Christian music shines via Hillsong

THE CHRISTIAN music group Hillsong United doesn’t have the teenybopper appeal of Justin Bieber or the outrageous antics of Lady Gaga.

But even with minimal publicity, the band’s concert attracted some 15,000 fans on Thursday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

It was Hillsong United’s third time to perform in the country. Thursday’s concert was part of its “Aftermath” tour, named after its latest album. The Australian band is composed mainly of Joel Houston, Jonathon “JD” Douglass, Matt Crocker and Jadwin “Jad” Gillies —who alternate on lead vocals and play guitar, keyboards and drums— and Hayley Law, the lone female singer.

The “Aftermath” album topped several retail charts. It went to No. 1 in the iTunes album chart in Australia and New Zealand. In the iTunes overall chart, it ranked No. 4 in the United States, 6th in Canada, 12th in Mexico, 19th in the UK, 2nd in Norway, 5th in Switzerland and Sweden, and 15th in the Netherlands.

In 2007, its album “All of the Above” was No. 1 in the US Billboard Christian charts. Two years ago, its record “A Cross the Earth: Tear Down the Walls” was second only to Eminem in the iTunes mainstream chart.

Since 2006, Hillsong United has performed in 42 countries.

At the Big Dome, the band played 20 songs, which combined hits from previous albums and “Aftermath.” Crocker opened the show with the upbeat “We’re Giving it All Our Way.”

Houston referred to God, the subject of all of the band’s songs, as their “sole passion” and “the most real thing on Earth.”

“You are crazy,” he told the screaming crowd,” adding that “everything is nothing if it’s not coming from the heart.”

Red lights filled the coliseum as the audience shouted out loud while the song “With Everything” was playing.

Near the show’s end, when the lights went out, the crowd clamored for “One Way Jesus,” one of its most famous tunes.

When Douglass returned onstage, he led the band instead to the dance beat-infused “Your Name High.” People were jumping in place, dancing, hands raised up in rapture.

But the noticeable thing was, the audience’s gestures were a result of focusing on the music’s message and not so much directed at the band as typical rock fans are wont to do.

As Crocker told the Inquirer at the press briefing before the show, “It’s not about us.”

Gillies said: “We’re so much more than our music. After all these tours, we go back to our church, volunteer and reach out.” He recalled the band’s last concert here, which he thought was “deafening, people were singing at the top of their lungs.”

He added: “We want people to experience God.”

When “Yours Forever” came on, there was head-banging and singing along to the lyrics, “Yours forever, our eyes won’t turn away.” More hands were raised, bodies swayed to the rhythm.

The band finished its encore with the much-anticipated “One Way”—the crowd jumping and clapping until the very last note.

A prayer ended the concert.

Hillsong United’s Asian tour rolls on toHong Kong, Seoul and Bangkok. A Hillsong worship conference will be held on July 16 in Manila.