Concert Reviews

Venue: Hammersmith Apollo, London UK
Author: Dave Wood
Date: 23 Apr 2006

London's Hammersmith Apollo is a beautiful theatre, with a wide seating area, large balcony and ornamental decor. A few thousand people of all ages turned up for this event, titled 'Mission London' and organised by local church Kensington Temple. Arriving late, as Delirious? were mid-way through Paint The Town Red, the 10 song set list told me I had already missed opening songs Here I Am Send Me and Rain Down.

With spotlights picking out the five band members from an otherwise darkened stage, Stew's infectious drum beat brought Fires Burn to life. The crowd were well and truly warmed up by now and whole heartedly joined in the chorus: "Jesus, won't You take us home".

Stu and Martin gave a dueted intro for Solid Rock next, with its southern guitar twang, before the thumping drum beat kicked in. Towards the end of the song Martin grabbed a megaphone to proclaim the Solid Rock rap: "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness" he yelled. The vocal distortion from the megaphone providing a clever contrast from Martin's normal style.

The slow building Miracle Maker was next, with Tim's gentle keyboard melody backing up Martin's voice. As the first verse finished a cymbal clash started the gradual process of building the song to its stunning climax: "I'm staring in the face of a Miracle Maker". The extended outro was repeated by the crowd until Martin cleverly worked one song into the next with the line "I'm standing with the faith of a History Maker".

The cheering and clapping made way for loud singing as hundreds of people sang about being History Makers in this land. As the song seemed to be nearing an end, Martin jumped down into the second row of the crowd to a hug an elderly lady. "This lady has been smiling at me all night", he said. "I only hope I'm like that when I'm 70. That's the spirit of a History Maker!".

Returning to a song from latest album The Mission Bell, the band continued with Now Is The Time. Stu broke out into an electrifying guitar solo mid way through as the lights swept across the stage. Bringing things to a more intimate moment, Martin led the crowd in a few repeated choruses of the Chris Tomlin worship song How Great Is Our God, recently awarded Song Of The Year at the Dove Awards in the USA. Apparently Chris sings the chorus of Delirious' Our God Reigns at his concerts, so it was only fair that Delirious? return the compliment.

Next was Majesty and Jon's bass amp seemed to rise a few notches as he swung the guitar around his shoulders and tugged away at its strings. The flood of blue lights provided a feel of reverence for a song that already feels like an old favourite, despite its relative youthfulness. The sound of a theatre full of voices singing the chorus was just incredible. The band continued to play the song quietly while Martin gave the crowd some space for their own personal cries of worship.

Smoothly and seamlessly they merged into the chorus of Our God Reigns, singing it over and over with the crowd singing along in unison. The loud pounding drum beat pierced through the quietness as the chorus grew stronger and louder. When a hushed silence finally descended, Delirious? quietly made their way off stage, making room for speaker Colin Dye to give his talk.

Sometime later as Colin was drawing his address to a close, Delirious? crept back on stage without fuss to start playing What A Friend in the background as Colin made a call for people to come forward for healing. As Martin led the singing for those still in their seats, the band kept the song playing for close to 15 minutes as prayers and worship brought an intimate evening to a close.