Building 429 in Concert

Building 429 / MereSide West Concert
Cup ‘O Joy
Friday, June 25, 2010
Green Bay, Wisconsin



Celebrating ten years of Christian ministry nearly to the date, Building 429 gave a praise-filled performance to a capacity audience at the Cup ‘O Joy in Green Bay, Wisconsin amidst the heat and humidity of a mid-summers night. The band’s history at the Cup includes four visits beginning before the band had a contract and toured by van across the country performing to small audiences, and continues today while touring around the world to large audiences at festivals and concert halls.

MereSide West opened the night with rarely heard Christian jazz. The set opened with two covers of Ben Folds songs, closing with two original offerings. The first, an instrumental written by band leader Taylor Henzen, ‘Take Ten’ presented a great platform for two keyboards (Taylor on one and Justin Wrezinski on the second) playing off of each other. Another original, lively and rocking, ‘Steal Your Identity’ was written by Justin who performed lead vocals and keys. Alex Degener on bass and Mike Henzen on drums formed the foundation of this solid, jazz-based group.

Building 429 lead singer, Jason Roy, opened the set with lead guitarist Jesse Garcia on keys performing an acoustic rendition of ‘I Believe’ to end an impassioned plea for continued aid for Haiti. Michael Anderson on drums and a session bassist joined to kick the concert into high gear with a cover of Phil Collins’ ‘I Can Feel it in the Air Tonight’ segueing into ‘Fearless’. A calmer, softer version of ‘Coming Home’ lead to Jason’s gifted story telling and ministry, continuing with ‘End of Me’. The band punched it up a degree with ‘Glory Defined’ ending with Jason’s addition to the original lyrics “You’ll have to catch me, I’ll be gone!” Seamlessly, the band flowed directly into ‘You Carried Me’ which gave way to a darkened stage and sting arrangement opening for ‘Always’ with strong backing vocals by Garcia. The first verse of ‘Amazing Grace’ lead to a surprising cover of the Newsboys ‘I Am Free’. Hot guitar work flowed through ‘Singing Over Me’ while the pace slowed for the audience to come to its feet, joining in for the majestic ‘Oh, Happy Day’. The encore gripped the audience with ‘The Space in Between Us’ again having the audience join the band to end the evening singing ‘Nothing But the Blood of Jesus’.

Ten years have passed with a multitude of changes, ups and downs, for Building 429. My curiosity peaked for this concert after not having seen the band live for two years and only a ‘best hits’ release in the last three. Clearly the heat of the rockers with the depth and breadth of praise proves once again Building 429 is one of the most gifted, proven Christian rock bands touring today.

http://building429.com/



http://www.tollbooth.org/2010/creviews/b429.html

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