Casting Crowns rev up crowd at Verizon Arena

If there were ever a Super Bowl between the hardest-rocking of all Christian rockers, it would surely come down to Third Day and Casting Crowns, a couple of bands that have gradually built up their followings in central Arkansas in recent years.

It was Casting Crowns’ turn Friday night, and the seven-member Georgia band showed off its high energy, high-tech show at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock for 5,039 fans who didn’t let frigid temperatures keep them away. And opening act Matt Redman revved up the crowd considerably himself.

The show was paced a bit differently than most, with Redman opening with a 40-minute set, followed by the Crowns, who played for half an hour, then broke for an intermission of 30 minutes before returning for a set of an hour and a half. There were intervals of preaching, plus videos of needy African children who could be helped through the World Vision charity, as urged on by Casting Crowns lead singer Mark Hall.

Like Third Day, Casting Crowns rock out in the same league with U2 and Coldplay, although the Crowns sometimes remind a music fan of Fleetwood Mac, thanks to the two women in the band. Both Melodee DeVovo and Megan Garrett made the most of their vocal opportunities as well as shining on violin and keyboards, respectively.

Highlights of the Crowns’ set included “Who Am I,” “Voice of Truth,” “Life Song” and “East to West,” and from a new album, Until the Whole World Hears, released two weeks ago, the songs “Mercy” and “Blessed Redeemer.”

In recognition of the season, the band performed a vigorous version of “Joy to the World,” plus “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and an unusual version of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

Casting Crowns brought Redman out a couple of times to perform with them, and the combination poured it on for Redman’s sweetly inspirational anthem, “You Never Let Go,” off his 2006 album, Beautiful News. During his own set, Redman had told of how he left his home in the United Kingdom and moved to the Atlanta area a year ago, and how he and his wife had themselves an American child now, with another on the way.

The light show when Casting Crowns played was nicely done, resembling a set of windows through which all sorts of colors combined, especially shades of pink and purple. The show’s volume at times was a tad unrestrained, causing some small children to cover their ears in pain.