The evening started for me with a two hour train journey up to Derby for what I have to say was a brilliant yFriday gig. After working out a few transport issues (I got lost at my home station) and whereabouts the venue actually was, I eventually got to the gig an hour and a half before doors opened. Sufficed to say I was at the front of the queue, it also helped that my friend had got there an hour before me.

The queue seemed to magically grow behind us, especially when the coaches filled with people arrived. It was then that despite the long wait and the cold that I was glad to have arrived so early. We were all kept entertained by photographers and cameramen turning up every so often to get shots for the DVD. Because we had managed to make it to the front of the queue, it was no surprise that we made it to the front of the venue as well.

Being the recording for yFriday’s first live DVD, there was no support band. Instead Ken came on with an acoustic guitar to teach the crowd some bits of songs that they really wanted us to sing out in order for it to seem spontaneous! We practiced the chorus to Wonderful and learnt part of How Can We Dance. He then went off in order to prepare for the actual start of the gig.

After a twenty minute debate as to whether the box under the stage looked like a microwave or not (it really did), the band came on with an explosive start, you guessed it, Universal. They seamlessly moved into Someone I Can Live For and then into Wonderful. The practice before seemed to have been worth it as the whole crowd sang their hearts out in praise to God.

I’m Yours came next and then two women walked on stage to start Hands Up with a gospel style, as in the studio recording. Their singing was impressive but the timings with the band didn’t quite go according to plan, however they carried on into Holy Holy Holy. Unfortunately I haven’t as yet got round to buying Rainmaker so this was the first time I’d actually heard it!

Next came How Can We Dance and again the practice came off. Being a relatively new song not many people knew it, however we all managed to get right the bit that Ken had taught us beforehand which I guess was the point of the exercise. Shine 2 finished off the first section and left the crowd screaming for more. We weren’t disappointed! After a false start in which the band walked on stage gave about a bars worth of music and then walked off again, they launched into Rise – a real crowd favourite.

One of my favourite yFriday songs came in the form of Start Of The Summer and led into a spontaneous section where they sang about God sending His rain down on His people. However I was nearly deafened with the first few chords of Gravity. My friend’s scream of delight really stood out against the comparative silence of the rest of the crowd, quietened down by thought of what had just come before. Gravity was played brilliantly and led well into Everlasting God after which Ken brought out his Bible and read to us from Isaiah 40 on which the song is based.

One Hope and Revolution finished off the official gig which again left the crowd screaming for more and duly came though not quite in the way I expected. They threw the drumsticks and plectrums into the crowd and walked off stage.

As the first time Hands Up had been played it hadn’t quite gone right, they decided to do it again in order to get it perfect for the DVD. Therefore they played it for a second time yet they were still not satisfied. The beginning with the two women still wasn’t there. Of course they blamed the crowd for clapping out of time so we were told to watch Dez very carefully whilst they did the first bit again. Unfortunately it still wasn’t good enough. They did it at least once more before they decided it was acceptable.

To finish off the night completely they asked the crowd to choose one song that had already been played that night so that they ended on a high. Revolution was chosen and apart from my friend groaning that Gravity hadn’t been selected, everyone was satisfied with the choice. After one last plectrum thrown into the crowd (which was given to me because it was my birthday) they finally walked off the stage not to come back on at just gone 10.

The only downside of the night was not meeting the band afterwards but we were in a rush to get out of the venue so we quickly preordered the DVD, signed our names on the sheets provided so that our names could be put on the credits and left talking about what we agreed was the best YFriday gig we had been to.

Living in the South has limited the number of yFriday gigs I’ve been to but I’m sure even the people who had seen them hundreds of times will agree that it was one of their best. All I have to do is to wait until March to get the DVD and then hope that in the not too distant future they will come near enough for me to see them again!

Written by Sarah Deacon

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