STRYPER: Live in Cedar Park, Texas

Review and photos coming soon. This is just a tease!

Stryper rocked Central Texas on a cool night in September. And it brought out the metalheads – both young and old (mostly old) to check out the excellent metal the band seems to crank out with seemingly little effort. The professionals always make it look easy.’

With little fanfare, Oz Fox, Perry Richardson, Robert Sweet and then Michael Sweet took the stage, waving at the crowd and then blazing into fiery riffs and aggressive rhythms.

Once they hit that first chord, the three guys with axes (guitars and bass) started prowling the stage like a lion, proclaiming each square inch as their own for the next hour or two. Bassist Perry Richardson, of course, not only prowled like one, but looks like a lion with what is easily the biggest hair in all of metal (or close to it).

What was amazing was that the opening song was the title track to In God We Trust. The band kind of muscled the layered vocals out with just power, volume, and energy. It didn’t sound like a pop metal song at all.

What the band proved from the first note onward was that are anything but a hair metal band. Michael later joked about the hair in the ’80s, but sonically they proved to be a power metal band with few peers.

They went into “Revelation” from No More Hell to Pay, which immediately sent the message: “We’re a metal band. We are current. We are not a nostalgia band just playing the hits. We are taking no prisoners.” They were playing to their strengths and they didn’t let down for 90 minutes.

Even the soft tune “Honestly” wasn’t out of place or a break.

Anyway, the third (and final song of my “First three songs” photo pass time period, which means I had to give up my best seat in the house and go stand further back) was “The Rock That Makes Me Roll.” The band sounded on. Word was that this was the first night of an entirely new crew, but the sound and mix was so great that no one would ever know. Something about “The Rock That Makes Me Roll” and “Loving You,” which followed was just a fresh reminder how good this band started out. The tight riffs and chugging speed sounded sweet. This was a special night full of great tunes.

“More Than A Man” loudly proclaimed the reality and deity of Jesus. It was cool to see this band of real guys not shy away from the Incarnate Word of Christ. The band just sounded flat-out great.

“Surrender” came next, complete with the fluttered vibrato solo by Oz Fox. That tune never gets old. Talk about “worship at full volume!” Lyrics like: “Jesus Christ is the lover of your soul / and He wants to give you all you need / so freely surrender / open up into His Majesty.” Just having one moment like that in a show makes it a memorable moment. Stryper had at least three of them.

With a few moments to chat with the crowd and cement the bond between audience and performers, Michael Sweet introduced the first song that climbed to Dial-MTV’s #1 spot, “Calling On You.” The melody and BGVs from Oz and Perry sounded great. I immediately started to wonder, ‘Are they going to immediately segue with Robert Sweet’s tom roll for “Free?”‘ Well, yes. Yes they did. So cool.

One of my personal favs of their recent material was up next. “Sorry” has all the ingredients of a great Stryper song – riffs, solos, and a terrific, melodic and sing-along-able chorus.

It was bookended by “Honestly” and then a rare tune from Against The Law – “All For One.” Stryper was really giving its fans a treat. Not every band has a catalog as rich as Stryper’s. It must be hard to figure out what songs to include in a setlist and it must be just a fun to pull out a surprise tune like this. Michael’s voice and the BGVs of Oz and Perry really carry this song along. They followed this with another melodic gem – “Always There For You.”

“Divider” (from Even the Devil Believes) reminded us once again that Stryper’s career since the reformation in 2001 or so has been longer than the initial incarnation of the band. By the way, the band was broken up for a good eight or nine years there after 1992.

One of the coolest ballads from recent times, which could’ve been a follow-up to Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” was up next, the semi-upbeat “This I Pray.” Michael’s voice sounds different but really great in this tune – kind of country bluesy.

They fired right back with “The Way” (from To Hell With the Devil), which reminded me of how sonically different this tune was for them back in 1986. So aggressive and almost thrashy. It could’ve been our 1986 signpost prophecy to let us know how brutally heavy Stryper would be in the 2015 to 2022 era.

They had already played an hour by now but showed no signs of easing off the gas. They whipped into one of the best adaptations of Psalm 23 ever next – “The Valley.” It was cool to see the reaction of my friend Mitch Roberts (the LC guitar player). He turned to me and just cussed, conveying how much that song kicked butt, kicked tuckus, kicked you-know-what. It was true, but as strong as the power chords rang out with massive might, the beautiful melody of the Scripture put to chorus was spectacular.

Not leaving well enough alone, Stryper then ripped into “Yahweh,” and you could tell this would be the finale. It was just so moving. It was as if they had just now pushed the entire audience off a cliff. A worship at full volume cliff. Such a cool song.

We all knew they’d do an encore, but what two title tracks would they finish the night off with? That’s right, “Soldiers Under Command” and “To Hell With the Devil.” Those blistering-fast power chords sound so good. They bite and climb and push a wall of sound into the night sky. Then “To Hell With the Devil” was like a party to end the show with. I couldn’t help but think of the fun lip-synching feel-good moment in the middle of the movie Electric Jesus. It’s really just a timeless tune for our generation (and the generations to come).

Another thing worth noting about this show was seeing all the old fans (like myself) rocking out at the show. It’s not every concert where I know at least 15 or more people at the show. A good time was had by all and I think the recently opened Haute Spot in Cedar Park venue was plenty happy with the large turnout.

Stryper is totally still kicking it.

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