amazing chorus: “I believe always, always, Our Savior never fails, Even when all hope is gone, God
knows our pain and his promise remains, He will be with you always”. They closed with their hit song
"Glory Defined", which helped them earn the Dove Award for Best New Artist 2005. After briefly
leaving the stage they came back to finish with "Erase", another great rock anthem from the new
album and then slowed it back down with "The Space In Between Us", a personal prayer song of
confession which was a great way to end the night.
Great tour with 4 solid bands and over 2 hours of rock and worship in the Name of Jesus.
3/22/09. I have enjoyed Building 429 since their debut album in 2004 and I’ve been looking forward to
seeing After Edmund in concert since I first heard their song “Thank God”. I highly recommend
checking out the tour if you get the chance.
The first band at this concert was the newly signed Kimber Rising, whose debut album will release on
INO Records in the fall. They are 3 women, and they sang 3 songs. Two of the women are sisters
and all 3 of them sounded great harmonizing together. I’m looking forward to their debut album. They
reminded me of Out of Eden with touches of BarlowGirl and Point of Grace with a pop style sound.
The next artist was Above The Golden State. Michael Watson, the lead singer and main songwriter
traveled and performed alone as his band mates were involved in a church ministry function. Michael
is very engaging and started off with the hit song “Sound Of Your Name”. He got the crowd of about
700 people involved right away and had us singing along the whole time. He was wearing a jacket and
before his 2nd song he removed his jacket and told us due to ESPN2 he had adopted Philadelphia as
his pro sports town and revealed his world champion Philadelphia Phillies t-shirt and put on a Phillies
baseball cap to a rousing applause. He continued singing with current single “I’ll Love You So”,
another great song with a catchy melody. He then slowed it down and brought out a cello player who
played along with his prayer-song “Scared”, which was a nice reflective time. He closed with the new
song “Under The Mercy” which has also just been released as a single. It is another slower song and
Michael played harmonica during the song which was fun. Great up and coming band from Oregon,
hence the band name. He reminded me of John Lennon and The Beatles, and also Rush of Fools and
Starfield.
I couldn’t wait for the next band After Edmund, named for the Chronicles of Narnia character
Edmund representing humanity. Their debut album “Hello” was my favorite debut album of 2008 and
one of my top 10 albums of the year. They are all classically trained musicians and their energy and
musicality are two of the reasons I love this band. Having met and talked with lead singer Mitch Parks
about their song “Come And Rain Down”, I’m an even bigger fan now. The guys are all great and put
on an amazing show. The opening song was a new song called “Backwards”. Very cool message and
vibe. The next song was “Fighting For Your Heart” which has a great musical intro leading to the
passionate chorus: “let it go, say goodbye, call this an emergency, love’s fighting for your heart to be
free”. I had to ask Yates from the band the names of the next songs “The Colonel Popcock's Tea
Time of Doom” (instrumental) and “Return on the Sackbut” (instrumental). Both songs were amazing
musically and watching the guys all switch instruments with each other and each show proficiency at
more than one instrument was awesome! Mitch then set a worshipful tone with “Clouds” with the
chorus: “hello, hello, You’re always lifting me above the clouds”. He had the audience all singing along
and then transitioned to “Here I Am To Worship”. The next song was also instrumental called “Dear
Hellen” aka “Like a Dream” which led to the incredible closer “Thank God” which may be one of the
best songs I’ve ever seen performed live. The energy, musical talent and passion of this band is
undeniable and I expect big things for Grammy and Dove Award nominated After Edmund. “Hello” is
my choice for rock album of 2008. Here’s a picture of me and Mitch Parks from After Edmund.
After over an hour of great opening acts, then came headliner Building 429 who I last saw in 2005
opening for Casting Crowns on the “Lifesong” tour. Since then, they’ve released 3 more albums and
changed labels to INO Records and I consider the newest self-titled release to be the best of their 4
albums and one of my top 10 albums of 2008. They kicked it off with "Not Gonna Let You Down", a
rock anthem from the new album which set the tone for a great rock show. They continued with a 2
song worship set including "I Am Free" and "Sing Like The Saved". They brought up a crowd of fans
to sing along with them during “Sing Like The Saved” including Amanda from Kimber Rising who
belted out the end of the song with her amazing vocals. Here’s a picture of Building 429.
They continued with hit song "End Of Me", another worship song about finding true life in Jesus: "All
I've longed for I found finally at the end of me". The great set continued with the instrumental intro of
"Bullet The Blue Sky" by U2 with lead singer Jason Roy shining a spot light on the crowd. My favorite
2 songs of the night were next starting with "You Carried Me", the standout hit from “Iris To Iris”.
The music video was playing on the screen behind Jason and it was uncanny how perfectly he
matched up with the video. The highlight for me came next with new single "Always" a story-song
which reminds me of “Praise You In This Storm” by Casting Crowns. I got the chance to interview
Jason about the song for a devotional and I was blown away by the power of the song and the
amazing chorus: “I believe always, always, Our Savior never fails, Even when all hope is gone, God
knows our pain and his promise remains, He will be with you always”. They closed with their hit song
"Glory Defined", which helped them earn the Dove Award for Best New Artist 2005. After briefly
leaving the stage they came back to finish with "Erase", another great rock anthem from the new
album and then slowed it back down with "The Space In Between Us", a personal prayer song of
confession which was a great way to end the night.
Great tour with 4 solid bands and over 2 hours of rock and worship in the Name of Jesus.