Concert Review: United Tour Steven Curtis Chapman & Michael W. Smith

Well, if you did not get to see the United Tour with Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith you missed a great concert experience.  We saw them Saturday, November 8 at the St. Augustine Amphitheater. It was the last show on the tour.

First of all it was an outdoor concert in November and I it was only slightly cold of course I was wearing a lightweight cotton sweater instead of a jacket. It really is a nice small venue that holds between 2,000-3,000 people. Much nicer than some of the bigger venues I’ve been to. Also, thanks to a friend we had awesome seats. We were down front and center.

Not only did we have good seats but we had meet and greet passes. They were running late so it was a very quick meet and greet. There were only 20-30 people there. It was cool. Except for the exploding mayo packet.  There was a random mayo packet just sitting on the floor that I guess the Big Guy stepped on. It was very strange.

The concert opened with Smitty and Steven doing a few songs together.  Then Steven did a set.  Steven was quite candid about the loss of his youngest daughter. He did sing Cinderella which was written after a rough night trying to get his two youngest daughters to bed one night.  This is the 3rd time I’ve seen Steven and possibly the best venue. We were close enough to actually see the stage. It may have been the first concert I’ve seen in years that didn’t use jumbotron screens.  Of course, Dive is still one of my favorite songs.

One of my favorite parts of the concert was when Steven & Smitty preformed together. They each preformed some of the other’s songs.  I really liked the commardrie and joking. Agnes Dei was amazing with Steven on guitar and Smitty on keyboards.

One of the biggest difference I noticed in this concert and the other times I’ve seen Smitty that it was more of a worship experience and less of a performance.  The Big Guy’s favorite part was when Smitty preformed his new song River is Rising.  I do wish he would have done more of his stuff rather than cover other worship songs.

Steven’s son Caleb, 2nd from the left played guitar for the tour. He is a member of Steven’s band as well.  Michael’s son, Tyler, to the right of his dad, played keyboards for the second portion of the concert. Christy Black (not sure of the name) was not only an amazing violinist rocked out on the guitar as well.

Overall it was an enjoyable evening and I hope they do something like this again.