Hillsong rocks Zambia

Lusaka. — Watching Australia's rock and worship band, Hillsong United, perform live-in concert last week, it was evident from the start that Zambians have been getting a raw deal from some local and international artistes who have performed in front of them.

Despite being a mid-week ministry concert held in the capital, Lusaka, on a showery Tuesday evening, hundreds of youths filled the open spaces of the showgrounds to attend what can now be easily described as among the best concerts ever held on the Zambian soil in recent years.
As advertised, the one-off show began a few minutes after 18:00 hours, with impressive performances from local gospel artistes, Stan Chipuma and Ephraim Mutalange, the recent winner of the Inaugural Christian Gospel Arts promotions (Chapro) 2008 awards.
However, it was Hillsongs, an 18-member band that sent the crowd screaming when they stepped onto the stage. For any fan of live-performances, judging by the massive stage and equipment, it was easy to tell, that the sound was going to be like nothing ever heard in Zambia before.

And finally, when the stage was lit into bright reds, blues and greens, the drums struck, and the guitars started strumming, blended by soulful voices, the atmosphere was simply mesmerising.
For an audience, whose only experience with rock gospel music has been on radio and television, it was interesting to see the locals bouncing around to the music.

Unlike past performances by any other international artiste, the lyrics, especially to the popular songs 'All I need is you", 'Look to you', 'Hosanna' and 'what the Lord has done in me', provided on the projectors, ensured that the spectators were completely engaged in the music, singing to every song.

It was no wonder that even when Hillsongs Youth Pastor Chrishan Jeyaratman, gave a sermon, every one seemed attentive. His message on 'Love' and a call for people to 'engage' in helping those that are unfortunate was timely. read more