This Is Worship Part I

Last Monday my friends, Kaylin, Jeremiah (a.k.a. my husband), Josiah, Zac and I drove to Seattle to see one of my personal favorite bands The Chariot. The band played at Neumos on Capitol Hill along with Comeback Kid, This Is Hell, and Underoath (the "headliner").

Before the show, we walked to the Elysian Brewing Company just up the road to meet up with several folks Jeremiah and I know from Wenatchee. This was the third time we've seen The Chariot in Seattle. The first time, our group consisted of five people. We had such an epic time, we told our friends about it. Constantly. The second time, we went with about nine friends. That show might actually have been more epic than the first and we, along with everyone we went with, have been telling anyone with ears about it ever since. This time our crew grew to twelve, most of whom have never listened to The Chariot but since we "won't shut up about them," figured they were worth a three hour drive to witness.

"This is worship form the
bottom of our hearts," says
Wolf at Neumos, Sept 26.

There are two reasons The Chariot holds a special place in my heart. The first is this: they worship their freakin' socks off. Not a single word, movement, or sound is produced for themselves. At the beginning of the posted video (see below), Wolf steps up to the mic. "Don't be confused about what this is," he says. "This is worship from the bottom of our hearts." Whether the people watching or the other bands playing are going to worship with them doesn't deter them from expressing themselves to God with every fiber of their being.

We saw them play twice at El Corazon. The second time, a band called Vanna went on just before them and, in an effort to stir up the moshing, explained that they had an album drop that day. "This is our night!" their vocalist yelled, and basically instructed the audience to start throwing fists. When The Chariot was set to play, their vocalist Josh screamed a different message to the crowd. "This is your night. This is your stage. This is your mic," he said. And then the music dropped. And the pit thrashed unlike it had all night.

A crowd surfer finds himself onstage holding up a
 drum for the crowd to beat during The Chariot's set.
photo by: Kaylin Roback, Sept 26

They've expressed this message before every show we've seen, making sure from the start that they aren't leading the audience to worship the band. Josh frequently throws the mic into the crowd to back his statement up. The bassist, Wolf, does the same with his bass, even refusing to take it back when someone too afraid to strum noise tries to return it. David's drums frequently end up in audience possession as the picture above illustrates, and the band thrives on pulling people onto the stage despite (or perhaps because of) the damage their flailing limbs might cause to instruments or sound equipment. Their instruments aren't confined to the stage, and neither is the band. They crowd surf more than the crowd does. At Neumos, Stephen climbed up a support beam with his guitar to rock out with the people on the balcony. Since I happened to be up on said balcony, moping because I didn't have proper foot-wear for the mosh pit, I was overjoyed to watch him climb. Overjoyed and little freaked out, really. He climbed a solid 15' pole for Heaven's sake. I have no idea how he got back down without breaking something. I feel ridiculous even trying to describe it.

Despite the excess of space at Neumos,
Kaylin and Jeremiah get squished in the
crowd during The Chariot.
photo by: Kaylin Roback, Sept 26

The thrashing and moshing at Neumos was nothing compared to what we've experienced at El Corazon; Too much space for the crowd that was gathered. The acoustics were great, though. Even the video I took on my phone has semi-decent and distinguishable sound, which is rare at concerts such as these. That video, by the way, was a stroke of either luck or divinity (hint: I don't believe in luck). It happens to start just as Josh is announcing they'll be playing the song I'd been looking forward to all night, "The City." The lyrics to this song
strike me as profoundly relevant in light of recent public demonstrations, e.g. Occupy Wall Street and the subsequent Occupy _______ in solidarity with Wall Street's occupiers. On the whole, the songs speaks to me of a love revolution that can't be stopped by any force because it's backed by God. (I'm not saying the Wall Street protests are/aren't in line with the song's message. Rather, the song speaks to those who seek change and desire truth during a time when, as said protests demonstrate, both are being stifled.) The song as a whole gives me chills, but here's a sample of lyrics I can't get over:

Enough is enough, because we cannot be late

Basically you've been defined as unworthy of love

And I confess that I had placed in my heart the same address

But i paint with my words

"You're free, don't fear, this is only a revolt"

The video continues through the last two songs of the band's set. I got a little excited a few times and forgot I was videoing, but if you watch past that, you'll see them begin tearing down and removing equipment from stage while still playing and worshiping. 

Due to sound quality and, let's be real, the genre of music itself, it's quite possible you're having a hard time deciphering the lyrics. For full lyrics of "The City" along with any other song you want, I'll send you here:  http://www.songlyrics.com/the-chariot/the-city-lyrics/

This post got too long. Way too many stories that I'm too stoked about to cut out. So, for the sake of my readers' patience, I've decided to divide the post into two parts. The next will be posted in a few days. Or perhaps sooner, Part 2 makes me pretty happy.