Brianfest - the concert - at last

We spent the hour before the concert at a nearby apartment, eating pizza, drinking coke and praying about the event. We walked over to the field at about 7:45, arranged for the groundsmen to turn off the pitch floodlights as soon as I had finished making the introductions, and then we went up on to the stage. I said a few thankyous to all the people who had made the event possible, all the volunteers and the crew, and then handed over to Brian and the band.

Here's the set list...

Come now is the time to worship
Everlasting
I lift my eyes up
Your love will find me
Triune God
Creation calls
Psalm 13 (How long O Lord)
Go on loving you
Your faithfulness
You are my home
Light the fire again

Interval

Lifted (instrumental by Brian T)
Come and fill me up
Our Father in Heaven
Holy God
You surround me
When you shepherd me
The river
Hope of the nations
Today

Encore:
You shine
Hallelujah (Your love is amazing)
Stay (Orphans Song)

It was just amazing. I still can't believe we pulled it off. Not one single thing went wrong. There were no equipment malfunctions, no power problems, no injuries, no complaints from the police - nothing! Brian and the band were absolutely outstanding - they played brilliantly, and there was definitely an extra edge in their playing that night. It seemed that Peter had more of a groove going on the bass, Eran on the drums was playing so fluidly, Brian T pulled off some fantastic jazz/fusion solos and was conjuring up shimmering textures and rhythms, Philip on keys held the whole thing together and sang some great falsetto harmonies, and Brian D's voice and acoustic guitar were the icing on the cake. James spent more time playing the Duduk than he anticipated, and he told me afterwards that rather than playing to the crowd, he felt that he was playing for all the people watching from the balconies of the apartment buildings surrounding the field. He wanted to give the music a more eastern flavour and provide a point of contact between the eastern and and western cultures - to allow the Egyptians watching to find a thread of familiarity in the music.

The sound was outstanding, the lights were magnificent and the crowd loved every minute of it. Gordon had put together a whole sequence of visuals with lyrics for every song on a mixture of still and video backgrounds, and it really helped us understand the significance of the music. It was an amazing concert, but because Brian's material is all worship songs, the spiritual dimension of the event was really well defined. It was unmistakably all about God and not about the band or the crowd.

There were many non-church people in the crowd, and the feedback we got from them was overwhelmingly good - it rocked!