Hillsong United and Their Fans Celebrate “The Solution” As One At The Nokia Theatre
“Let’s put no limits on what God can do in this place,” said Joel Houston as Sydney based Hillsong Unitedbrought the sold out crowd to their feet at The Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, Monday night.
United is a world-changing worship band from Australia, who has a loyal following all over the world. Their “a CROSS the EARTH Tour” is bringing them to 12 US cities with their message of, “Rising up with hearts as one; our value nailed to a cross that we would find value in the broken and the hurting and the lost. Hillsong United seeks to give voice to this generation…”
United’s song, “Solution,” was the closing anthem of the evening, but the lyrics were a fitting theme to the night:
“We will be Your hands we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place we will be Your light
We will be Your light
We sing
We will run we will run
We will run with the solution”
It was a night celebrating justice and action (two main themes of Hillsong’s music) and a night of encouragement to live out one’s faith. The night began with the pulsating beats of “Break Free,” “Take It All,” and “Look To You.” Now this writer has seen some of the greatest bands (U2 on 23 occasions, just to name one) take their fans to crazy heights, but I’m not sure I have seen a show on this large of a scale with such participation from the crowd. There was a unity in the crowd that is not seen and felt at many shows. Joel Houston at one point said, “You guys have been standing a long time and that’s good!” They literally were on their feet the entire night, jumping, dancing and many times out-singing the band. This was truly a shared experience of something much greater than just music.
“This is something we cling to when times are tough,” said Houston, describing the power of what was taking place. Fitting words as Los Angeles is mired in the middle of a recession, devastating housing slump and failing California budget. The love and community of the event were just what was needed. The worship classics, “Mighty To Save,” “Hosanna,” and “All I Need Is You.” brought forth those exact feelings. “You’ll Come,” fronted by the angelic, yet powerful voice of Brooke Fraser ignited a sea of hands and fists in the air in jubilation.
A striking moment in the night came when the music stopped and a moving video played on the Nokia Theatre screens. It was the voices of a variety of men, women and children, reciting the love chapter from the Bible (1 Corinthians 13) as the fans watched faces and places around the world move by. A truer phrase has never been spoken as, “…love never fails…”
In a night of such high points of joy, “Inside Out (Everlasting)” seemed to be the pinnacle of the experience. The throng of people erupted in unison with the words, “from the inside out, oh, my soul cries out…”
Before United closed with the aforementioned “The Solution,” Houston admonished the crowd one more time to take action… “We’ve only scratched the surface of the potential in the room… we can’t all change the world by ourselves but we can all be playing our part.” These were fitting words to end a night where each person left feeling as they were part of the answer.
