Critical Mass nominated for two music awards

[davefromcm]

There'll be tickets at the door. Spread the word. We have a Catholic comic, Caustan DeRiggs opening for us and he's awesome. You'll have to check out our new sound... much edgier and upbeat than the old stuff but the same message... stay true to the Church!

[Maria]

Sent an e-mail to all Challengers (the name of our youth group is Challenge, and it's not the teen-age girls's group).

[Maria]

I was at the CM concert yesterday. I don’t particularly like distorted electrical guitar; I find it has little if any beauty to it, but I’m the one who decided to go, so what did I expect? Besides, David’s voice was so good that it was able to make the songs sound melodious anyway. In any case, because of that preference (and because I like the song ‘Jesus, We Trust In You’), I naturally bought the CD ‘Completely’, which has a softer sound, rather than ‘Grasping for Hope in the Darkness’ (assuming that’s what it’s called). The one drawback there was that Dave wasn’t a main singer, and the main voices weren’t exactly true. End of that particular digression.
I really liked the first song, whatever it was. Unfortunately, the music was about as loud as the vocals, making it hard to make out all the words throughout the concert. As this is a technical detail, Dave, take note.
It was lovely seeing the way the members enjoyed what they were doing, and the playful way they would interact, as well as the anecdotal stories. I wasn’t always too clear on which ones were true and which weren’t though. They did manage to get the ‘crowd’ (we were a small bunch) involved. I always have a problem getting involved at Christian concerts, though, because if it’s a prayer, and I’m trying to pray it, then I’m not likely to be jumping up and down – for me it’s more of a ‘come to the quiet’, even if the music is loud. What I could hear of the lyrics sounded great, but I still think the affliction/crucifixion lines sound awkward. What else? I was tired, I’m still tired, I don’t regret going, and it was fun being there and fun mingling with them afterwards. It was also fun the way they got people in the audience to come and sing/play. I don’t know if they do that regularly, though.
Oh, and DAVE HAS A GREAT VOICE.

[davefromcm]

It was great meeting you, Maria! Always very cool meeting people and putting a face to a name.

The fall tour is now over. We averaged about 80 people per gig which was intimate but it would have been nice to have had more people. The anecdotes were all true but sometimes taken out of context :-) Our live show was very well received and thanks to all who came out.

Next year, we're focusing on US dates. So far, we're looking at Wisconson in late Feb and Idaho in late March. Contact me (dwang@uwaterloo.ca) if you are interested in booking us. We are looking at trying to get about 6 more dates over the next year!