The selection of artists made it immediately clear that the evening would be focused on worship. Jeremy Camp released his worship project, We Cry Out, last August. Aaron Gillespie, best known for his previous work with Underoath and his current work with The Almost, released Anthem Song early in March. Lesser known artist Adam Cappa has released two independent albums, the second one (Love Driven) with a heavy worship focus as well. 

 

The auditorium was already almost full when Adam Cappa began his brief opening set. He played his song "Rescue," introducing it by asking if anyone ever felt like they needed a Rescuer. Although the audience was not familiar with his music, Adam did an excellent job of getting people involved through having them clap along and asking them to sing with him. He played a cover of Chris Tomlin's hit worship song "Our God," which got everyone singing along. There is something incredibly powerful about hearing a few thousand people sing those words together, no matter who is leading. He finished up his five song set with a few of his original songs from Love Driven.

 

After a very brief set change, Aaron Gillespie took the stage. Supported by only a keyboard player and his own guitar, Aaron launched into the lead single from his new album, "We Were Made for You." The explosive energy present when Aaron performs with harder groups was still apparent in this performance. With just a few lights on steady and so little accompaniment, Aaron's set definitely had a more intimate feel than the other two acts. He relied almost entirely on tracks from his recent worship release, continuing with "Anthem Song" and "I Will Worship You," accompanying himself on a stripped down drum kit at times. 

 

Aaron spent a while talking about the times that we feel there are walls between us and God, when we are dealing with something frustrating or when we have done something we know is wrong. He asked for complete honesty, and then asked everyone who felt that there was a wall between them and God to raise their hand. Aaron's complete honesty and sincerity made it much easier for people to respond.

 

Towards the end of his set Aaron had a few surprises. He played an exceptional cover of U2's classic "Where the Streets Have No Name," which earned an enthusiastic response from the audience. Here he played guitar, sang, and used just the kick drum on his kit. The ability to do all three at once was rather impressive. He finished up his short but exceptional set with covers of Misty Edward's beautiful worship songs "You Won't Relent" and "Dove's Eyes."

 

A longer set change followed, giving Jeremy Camp's keyboard player a chance to come out on stage and talk about Compassion International. I've seen many promotional videos for Compassion and heard many artists talk about it over the past few years, but it's an organization I never get tired of hearing about because their work in the lives of children around the world is so powerful. Volunteers passed out child packets to those who were interested while the set change finished.

 

Jeremy Camp came on stage with his recent worship song "We Cry Out." Stained glass images projected onto a backdrop behind two large LCD light screens which provided visuals and lyrics. The much more complex staging definitely took a moment of adjustment after Aaron's set. Jeremy's set was very upbeat from the beginning, and he continued with energetic songs like "Give You Glory" and "Tonight." Most of the crowd was there for Jeremy Camp, and as soon as he came on stage everyone was singing along.

 

The attitude was focused on worship throughout the set, and whenever Jeremy stopped to talk he encouraged the audience to accept Jesus's love and rest in His joy. He played a solid mix of older and newer tracks, drawing on classics such as "Tonight," "This Man," "Walk By Faith" and later "Let it Fade," as well as more recent worship songs he recorded such as "Never Let Go," "The Way" and "Everlasting God."

 

One of the most touching moments of the night came when Jeremy opened up about some of the fears that he had struggled with following the tragic death of his first wife. He told the audience that even if they were to go through something like that, God would see them through it too. “The same Spirit that is in me is in you.” He then played his softer song "I Still Believe." Shortly after that he moved to the piano to play and sing "Give Me Jesus," which proved to be one of the most powerful moments of the night as everyone sang the words together. At the end of the song even Jeremy was too overwhelmed to speak for a few moments.
 

 

The night closed with the well-known song "There Will Be a Day" from his 2008 release Speaking Louder Than Before. It was the perfect way to end several hours of worship. Looking forward to our hope through Jesus was much like a battle cry as we all went back to our everyday lives.

 

I had not seen Jeremy Camp since 2003, and because of this I went in without much certainty of what I should expect. What I found was a very well-led night of worship. The performance was excellent but without being showy to the point of detracting from who we were worshiping. Adam Cappa was a perfect match as an opener. Aaron Gillespie added a more raw, personal element to the evening, and proved that he definitely has the ability to lead worship as well as rock bands. Every single one of these artists is well worth seeing if they come anywhere near you. Their heart for God was incredibly apparent, and it tied the whole evening together.