I recently saw BarlowGirl perform an acoustic concert on Friday, June 18, 2010, at Branch Creek Church in Harleysville, PA. My oldest of 3 daughters, Natalie, 10, joined me at the concert, and she also got the opportunity to meet the three Barlow sisters in person. I’ve always wanted to see BarlowGirl perform, and this was a great way to truly experience their excellent vocals and musicianship combined with a night of story-telling.

Here’s my song-by-song description of the concert.

The first band to perform was Five Mile Fall, from Souderton, PA. They’ve recently formed as a band eight months ago and have written six original songs. The co-vocalists are Jim and Justin and their six song set began with the song “Fool of Me.” The song got my attention immediately with the U2-style guitar riffs and the very memorable chorus “You take all of my deceits, You give what I should receive, I'm living in disbelief, So come make a fool of me.” The next song, “Cannonball,” had a nice harmony between Jim and Justin, backed up by lead guitarist Mike, bass player Brandon and drummer John. “Beautiful” was introduced by Jim as a song about how instead of finding our identity in our sinful natures, we need to know that God sees beauty in all of us. “Right on Time” is about God’s Sovereignty and the remaining songs all had a southern-rock vibe similar to Lynyrd Skynyrd and DecembeRadio. My favorite song was “Storm,” which the band announced was the first song they had ever written. The crowd clapped along to the great guitar part and the catchy chorus “And the answer's never found, And I'm running all around, And it's rising like a storm inside me.” They closed out their set with “Walls” which they announced was their newest song. For a new band, they show a lot of potential and I’m looking forward to hearing more from them. I like the co-vocals and southern rock/indie sound. If you like Downhere and Seabird, check out Five Mile Fall.

Next, Tony Surge was enthusiastically received by the Branch Creek crowd. Tony stood on stage and performed with only a microphone with pre-recorded trax which included a couple of Chris Tomlin songs and a few original songs. I was not familiar with him and he is from a local church in Quakertown, PA.  He mentioned Celebrate Recovery, which is a ministry he supports and represented.

The crowd was certainly ready for BarlowGirl as they started their ten song acoustic set, beginning with “Psalm 73 (My God’s Enough)” which is from their 2nd album Another Journal Entry. Lauren Barlow sat perched on a wooden stool and behind a standing djembe, while her older sister Alyssa stayed comfortably behind a grand piano and her oldest sister Rebecca cradled an acoustic guitar. My daughter Natalie brought her camera and took at least 30 pictures. It was fun for me to sit next to her and see her excitement as she cheered for the band she had met earlier before the show.


BarlowGirl continued with Love & War album opener, "Come Alive" with the cry to “wake up, get out there’s no time to waste now,” which really gets to the heart of the matter, including the charge to “be the change we’ve all been waiting for.” At this point, the sisters introduced themselves and then Alyssa proceeded to explain the inspiration for their song "Never Alone," while playing the memorable piano melody. She explained how alone the girls felt while waiting for God to move on their behalf before BarlowGirl was signed to a record label. “Never Alone” is based on the loneliness and silence of waiting for God’s response. I got shivers as the crowd of about 1,000 people were singing along to every word of the amazing hit song from their debut album. Alyssa described the theme of "Stay With Me," with the encouragement that “all I need is Your love pulling me.” It is another great song from Love & War.

The girls paused to talk as Becca made the switch from guitar to bass. Lauren joked about how her sassy personality had gotten her fired from the band more than a couple times during their band's infancy, but thanks to the fact that her older sisters couldn’t find any other girls with the last name Barlow who could play drums she was allowed to stay in the band. "Our Worlds Collide" was next. The song is also about love and the girls share how God has filled their hearts with love. The personal nature of the songs really draws me in as I have 3 daughters and want nothing more than for them to know the Love of God. The girls described how they listened to The Beatles constantly while they were growing up and this song is musically inspired by that experience. They also said they don’t know any songs from the 1980’s due to being raised on The Beatles.

A highlight of the show was next with "Mirror," from their self-titled debut. Becca Barlow, who's usually the quietest of the sisters, spoke up and announced that because of the response from the audience, she wanted to share her testimony with them. Lauren and Alyssa expressed surprise at the fact that their shy older sister actually wanted to talk, and Rebecca went on to share how "Mirror" represented much of her own struggles with how she used to view herself when she was a teenager. She explained how once she surrendered herself to God's view of her and began seeking to change her mind by dwelling on His Word, that she was eventually freed from self-destructive thoughts about herself. It was one of the most powerful moments in the evening.

This led perfectly into the emotional ballad "Sing Me A Love Song," which is also from Love & War. It is another personal love song that really paints a picture of BarlowGirl’s spiritual walk with the bridge "cause You are what I need, all that I want is You with me.” The music paused for a bit while Lauren explained the band's name before getting more serious with the Branch Creek audience. Lauren took a moment to read 1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.


Lauren quickly got very passionate, to the point of raising her voice, as she talked about making a change in the world as a church body, following God's calling on our lives, and even devoting our lives to changing history. She closed her inspiring talk, leading into their call-to-action anthem, "Million Voices," encouraging the crowd to sing along with their hearts as well as their voices. Afterwards, Alyssa then shared about the inspiration for Love & War's lovely ballad "Beautiful Ending," which hits me even harder with the challenging “it scares me to think that I would choose my life over You, My selfish heart divides me from You, It tears us apart.” The song is beautiful and encourages me to live for God. They followed it with the equally emotional "I Need You to Love Me." They ended the night singing just the chorus of "How He Loves." Alyssa encouraged whoever needed prayer or a dedication of their life to Christ to come forward and pray with some volunteers up front. They kept singing "How He Loves" and left the stage. It was a very classy exit, and excellent and memorable show. The show reminded me of the “unplugged” series of concerts on VH1 and MTV, and if you get the chance to see BarlowGirl, don’t miss out on one of the premier bands in all of Christian music.