Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, & Louie Giglio complete the trio that comprises the “How Great is Our God” tour. With a definite focus on worship, the place was packed, and the crowd was exuberant.
Chris Tomlin kicked off the night with the splendidly upbeat “Your Grace is Enough”, instantly captivating the already excited audience. Chris and the band were clearly abounding with energy and an absolute passion for worship. They followed with “Sing Praise” and the classic hit “Made to Worship”.
Matt Redman joined in on the song “Blessed Be the Name”, and the two played a few songs together. It was excellent to see them perform together, as their voices definitely meshed really well.
After a song or two, Matt had the stage to himself, at which point he sung several songs from his recent release, Beautiful News. With such a genuine sound, “You Never Let Go” was first, followed by others such as “Shine”. Another song that was particularly fantastic was “If You Know”. It’s a great song to begin with, but when sung live, the absolute candor of the song is nearly inexplicable. Matt’s performance was spectacular, leaving nothing to be desired by the end of his set. The rest of the evening was a combination of Chris & Matt alternating singing solo and together.
After a series of several powerful worship songs, Louie Giglio came out to share a message, the emphasis of course, on how great our God is. Through a series of mind-blowing statistics and scientific parallels, he proceeded to remind everyone just how amazing God’s creation is. One thing he said that stuck out to me was “When God breathes, it’s a glorious event.” It’s such a great reminder of how God immaculately created the world, and life, and planets, and stars, and time, and how everything has His “thumbprint” on it; so who are we to think God doesn’t understand or care about us? All in all it was a great message, complete with humourous bits and great reminders that make you think about how you see God and His creation.
Immediately following Louie’s message, Chris came out and sang a semi-a cappella version of “Amazing Grace”. The simplicity of the song and the distinction of his voice made for quite a surreal moment.
After a brief intermission, Chris & Matt came out and performed together once again. They were complemented by a crazy lights display and sported a slightly rockier set of songs. The final song was the much anticipated “How Great is Our God”, featuring Chris playing the piano while singing. The song sounded fantastic and was quite the perfect ending to the night.
Overall, the concert wasn’t overly “showy”, which really highlighted the raw talent and worshipful hearts of the two. It’s really refreshing to see a concert where the focus remains on God, not on having the snazziest display or the coolest dance moves or the most energetic stage performance. Chris and Matt have an undeniably amazing talent to worship, and that’s what this concert was all about.
Article by Ariel Body
