from: ccm magazine, August 1999
author: Jamie Lee Rake
website: http://www.ccmmagazine.com

»» Live: One Night In Pennsylvania

Newsboys' Live: One Night in Pennsylvania eases over the usual hurdles of live video productions in this release. The band's flair for multi-media accompaniments to its poppy modern rock gives video director Stephen Yake material with which to work apart from the group's own blend of personalities. Newsboys' 14-song set from a "Step Up to the Microphone" tour gig at an arena in Hershey, Pa., comes alive nearly as much for the video watcher as it must have for a front row ticket holder.

The guys play nearly all their radio hits from 1992 onward with charismatic tightness. With bald head and imposingly steady gaze, Peter Furler embodies stage presence without acting too star-like. Bassist Phil Joel acts less animated but still brings earnest charm when he steps up to the microphone for numbers like "Woo Hoo." On that song, "Entertaining Angels" and a couple others, Jumbotron background video framing devices distract from the proceedings on-stage. The best use of supplementary video, however, aids "Believe."

Since Newsboys are rock stars of a fashion, something a bit spectacular is in order. Make that their newly improved rotating drum platform, on which Furler duets on the skins with Duncan Phillips. If that's the band members' stab at ego, the humility of their post-concert explanation of faith makes Live: One Night in Pennsylvania a well-rounded evening of artistry, showmanship and testimony.

--Jamie Lee Rake ««