Dove Award nominee Kristian Stanfill performed at the Pittsburgh East Community Church on April 15, 2011. This was the same place where I covered Kutless and the Sidewalk Prophets back in October and the place has really changed … for the better. They’ve added ceiling trusses to mount additional stage lighting, extended the front of the stage and added a host of LCD and rear projection monitors. It has come a long way and it’s certainly becoming a fantastic venue to host a smaller show such as this.

 

You may not be familiar with Kristian's name, but if you attend a church that has contemporary worship my guess is that you have sung songs such as “Always” or “Day after Day,” just a couple of Kristian's more popular ones. He is also part of the Passion Conferences, touring nationwide reaching out to college students with the likes of Chris Tomlin and speaker Louie Giglio.

With the recent release of Mountains Move, Stanfill’s latest songs stand ready to give voice to the praise of people and churches all over the world, recognizing the tumultuous conditions we live in today. 

“These songs are about having faith in God,” Stanfill notes about his latest album, Mountains Move, “and believing that God is who He says He is, no matter what our circumstances are. There’s a beautiful phrase: ‘Let’s stop living according to the size of our issues and start living according to the size of our God.’ That’s really what the record is saying. The situation might seem impossible, really bleak and dark right now, but remember how big our God is. Remember His promises. That gives you hope.”

 

Kristian and his band took the stage after a short set performed by the church’s own worship team. He opened with “Say Say,” and fans were immediately on their feet singing along and raising their hands in worshipful celebration.

Kristian went on to play a number of fan favorites throughout the evening including “Like A Lion,” “Lord Almighty” and “Forever Reign.”

You could just tell Kristian was having a great time performing as he kept the audience highly engaged, dancing and singing in the aisles all night. At one point he even brought up on stage a small child who had been dancing in the front row, letting him perform for the packed house. His moves we a huge hit with not just the audience but Kristian as well as he laughed and said that moments like this make touring worthwhile.

 

As much as I enjoyed the show, I have to admit there was one thing that really bothered me about the evening. It had nothing to do with the music. It was how the show was lit. Only the front quarter of the stage was well-lit which meant that for the most part Kristian's band was in the dark. I don’t know if it was on purpose or not, and I do understand that most of the time the frontman gets the spotlight, but I was disappointed by that.

 

Aside from that, it was an evening full of enjoyment! Kristian's songs are so encouraging and nourishing for those of us who need to be reminded of Who is in control. They are reminders of the promises and goodness of God … and personally, I can’t be reminded enough.

 

The setlist was something like this:

 Exclusive Kristian Stanfill Live Photo Gallery (13)