.HOME
.blog
.reviews
.walkTRu
.inTRu-view
.features
.iTRunes
.theTRu.print
.abouTRu

Track One: Worthy... this is kind of a weird looking venue... all florescent lighting and such... and his name jumps across the screen in Neon-like letters... it's cool though... after being introduceed nicely by CeCe Winans, Smokie follows a crowd of choir members up through the crowd and up on to the stage... i really like this song because of the subdued horns and the overall funky feel to it... the choir is a really nice sound to complement it... the sound could be a little better i think... seems to fade out a lot... but that's only a minor distraction... Smokie is up there bouncing and he's got the choir bopping and the whole crowd is into it... it's pretty cool though, 'cause his vocals are quite strong despite the bouncing... ah... that was cool... everything cut out then Smokie just kicked it back up with "say everyday"... oh he did it again... he's kind of funny talking though... he sounds like he's laughing as he speaks... it's actually pretty cool... Track Two: I Know the Lord Will Make a Way... so this song shows off those silky smooth pipes... and man, he's really working it... it's like he's digging into his suit pocket and pulling out straight fire laced vocals along with pocket lint... it's pretty sweet... oops... note to self... you cannot take a DVD out of the DVD drive and still watch the show... my bad... gotta get this fired back up... one sec... ok, so where was i?... oh yeah... "back at gramma's church"...one thing that i just have to mention is that Smokie has a face full of scruff... for some reason, i always picture him baby-faced and smooth-skinned and it's pretty odd to see him with the scruff... looks pretty good on him though, makes him look kind of tough standing there at five feet tall... or something... anyway... man can he sing... i think he could make just about anybody like gospel music... i just adore his vocals... that was a cool little crescendo... and now he's dancing a little bit... so that's a good one... Smokie said something about how he shouldn't be able to sing... i think i need to go read his bio and see what's up with that... Track Three: Continuance Grace... whew... Smokie is on a pulpit right now... he's just preaching about how awesome God's grace is and how much he has been blessed over his life... this is a really nice ballad too... with or without the opening preaching... the DVD's a little confusing at this point... since it's not really labeled well all i know is that i'm on a chapter five now... but i'm not sure if this is really continuance grace or amazing grace... Track Four: Amazing Grace ... i guess... since this is distinctly different from the first part of the song... since Smokie has found himself behind the piano and he's singing a different song... not "the" Amazing Grace that everyone knows but a song about amazing grace none the less... though, it's really short... so i'm already out of time...

*** INTERMISSION (maybe it's cheating but i'm falling behind on this typing and i need to go stretch) ***

Track Five: Power...and we're back... i think i should tell you that there are brief little interview clips in between most of these songs... it's kind of interesting to listen to as part of the show, but they aren't tied directly to the songs that they split so, well, i haven't really talked about them... there is also another option to watch only the interview... none for just the songs though... anyway... Smokie apparently took a break as well, because he's back up on stage bouncing and such, but he's now dressed in an olive green outfit, with Tims out and this song has quite the swagger to it... i honestly love the whole horns/sax section going on in the background, it adds so much to the presentation... this is quite an encouraging song... he keeps repeating... "you can make it"... and right now, he's doing a whole vocal solo type thing.... that includes a lot of teases of "Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus"... and it's fading out into one of the interview segments...Track Six: God Is Able... so Smokie's back behind the piano.. he's starting off this song with the story about how he found out that his wife was pregnant with his second child... they weren't "supposed" to be able to have children, but they have two... and he wrote this song shortly after finding out... it's such a beautiful ballad of knowing that, hey, "even when the doctor's say know, who can still say yes?"... "God is able... and he won't fail"... not only to provide a second child, but the inspiration to maintain his livelihood... i think that's what we all forget a lot... it's easy to go and buy something really expensive like a house or a car, but we are short-sighted when we look at things like that, because while we can put it on credit or whatever, we don't think about how we'll be able to pay it off, and honestly, it's out of our control... things can happen that ruin our plans... but when God provides... He plans for the whole shebang... and He won't fail... Track Seven: I Know Too Much About Him... this next song continues the thoughts of "God is Able"... another touching ballad... he's out front, out from behind the piano, and there's a trimmed-down choir backing him... maybe, seven or so as opposed to the twenty-five or so from before... man, i can't get over how smooth his vocals are... so this song talks about how God never leaves our side... and it speaks from Smokie's perspective which is that of an unshakeable faith in that reality... it reminds me of when the disciples had tried to cast out a demon and couldn't and Jesus came by and cast out the demon and they asked Him to increase their faith... well, so that begs the question of how do you increase your faith?... i think it's fairly clear in the Word - and i think this song captures it pretty well - that the more we get to know God... the more we can't help but have faith in Him... so the trick, so to speak, of it all is to seek out a greater knowledge in God... get to know Him... 'cause when you know "too much about Him" then nothing that anyone can say or do to you will be able to shake that faith... Track Eight: Can't Nobody...okay... outfit number four... and this is the lead single that came out of the latest album... which is phenominal... i just saw the Dove, excuse me, the GMA Music Awards from this past year, yeah, i know not the time to talk about the timing of all that... but my point is that the Crabbs sang a song that was similarly titled "Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus"... not near the caliber of this version, in my opinion... but it was interesting to hear... it actually got me to look up at the screen, which i really only did for the Tonex performance, Skillet Performance, and a few other brief moments... anyway... back to the video... Smokie's working the crowd right now... taking it old school with a side-to-side dance in the vein of the Temptations... and he's just throwing in some random vocal treats while the band keeps the music playing and the vibe running nicely... now they're all jumping... and he's bouncing again... which, i have to be honest... i've mentioned how much he bounces during his show... and it took me a few songs to realize that i myself am bouncing quite a bit as the music has been dictating... it's such a feel-good sound man... you just gotta bounce... okay... it has unfortunately faded to black... the neon lettering is back up and it's time for me to wrap up... i'm over time again because i was bouncing instead of paying attention... oh well there's still credits rolling so i'm not too bad i guess... thanks for taking this time with me... though the DVD is pretty short, i think the eight to nine songs on it are really great... and the interview segments offer a good insight into where Smokie is coming from... okay... ta ta for now...

HOME | .blog | .reviews | .walkTRu | .features | .iTRunes | .forum | .abouTRu