STRYPER

Stryper
Date: 11/14/09
Place: Club Nokia, Los Angeles CA
Review by ~ Aniruddh 'Andrew' Bansal

The opening band, Manic Drive from Toronto, Canada hit the stage at 8.30 and played for 25 minutes. They weren't bad for as openers and their set included an 80s medley in which all three members played drums with a backing track that had the likes of Van Halen's Jump and a Michael Jackson song.

The next band Flight Patterns kicked off at 9.15 and played for a similar duration. They were a mix of power pop and punk and I thought they were OK at best.

The place was almost packed by the time Stryper finally appeared on the stage at 20 minutes past 10. This was a tour to celebrate their 25th anniversary as well as to promote their latest album Murder By Pride. The amazing Stryper classic 'Soliders Under Command' kicked it all off. The band really knew how to hit the ground running with this one! The energy on stage was absolutely great to begin with. This was followed by another title song, this time from the latest album Murder By Pride. It is slower in tempo as compared to Soldiers but enjoyable nonetheless, especially because of the twin guitar melody in it. It was sounding exactly like the studio version.

Then the band took a pause to thank the crowd for coming out and the front man Michael Sweet talked about completing 25 years as Stryper. He also singled out a fan who had come all the way from New Zealand, and incredibly, seen all 22 shows on this tour so far. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is! Michael got the crowd going by asking them to shout and raise their hands. The crowd were really into it tonight, that's for sure. The awesome intro riff of 'Loud N Clear' told us what the next song is going to be. Then came the song Rock That Makes Me Roll. Make us roll it did! This one was for the head bangers! I really loved the vibe created by the guitar riffs in this song. Michael and Oz Fox were enthralling the crowd with their top class performance on the guitar and their solid stage presence.

They changed it up with a slower sing-along tune Reach Out. But the twin melody was again very enjoyable. Then came one of the 'bassier' songs in the set Calling On You. Tim Gaines did a great job on this one. The chorus was sung loud and clear by almost everyone present at the show tonight. We were enjoying every moment of this, including the next song Free. After this Michael revealed that Rob Halford was rocking out at a Stryper show a few years back and they called him up on stage to jam on one of the Judas Priest classics. To everyone's delight, Michael went on to play the intro riff of Breaking The Law!! They continued playing the first verse and chorus of one of the best metal songs ever written.

A couple of heavier rockers including More Than A Man, 4 Leaf Clover and Eclipse Of The Son were played next. The bass sounded really heavy on 4 Leaf Clover and Oz's shredding on Eclipse was great. After these three songs they switched it up with the ballad Honestly. It was a nice change and the chance for everyone to take a breather. Michael then took a moment to tell the crowd that they are spreading the word of Jesus through rock and roll. They threw out a few bibles into the crowd and encouraged the people to read it after they go home. They picked up the momentum again with the next song Open Your Eyes. The next songs to be played were All For One and the last of the new songs My Love. I have to say, the new songs sound even heavier when they play it live! My Love was slow and heavy, perfect for some head banging! They closed out the main set with the song The Way. This was a perfectly balanced song selection featuring some new songs and plenty of classics.

They came back out for the encore with the song Abyss followed by one of their most popular songs To Hell With The Devil. They said goodbye and went inside, even the house lights and music came on. But they came back for a second encore and played On Fire. It was a really great show from Stryper tonight. I would like to take this opportunity to state I enjoyed the show just for the music, which was amazing and as good as any metal band out there, Christian or non-Christian. In my opinion, its up to you to follow a band's religious beliefs and is not necessary. Before Stryper's set, songs by the likes of Iron Maiden and Slayer were being played as house music, and many people were enjoying those songs too, which was very nice to see. To me it is always about the music. If I can listen to Black Metal bands then why not Christian bands? What I mean to say is, if you choose not to listen to Stryper because you're not a Christian you are missing out on some great musicianship!

Congratulations to Stryper for completing 25 years of making top class music and thanks to them for giving us an amazing night!

Three cheers!

Here's their complete set list:

1. Soldiers Under Command
2. Murder By Pride
3. Loud N Clear
4. Rock That Makes Me Roll
5. Reach Out
6. Calling On You
7. Free
8. More Than A Man
9. 4 Leaf Clover
10. Eclipse Of The Son
11. Honestly
12. Open Your Eyes
13. All For One
14. My Love I'll Always Show

Encore:
15. Abyss
16. To Hell With The Devil
17. On Fire

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