Stryping The House

Monday night looked more like a Saturday night at Disneyland. House of Blues was packed, standing room only for the 25th anniversary of Christian Metal Band “Stryper”. I made the 40 minute trip down. Not because I needed a douse of way back then. I’d never seen a Stryper show in their heyday as it was also my own. I too played every week and musically we weren’t likely to find ourselves on the same stage ever.

But in the last six years I’ve met each of the band members in other situations. Tim Gaines even playin with the NehoSoul Band. Oz Fox lives in So. Cal. and Michael Sweet shared the stage with me as a presenter at the Dove Awards a few years ago. Robert has given me an in-depth conversation about the “art of visual time keeping”.

Last night there were no pot bellied, balding Rock Stars on stage though. It was like a new and improved version of Stryper. They came off strong, energetic and delivered a blistering set of their highlight metal meyhem, including an accurate cover of “Peace of Mind” by Boston.
The twin guitar leads we’re unbelievably precise. I knew that Oz Fox could play but Michael Sweet too had fantastic musical delivery. Together they were two hammers on a white hot blade. And I begin to realize that these guys we’re reveling in what they were born to do. They were cooking with no cobwebs in the kitchen!

I sat there thinking “these guys are gonna do this for 16 weeks on the road..nearing their 50′S !!!??? I was proud to know em all. And to have been a contemporary in Christian Music too, twenty five years ago.