Stryper: Fallen 2016 Tour – Gas Monkey Live 7/1/16
Jessica Kuyawa
Stryper played at Gas Monkey Live Friday night as a stop on their Fallen tour. The concert was nearly sold out with over 1600 people in attendance. It got pretty warm inside as the night went on. But, the night was not without a few technical difficulties. First it started with Michael Sweet’s guitar not being loud enough. Instead of stopping and storming off stage, while Oz Fox was playing his solo, Michael went over to the amp and fixed the sound issue. No rants. No anger. Just went on playing the show.
During the chorus to “God”, all of the lights on stage went out, but Stryper still played. As they played in the dark, one by one people in the crowd began shining the flashlights on their cell phones toward the stage. Soon the stage was lit up solely by the lights of phones. Instead of stopping and waiting for the lights to come on once they finished “God”, they launched into the next song of their set, as if unaware that there was anything amiss.
Slowly in the middle of the song the stage lights came back on and the cell phone lights went off. When they finished the song, Michael addressed the crowd with a chuckle saying that was the first time they have ever played a stage lit by cell phones. Again, no anger, no rant, just light hearted chuckle at the strangeness of the night.
Other than the technical difficulties, Stryper was on fire. Michael Sweet has absolutely maintained his magnificent voice. He is still able to hit and sustain high notes as good now as he ever did. Stryper is one of very few bands with all original members. They are a band of brothers. Never giving up on their message. They are all very humble and patient. Some other bands may have stormed off or ranted about the problems that night. But not Stryper. They played as if nothing was wrong. They were there to have fun with their audience, of over 1600, in a nearly sold out show.
They also addressed the fact that they didn’t really play any songs from To Hell with the Devil. Why? Later this year they are doing a 30th anniversary tour for the album where they plan to wear their original black and yellow outfits. To atone for not playing any songs from the album, as the finale of the show they played a medley of “Free”, “Calling On You”, and “To Hell with the Devil”.
I know for a fact I will be back to see them again on their To Hell with the Devil tour this fall and can’t wait to see them in their original outfits. They are truly a band that has maintained their original lineup and withstood the test of time.
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