U2 in 3D

What an amazing experience! Once you get past wearing those ridiculous glasses, you are virtually on stage with Bono and the boys - feeling the energy and enjoying the glow of the live performance filmed in Beunos Aires, Argentina. You strut the stage, glare at the wood finish of the guitars and almost sit at the drums with Larry! It's incredible!

This 3d thing is close up stuff! Trailers for the upcoming 'Dinosaurs' and 'Sea Monsters' movies were exhilarating! But watching U2 in concert made my heart jump! I was struck again by the simplicity of their music and how brilliantly that works for them. And I was impacted on many levels at the way a message can be communicated so effortlessly but so poignantly! Bono, of course, is a champion communicator! You only have to read his book 'Bono on Bono' to see how he breathes in the importance of justice and breathes out action and change! Throughout the concert he cleverly informs - for example about Martin Luther King - and then melodically inspires a change of heart. Love not hate, generosity not greed, peaceful co-existence not war.

If he can stir up a crowd to sing a rock anthem, maybe he can stir up a crowd to make poverty history! To me he symbolises a leather clad messenger of the cross with shades on!

THE POLISH WAY

Still driving round Poland, performing concerts in schools, culture centres and cathedrals.
Unfortunately, I am struggling with a throat and middle ear infection and so have seen 3 doctors so far and been prescribed LOADS of pills and anti-biotics. We have had to rearrange the content of the concerts and today I cancelled tonight's concert in order to give me time to get my strength! And to improve the voice! Keeping going has weakened me, and yesterday after a bumpy 10 hours drive from Barlinek to Lomsa, I felt 'on the edge'!
Anyhow, the concerts have touched people and the performances to the schools have been well received. Here is a map of the route plus the last tour! The stars indicate places I have visited here in other years!!

SKEGNESS TO POLAND

Take a look at this video...I recorded an intro here in Poland for a song we HAD to do at Spring Harvest for the morning all age event! I recorded it to remind myself that we actually did do this!!! Not just once but FOUR times!!

LINK

Where Did The Sun Go?

Just returned from leading worship at the Spring Harvest site in France. Beautiful location, great beaches, and a very nice campsite. Had a great team to work alongside...met some good people, helpful teaching, inspiring meetings...wonderful table tennis games......but the only thing missing was the SUN?

Most days we had rain...lots of it....plus it was quite cold! I remember being here last September, the weather was amazing...and so the difference was quite hard to adjust to.

Anyhow...we made the most of it...still went out and explored, spent time reading, eating french pastries..and my friend Steph took these pictures of my fight with the umbrella during a heavy downpour on top of the dunes!!

Presence

Had a great time in Fort Wayne, Indiana, teaching a module called 'Creativity, Worship and PostModernity' as part of a contemporary worship course called Presence. The course consisted of 4 separate modules and attracted about 50 students each time.

My title sounds pretty heavyweight, but I loved researching and adding to my understanding about creative / immersive worship expressions and relevant cultural indicators affecting and challenging us today and for the future. We spent a good amount of time constructing a worship experience which was multi sensory and communal. I think it opened the eyes of the students to a wider understanding of corporate worship and areas of creativity and contemplation.

Then I came back to the Uk to teach on a YWAM School of Worship about songwriting. That was fun too...and the students ended up writing some pretty good songs! They were all better than the UK Eurovison song contest entry!!

Day 9/10/11

We have travelled hundreds of kilometres these past few days. From Warsaw we headed up to Gdansk to the seaside, and played in Sopot which is renowned for its very long pier! Yes you learnt it here first!!

Warsaw on Sunday was busy! I didn't know, but the city is divided in 2 by a river and so we played in the east which is called Praga in a small chapel of a BIG church! It was great. The ambience cool (in the best sense of the word) and the people very, very warm and touched by the concert. I was given flowers!! We packed down amazingly quickly and sped over to the west to set up and play in another church! This was the least attended concert, maybe due to the saturation of big cities or the organisation...but those that came enjoyed it!

