Hillsong thrills Francistowners

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Thursday October 13, 2011 00:00

A crowd of about 3,000 gospel music enthusiasts thronged the venue to watch the internationally acclaimed group, which also had members from their London and Cape Town branches in the band.At first, fans' patience almost wore thin after they were made to wait for almost two hours before the arrival of the choir.  The sound team faced technical challenges and fans had to watch an unimpressive Light of the World Choir for over an hour, while waiting for their much-loved Hillsong.  The stadium then stirred to life when the Aussies took to the stage at 20.40 hours.Their fans, who had been standing at a distance, suddenly surged forward and within minutes, the arena was almost packed as people jostled for vantage points to watch the renowned gospel choir.

'We are having a technical fault, but we are going to have a good time,' said Phil Dooley of Hillsong before being drowned out by the shouts of joy when he told the crowd that their favourite choir was about to get on stage.  The celebrated outfit, led by Hillsong London lead singer Peter Wilson, kicked off with the praise song Freedom Is Here and got a morale-boosting response from the crowd especially after the sound hitches.  The choir went on to perform hits such as Salvation Is Here, One Way, Hosanna and God Is Able as the lead vocalists took turns to front the youthful choir.  Their singing was harmonious and their songs carried a message of hope and restoration.  Their lead singers were energetic, leaping up and down and leading their fans into dance as they also gladly sang along to the music whose lyrics they knew by heart.

Dooley asked for the Botswana flag from one of the fans and took time to pray for the nation during the show before giving out some CDs and DVDs to a few fans.Thereafter, he preached salvation before making an altar call.  Afterwards, Hillsong had to cut out about six songs that they had planned to sing because of the late start.  They ended the show with the song Take It All.