I can finally say that I've seen the boys in yellow and black up-close-and-personal. Yes, I attended my first Stryper show last night. I know, I know...I'm a little late to the party.
Back in 1985, when I was a very green DJ working my very first radio gig, I came into the station one day and saw a note about a phone interview that I was to conduct. The name: Michael Sweet. Yeah, my first-ever live, on-air telephone interview was with the lead singer of Stryper at a time when Stryper was blowing up BIG. The purpose of the interview was to promote the band's upcoming show at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium. I remember being excited and nervous. I probably made a mess of the interview, but I got 'er done.
I was not able, however, to go to that concert (probably had to work). So here I was, 34 years later, attending my first Stryper show. Better late than never, right?
My son is quite an amazing rock guitarist and music enthusiast himself (two of his biggest favorites are Metallica and Keith Green), and he grew up on To Hell with the Devil, so buying him a ticket was a no-brainer. It was his suggestion, of course, that we enjoy a pre-concert fueling at Genghis Grill. I'd never experienced a meal there, and it was quite enjoyable. Five stars!
So as we're pulling up to The Firmament (hey, there's a Biblical word for you), I notice several, um, older Americans who had somehow managed to pour their portly frames back into old Stryper t-shirts that they still owned. So that was cool. Turns out I was overdressed in my black Furman University polo shirt. Not many collared shirts in this crowd.
The Firmament is a midsized music club with a large, open floor and a few booths along the wall. They sell a lot of beer and pizza by the slice. We decided to stand as close to the stage as we could, but later in the evening, my 56-year-old self was wishing we had snagged a booth. [I used to stand up for concerts at festivals all day and all night...what's happening to me?!] A few people near us were downing beers like they were M&Ms...but there was no unpleasantness, thankfully. As drinkers go, these were the friendly kind. I've got to believe that overall, The Firmament probably saw a dip in alcohol sales last night with all the Christians in the crowd.
It was pretty much a packed house. At one point, an emcee/promoter type guy proudly gave us the headcount: 501. This guy was a little clueless about the makeup of the audience (or just didn't care) as he also told us that he got to hear Stryper's soundcheck and we were "in for a big f---ing treat."
I'm going to have to throw a flag on The Firmament's lights. My church has a better light show on Sunday morning. This stuff was just a notch or two above what you can buy at Radio Shack or Spencer's.
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| Osara |
We were a few minutes late and missed the opening opening band - a group called Osara. We were about ten or 15 minutes late, so they must've only played 2 or 3 songs. So I have no idea what their music sounds like. But I did walk past their merch table. Apparently, tattoed boobs help sell CDs...let's just leave it at that.
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| Fiftywatt Freight Train |
The band that preceded Stryper was Charlotte's Fiftywatt Freight Train. I'll just say that I'm not interested in ever boarding that train again. They covered a Metallica song (and did a respectable job on that according to my son). But overall...no. The guitarist threw a few picks into the crowd and nobody cared. Bless his heart.
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| Stryper |
Stryper finally took the stage at about 9:45 and immediately launched into Soldiers Under Command. Suddenly it was 1985 all over again, with the crowd singing along with full-throated enthusiasm. Yes, this is why I came to The Firmament tonight.
The band was tight and they pushed the club's sound system to the limits of its capabilities. In fact, distortion was an issue from time to time. This was, after all, the very first night of the tour, so maybe they were just working the bugs out. But we might've been able to enjoy the nuances of the musical performance a little better if the sound guy had lowered the decibel levels a little. And now I sound like I'm even older than my 56 years. I'm using words like nuance while describing a Stryper show. Maybe I need to turn in my blogging license.
The stage set was pretty cool for a smaller venue. The band logo and album art were featured. The famous yellow and black stripes appear mostly on the group's instruments these days, not on their stage clothes. Dressed mostly in black, the boys appear to be in great physical condition. They do look a little older...but that's probably because they are. The hair on the three original members looks like it's been damaged from so many years of processing and copious amounts of hair spray. I notice these things because my daughter is a cosmetology student who's about to graduate from a local Career Center (shout out to Annie!). But seriously, the guys are looking great.
