EVERETT – Almost everybody gets a Christmas tree, so for one night, Mercy Me and Steven Curtis Chapman provided some Christmas rock.
The contemporary Christian hitmakers joined forces for a 21-date Christmas music tour that rolled through Everett on Wednesday night. Chapman is a veteran performer with more than a dozen albums and millions of records sold and Mercy Me is an up-and-coming force that’s been tearing up the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards in recent years.
Playing before about 4,500 fans, Mercy Me and Chapman took the stage together to open the night by caroling with the crowd before Chapman left the stage and let the young rockers do their thing.
Mercy Me lead singer Bart Millard and his band kicked off their set with “I Can Only Imagine,” the only song of their set that wasn’t off their recent holiday CD, “The Christmas Sessions.”
Still, since the band celebrates the gospel every day of the year, pretty much any song from its catalog was fair game, and fans likely wouldn’t have tolerated missing “I Can Only Imagine,” the four-year-old band’s breakout and most celebrated hit.
Nine Christmas songs followed, with Millard and company providing a satisfactory mix of holiday selections.
A rocked out version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” got things started, followed by an equally raucous rendition of “Gloria.” Later, a U2-like take on “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” rattled eardrums throughout the arena.
Millard told the crowd about Christmastime at his house being full of music of all kinds.
“It just wouldn’t be Christmas if all those songs weren’t being played, too,” Millard said. “Some of these songs aren’t as spiritual, but are just as much fun this time of year.”
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” followed, and later came a twangy version of “Silent Night,” during which Millard did his best Garth Brooks impression.
Mercy Me was without keyboardist Jim Bryson. He left to be with his wife, who was delivering their baby two months early.
In what seemed like a seamless transition, Chapman rejoined Mercy Me on stage at the end of the band’s set and Millard talked about Chapman’s mission to help find homes for the millions of orphans around the world.
The discussion about Chapman’s foundation, “Shaohannah’s Hope,” named after the oldest of his three adopted daughters from China, was certainly worthwhile, but probably lasted a little longer than necessary – a common theme throughout the night.
The chatter significantly cut into Mercy Me’s set, which included just 10 songs in 70 minutes.
Chapman finally sang the title song from his newest release, “All I Really Want for Christmas” before a 20-minute intermission, after which he returned with some of his own signature Christmas tunes, “The Music of Christmas,” “The Miracle of Christmas” and “Christmas is All in the Heart.”
What followed was “Remembering You,” Chapman’s contribution to the soundtrack for the film “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which comes out Friday.
Where Mercy Me, on stage and on its album, provided its own versions of some Christmas classics, Chapman stuck mostly with his own Christmas creations, including “This Baby” and “The Night Before Christmas,” his tale of what happened the night before Jesus was born.
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