Search - David Phelps :: Legacy of Love: David Phelps Live (W/Dvd)

Great 1st effort!!!

Sharpoe | 09/23/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After awhile of seeing David with the Vocal band, he's been in alot of videos. This is his first solo effort at a video, and though it's not quite as polished as a lot of the Gaither video's are, that comes with practice and overall, I think it's a really good first effort. This is the first of what will be 2 DVD's from the same concert. I'll review a few of my favorites.



Virtuoso is the very first song. Starts with this extended intro that David arranged, in which you first see/hear only the violinist, then the other members of the band, then finally David comes out with a real strong, big note right off the top. :) Very cool song to see in a live concert setting! Very energizing song! The CD version (it's on 'Revelation') really does NOT do it justice. This version rocks the house!!!!!!!!! It's meant to be sung and seen live.



The National Anthem....what can I say. Frances Scott Key wrote a masterpeice. And oooooooooh my goodness. That last note is truly, truly, truly amazing. Higher than I've ever heard him go before.



How Great Thou Art. He did a different arrangement (he's always doing that, it seems. Busting out the old pencil and re-arranging the thing.) I thought it was a very nice arrangement. Very upbeat, actually! But tasteful. And, it's funny, come the end...'How Great thou Art...." you think he's done. And then he takes a (really) deep breath and blasts the roof open with yet another 'How Great thou art!"



Bring Him Home, from Le Mis.......this...is...beautiful. One of the most interesting things about this song is how he starts off the song. The first line is "God on High, hear my prayer..." He sings the word "God" waaaay down low, and then at "on high" he switches seamlessly up to a very clean, very pure falsetto....(from a technical standpoint, this is very hard to do). He stays there for the majority of the song, although he does do the low to high thing one other time in the song, too. At the end, there are three repeats of 'bring him home...'. Each one is higher than the first, and you sit there and think 'he cannot possibly go higher than that'. But he does. The last note is the highest yet, so pure and beautiful, and it's like, man, you don't even want to clap after that, you just want to sit there and soak it all in, and cry like a baby. He gets a much deserved standing ovation. It's just beautiful. One of the best if not THE best song on the whole DVD.



'There is a River'. This has been one of my faves ever since I saw him sing it w/ the vocal band. This is the solo version, and he sings it, very sweetly, sitting on the steps of the stage (another hard thing to do, to sing sitting down); this song has a very personal quality to it. He introduces it by talking about Jesus being the water of Life, and it shows him walking down by a river (presumably somewhere on his property at home).



"Just As I Am"--again, introduced while he's walking around his property at home in the fields with the trees and open space. He talks about God's love and faithfulness to bring us back to Him....and then starts in with the song he wrote by same title as the hymn. Great song. I like this one alot. It DOES have a huge range. It's a beautiful song and he performs this one really like he's making it his prayer to the Lord.



'Gentle Savior.' Beautiful song, but what I like best is the intro. It's him, his wife Lori, and a bunch of the band memebers sitting around talking about big changes that have happened in their life. Things that 'took them by suprise.' so to speak. Lori is very sweet; she has such a sweet spirit, I don't even know her, but it just comes across on camera, even. The other band members talk about stuff too, and it's really just a neat thing. Then David talks about how all these suprises in life can overwhelm us, but how it's so great to see God's Spirit leading us on. Then it goes into 'Gentle Savior'.



Behold the Lamb. Beautiful violin intro. Andrea (the violinist) is soooooo talented. Beautiful song. Tears well up in David's eyes when he finishes this song. Actually, he's near tears at the end of a lot of these songs. It was a very emotionally charged night. He gets a huuuuge standing ovation.



About the standing O's....he's so funny when he's trying to figure out how to respond to standing ovations. He just kind of...stands there. Nods his head a little bit. Says 'thank you...'. Ends up raising his hands to point people back to 'praise the Lord, you guys, not me.' It's almost like he's a little shy about it. Not insecure...more like 'why are all these people standing for me??'



He takes a minute or so, and then says something I can't quite make out, because his voice is a little broken, but then his voice gets stronger and he starts quoting scripture: "The WORD became Flesh...and dwelt among us. You see, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God, and the Word was with God...." and then the music for "End of the Beginning" starts.



