Louder Than The Music

On Sunday The Big Church Day Out took place at Wiston House in West Sussex. This huge one-day Christian festival was the brain child of Delirious? keyboardist Tim Jupp, and featured an impressive line up of bands, singers and activities for all ages. The event had completely sold out before the day arrived, meaning that 14,000 people turned up on a sun drenched day of music and fun. With the emphasis being on a day for all the family, I arrived with my wife and two young children as YFriday were strutting their stuff on stage. Having never actually seen them perform live before, I was pleasantly surprised how good they were. Introducing one of the songs, lead singer Ken Riley talked about his recent trip to a music industry award ceremony to collect the prize for the most played song on American radio last year: Everlasting God. The crowd immediately in front of the stage bounced around and sung at the tops of their voices, loving every minute of it.

As we wondered around the festival site, the sheer size of the place was almost a little daunting. The crowd in front of the main stage seemed to stretch out endlessly onto the grassy hill that overlooked the site. In the distance we could see the grand old Wiston House itself, surrounded by yet more tents and marquees, full of people jostling to get a view of whatever activities they hosted. While my wife Melissa took our two kids off to investigate the 'Tiddlywinks Gym Tent' I made use of my press pass to enter the old House where the artists Press Conference was taking place.

Inside the house I stayed for the Delirious? press conference, where Jon, Paul, Martin and Stu spent twenty minutes answering questions from the waiting 'press' on the highlights of their career and plans for the future, before they headed off to do an interview with God TV.

Back outside I joined up with my family again and we headed over to the more sedately titled 'Tea Tent' where some of the 'less rowdy' acts were scheduled to perform. Here we watched as Cathy Burton and her band performed a superb set of ballads, followed not long after by Lou Fellingham and the Phatfish boys, who also impressed with their fantastic melodies. The Kings Chamber Orchestra followed them, as we drifted back towards the main stage where Graham Kendrick and then Israel Houghton were keeping the large crowd entertained.

There's one thing people usually dread about these big outdoor festivals. Without wishing to go into too much detail here, shall we just all agree that festivals are not usually renowned for their toilet facilities! Well, I have to say, I was rather impressed with the sheer number of porta-loo's BCDO had managed to accumulate on site. Yes, that might be a strange thing to be impressed about, but let's face it, there's nothing worse than standing in a queue for the toilet, right? Anyway, having just taken my two year old son to one of the vast number of aforementioned facilities, I walked past the 'Miracle Street Stage' where Tom + Olly were in full swing. I asked my son what he thought of them. He thought for a moment then said, "Too loud Daddy", so we left.

The crowd at Main Stage had swelled to its biggest yet as popular American singer Michael W Smith bounded on to perform an enjoyable series of well known worship songs. You could tell his style was more suited to the less-young members of the crowd, and they seemed to appreciate joining in with songs they knew the words to.

Despite the numerous acts on the line up for BCDO, there was really only one band the majority of people had turned up to watch. After some short talks by a few speakers, it was finally time for Delirious? to perform their final homecoming show. Behind the stage a beautiful red sun started to set, as the evening twilight emphasised the stage lights even more. Delirious? rocked their way through a set of mostly newer songs, throwing in a nod back to where it all began in the shape of Did You Feel The Mountains?

Dave Wood

Check out a selection of photos from The Big Church Day Out below...