Last night, we had the pleasure of attending the first gig in the Delirious Mission Bell tour. The gig took place in the Southampton Guildhall. It's one of those venues that manages to be very big and yet intimate at the same time, and so is one of our favourites.
The d:boys are supported on this tour by Tim Hughes, who is an awesome songwriter and musician in his own right. He certainly didn't disappoint, leading an awesome worship session that often left the crowd in revered silence at the end of a song. There were of course some of his classic, really well known songs in his set, but (bravely, we thought) there was also a lot of new material in there. (Either that, or we're not keeping up very well, as it was new to us!).
We were beginning to think that Tim was going to be a hard act for Delirious to follow, but that thought was instantly banished. Waggers reckons that their latest album, The Mission Bell, is quite possibly their best yet. It's not as catchy as some of the earlier offerings perhaps, but lyricly and musically it's tremendous, and it's full of the passion that was beginning to disappear from Delirious records. Every song on the album is immensely powerful, but when the boys played them live... well, God was there, let's just say that.
Perhaps the most remarkable bit of the gig for us was the amazing graphics that were displayed on the big screen during each song. The words were shown for most of the set, but in really clever ways, each appropriate to the song being performed. It's a huge leap forward from the last Delirious gig at Southampton Guildhall, when the words being displayed to "Louder than the Radio" somehow ended up hopelessly out of synch with the band.
Martin reminded us that the band have been going now for 14 years. There was also a bit on Hope HIV during the interval, in which they mentioned that Tim Jupp had recently turned 40. (Instead of having a party here, he asked all his friends for money; he went to South Africa and invited a load of street kids to his birthday party there. Great idea and commendable sacrifice). But what I'm getting at is this: they're not getting any younger. Nevertheless, we said to each other as we left the Guildhall, they've still got it. In fact, I reckon Delirious are currently as good as, if not better than, ever.
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