Concert Reviews

Venue: Camden Underworld, London
Source: London Evening Standard
Author: David Smyth
Date: 28 Jan 2003

Songs of Praise that will rock the Heathen

In this cool-obsessed world of 24-hour entertainment channels, where unknown musicians can leap from the pages of the style press to the stuffy broadsheets in a matter of days, a five-piece rock band from Littlehampton have been at the forefront of the real underground for years.

Delirious (the name has a silent question mark, but in the interests of legibility, let's leave it out here) formed 10 years ago, started out playing at church halls and became increasingly popular by selling their records in churches and Christian bookshops worldwide. Today they are huge, outselling Robbie Williams in America two to one, but still the heathen have never heard of them.

Last night's show, a small one for them, was nominally to mark their 10th anniversary, but more importantly to show off their talents to a godless major record label. Suits from BMG were in the audience, finally taking notice of a band at the top of a very lucrative market. Contemporary Christian music generates a massive $800 million a year in the US.

They would have been impressed by a crowd who worship Delirious religiously, and a set of songs of praise that rocked in a far from cringeworthy way. The band dress like Pop-era U2, and have an enjoyable take on the Irish megastars' muscular, stadium-rock sound. Committed pagans will need to overlook the relentlessly worshipful lyrics if Delirious are to have the impact on the wider world that they so fervently desire, but anybody present could hear that the devil doesn't quite have all the best tunes.