Chris Tomlin gets crowd singing at Royal Farms Arena

Contemporary Christian singer Chris Tomlin came to Baltimore’s Royal Farms Arena Friday night as part of his Love Ran Red Tour before a crowd of fans of all ages. He made his message clear when, in a moment of quiet between songs, Tomlin said, “Just give Him praise tonight.”

Tomlin’s opening act, an Irish band called Rend Collective, gave a great performance that included music nearly the same style as Tomlin. Their songs included all the usual instruments of a modern band: guitars, keyboard, bagpipes, stumpf fiddle and drums.

After their set of about half a dozen songs and interjections lauding their Irish heritage, they thanked the crowd for their experience here and promised to return in April. They are scheduled to play at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church in Marriottsville on April 3.

When Tomlin took the stage he began with White Flag, Waterfall and I Will Follow. Tomlin then asked the crowd to say Psalm 100 aloud with him as the words to the Psalm were put on screens behind him. Throughout the show he maintained that the crowd was there, not for just a show or concert, but for “church.”

Tomlin followed this with more of his better known songs including How Great Is Our God, Indescribable, Holy Is the Lord and The Table.

During his performance of The Table, he brought the choir from Bridgeway Community Church, here in Maryland, on stage with him. This added a local feel to the song and complemented his singing style very well.

Shortly after the applause died down, he answered questions that he had received from the crowd via Twitter. The first: “Why do you keep your hair so spiky?,” which he responded to with a laugh and the brief answer: “You do the best with what you got.”

Next, a fan asked: “What is one of the most touching events in your life?” and he responded as any father would saying, “the birth of my two daughters.”

Yet another fan asked: “What song do you sing to your daughters before they go to bed?” and Tomlin said that he sings Good Good Father and the Frozen hit Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Another fan asked: “How old were you when you knew you were called to music?” Tomlin followed this with a stand-up comedy style story about a concert and summer program he played at in his senior year in high school.

Finally, a fan asked: “Which of your songs is your favorite?” to which he responded “At the Cross,” the song which gave the tour its name.

Tomlin played At the Cross, Amazing Grace, and Good Good Father, before changing his musical style to a much more up tempo sound with God’s Great Dance Floor, which sparked the audience to dance.

He closed with 10,000 Reasons.