Christians and artists from across the UK gathered together at Regent Hall on London’s Oxford Street to put on a perfect event to kick off the Christmas season. With some travelling from as far as Scotland for the Christmas celebration to perform a mixture of Christmas classics and this year’s UK Christian chart toppers, Christmas LIVE was the perfect event to get you into the Christmas mood.
IDMC kicked off the event with upbeat Gospel soulful sounds introduced by the first hosts Isaiah-Raymond Dyer and Toni Kelly. Led by founder John Fisher, they had the audience on their feet grooving along, a great start to what was set to be a great night.
Scotland rockers All She Knows then took to stage keeping the mood high with their powerful voices and high energy, a pleasant surprise I’m sure for many who were watching them perform for the first time.
Rapper J Vessel performed his hit ‘Take It To The World’ in a simple engaging style that would put a smile on anyone’s face. After he performed, prompted by Isaiah-Raymond, the teen rapper boldly shared some encouragement for the young people in the room.
The next hosts Loretta Andrews and Chip Kendall took to the stage to introduce the June UK Christian Chart topper Possible P who performed ‘Regardless’ an obvious favourite of many in the audience.
Next up, the soulful harmonious voices that are V9 Collective fully engaged the audience and had everyone on their feet dancing, grooving and clapping along to their hit song ‘Happy’.
One of the smoothest voices in UK Gospel, Natty Joshia then performed his song ‘Try’, effortlessly reminding everyone why it was September’s UK Christian Chart number 1 track.
Shoggy Tosh stirred the crowd as he exhorted on the importance of praising God regardless of circumstances and then proceeded to take the crowd back into dance mode as he performed with his dancers.
Host, November chart topper, Lurine Cato re-introduced Manchester’s Chip Kendall who sung his rousing version of the hymn ‘How Great Thou Art’ with Rachael. Chip was followed by Integrity Music artist Noel Robinson who had everyone twisting and turning to his song ‘Freedom’ and then worshipping along to ‘You Give Me Life’ which was reprised by Lurine Cato as the audience continued to sing along. Lurine then performed her UK Christian Chart topper ‘Power’.
Making a stop off their Ekklesia Atmosphere Tour, it was great to have sister duo act Ekklesia in the house and hear their powerful voices. They were followed by dance troupe I Am Able who gave a powerful dance interpretation of one of Kirk Franklin’s most powerful songs ‘Now Behold The Lamb’.
Sheffield’s Philippa Hanna honestly and openly shared some lessons from her life as an artist whilst also encouraging the audience, before beautifully belting out a few of her songs.
Throughout the course of the evening the audience were reminded by the hosts and artists of the awesome work that astepfwd.com do to help Christian artists in the UK. Many testified of the support they’d received and expressed their appreciation. A Step FWD founder O’Neil Dennis also shared his passion for UK Christian music and some of the sacrifices that the A Step FWD team continue to make to ensure that UK Christian music stays on the map. A Step FWD also need your support to continue doing the great work that they do.
You can get in touch to make a donation, info@astepfwd.com
The event came to a close with all the artists on stage for a mass choir performance of ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ directed by John Fisher and led by the likes of Lurine Cato, BEKLN Mile, Noel Robinson and more. If you missed Christmas LIVE you definitely missed out on a night of great music, great vibes and a beautiful display of unity. Make sure you leave space in your diary for Christmas LIVE 2016!
Lovedale Harrison
