- Saturday, September 20, 2014
- 8:00 PM–11:00 PM
- Covenant Fine Arts Center Auditorium
Concert is sold out
Doors open around 7pm
General admission tickets: $30.00
After releasing their 2008 album Ancient Skies, the Michael Gungor Band dropped the Michael and the Band and decided to simply be called Gungor. Their first offering under the simplified name is 2010’s Beautiful Things, and the album reflects not just a new name but also, according to Michael Gungor, a new approach to worship music for the band. He said, “If leading worship is just about bringing a group of people into a room so we can get goosebumps and sing songs together, there’s not much value in that. But if leading worship is a means to an end, that we leave this place as a different kind of people, as part of a new humanity that God wants to create... then that matters.”
Michael Gungor describes Gungor’s music as “liturgical post-rock”, which he says is written for and works in a corporate worship setting. The sentiments of Beautiful Things swing from “these dry bones cry for you” to “you make beautiful things out of the dust,” and they are soundtracked by instruments ranging from electronic guitars and banjo, to toy piano and drums. Gungor himself admits, “Musically, it’s kind of odd... we rock pretty hard, then we pull out the banjo and sit around and cry together.” But whatever direction each song takes musically, the subject remains the same, and that is the God who can “make beautiful things out of us.” God and beauty are the two main themes of Beautiful Things, and Gungor is wise to include a song, “Late Have I Loved You,” which quotes Augustine, showing how inseparable God and beauty truly are.
The aforementioned question about worship music though, which seems to background Gungor’s music, is one that needs to be asked. What is the end of worship music? Heck, what is “worship music,” and what should it sound like? The band formerly known as Michael Gungor is working toward an answer, and they’re putting it out there hoping we’ll give it a listen. So lend your ear, please do, but don’t surrender the questions in the process.
- Ben Dixon
Switchfoot has a long history at Calvin, and with good reason. The band has been here multiple times, and Jon Foreman has performed here in various capacities. This is in part because they embrace what we strive for here. They are Christians who are at times considered to fit into the genre of contemporary Christian music, but they are not afraid to try new performance styles or to address issues that are not often discussed in the CCM community. The band is willing to point out the areas in which we fail, where politics are failing us (at the same time pointing out that we are no different), and asking how long the brokenness will last. In their new album and movie, the band has kept with the themes that are present in their earlier work, while still exploring new avenues. They continue to fearlessly ask hard questions and seek answers through their music.
- Avery Johnson
