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By J. MATTHEW COBB THE HOT HAZY SUMMER SUN may have been beating on the flesh of the saints surrounding the Coca-Cola Stage on Sunday night at City Stages, but the praises echoing from their soul were beating to another drum. This was the second year in a row where City Stages organizers and promoters put gospel music on center stage. Branded under the universal theme “One City, One Church, One Stage,” thousands paraded on Linn Park after their traditional worship services on Father’s Day to make a joyful noise unto the Lord with one of the best gospel line-ups in the festival’s timeline. In year’s past, any presentations of gospel music was usually cast into an indoor, air-conditioned facility, but marketers pulled a stunner when they announced in 2007 that all of the gospel acts would unite on the popular Coca-Cola Classic Stage on the closing day of the festival. This year, the attendance at Sunday’s gospel extravaganza increased drastically - partially due to the immense anticipation of witnessing gospel giants Israel & New Breed and Martha Munizzi at work. But hip-hop fires from Atlanta’s Canton Jones and super Christian rock-meets-hip-hop hybrid The Basement (led by Matt Pitt) gave youngsters a chance to get crunk for Christ and easily mixed the crowds across all lines of race, creed, denomination and culture before Israel closed the night out with his engaging, cross-cultural brand of urban worship.
City Stages review: Birmingham Community Mass Choir No one expected Cleo Kennedy, a former member of the James Cleveland Singers, to jump out of no-where on the song’s juicy vamp with her rafter-raising soprano wails. The world may have been talking about the outcry of boos heard all around the world at Bonnaroo from Kanye West’s unexcused tardiness, but Kennedy’s screams could have probably been heard out of space. Rounding out their set was “I’ll Tell It” and “I’ll Never Let Go His Hand,” featuring WAGG 610 radio personality Prince Yelder on lead vocals. Their set was cut pretty short, but rendered sweet performances. Guess that what happens when you start late.
City Stages review: William Murphy Big funky celebratory numbers like “Dream” and “The Sound” were welcomed by the audiences, while he simmered the set down with the beautiful pop worship ballad “I Will Rejoice.” The odd glare of disappointment did flutter in the eyes of those awaiting to hear a snippet of his big gospel hit, “Praise Is What I Do.” Still, Murphy’s live set - even though most of it was set to performance tracks - saturated the atmosphere with God’s glory while preparing others for what was yet to come.
City Stages review: Martha Munizzi While it would have been nice if her set was rounded out with a better mix of classic Munizzi gems like “Shout,” “You’ve Been So Good” or “God Is Here” without trying to put too much attention on her new album (Change The World), the praise party would have been a little louder at the Coke stage. But her super soulful pipes, etched deep into the traditions of gospel belters, gave listeners much to be thankful for.
City Stages review: The Basement & Canton Jones No, this was not your mother’s version of church and it’s probably safe to say that it was far from being the perfect Father’s Day gift, but this energizing set proved to be the perfect opener for Israel & New Breed. Their spirit of crunkness could be heard across all of Linn Park with pulsating bass and energized chants of “Jesus.” A number of local rappers took the stage and made room for Atlanta’s Canton Jones, a best-selling hip-hop rapper and singer, to rock the stage. Jones has one of those personalities and rare talents that could have easily rocked the mainstream, but don’t feel bad for him. The crowd roared with immense pleasure to jumping anthems like the witty rhymes of “Stay Saved,” “No Other Name (even featuring a cool ‘80s remix sending the audience into a dancefloor frenzy),” and the radio-friendly “My Day.” His set-up for the catchy “Ringtone” was clearly an unforgettable moment as he uttered various phrases of Kingdom takeover, while the crowd uttered in a congregational-like manner: “Put that on ya’ ringtone.” But it was the unusually, love-abounding “Hater Day” that captivated the attention of the audience. The message of love and reaching out to our enemies with Christ-like affection opened many a stony hearts. Jones made it feel very cool, with his catchy rhymes, to love our neighbors like we love ourselves - even if that neighbor gets on our last nerve.
City Stages review: Israel & New Breed After a long stage band set-up, Houghton and crew ran upon the stage and jumped into some of their big numbers like “You Are Good,” “Going To Another Level,” “Trading My Sorrow” and “Again I Say Rejoice.” Seemed like the audience couldn’t stop singing to all the words as they possibly imagined they were singing to the joyful groove at one of their church services. Things got a little churchier - if there’s such a word - when Houghton revived the foot-stomping “Bless That Wonderful Name.”After a sweet pause and a impromptu reciting of Psalms 91, the band rocked out “With Long Life” with its flavorful mix of hip-hop and reggaeton. A few ballads even made it into the set such as the touching “If Not For Your Grace” and “Alpha and Omega,” but the 30-minute show was strangely yanked away from the public as the stage lights dimmed and the microphones started to fail. The crowd was eager for an encore, but was cut short by festival officials. While Israel & New Breed sounded great and delivered a lot of their favorites, the crowd left yearning for more and walked away with a good deal of disappointment. Talkin’ about quenching the Holy Ghost.
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