The Signal Tour

Trip Lee, Terrian, and KB brought The Signal Tour to Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, VA May 1st. The Signal Tour is in partnership with International Justice Mission.

The evening opened with TPR representative Heather, who came to out welcome everyone, share a chance to win some tour merch, and start getting the crowd pumped up with a cheering contest between side A and side B of the sanctuary. You could tell from how loud and long each side cheered that people were pumped to be there and ready for the concert to start. 

The crowd didn’t have to wait long following the introduction. The opening vocals of Lee’s latest rap single, “Lay Down” came on, and Trip Lee came on to the stage. He immediately began interacting with the crowd that had gathered at the edge of the stage, and the crowd was rapping and singing along to every word. Lee then went into “Supernatural” and “Manolo” with the crowd continuing to sing, dance and jump with the music. Those who have been following along with Trip Lee’s music know that he recently added a worship album to his library with BRAG worship. Lee stepped behind his synthesizer for the next two songs of his set to preform “For Your Glory” & “Draw My Eyes.”  In true worship leading, the lyrics to the songs were shared on the screens for everyone to sing along. Lee closed out his set with “Sweet Victory” from the 2014 album Rise. 

After a short transition between sets, Terrain and her band came onto the stage playing a shortened version of “Honestly, We Just Need Jesus” and then went into her upbeat dance hit “Matthew 5.” I loved seeing she and the back-up singers doing the “Holy Swagg” line dance during the song. Keeping the momentum up she next sang the Latin influenced song “King of Kings.” Terrian then took a moment to share a bit about her faith journey, her struggles with anxiety, her identity in relation to God, and the hope that she has been able to find knowing that we are all children of God and God loves us. This led her into “He Sees You” a song reminding us that we don’t have to be perfect to earn God’s love. From there she went into “Testimony” and a medley of “It is Well with My Soul” and “You Are Worthy to Be Praised.” It was time of worship in the auditorium and really felt like we were having church after those several songs. For the last two songs the tempo came up for “God is For Me” and her most popular hit “Big God.” Terrian and band brought a fun, energetic, and worshipful time to the concert. It was also fun seeing the production crew getting into the music from the side of the stage. 

As the crew got the stage ready for KB to come on stage, Trip Lee came back out to talk about why this tour is called “The Signal Tour.” The Signal Tour is about putting the signal out there for people to get excited about the things that Jesus is excited about. He shared from Luke 4 where Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19, New Revised Standard Version). Lee went on to say that as Christians, our relationship with Jesus shows in how we relate to others. We need to about the work that Jesus was about. We live in a world today darkness and Jesus wants us to amplify what Jesus is about. 

This led him to speak about the partnership the tour has with International Justice Mission (IJM). IJM is a global non-government organization that seeks to bring protections to vulnerable people around the world, specifically working to rescue people from slavery, sex-trafficking, and sexual violence. He shared the story of a teenage girl from Manila, Philippines, who was freed from sex-trafficking through the work of IJM. He also encouraged people to help support the mission of IJM. He closed by saying as Christians we shouldn’t be like headphones, keeping Jesus to ourselves. Rather, we need to be like amplifiers, sharing Jesus with those around us. 

After a few minutes, it was the moment that everyone was waiting for. The lights went down, the video screen came on, an electronic alarm sounded, and female voice came through the speakers, “This is not a test. This is a signal. Tonight is not a show. It’s a call. A call to lay down everything for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ…” The voice continued over an epic cinematic music score that continued to grew in intensity and then broke into “Got a Reason.” As the vocals chanted “Praise,” the drum beat kicked in and KB appeared on the stage in front of screen. The crowd exploded with excitement. For the next hour-and-a-half everyone was into the show, singing, jumping, and dancing as much as possible. 

One thing about KB that always stands out is his focus on praise and worship. KB has, since pretty much his beginning, incorporated contemporary praise and worship songs into his music. This was highlighted in his concert by including “10K,” “Let it Reign,” “Who the Son Sets Free,” “We Still Believe (HLY FOREVER),” and “Armies.” It shows just how much KB loves Jesus and how important his relationship is with God. It’s also a great reminder of what really matters at the end of the day. It’s not about a show, it’s not even about the music, it’s about worshiping God. It was fun seeing KB preform with Trip Lee on One Sixteen. Seeing these two Christian rap legends together on the stage was a treat. 

Overall, you could tell that everyone involved in this tour was excited to be there and was having fun. You don’t normally see the concert promotors coming out to interact with the crowd before the concert even begins. You don’t normally see the production crew getting into the concert. It showed me that this is more than just a concert tour, they all love what they are doing, and are having fun bringing the message of this tour to people around the country. This was a slightly different concert for me. I’m used to going to shows in club settings. This concert being in a church felt different. Because it was auditorium seating, there wasn’t the space for as many people to gather around the front. There wasn’t as much dancing and jumping around as I’ve experienced at other concerts. On the other hand, it was nice to have somewhere to sit in-between the sets and not have to be standing for 3+ hours. I really liked that each of the artists had live musicians and that the songs were not all just tracks, which you often see with rap/ hip-hop shows.