July 6, 2000, at the Cornerstone 2000 Festival
I first started listening to Christian music at the age of 12 or 13, if I remember correctly (the year, then, would be either 1981 or 1982.) My brother, Andy, and I had "Awaiting Your Reply" on vinyl, which we spun on an old, cheap Fisher Price record player while playing countless games of ping pong in the basement of our parents' home. Those are great memories, but what I remember most is how that "toy" record player made the album sound even more treble-y than it already was.
I was not much of a concert-goer; I only saw three concerts before I graduated from high school: Petra in 1985 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion near Columbia, MD; Stryper (with Kixx opening for them) the same year, I believe, at DAR Constituion Hall in Washington, DC; and Malachi's final concert. Malachi was a band made up of members from our church. I still believe their drummer is the best I've ever seen (Terry Butler....I've never seen Rush in concert, and Neal Peart is probably the only drummer who'd give Terry Butler a run for his money. Oh wait, there's Ted Kirkpatrick of Tourniquet. Anyway, Terry looked and played like Animal of the Muppets; Terry, Ted, Neal, and Animal are all in the same class in my mind.)
It wasn't until near the end of my first year of graduate school (at Michigan State in 1991) that I was finally able to see Rez perform live. Crashdog opened up for them at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, and I specifically remember two things: the two columns of fire used during the song "The House is on Fire" (it was the Innocent Blood album tour); and running up near the front to sing "Lightshine", which is probably my favorite Rez song.
Rez played at the Cornerstone '96 festival, and I saw them there, along with my friend Paul Conner. They played their Lament album, and I admit sadly that I grumbled to myself that they didn't play the songs I wanted to hear: their old classics.
A couple of months, or possibly a year later (I don't remember when it was), Rez played at a church in a suburb of Detroit. It was the RAW (Rez and Whitecross tour), and again Rez only played their Lament album songs. (I was disappointed again.) I have two notable memories of that concert: Paul, Jose de Ondarza, and I went up to Wendi Kaiser after the concert to ask her what the lyrics were at the beginning of the second verse of "Amazing." She laughed and said that she couldn't remember, and told us to ask Glenn. He didn't know either. The other memory is of the passionate singing performance of Whitecross' lead singer (Scott Wenzel?) He has a unique vocal sound, and he was clearly praising the Lord through his singing.
By the way, I did send a written letter of apology to Rez a few years after my two bouts of grumbling. It came after I purchased the Lament album and listened to it. As you could see if you visited my Top Christian Albums of All Time page, I consider it one of the finest ten Christian albums ever made. There is a spirit, a presence to it, that could only be through the grace of God....I don't know if Rez ever received the letter of apology, since I never received a reply. If they didn't, and are reading this page now: forgive me, brothers and sister, for my selfish response to your song line-ups at those two concerts.
I had a pretty good view, in the second row, on the right (as the band would call it, looking out from the stage.) Right behind me were Bill, Belinda, Samantha, Kyle, Little Will, and Boo; I had met Bill and his two children then, Samantha and Kyle, at Cornerstone '96. I wrote down all of the song titles on a one dollar bill, which I have put into one of my photo albums.
1. "Waves", from Awaiting Your Reply (1978)
2. "Awaiting Your Reply", from Awaiting Your Reply
3. "Broken Promises", from Awaiting Your Reply
4. "Lightshine", from Awaiting Your Reply
5. "Rainbow's End", from Rainbow's End (1979)
6. "Concert for a Queen", from Rainbow's End
7. "City Streets", the eighth song on the incredible Colours album (1980)
8. "The Struggle", the tenth and last (but still outstanding) song on Colours
9. "White Noise", from DMZ (1982)
10. "Crimes", from Hostage (1984)
11. "Love Comes Down", from Between Heaven and Hell (1985)
12. Wendi's Rap (she talked about abuse as a child and healing in Jesus)
13. "Right on Time", from Innocent Blood (1989)
14. "The House is on Fire", from Innocent Blood
15. "Somebody to Love", from Civil Rites (1991)
16. "Surprised", from Lament (1995)
17. "Colours", from Colours
18. Glenn's talk
Cornerstone 2000 page
Musical influences and links page
