Christian Music Online

Todd Agnew Layton’s Christian Life Center Church

October 9, 2007 – 11:32 am

Singer Todd Agnew enthralled the 1,200 people who packed Layton’s Christian Life Center Church Sunday to hear contemporary Christian music.

Joy Whitlock and the band Rush of Fools opened for Agnew at the concert. Agnew’s 75-minute set included material from his latest compact disc, “Better Questions,” as he took to the keyboard for the song “Prelude” and softly sang, “I have better questions than I have answers. I have better thoughts than I have actions.”

After that, he strapped on a guitar, moved to center stage and belted out the song “Still Has a Hold,” accompanied by fiddler Jonathan Chu, who gave the tune a bluegrass air as he leapt around the stage.

Agnew was more laid-back, performing barefooted and clad in jeans and a T-shirt. Even so, his stage presence and strong voice mesmerized the masses during his 13-song set, three of which - “Mercy In Me,” “This Fragile Breath (The Thunder Song)” and “Grace Like Rain” - came from earlier CDs.

A musician of diverse talent, Agnew split time between keyboards and several guitars as he joked and witnessed to the audience. He confided to the crowd that many of songs on the new album were intensely personal.

That is underscored by “Better Questions,” which has songs in which Agnew voices questions about world hunger, divorce, the church, relationships and about his place in the world.

During a recent interview, Agnew says what he shares with the audience is neither memorized nor scripted.

It simply comes from his heart, he says. For instance, the reggae-tinged song “Peace on Earth” that he performed, included a rap about the division between race and religion.

“When I look at you see someone just like me,” Agnew sang.

In another song, “If You Wanted Me,” the singer-songwriter asks God, “If you wanted me to be like you, why did You make me like me?”

Agnew then got the concert rolling with his defiant “War Inside,” and followed that rollicking number by wailing out the lyrics to the bluesy “On a Corner in Memphis.” He wrapped up the show with “Family,” a song which was blended with Sister Sledge’s signature hit “We Are Family.” The crowd went wild as Agnew and his band jammed onstage.

During their performance, members of Rush of Fools jumped and ran around onstage as they sang the tunes “We All,” “Undo” and “When Our Hearts Sing” from their debut album.

Joy Whitlock, a girl with a guitar, bared her soul and showcased her earthy voice that sounded like a mix of Sarah McLachlan and Lucinda Williams.

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