From:

Hello everyone! I'll try not to repeat much of what Gerry posted about this show but I would like to share some of my impressions. Phil was in a good mood, obviously being in his home state was nice for him. He admitted to being tired after the previous night's show in Elyria, and getting only 3 1/2 hours sleep, but it sounded like it must have been incredible. Did anybody out there see it?

Anyway he was in great voice as well, and the scream in Strong Tower was thrilling! He then did Salvation Army Band, after which he gave a brief explanation of his Jam Man for the uninitiated. He got a big laugh for his Jerry Lewis impression which he sampled and played back. His next song was Shades of Green which he said he wrote for Bernadette for their 25th anniversary. It had a rather celtic feel, hence the title. He sampled a shaker and then some bells into the Jam Man for this one!

After performing LBT, he shared a devotional from Daily Light about how God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. It was very eloquently expressed, followed by an equally eloquent rendition of The Answer. The next song, John the Revelator really thrilled the crowd. He used his funky voice a little, and nailed a hot solo (so what else did you expect!) While retuning for Legacy he made an interesting observation about the pegs being necessary in an imperfect world, and how we also need occasional retuning, but that there will be no pegs in Heaven! Of course Legacy included some amazing slaps and hammers, along with a bit of ebow. Truly beautiful.

He then said that a song just came into his head to do, but then it went right out again, so he decided to do Maker of the Universe instead! One of my very favorites, as are any that were inspired by The Continual Burnt Offering. Next was an adaptation of the Beattitudes by Ted Sandquist, which included some cool backwards loops. Beneath the Blood-Stained Lintel had another wonderful solo. After that he pulled out a slide bar and began playing around by slowly sliding it down the neck. He said that would make a great song intro, so he sampled it and played along with it for about 30 seconds, but it actually was just noise. Then he suddenly stopped and said "just kidding"!

He then reminisced awhile about his childhood, his first bicycle, his first day of school (he saw the busses and ran 3 miles back home), and then about his first guitar. He mentioned being very impressed with Elvis' guitarist Scotty Moore, then he impressed everyone with a little bit of My Baby Left Me. His next song was Paka, which was about his Dad. I thought it was neat that his folks called him Petey (for his initials P.T.). He decided to do Tender Love next, but I guess his voice was tiring because he changed it to a lower key. Then during the break he apparently forgot what key it was and played the wrong chord! He's human after all. This song also included some really funny Mouth trumpet soloing.

He was in the mood for impressions that night because he then began to do some funny takeoffs on his brothers Carl, Mike and Dave. You had to be there. Next was a new collaboration with his sister Geri called Carry Me Back which had a nice lyric. Then came the ever popular LEEG, and he through in a rather oriental sounding variation of Jesus Loves Me. True Believers got the crowd on its' feet, although it's not one of my favorites. Still it is a fun song. Macca's Motor of Love was the rather mellow first finale, but of course it wasn't really over. After a long ovation he returned to many shouted requests, but while trying to listen and drink at the same time his water went down the wrong way and choked him up! I don't think he intended to honor anyone's request anyway, though. His first encore number was a brand new one, so new that he to take a moment to practice what he referred to as the tricky part. After deciding to just do that part an easier way(!) he shared his new song called Inseperable, a really beautiful ballad.

The actual finale of the night was the also very beautiful Rich Mullins song Hold Me Jesus, which drew the 2 1/2 show to a close. A very tired looking Phil came to the front afterwards to sign autographs and be accoladed up close and personal, which he didn't look all that comfortable with. I had my new Christian Musician mag with me so he signed my official P2K calendar, only at first he signed 'Love, Yoda'. Then he graciously put his own name right on the Tacoma Papoose. I told him I planned to post a review of the show on the list and asked for a comment. He said "Hello, everyone, and thank you for your continued interest in my music." Before the show I met 2 listers who recognised me by my POP button. Brian Evans from Indiana (not the former IU player) said he was strictly a lurker, but how about posting some thoughts? Then of course I met Gerry Belsak from Lexington, KY. Hey Gerry, did you get your album covers signed? Well I've rambled on long enough. Sorry it's so long but I hope you found something interesting.

-- Gary Crockett

Page Last Updated: September 29, 2001