Maverick City Music Invades Charm City With A Praise Fest Like No Other
This was the concert that I didn’t even know that I needed in my life!
There’s not many times in today’s entertainment industry where a new artist, much less a faith based artist, can pack out a concert at a full sized arena, but Thursday night, November 4, Maverick City Music did just that. To be honest, in the midst of being in show, it felt more like a Sunday morning, than the middle of the week.
The Billboard Music Award winners, Dove Award winners and 12x Stellar nominees embarked on their first-ever tour, with eclectic shows that will featured electrifying performances with collective members Dante Bowe, Chandler Moore, Naomi Raine, Joe L. Barnes, Aaron Moses and more. The American tour has been sold out at almost all of its shows, touching the hearts, souls and spirits of everyone in attendance, and now I see why.
“Worship service” started out with Lecrae, who put on an extremely good show. Introducing his brand of Christian rap to attendees who may not normally listen to his music can be a bit of a daunting task, but it seemed to pay off. From the moment that he stepped out onto the stage to his single “Coming In Hot“, he displayed a level of energy and showmanship that is on par with many of his mainstream, secular music contemporaries. Although at times I felt like I WAS at a rap concert, Lecrae never shied away from worshiping while he rapped. Closing his set with the Tori Kelly assisted track “I’ll Find You“, he told the crowd to light the building up with their cell phones so that we can all shine bright.
When it was time for Maverick City to hit the stage, their show opened up in the fashion of praise and worship, with an instrumentalist burning up the organ and the enormous Mav City Gospel Choir singing to the Heavens, inviting people in to the House of the Lord in full worship mode. That lead us all in to the first song of the night “You Keep On Getting Better” was the perfect tone setter of the night, as we felt the Spirit of Jesus move through us and push us to do better.
You could see that the main objective of the group is to minister the Word of God to whoever wants to receive it, and it was just awesome to see how unrestrictive this concert was. What I mean by that is there was everyone from every walk of life there in attendance, to the point where I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a crowd more diverse than those who came to the show. To further aid in the praise element, the decision was made to display the song lyrics on the screens which allowed us all to sing a long in unison, as “one church”.
As opposed to your normal religious concert where you think of a vocalist standing in one spot all night in front of a choir, Mav City broke every chain in regards to the “standards” of what a Christian music show should be. The production value was top notch, featuring floating/moving lighting installations, steam cannons, confetti drops and a massive stage setup. A stage which included several ramps, a B-stage, and a pit, that literally allowed them to move freely throughout and touch the concert goers as far as back of house.
For an act who’s relatively new to the scene, they were easily able to more than fill up their entire show time, that surpassed 2 hours in running time. Their setlist was chock full of hits, including songs from their 10+ project discography as a group ranging as far back as their debut EP, Maverick City Vol. 1, and a few solo tracks as well. Fan favorites of the night were “Champion“, “Million Little Miracles“, “Rest On Us” and Billboard top singles “Jireh” and “Promises“. A surprise moment of the night was when Kierra Kiki Sheard joined the group on stage for a rendition of “Ways For Me” that actually brought me to tears from being overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit due to its message.
As a group who’s firmly cementing their mark in the music industry, they are continuously pushing out new music all the time, even debuting new songs out on tour. One of those songs was an untitled track with Israel Houghton, who made a special guest appearance for the performance while playing guitar. “I Thank God” was the perfect way to close out the night, as a way to get folks up on their feet, and give all the glory to God for all that he’s done for us. It was a pinnacle moment to rejoice, despite all of what we see that’s going on in the World today, and the negativity that tends to bog us down, we know that the master is the only reason we’re able to make it through any it.
This may be my first time seeing Mav City in concert, but I can guarantee you that it will NOT be my last!
