Rachael Lampa

Rachael Lampa: 9/15/23 “Whenever 90’s contemporary Christian artists make their circuit to my neck of the woods I do my best to catch them LIVE. Such was the case in the last couple years with Newsboys, Seventh Day Slumber, Rebecca St James, Point Of Grace, Amy Grant and let’s not forget those arena fillers MercyMe and TobyMac. Rachel Lampa fit’s right into that era for me. Even though ‘Live For You’ which she recorded at the age of fifteen was released in 2000, it still retains that 1990’s musical style. When I heard she was opening for Andrew Ripp for the debut concert at the brand new Worship & Arts Center in Greenville with a ticket price of $20-$30 I was onboard. It was the second date of the 18 city ‘Big Feelings Tour’ which runs from September through October which in addition to Rachael and Andrew includes Season 7’s The Voice competitor Blessing Offor (yes that is his birth-given name). Although the main act, I wasn’t familiar with Ripp (save ‘Jericho’) or for that matter Offor’s music but my wife was, in contrast the very cover of Lampa’s debut album had been burned indelibly in my mind as it topped the contemporary charts in Y2K. Upon entering the three tiered 860 seat Center I made my way down the isle to my row 2 seats and took in a quick view of the stage. There was a piano, keyboards, a banjo, a mandolin, a freestanding kick drum with the name Ripp on the drum head, all accentuated with tube lighting resembling florescent bulbs and wash panels. I would come to find out that singer/songwriter Ripp with 6 albums, 2 EP’s, and 6 charted singles including 2 #1’s is also a multi-talented musician. While in standing position I zoomed in on the keyboardist’s setlist and snapped a picture to follow along with. The entire evening event would feature 30 songs in a 2 hour and 45 minute set broken down into segments including an intermission. At 7 p.m. Dove Award winner Rachael Maureen Lampa 38 from Ann Arbor MI took the stage first with a short set featuring only her oldest and her newest material. Beginning with the statement, ‘This is our second show of the tour so be nice’ she went right into 2023 ‘The Wild Ones’ written while working with incarcerated women. Her experience raised her awareness of how wild people in the Bible were, ‘and how beautiful and how crazy His (Jesus) love was. It was not normal to love like that. We need to embrace that, we need to embrace the wildness and the wild spirits and the big dreams that God put in our hearts.’ She went all the way back twenty-three years for the next song, a #1, ‘I Live For You’, ‘Alright I put a song out in the year 2000, don’t do the math!’ You’d never know by the vocal range she displayed that she has taken extended periods of time off the road and her last studio album was released in 2011. ‘I Live For You’ and another of her 2000 #1’s which she performed next ‘Blessed’ were sung album perfect. In advertising the tour the artists called for the audience to come prepared to bring all our feelings, that it’d be a safe place, and that they would do the same. Rachael wasted no time in explaining, ‘It really is an honor to be back out on the road.’ Back in the early 2000’s she was putting out a lot of music and a few years later found herself burned out and not knowing where God’s voice was versus the crowd’s voice and where her identity was outside of music. ‘I needed to let it go, I needed to know that I was still important and still loved and worthy when I wasn’t doing and doing and doing.’ ‘I sang these words when I was fourteen, and I sing them back over that fourteen year old, I sing them back over myself, I sing them over you guys. We are blessed!’ Back to the future we teleported once again to modern days for her newest single ‘Perfectly Loved’ adding in some of Hillsong’s ‘Who You Say I Am’ in the mix. It seemed as if she was just getting warmed up when the promotor brought Blessing Offor out on stage. Offor a Hamden Connecticut native born blind in one eye and completely losing all sight in the other in an accident at age ten was assisted to the piano. ‘I’m not cool enough to have a band so it’s just me and this here piano.’ Immediately engaging the audience he assured us, ‘Rachael was really nice to you all, she didn’t make you sing but I’m gonna make you sing.’ The Capital Record recording artist keeping in theme of the evening explained how although Christian, he wasn’t always considered a Christian artist. In introducing one of his love songs, the secular ‘How Do You Know’ he told us, ‘Who invented love but God?’ ‘Why are we afraid of love songs?’ ‘I said to the label, I said, if I submit these songs and we try to pretend they’re about Jesus it’s really awkward. I’m just gonna sing a love song cause we’re grown ups, alright?’ ‘I’m a Christian but we’re also just humans, right?’ However, he got the greatest rounds of applause from his Gospel hits, ‘Believe’ and ‘The Goodness’. In addition he performed a sing-a-long traditional rendering of ‘Amazing Grace’ sounding more gruff than in the smoother hits much closer to a Ray Charles than a Stevie Wonder who was one of his greatest influences musically speaking. He changed the setlist with a call out request for ’Tin Roof’ and concluded the set with ‘Brighter Days’ from the Kardashians Soundtrack. Andrew Ripp took the stage at 8:26 with the longest setlist, the 41 year old from Palatine Illinois began with 2022’s top 10 ‘For The Love Of God’. It didn’t take long for him to notice a familiar face in the audience, it was his former babysitter from Chicago Jenny Dodge whom he hadn’t seen in over twenty years. The unexpected reunion caused him to lose track of a story he was sharing but he quickly regained his thoughts. ‘Guys I feel compelled tonight to tell stories is that alright? I don’t want to bum you out, we’ll party later.’ Keeping with the evenings ‘feelings’ theme he allowed his vulnerability to show for some of the best songs of the evening. There was ‘Rescue Story’, where in addition to all the other instruments mentioned afore he played harmonica on, ‘I wrote this song, It totally opened the door for Christian music in my life.’ There was ‘Roses’ which he performed on banjo. During the pandemic while sitting on his front porch he took special notice of a rose bush that had been there prior to purchasing his home ten years earlier. ‘This one morning I started kinda downloading these words in my journal and it became this song.’ The lyrics go: Ever wonder what was on the mind of the Maker when He turned all of our sorrow into fields of grace. Right here in the middle of earth and heaven caught between the romance and the pain.’ Then there was ‘Redwood’ where he strummed the banjo as one would a guitar. The lyrics go: ‘Carried in a love with roots as old as strong we ain't here forever, but we can make it last that long.’ Andrew next performed covers of Bryan Adam’s ‘Heaven’ and Hank William’s ‘Lovesick Blues’ reminiscing of the songs he grew up listening to. Calling Lampa and Offor back on stage they gathered around a microphone with the three supporting musicians. Rachael mentioned how she would blast Mariah Carey as a child to which Andrew suggested, ‘Let’s see if we can’t put a little something-something together.’ A rendering of Carey’s ‘Always Be My Baby’ which was not on the setlist ensued leading into a cover of Adele’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’ with just Lampa and Offor. As Ripp promised the party resumed with a number of his hits following: ‘Rejoice’, then ‘God Knows’, and ending the set was the rousing ‘Jericho’ with his guitar strapped to his back he occasionally hit the kick drum which was positioned front and center. Earlier in the evening I asked staff at the worship center (part of First Presbyterian’s campus) if any of the artists would be making an appearance after the show. I half expected the answer to be ’no’ knowing they had an eight hour drive to Ohio ahead of them for a next day concert. The girl is expected to come out during the intermission was my response and my wife and I were able to meet and talk with both Rachael and Offor. Offor is a great guy, we talked about our old pizza haunts back in Connecticut. Rachael is a super sweet lady, we talked about the road and some of my concert experiences, and both were happy to provide a photo op! With the evening being a ‘big feelings’ theme I did want to mention that in doing a bit of research about the artists prior to the show I discovered a little something. There is some apprehension out there in certain evangelical circles concerning Lampa being a self described ‘Charismatic Catholic’, that somehow her conversion can not be trusted. Even so much as to boycott her music, calling her evil, or insist that she put ‘Catholic’ in her website bio. Coming from inside the camp, a self described Evangelical and Charismatic Christian myself, I think we need to pause and take stock. I understand the discernment factor but just because I never slipped up my hand in a Southern Baptist church and said the sinners prayer verbatim doesn’t mean I’m not born again. I’m 100% sure of my salvation based on my conversion experience in relying on grace through faith alone in Christ’s finished work. Rachel goes on to describe her relationship with Jesus as such, ‘At fourteen I went on this youth conference with my church. On the very last night, the leaders asked us to spend some time alone with God, to ask him some questions and tell him your concerns. During that time I realized that I was at a point where I was too comfortable with my life, acting the good churchgoer. Just saying I was a Christian wasn't enough for me. I asked God to show me a way I could work for him: for him to do something really loud with my life.’ I think those words speak for themselves that He did, and her music can be trusted. Like it or not Rachael’s here to stay and hitting the charts once again and she’s not about to go away any time soon!” Review and photo by DAve (Concerts #818-820)