Christian artists put passion into their music

Amy Grant and, more recently, the group MercyMe are rare examples of Christian artists who have crossed over successfully onto mainstream airwaves.

Whether the audience at Thursday night's concert at the Show Me Center was made up of Christian music fans or ones who came on board once it became pop music is not certain, but the show, especially before MercyMe's appearance, made no doubt about its religious affiliation.

However, judging by the cheering from most of the 3,736 people at the show, it seemed they were enthusiastic about the Christian messages.

Grant came on stage before MercyMe and was greeted by an enthusiastic audience and kept up their interest with a set that focused on her latest album, "Simple Things."

The songs off the new album were great, with the right mix of country, pop and a sometimes bluesy delivery that sounded quite a but like Sheryl Crow.

Of course, Grant has been around longer than Crow and has a huge backlog of songs that span the last 20 years. One song in particular she played, "El Shaddai (God Almighty)" stood out in the amount of applause it got and the emotion it brought from the artist.

The emphasis though was on her current life and music. Much was made about Grant's divorce from her Christian singer/songwriter husband Gary Chapman and her subsequent marriage to country music star Vince Gill. Grant acknowledged this period in her life with the songs "Out in the Open," "Happy," and "Innocence Lost."

"The great thing about being a songwriter is you get to write about your life," Grant told the audience before starting the relationship song "Happy."

"If you're here with someone you love tonight, don't over think it," she said.

After Grant's performance the first opening artist of the night, Bebo Norman, came on stage to talk to the audience about the Christian childrens sponsorship organization, Compassion International. It seemed a bit strange to have volunteers out in the aisles wanting to give out pamphlets, but for the most part it appeared that people were on their way out to get more drinks and nachos before MercyMe came on stage.

Moments before they took the stage in what was another strange moment, Mel Gibson appeared on the screen behind the stage, promoting his new movie "The Passion of the Christ." The audience reacted with the loudest screams of the night when they saw an opening clip of Jesus from the movie, which made it seem like he was some sort of rock star.

Then MercyMe came on stage to the strains of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" presumably for the refrain "Oh Lord" in the chorus.

The audience was up on their feet before all five of the members were even on stage and were more than ready for their close-ups for the DVD of the concert that was being filmed that night.

kalfisi@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182