“You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Michael W. Smith told his audience Sunday night at the Alerus Center.
Indeed, Smith made good on that observation, bringing his “It’s A Wonderful Christmas” tour to Grand Forks and surrounding himself with great back-up vocalists, including featured singers Melinda Doolittle and George Huff, both from TV’s “American Idol.”
Also featured were Smith’s producer and collaborator David Hamilton, Smith’s fine traveling band AND the always impressive Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra.
The crowd seemed almost more enthused with Doolittle’s performance, including her gospel and jazz songs, and Huff’s “O Holy Night” than by Smith himself. Doolittle’s voice seemed to have more depth and maturity than Smith’s.
Not that Smith wasn’t talented and inspiring in the songs he wrote, played and sang or the music he selected for the concert. As a Christian artist, he mixed the traditional Christian hymns and carols of Christmas with contemporary and secular tunes,
Smith’s show Sunday night included “Song For the King,” the song he called the “most passionate” from his 2007 “It’s a Wonderful Christmas” album, and a lush and gorgeous instrumental of “What Child is This.”
Smith also acknowledged the troubling times so many people are facing right now, by sharing his testimony — “Christ will never leave you or forget you,” he said — and then sang “Help is On The Way.”
Before the show, Smith said in a news release that he wanted everyone to leave his concert filled with the Christmas spirit. So it wasn’t surprising that the concert included a spirit-filled audience sing-a-long on some favorite traditional carols. I can’t speak for everyone at the Alerus Sunday night, but I’d say there was more than enough Christmas spirit to go around.
Just a couple more things:
n Too many singers, including Christian artists such as Smith, fall into that trap of singing “Christmas music” that doesn’t really have anything to do with Christmas. I’m talking about those songs where it sounds like someone fed a bunch of “Christmas-y” phrases into a computer, like “Christmas time is here,” “… something, something angels,” “ … something, something joy to the world,” and then pushed the “Output Christmas Song” button.
I have nothing against secular holiday music. Indeed, my personal Christmas music collection includes everything from “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby to “Blue Christmas” by Elvis. I just don’t like the music that can’t really decide what it is, and just ends up being insipid and boring.
n At a concert by a Christian artist, we expect to hear the word of God and testimony about God’s love and forgiveness. But I think we can do without the pitches for money, no matter how worth the cause that’s being promoted.
How many people were at the concert? The Alerus Center said it couldn’t disclose that information because it didn’t have permission from Smith’s agent to release it.
Christian Music News Source
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