Eileen and I went to an interesting concert last night; a Christian rock concert at a casino.
That seemed a bit incongruous (more on the casino part later), but the outing was part of a "Kingdom Rockfest" that was sponsored by United Tribes for Christ and located at the Saginaw Chippewa's Soaring Eagle Casino's concert auditorium over in Mount Pleasant. The big CCM group Salvador was the headliner, but three interesting Native-American Christian acts opened the show.
The first band was Visionary; at least that was their name. They played album-rock style with two female lead vocalists, giving veterans of the 70s a quick-and-dirty reference to Heart. However, their main lead vocalist's style reminded me more of a cross between Pat Benitar and Christian praiser Rita Springer; if Springer's off your radar, think of a sanctified Bonnie Tyler as a decent analog. The guitarist had some fast fingerwork that sounded like he listened to more than a bit of Eddie Van Halen over the years.
The second group was the Plateros. Many of the arrangements reminded me of Brian Setzer arranging for ZZ Top. It's a family act, with dad Murphy playing bass and providing most of the vocals, 14 year old Levi playing guitar and a nephew of Murphy's on the drums.
On the first song, Levi reminded me of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons' hard-forward blues-rock guitar. On the second, he went Carlos Santana, with a guitar line that was very reminiscent of Black Magic Woman. Later on, they went gritty Delta blues, where he sounded like a graying black bluesman rather than a teenaged Indian from New Mexico. Even further on, he played his guitar runs behind his back and over his shoulder without missing a beat.
Levi Platero is on a par with the best guitarists in captivity, at least from what I heard last night. Salvador's front man Nic Gonzales was blown away by him too, saying he wanted to take him on tour with them. He's probably going to need a different vehicle than his family band and may well wind up ministering to a secular crowd, for his killer guitar work would lend itself more to MTV than standard-issue CCM; given the right management, he could go the POD-Jars of Clay route of working both the pop and Christian music universes.
The third group was Steve Williams and the Stew Boogie Band, which added electric keyboards to the standard bass, guitar, and drums; if Visionary's guitarist was "channeling" Eddie Van Halen, the Stew Boogie keyboardist was channeling Steve Winwood, for it had echoes of Winwood's various 60s incarnations more than his 70s-80s solo work. Williams was a bluesy nose tackle of a worshiper.
Finally, Salvador took the stage. They didn't do much of their earlier work that I liked, but they did do their CCM hit cover of Los Lonely Boys' How Far is Heaven; the Plateros did their own take on that earlier, and Levi's guitar got the better of the match in that guitar-driven melody. They must have a praise album that I don't know of, for they did a cover of Your Love, O Lord that didn't have me wishing to hear Mac Powell and a excellent cover of Friend of God punctuated by their killer horn section.
The whole shooting match was free and they didn't even pass the hat. Four hours of great music.
Watch for young Levi Platero on a radio near you.
[Update 11/15/2007-Here's some YouTube of the Plateros in concert.]
Interesting post, Mark. I never knew about any Christian Native American bands, so it's great to hear about them. But, they agreed to play at a casino? Hmmm.... I guess that's because casinos seem to be increasing on Native American reservations. It's good to see Native Americans doing well, but bad to see them turning to casinos.
Posted by: Matt Brown | August 21, 2006 at 01:24 AM
I think they had to do what they had to,( As for performing in the Casino ) I saw the concert, with The Plateros, They were amazing, I wonder why they are not up there with all the major Christian groups, as a Native American Christian, I was so encourage by this family band, Alot of people don't understand, that Native Christian Bands don't have the stage that others have, We have to work harder, and sometimes our faith is question. So I have to say that these bands are going to excel in thier field. and tell the world that Jesus is the way for all nations.
Posted by: James Debson | August 22, 2006 at 12:32 AM
CAN I FIND ANYONE TO TEACH ME BASS SOLOING??!
Posted by: PEYMAN RAHIMI FARD | August 27, 2006 at 05:57 AM
I liked what you had to say about the concert and I can say that "mission accomplished". We were here to accomplish things of a spiritual nature, that is to say, make an impact in the youth's heart and soul and make everyone think upon the Lord and also, to let everyone have a taste of the talents of the Native American bands via National Christian bands. Having the concert at the Soaring Eagle Entertainment Hall was an excellent place to have such a concert because it drew people in who were there for another reason. My daughter walked out of the side doors closest to the casino and saw people lined up against the glass looking in and they inquired as to who was playing. She told them it was a free concert and to go right on in and they couldn't believe it at first but finally walked in.
I am so very pleased with the results of testimonies coming from this first Christian event in Mt. Pleasant that truly only our Mighty God opened the doors that no man could shut.
Our list of tribes is growing so that one day we will have accomplished what Our Lord has set into motion and that is to go to every tribe and surrounding community in the U.S., Canada and finally Internationally.
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
Keetowah Band of Oklahoma
Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan
Seminole Tribe of Florida
Working on taking the Kingdom RockFest to The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Creek Nation and into Window Rock, AZ. This is our third year and we will work diligently to accomplish what my Father in Heaven said to do.
www.unitedtribesforchrist.org
www.myspace.com/kingdomrockfest
Posted by: Nancy Goate, Events Director, Kingdom RockFest | August 29, 2006 at 12:14 AM
I would like to let you know of another Kingdom RockFest in Mt. Pleasant, MI at the Soaring Eagle Entertainment Hall, August 17 & 18, 2007. August 17 is KUTLESS with Native American supporting bands: Living Stone, Guilty Wilson and Emcee One. On August 18 we will present PLUMB with supporting bands: Visionary, The Plateros, Lil Disciples and Fresh I.E. Tickets are on sale at starticketsplus.com.
Posted by: Nancy Goate, Events Director, Kingdom RockFest | July 07, 2007 at 12:22 PM