The Derek Webb show last night was great. This is the third time I’ve seen him live. It was really cool to have him at Marshall this time. The venue (Marco’s) was unfortunate, even he said so. (”Thanks for having me in your school’s basement…” “I’m not sure this room was set up for what we’re doing here tonight..” “What do you do in this room?”) But it was tolerable. Alli Rogers was great. I’d seen her before when she came toured with Derek last year. I picked up her new album “You and the evening sky.” It’s good so far.

He and Sandra were there to promote their new EP, Ampersand. Derek played some music that I’d never heard him do in concert. Crooked Deep Down, What is not love, Table for two, I want a Broken Heart, As well as stuff like Wedding Dress, Name, etc. What’s great about Derek Webb shows is that there’s no standing and clapping along to every song the band plays. No one does that at his shows because they’re too busy listening to the lyrics. And sometimes he go off on these little talks and they’re always challenging. He’s different than any Christian singer/song writer I’ve ever heard play or speak. I don’t think any other artist could get away with the lyric: “There are two great lies that I have heard; the day you eat of the fruit of that tree you will not surely die, and that Jesus Christ was a white middle classed republican.” Good stuff. And another one of my favorites, “I am a whore, I do confess. I put you on just like a wedding dress and I run down the aisle to you.”