I caught a show from the Freedom tour when the Whiteheart circus pulled into my hometown in 1990. Dad took me to see Petra during their This Means War tour a couple of years previously, so I had a better idea of what to expect—loud, lots of fast moving lights and billows of smoke, songs performed from various albums and not just the current record played in full and in chronological order.
Mom and Dad got the Whiteheart tickets for somewhere between $12-$25. That was a bit of a stretch for us at the time, I imagine. Still, yours truly was such a vocal freak about Whiteheart—playing the albums at high volume at home and in the car, basically hijacking control of the audio environment everywhere—that perhaps I'd calm down a bit if I got to see them perform.
Still did not understand a whole lot about the music industry, and so I was trying to figure out who the new bassplayer was. It sure wasn't Tommy Sims. I think it was before Anthony Sallee joined the band, but after Tommy Sims left. At any rate, it was the first time I realized that the line-up of individual musicians constituting a band can and does change (despite owning pre-1986 Whiteheart albums by this point in which there was an almost totally different group of guys under that name).
My memories of that show are incredibly vague, and I've only got a few snapshots currently available to my recall:
Snapshot:
The bright white lights illuminating the stage, while thick billows of smoke shroud it. My brain, my face, and my chest are thumping to the thunderous rhythms and incendiary guitars in 'Bye Bye Babylon'. I recognize all my idols: Rick Florian, Gersh, Gordon Kennedy, Chris McHugh, and Billy Smiley ... and the new bassplayer who I can't stop watching, because I just can't figure out who he's supposed to be. I'm in the same room with Whiteheart, and I'm thrilled beyond reason that the faces on my cassette tapes are real people who are sounding at least as amazing right in front of me as they do coming from my speakers.
Snapshot:
The band plays 'Read the Book (Don't Wait for the Movie)', which is the first time I've seen it performed live. I never owned the live VHS video, and this was well before YouTube. So the band playing this particular tune right in front me was an absolutely insane experience. They also played some heavier favorites from the Freedom album, particularly 'Power Tools'—which happened to be my favorite tune to rock out to in my bedroom with a tennis racket serving as an air guitar. I held it left-handed, having no idea yet who Paul McCartney was or that I was in such company as a lefty.
Snapshot:
I can't recall the song that accompanied the altar call. I can't recall if it was Gersh or Rick Florian who gave a brief presentation of the gospel. I do remember that Rick's electrifying, frenetic stage presence had calmed to an unearthly stillness. I remember the altar call itself, and being slightly annoyed that 'church stuff' was interrupting a rock show. I remember Rick quietly leaving the stage and walking into the audience. Maybe he was heading to the back of the auditorium to talk and pray with people, even though the show wasn't over yet. I remember being annoyed at the time, but I look back and understand now how special, spiritual, and central that moment was to everything Whiteheart sang, played, and why they bothered to play live at all.
The band would become known for its live performances. A few years later, I was privileged to meet the late Dana Key when he came to town for a solo performance. My parents and I went to pick him up at the airport. I shook with awe when he let me carry his guitar for him. Driving with him to drop him off at his hotel, I saw how quickly he established a rapport with my dad. It was on that drive that Dana asked me who my favorite band was. I've never been one to give any answer but the honest one, take it or leave it, like it or lump it. I did not realize until later that I was probably supposed to tell Dana that DeGarmo & Key was my favorite band, of course,
Dana: 'Who's your favorite rock band, Andrew?
Me: (in a tone that is all enthusiasm and not up for debate) Whiteheart!
Dana: (awkwardly silent for a moment) Whiteheart's a great band. Great musicians. Great performers. All the other artists in Nashville go to Whiteheart shows to see how it's done. They make us better performers.
Me: (silent, but thinking: Well, yeah, because Whiteheart is the best!)
Between my few clear memories of the Freedom concert, the later Tales of Wonder show I also attended with my dad, and the performances I've watched on VHS or YouTube in years since, it's clear. Whiteheart was indeed an all-around great band. They really did assemble the best musicians and combine individual talents and styles into a recognizable sound without repeating themselves. They owned every stage they ever stood upon or back-flipped across. They must have had a top-notch road crew all those years, too!
Reviewing much later one-off performances like at Soul2Soul, the Australian EasterFest, and the 30th anniversary concert for Freedom (featuring the Ultimate Whiteheart Cover Band ... heh, heh), it's clear to see that even when the guys haven't played together for years, they still own the stage. They're still every bit as exciting to watch as they ever were in their 'prime' as a band.
My passion for excellence—defined as devoting one's best efforts all the time to the God who grants us gifts, talents, passions and opportunities—may have been influenced early on by Whiteheart's music and the quality of their live shows. A later lyric from a song that explicitly calls forth 'Nothing But the Best' would make a terrific motto: 'Mediocrity is to miss eternity'.
I've seen numerous live concerts since that Freedom show, in-person as well on VHS, DVD, or YouTube recordings. Whether it was Whiteheart, Petra, dc Talk, Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, Steve Taylor, Out of the Grey, Carman, Geoff Moore and the Distance, Margaret Becker, Dana Key, PFR, Jars of Clay, or Steven Curtis Chapman, these artists were unflinching in their delivery of high-quality music and excellence in performance. Some were more explicitly evangelistic-minded than others in concert, but all of them clearly embodied the highest spiritual ideals of art: all of them gave back to God everything He gave them to the utmost of their ability.
Such ideals, I believe, built some of the most extraordinary Gothic cathedrals and Romanesque basilicas in Europe, energized the ambitions and achievements of the Renaissance artists, and the most moving paintings of biblical scenes and personalities that form such a central part of our cultural heritage.
Such ideals, I believe, are part of what made Christian music so extraordinary between approximately 1969-1999. Any stereotypical accusations about Christian music being second-rate knock-offs back then rang hollow in my ears, because the evidence so clearly pointed in the opposite direction toward first-rate quality and originality. There was authenticity in a lot of the music at this time, and real life could be discussed as well as making all the appropriate 'Jesus' noises to clarify one's identification as a 'Christian artist'.
Such ideals, I believe, are part of what is lacking in Christian music since then. These days I find these ideals embodied in the post-2005 work of Stryper, but also in 'secular' bands—past and present—such as U2, Florence + the Machine, Alanis Morrissette, David Bowie, and Alice Cooper to name a few. I couldn't name even a handful of artists in the Christian music industry these days, and have no interest in the so-called 'praise and worship' music that sells, makes the right religious noises ... and just seems to lack so much of the heart and spirit of people like Phil Keaggy, Kenny Marks, Lisa Bevill, Plankeye, Skillet (at least they're still around!), or Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith.
I realize that makes me sound 'old', because only a crotchety old curmudgeon says things like 'Well, back in my day everything was so much better, and people these days just don't care and make such a mess of things'. I'm okay with that accusation, and it goes in one ear and right the other with less than a single breath. The truth is, though, that while I may be flirting awful heavily with middle-age, I'm driven by the passionate desire for excellence. I respect and appreciate it where I find it. Whiteheart's work, to me, stands the test of time in this way.
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