Then to Gdansk, to play in a large church in Sopot. Again an amazing building with stained glass windows that added to the evening aura. About 300 attended and it was a great night. Many young people came and joined in with enthusiasm especially the songs that have travelled, like 'Open The Eyes' and 'I Could Sing Of Your Love'. Some shared afterwards that they have been feeling far away from God, but tonight really spoke to them and helped them. We have also had many emails giving positive feedback from varous concerts on the tour.

So. Onwards to Kielce today, for 2 more concerts for teenagers. The first one at 9am in the morning! Who organised that?????

The climate here in Poland is changing...economically, spiritually...and I will write my thoughts later tomorrow. So tune in...

GIRLY MUSIC SCIENTIST

It's always good to get the creative juices stirred up by watching someone else in concert or by going to an art exhibition. Last night I ventured to Brighton to hear the unique Imogen Heap. Only recently has she invaded my space but it was an amazingly refreshing experience. She is a girl with gadgets, building up tracks as she plays and handling vocoders and samplers as if they were child's toys. She has an eccentric simplicity and a huge capacity for making music that leaves you shouting for more. She is definitely one artist to look out for. Her concerts are a work of wonder. Long live the spirit of originality!!

I was recently asked a question about how we can stay 'out of the box'. As I was considering my reply, a friend remarked that it's probably best not to get in the box in the first place!!! There were no boxes on stage last night!!

BERLIN SHOUTS

Last Saturday, the Olympic Stadium in Berlin opened its gates to approximately 22,000 people from over 30 nations. Centre stage was not given to the sport of football or the music of rock n roll, but to the Global God who scored the greatest victory through Jesus Christ! Thousands gathered there to worship and pray and make their voices heard within a city that was already crowded with worshippers of a different kind who were simultaneously celebrating at the famous Love Parade.

But what a different sound filled the air above the olympic-ringed temple. Worship leaders, musicians and pastors - known and unknown, german and english, american and hungarian, korean and brazillian - played their part as the programme rolled on throughout the day. They may have been leading the songs which became the prayers of the people; their faces may have been the focus of eyes on the huge video screens, they may have been the industry saints of the contemporary church...but all of that found its rightful place within a much larger symphony.

It was the sound of the people, the street saints of God, encircling the stadium with the passionate notes of salvation that made the ground shake with the promise of Who is to come!

Saturday July 15th 2006 was not really about Saturday July 15th 2006. Most of the faces and features will fade away. But it was a timely moment for people from all over the world to proclaim the ageless message of a Saviour who truly is the only way.

It was great to be a part of it.

POLISH ROAD TRIP

Being here in POLAND is certainly testing my Vanaphobia (fear of long hours in vans). Already we have covered a lot of miles and my observation has always been that the roads here are incredibly bumpy and the drivers are all fast, overtaking monsters!! (Exagerrate..me??) Still, it all helps with my fear of flying. Whenvr I am on a plane about to panic I simply remember how scared I have felt on the Polish roads and suddenly being 39,000 feet up in the air pales into insignificance!!
This is my 5th year visiting Poland and playing concerts in large cathedrals, churches, schools and town halls. It is always interesting being here, partly because of the history and link between the culture and the Catholic religion - it's very different from being in the UK. So tomorrow I visit Plock to sing to a Catholic seminary ( training school for priests) and then onto perform a concert in the evening!! So more bumpy roads, speedy cars and yet another opportunity to triumph over my vanaphobic tendancies!

HELLO SPRING HARVEST

SH is an interdenominational Christian festival with seminars, gatherings and events and is held each year in Skegness and Minehead Butlins resort!! I had a wonderful time at Minehead leading worship in the Big Top with my international band. The days were long and exhausting but very fulfilling.... even the weather was good...with sunshine...The whole week felt real with speakers talking honestly about life and faith and the people seemed to enjoy the musical expression of worship that my band and I provided. The chalet we stayed in even had a shower this time!! I really did appreciate my musicians who learnt so many new songs and managed to follow my song leading, and even the mistakes didn't throw them off course!!

THE MUSIC OF POETRY

I had an inspirational evening watching JANE SIBERRY in concert in London. She delivers her songs with an honesty that unearths a fresh appreciation for melody and awakens a thirst for the story behind the lady who paints a picture book of observations and experiences. In a world that manufactures on a mass scale, she appeared original and unique...gliding from song to story...and I loved it.