Concert Reviews

Venue: National Revival Center, Horsham UK
Author: Dave Wood
Date: 01 Jul 2005

Horsham is just a few miles North of Delirious' hometown of Littlehampton, so it was always going to be a concert full of excited fans. With it's wide floor space and low ceiling the room may not have been ideally suited to a concert, but the packed crowd of nearly 1000 were reved up to the maximum.

Arriving on stage to raptuous applause, Delirious? launched into their now familiar starting sequence of 'My Glorious' followed by 'Rain Down'. Two high octane songs intended to pump the crowd into a frenzy. The fans jumped and cheered as if as one, with the lyrics being sung right across the room.

As if the crowd weren't excited enough, Martin spoke the words always guarenteed to invoke hysteric screams of joy from any crowd. "We thought we'd introduce a couple of new songs tonight" said Martin, "if that's ok with you?". The band started off by introducing the simple chrous to 'Now Is The Time', destined for their new album due out later in the year. "Now is the time for us to shine. Shine with the face of Christ divine. No compromise, for all heaven cries. Now is the time". The tempo is neither fast nor slow, and the song has something of a 'Majesty' style similarity, but perhaps even more suited to church congregations. It also fitted perfectly in a concert setting, with the crowd quickly picking up the chrous.

The driving force of 'With You' came next, before Martin headed towards the Rhodes piano to quietly start 'Mountains High'. As Stu's carefully crafted guitar notes picked out the start of 'Majesty' the video screen behind the band showed harrowing images of Jesus on the cross. The combination of music and imagery gave a powerful sense of reality to the song. With the song completed, the band continued the mood of the moment with an atmospheric series of plucked guitar strings growing gradually stronger in a worshipful manner.

'History Maker' was next, again sung powerfully by the never tiring crowd. As the band continued to play Martin asked everyone to hold up any keys they might have with them. The collective jangling noise promoted Stu to start a quiet few lines of 'silent night' before seriousness was restored as Martin explained that "God is giving back the keys of this generation".

Looking ahead to the following day's 'Live 8' concert, Martin remarked that "it's going to be a good day tomorrow, isn't it?" before stressing the "Make Poverty History" campaign. Then it was time for 'Inside Outside'. A rare outing for 'What A Friend I've Found' followed, with Martin's acoustic guitar leading the way.

Few people who have ever seen a Delirious? concert can fail to recognise the opening few lines of 'Deeper', and as Stu emitted the famous riff the crowd once again bounded in time to the music causing vibrations to spread right around the room. At last it was time for another new song. "We've only played this song once before" explained Martin, "and that was this afternoon!". 'Paint The Town Red' is a full blown rock track, with Martin virtually shouting the words in places on a par with 'God In Heaven' or 'Feel It Coming On' from World Service. "We're gonna paint this big old town red, With the blood of Jesus. Oh. Here we come. Here we come." yelled Martin, whilst Stu gave off a blinding guitar repotiore.

Next it was time for Martin's second trip to the keyboard of the night for 'Every Little Thing'. "I'd like to dedicate this song to Tim Henman" Martin joked. 'God In Heaven' followed, before Delirious? left the stage to a roof raising reception from their fans. Within minutes the band returned for the stunning 'Investigate'. Before the show came to an end there was just enough time for a 'Bono Moment' as Martin plucked a girl from the crowd. Not for any 'smooching' of course. Oh No. Martin simply needed somebody to hold aloft a candle as he sung the closing track, 'There Is A Light'.

Delirious? left the stage, having given the fans a rocking performance with the added bonus of the first ever playing of two simply superb new songs. In time they will without doubt become some of the most loved songs in the Delirious? set list. All the signs for the new album point to an incredible series of songs with even more passion and intensity than ever before.