Worship music has continued to grow massively over the past few years. We've seen it explode from a wave of artists like Elevation Worship, Maverick City Music, Charity Gayle, SEU Worship, and, of course, Brandon Lake. Brandon Lake has especially become one of the biggest names in Christian music with his powerful songs like "Gratitude," "Praise," "Hard Fight Hallelujah," and more. So when worship legend Phil Wickham announced that he and Brandon Lake were going on tour together in summer 2023, fans flocked to these nights of worship. 2025 marked the third year of this tour and the best one yet, in my opinion. I was honored to attend their stop in Nashville, Tennessee, my second time at the Summer Worship Nights Tour, and absolutely loved it.
The show started with one of my favorite artists, along with Brandon and Phil, Josiah Queen. Josiah is arguably one of the biggest new artists in the past two years. His song "The Progdial" was a smash hit that became an anthem for listeners all over the world. He recently signed with Capitol CMG and released his sophomore album, Mt. Zion. Josiah's set was full of energy, so the crowd sang loudly and jumped along in praise. Hearing new songs like "Dusty Bibles" and fan favorites like "The Pordigal" and "My Promised Land" was especially a treat. I love Josiah's passion for sharing the Gospel and creating folk music that connects with my generation, especially, pointing them to Jesus. There's no better pick that I could think of to open the night on such a high note.
While most concerts would have Brandon and Phil take the stage separately, one of my favorite things about Summer Worship Nights is that Brandon and Phil both come out together to perform. Both artists took the stage to lead over 17k people in a night of worship and praise, starting with Brandon's hit song "That's Who I Praise." Both artists continued trading songs back and forth, singing powerful anthems of praise that the audience joined in with full faith. Afterward, Brandon stepped off, and Phil led a powerful solo set that hit me deeply. Hearing his current hit song "What An Awesome God" was amazing, but the song that hit me the most was "Homesick For Heaven." Before he led the song, he gave a powerful, quick message on our hope as believers following Jesus in this world and holding out for heaven. The message he gave hit in my heart in a way I didn't expect, and as he sang "Homesick For Heaven," I sang along with tears in my eyes and hope rising up in my heart to trust Jesus even deeper.
Following Phil's solo set, Phil and Brandon both gave a short acoustic set, singing choruses of each other's songs that they didn't have enough time to fit in fully. Going from "Daddy's DNA," "This Is Our God," "Too Good To Not Believe," "Rest On Us," "The Jesus Way," and so many others was a treat and a beautiful moment of worship.
Next, it was time for Brandon's solo set. Brandon, being technically the headliner, blew us all away with his chart-topping songs that fans already knew word for word. Other than just singing, he gave a short message on collaborating with mainstream artist Jelly Roll, who followed him, encouraging every believer in the room to share the Gospel and live it out, no matter the hate. The message was again, just like Phil's, so powerful and hit me deeply. Has he sung his smash hit "Hard Fought Hallelujah," the crowd filled with hands raised, declaring this song. This song has meant so much to me, and millions around the world, so hearing it live was heartwarming and, honestly, a highlight that I'll never forget. Going from that song to "Trust In God" was especially beautiful and led to one of the most powerful moments with God that I had that night.
Phil then came out and joined Brandon to finish the night off with some of their biggest songs. I'm pretty sure my hands were raised and my eyes were watering the whole time through these songs. "Same God," "Living Hope", "Gratititude," and even jumping into classics like "Shout To The Lord" and "Agnus Dei" led to the whole crowd worshipping with eyes fixed on Jesus. It was such a profound moment that wrecked me and took me from being at a concert to being with a family praising our beautiful King. Another moment during this that stood out to me was the salvation message they gave. With Christian concerts, you don't normally hear an altar call for people who aren't saved to accept Jesus, but at Summer Worship Nights, you do. In that moment, about 15-20 people that I could see raised their hands to accept Jesus. At a worship concert, I didn't expect many, but this blew me away at how faithful God is to reach those that need Him wherever they are.
The whole concert was such a blessing and one of my favorites that I've ever gotten to experience. From hearing favorites from Phil and Brandon, to hearing unreleased songs, to the messages that reminded us of who our God is and who He's called us to be, I can't recommend going to see this tour and supporting these artists who truly live sold out for Jesus. Events like this make me even more excited for the next generation and the next wave of worship that is about to come.
Bradden Ford is a Christian music junkie charged with maintaining NewReleaseToday's new release database of artists and releases. He lives just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
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