Distorted Reality – Dream the new beginning.

Delirious? were incredible yesterday. It was a really superb gig – probably the best I’ve seen anybody play because of the huge amount of passion involved. They played Investigate (one of my favourites) with Stew Smith (former drummer) and Paul Evans (the new one) in perfect sync and with the most superb lead solo that saw Stu G tear at his guitar to end. It seemed to reflect the passion involved brilliantly. I was powerfully moved by the whole thing (didn’t shed a tear though – callus, hey?), as were the band, with very good reason. It reminded me of the way they’ve always pointed so clearly to Jesus, not simply a ‘religious experience’.

I said yesterday when I posted that I wanted to write about something more serious. This was to do with something I’d been thinking about earlier in the day. A friend of mine gave a notice at the start of our church service yesterday morning about the support that our community tries to offer a family centre and homeless people in our local area. She reminded me of the devastating social situations that I know exist close to home. Then a longer description was given of a community for children orphaned by Aids in KwaZulu-Natal. These reminders of the situations that many of the world live with made me think that I should get myself thinking on a healthy track about people living on the edge of our society before I dive into the inevitable business of self indulgence at Christmas.

So I’ve made a decision. Advent is traditionally a time of ‘getting ready’. So for these next four weeks, I want to get ready by focussing on issues that are effecting real people in real situations of oppression or injustice. I’ll look at one issue a week. This week I want to think about the Leaving Care system in England – what happens to children who grow up in care and then get too old?

I also want to read the four gospels by the new year. After the gig last night, I felt a real desire to spend some time looking at Jesus. I’ve been reading around the prophetic books in the Bible for ages and I’m wondering if I could do with looking at things with the fresh vision that comes from Jesus.

So there’s the plan. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while (as in, since before I lost all my old posts to the evil computer monsters), you’ll know that I’m not the best at keeping to plans. I do tend to rebel against them. We’ll see if there are more tangible results this time!

Hi, there are couple of things I wanted to write about before getting onto something more serious in another post.

The first is that I’m going to see the last ever (unless unforeseeable circumstances come into play) Delirious? gig tonight at the Hammersmith Apollo.

Delirious? are a band I’ve loved since about 1996 and they’ve played a massive part in the shaping of my personality and faith. I have a tonne of respect for them as individuals and for their integrity as a group of men. I can’t say I know them properly as individuals, but the music they have made and the attitudes they’ve shown have really inspired me and a good few thousand others, so I’m really thankful.

So today represents a sort of ‘end of era’ type of moment. I think it’s going to get emotional in a ‘large crowd singing along and knowing all the words’ way and, as is usual with a Delirious? gig, I’m expecting to meet with the tangible presence of God.

So a great night then, all in all!

The other thing I wanted to mention was that I’ve started reviewing for a website called Louder Than The Music. It’s a site that deals with the music emanating from Christian sections of culture and I think the site itself is really informative and, although it is an idea that has a long way to grow, it appears to me that it is fairly stacked with information about the current scene. Anyway, I like it and am currently reviewing a couple more albums.

The reviewing thing has set me thinking a bit because so many lyrics from a ‘Christian viewpoint’ appear to me to be pretty clichéd. There often seems to be a load more imagination in the lyrics of the music from the wider culture. I’ve been wondering why that is.

At the same time, I’ve been listening to Stockholm Syndrome, an album by Derek Webb, a guy who is a Christian and usually produces fairly confrontational lyrics in a sort of folk-rock genre. Syndrome is far more electronic and is a pretty enjoyable listen, partly because the lyrics are focused on the nonsense that is often spoken loudly by Christians, such as attitudes to sexuality and gay people in particular. Weirdly, one of the tracks (probably the best and most important track on the album) was removed by his record label because he says ’shit’! Thankfully, this track is still downloadable.

So why are lyrics from Christians so often cliché-ridden and boring compared to the rest of the world? I got to thinking that being a Christian is like living in a house and,when we produce art, it’s like looking out of one of the windows and musing upon it. Well it seems that Christians have been looking out of one, small window together for several years and we’ve all been writing about that view, which is beautiful, but tiny and doesn’t tell the viewer about the rest of the 360° view that we’re allowed to appreciate. Neither does it allow for the fresh air and glorious atmosphere that we might experience by stepping outside every now and then.

Maybe we could pop down to the shops for some sugary treats.

Or spend a while in the countryside and splash in the mud.

All the while, still be living in that same house.

I’m thankful that Delirious? have seemed to kick start the artistic process for Christians who choose to look out of windows. New ’sounds and rhythms’ and new lyrical adventures have arrived on the back of Delirious?’s hard work. Now I’m thankful that something new could happen in this new era.

I really hope that Derek Webb is a glimpse of what might be to come.