"End of the Beginning" is the last song on the DVD and reportedly was the last song of the concert at the taping. I LOVE this song. It's such a great song and presents such a gospel message. It's very much a 'rock opera' type song. A story song. Well written, difficult musically, difficult vocally...(I am beginning to wonder if he writes anything for himself that's 'easy'), and with a chill bump middle section.



Now you have to understand something here. This DVD represents about 2 hours of what was a 4 HOUR CONCERT (the second DVD will be released at a future date). ALL of the singing was done by David. That means, for essentially 4 HOURS his voice got NO break. He was either singing, or talking with the audience, with the exception of a 20 or 30 min. intermission, for 4 HOURS. That's like a vocalist's equivalent of a marathon. And 'End of the beginning' was as strong as the first song. The *only* indication that his voice might be getting tired was toward the very, very end of 'EOTB'. He took a breath or two in places where maybe otherwise there wouldn't have been a breath from one phrase to the next. And ya know, I don't think I'll be faulting him for taking 2 catch breaths in 4 hours time. *LOL*. Considering the fact that I would have been gasping for air, oh, you know, mid-way through the first song.



All in all it takes training, superb breath support skills, superb singing skills, and no doubt a TON of prayer.





There are extra's on the DVD. Intro outtakes, some of which are pretty funny! And Backstage/rehearsal footage. I wish the backstage footage had been a little slower. It seemed kinda franetic and fast paced at times, although some of it was pretty funny too, talking w/ band members about advice for David. I do wish it would have included more about his family, too, but I'm sure he wants to protect their privacy as much as possible.



One last thing I'll say. The DVD is called 'Legacy of Love.' During one part where he was talking with the audience, he got real serious and said 'if there's one thing I want you to get out of this whole night it's that God loves YOU...'



The singing was great. The lights and smoke and tecnological wizardry was all very cool. The ballads were wonderful. But if you missed the main message, then you weren't listening, because it came through loud and clear. The concert wasn't about how good a singer David is. (Although God just happened to dump talent galore all over that man). It was about that simple fact that he mentioned: God Loves You.



I look forward to the next DVD!!"

AWESOME

D. Shelton | Middleport, OH United States | 02/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When David Phelps first left the Gaither Vocal Band and struck out on his own, it took me some time to get use to his music. He has become more of a Contemporary Chrisitian artist. Not to mention he has become quite the songwriter! This CD/DVD was recorded live and is essentially his "greatest hits" with some extras thrown in. I bet you have never heard anyone sing "The Star Spangled Banner" like David! Wow! I am still trying to decide if I like his version of "How Great Thou Art" but if it will get the young people to listen to it's words, it's great!! The DVD comes interspersed with clips of David in the great outdoors, giving little message of faith. It also has "bloopers" . He has a nice little group of musicians with him but we really need to talk to him about his WARDROBE!! But who cares about that when you listen to his voice and his message."

Awesome, spirit powered vocalist!

Maria Roades | Pewaukee, WI | 10/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first time I heard David was at a Gaither Concert. When I heard his

amazing voice I told myself that if he ever gave a concert I would be there. So a couple of weeks ago I was priviledged to attend David's concert at Spring Creek Church in Pewaukee. This is the church where I was lead to the Lord at age 8 by a Ukrainian missionary (Garfield Church). I had already been familiar with his songs on the new CD and was so blessed by hearing them live. I can't put into words the amazing power of the message that I felt during his singing. He also sang two of my favorite songs, "No More Night" and "It Is Well With My Soul."



I have a music backround, have directed several choirs and have heard many accomplished musicians and vocalists, however, when a talent like David's is dedicated to God, the end result is an impact so great that it took me to a place that I have never experienced before. My heart was so full and so deeply touched that I believe there were many decisions made that night. I believe that because God gave David this incredible talent and because he is using it to His glory many, many lives will be changed. What an amazing ministry! I will be listening to his music until God calls me home. Thank you David! Please return to Pewaukee on your next tour. We love you."