American Dance Rock: Fusebox as Gathering Band

There seem to be few secular parallels to a band that leads worship songs and plays a concert for a weekend Christian conference. I’ve seen Fusebox do this twice this summer—once for the Wisconsin Statewide High School Youth Gathering and once for the National Youth Workers Conference (both Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod events). The only parallel that comes to mind are some of the music cruises where a band will play on multiple nights during a sailing, the fans getting to know the band perhaps a little more intimately. That’s the opportunity that Christian conferences offer when there’s a gathering band as a part of each general session. The band creates and reflects the community atmosphere.

Fusebox lives up to this unique role, at once calling participants to join in the worship songs while also infusing their personality into the gathering. Fusebox is able to encourage everyone to sing and dance without guilting you into it or making the crowd participation more of the experience than the music.

The muscly guitare riff groove on “Let It Rise” is a good indication of what Fusebox can do to a simple worship song. They add the incredible emotion and energy of hard rock while also still leading a praise song. Guy Roberts’ drum fills really pull more out from what otherwise would be a straight-forward and rather unremarkable song. “God is Great” becomes a funky dance, headbanging worship song. “Thank You” takes a huge wall of sound and breaks down into a crowd sing-along.

The NYWC featured a few extra treats like Monique Nunes singing together with lead vocalist/bassist Billy Buchanan on “Look What You’ve Done” and “Light the Fire”—Gospel soloing over a tight hard-rocking band. Also, Buchanan let loose with a full soulful delivery on “I Will Exalt” over Ben Rodriguez’s jazzy acoustic guitar (think Norah Jones’ supporting band).

“You Are So Beautiful” takes a truly sappy, feathered-hair song, and makes it a hip, edgy picture of devotion to Christ. Fusebox members attribute the arrangements to Buchanan, but each member adds their pieces to make a very good whole. Fusebox brings the blues to Christian praise music which is a good partnership of the raw emotion of the blues and the raw truth of the Gospel. “Look What You’ve Done” has a psychedelic blues wash. “Hello” also finds the blues, although it needs a little more blues in the talky bits, perhaps more like Eddie Turner does. Chris Tomlin’s “Forever” in their hands has a crunchy, bluesy guitar line.

Buchanan joked about being a Chris Tomlin cover band. In deference to the NYWC theme of country and Nashville, Fusebox worked up a cover of “Achy Breaky Heart.” It would be a far better thing for Fusebox to be a Tomlin cover band. I don’t think the country song will be repeated. However, more than covers, we should anticipate more of what this band can write themselves, speaking praises to God from the crunch of rock and life.

Thanks to Fusebox for their assistance.