Remember waaay back when (on a post dated May 15, 2011 to be exact) where I said and elaborated on the point that I thought Toby Mac was the "coolest person on the planet"? Well, I went and saw ol' Toby Mac on his Hits Deep Tour on Saturday night: February 22, 2014, and I left with mixed feelings about Toby and the concert I saw.
Toby Mac is no longer what I would call "the coolest person" on the planet. In fact he's no longer even my favorite Christian music performer. In fact part II, I'm more interested in listening to more of one of the opening acts for Toby that night then Toby himself right now.
What caused this fall from grace? Dude, I wouldn't go that far. It's not like my image of Toby is completely shattered. It's just the title of "coolest man on Earth" is lofty praise, and after that underwhelming performance I saw from Toby Mac when he was on stage, he lost that title in my book.
One big surprise out this concert was one of his opening act, Matthew West. Man, when that guy sings his signature song, "Hello, my name is..." my heart melts. TOTALLY ministers to me. I've heard a lot of Matthew West's songs on the local Christian music station that I listen to on an on-and-off again basis, and kind noted Matthew West was around--but now I'm hooked! This guy is AWESOME! Very well may be the next Chris Tomlin, and God knows we could use more high worshipers of Jesus Christ -- like Chris Tomlin. Note how I didn't use the name Toby Mac there, hint-hint, more to come.
For me right now, Chris Tomlin, not Toby Mac, is where it's at. I think at this stage of my life I'm more into high worship of Jesus, than hip hop, rap, and Christian ballads. And I can still remember the Chris Tomlin concert, at Key Area, last April. It moved my mom so much so that she bought a Chris Tomlin's "Burning Lights" CD for every member of our family. And guess what? She even bought one for me to replace my CD that I gave to listen to that she loved so much that she never gave it back! Get my mom to love you THAT much, you're doing something right. Nay, you're doing something very right. Sorry Toby.
So what about Toby's performance was so bad? Nothing really, it just wasn't great. It didn't feel inspired. Yes, when Toby sang, "City on our Knees" I was standing with hand in the air praising God. Why? Because that song IS POWERFUL. It's about the ability to pray to God, be joined with the saints, then corporately as group worshiping the Lord. And I love that message. It's where I'm at. I'm more into high praise, than an artist's individual performance.
Time to go off on a tangent for second. Drop down into the rabbit trail and give you a definition for clarification purposes. Here's the definition of high praise:
high praise: pure worship of God usually with a body of believers. Undistracted and focused on honoring in the Lord with the music they are making. Music by people that blesses God's heart.
When I saw Chris Tomlin last year, I saw the crowd in Key Area worshiping the Lord to music that man was making. It was no longer just a talented musician performing for the sake of performing out of obligation. No, it was music and focus geared to getting a mixed body of people to focus on God and sing praise to Him. It's just beautiful. High praise, done right, is moving.
I don't think Toby Mac's current repertoire is geared for "high worship". Getting people to think about God, and entertaining them, yes. Thus, I can't ever sweep Toby's ministry under the carpet. And by ministry I'm talking about a guy that God can use for His glory to attract people to Him. I do believe God uses Toby Mac for His glory. While I was at the "Hits Deep" concert, I sat next to a 26-year-old girl or so who was singing along with Toby, and yelling out, "Praise Jesus", throughout his performance.
Hip hop is a tricky beast, and Toby handles it very well. Secular hip hop makes me laugh. I literally feel stupider every time I listen to it. But I love Toby Mac's version of hip hop. I find it entertaining, and reminds people of God in subtle ways.
When it comes to Toby Mac I feel like Jonathan back in the times of David as depicted in the bool of 1Samuel. Toby is David, and I'm like Jonathan who loves David and knows he's a great man. Toby has a great ministry. Sure he's getting up there in age, and maybe it's time to change some things. But there are people Toby can reach for the kingdom that Billy Gram cannot. Entertain, sow good seeds, look to God for the harvest, and see souls come the saving knowledge of Christ.
Performance-wise Toby Mac had two saving graces. I like some of his dancing with the members of his band, and the dancing and drum solos when "Eye on It" played was great. I really liked the video of the green water park slide going on in the background too. Nice touch. Toby did add a lot of dancing to some of his songs, and for the most part I thought that was a nice touch. Now, Toby's no Carman, BUT it was a nice touch none-the-less and made my heart ache over my own ministry failures, a.k.a. never being able to launch the "Diamond Mine" Christian dance outreach here back on April 28 of 2013.
Still, not jealous of Toby Mac. Glad he's found and incorporated more dancing in numbers in his concerts. And he choreographs well; l like how he plays off the other dancers.
Another performer at the "Hits Deep" concert who had an underwhelming performance was Mandisa. I didn't realize she was such a big, heavy-set girl. I'd heard her voice before. Love her song, "Overcomer." But during most of her performance she was jumping around like she was part of some Richard Simmons exercise routine. It was weird. I kept thinking, "Just stop girl. Go to the microphone, and show off those glorious pipes of yours." But alas she did not. Mandisa kept jumping around until her forehead glistened with sweat. Not good! Maybe this was the Toby factor, and she though that since he had incorporated so much dancing into his set, that Mandisa thought she needed to do the same. Mistake! Mandisa may be working to get the weight off, but on February 22, she wasn't there yet. Should have cut off at least 50% of jumping around she did, and focused more on wowing us with her voice.
So in conclusion, though I love Toby Mac from the bottom of my heart, and have immense respect for his music and ministry, I was really quite unimpressed with performance last night; I just sensed Toby wasn't really into it. I could see it in his eyes. Going forward I will ALWAYS be interested in ANYTHING Toby Mac does creatively; he has won me over. And unless he does something truly heinous I will always be a big, big fan of his. But my tastes are changing and the title of coolest man on the planet has now been solidified by someone else:
Chris Tomlin is now the coolest person on the planet, and E.C. Henry now names him as his favorite Christan performing artist.
P.S. The work on the new draft of that epic fantasy story I'm working on is going great! Sure, when I read it back to myself I still think it sucks. But the editing is getting easier, and I'm starting to get back into the characters. Your going to see a lot more of me, the real me, than in any other story I've penned. Parts of it are very personal, but you'll probably never pick up on any of that. More to come in the posts to come. Stay tuned...