The new bassist, Perry Richardson, sports a hairdo that is just so over-the-top it's ridiculous. Is it a wig? I don't think so, judging by the way he whipped his head all over the place. With that hair, I kept trying to picture him just going into a Denny's and sitting down to order a meal from a waitress. She would probably think she was being punked or something. You just don't see hair like that on a guy his age very often. Or ever.
Michael Sweet is quite the showman. He's an active frontman, often engaging the crowd. The way he exhorted the audience to lift our hands, sing along and "put your hands together," I started wondering if he has a future as a worship leader (kidding). I came away very impressed with Michael Sweet as a guitarist. Oz Fox is, of course, incredible and is the band's official lead guitarist, but Michael more than held his own. I think he's underrated as an axeman.
Sadly, he just can't hit those crazy high notes anymore - you know, men...the ones that made your balls hurt? But that's to be expected. If he could still sing those other-worldly notes at his age, he'd be considered a total freak of nature. Michael poked fun at himself for needing an iPad for song lyrics. And after asking for a show of hands of people who were seeing Stryper for the first time, he joked, "So did it just take you guys 35 or 40 years to get around to it?"
Robert Sweet (AKA The Visual Timekeeper) works the hardest, physically, of any of the musicians on stage. His drum set-up is massive and impressive, as is his mastery of it. He was in constant motion and had fans blowing on him to keep him cool. This also had the effect of his famous blonde locks blowing in the wind like a supermodel at a photo shoot. The boy's not as pretty as he once was, but he still looks like a rock star.
The group powered their way through a number of Stryper's greatest hits, including Loving You, Calling On You, Free, Lady, In God We Trust, Always There For You, and Sorry. Loved it.
My least favorite part of the evening (outside of the Fiftywatt disaster) was Stryper's extended set of secular covers. Not being a fan of mainstream rock (or even a casual listener), this part of the night was wasted on me. They covered hits by Boston, KISS, Van Halen, Queen, Firehouse and Judas Priest. These were described by Michael Sweet as songs that influenced them and inspired them to be musicians in the first place. He told a story about spotting a member of Judas Priest in the crowd at a Stryper show one time and being stoked about that. "We're huge Priest fans," he said. "We cut our teeth on Priest." OK...
My son enjoyed their covers of a Black Sabbath song and an Ozzie Osbourne tune. For me, those precious minutes would've been better devoted to more Stryper favorites that I didn't get to hear last night. But that's just me. I went to The Firmament armed with earplugs and the only time I used them was during the secular set. I just wasn't as interested.
Of course, a very cool tradition was revisited as pocket New Testaments were thrown into the crowd from time to time. These were emblazoned with a special "History Tour" logo. Throwing the Bibles was the only thing about the show last night that was overtly evangelistic. Although I must say, a very spiritual moment seemed to be happening during the group's rendition of the song Yahweh. Hands were raised and the crowd sang along in a manner that could only be described as worshipful, almost reverent. Nice moment near the end of the show.
The guys said goodnight and the stage emptied - without us hearing To Hell With the Devil. Needless to say, an encore was planned ahead of time and when the boys returned from backstage, we were treated to the song that most of us really wanted to hear. Box checked.
All in all, an enjoyable way to spend about eighty bucks (for two tickets). We blew off the merch table afterward, but I did get to reconnect and visit with several friends that I discovered were there as well - including a neighbor, an old bandmate, and Mr. Rob Cassells himself (from the Rob Cassells Band, of course).
I also saw a listener to my old radio show, Rock of Ages on Rock 101, WROQ. I remember this guy because he used to call in a lot and he won a ton of CDs. I'm pretty sure I also saw a guy across the floor who served as my call screener for a number of years. By the way, I'm probably the only guy who ever played Stryper on the radio here in Greenville. So there's that.
On the way to the car, my son was actually recognized by one of his Instagram followers. He runs a meme page called Deuteronomemes that has over 128,000 followers. This woman recognized him and came over in the parking lot to say hi and tell him how much she enjoys Deuternomemes. She and her family had driven three hours from Tennessee to come see Stryper. Cool stuff.
So there you go - my first, and probably last, Stryper show. Rock and roll was played, hair was slung, Bibles were tossed, and a good time was had by all.
