Monday memory: We Are Messengers

The Christian group recently paid their first visit to Delaware, and brought a few friends. A look in pictures and text.

It was a church on the outskirts of Milton, Delaware called the Eagle’s Nest that became a concert hall on a Saturday night a week ago.

We Are Messengers headlined the concert, which was performed before a sold-out crowd. The promoter said, “You sold us out four weeks ago.”

My wife and I went to this show, and I bought the tickets pretty much the first day they came out.

We had seen We Are Messengers back in 2022 when they opened for Casting Crowns, and I was also interested in the two opening acts.

I also sprung a few extra bucks for the VIP event, which was a Q & A with We Are Messengers lead singer Darren Mulligan.

Darren Mulligan, lead singer of We Are Messengers. This was before we told him what scrapple was.

We spent about 30 minutes or so peppering him with questions, including the one about whether he had ever tried scrapple. I wish I had gotten a picture of his expression when he saw what it looked like. Scrapple was something he would continue to joke about in his show.

One thing we learned while he was speaking was that this was the penultimate gig of a 39-show tour that began back in mid-September, so they were tired. He said next year they would cut back on the touring so he could be with his family more. Looking back at their past tour schedule, 2023 was a busy year for them that began at the National March for Life and featured another tour in support of Casting Crowns, a busy summer fair and festival schedule, and then this tour.

Once the Q-and-A wrapped up, I went to see the merch table.

Tucked in the corner of the church was a merchandise table, with something from each band. Both of us got a shirt, of course.

I think that there’s been more emphasis on the VIP sessions and the merch because touring’s getting more expensive. These tickets were actually a bargain compared to the usual show at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, so I suspect the host church may have discounted or waived any cut of the proceeds they received. It was certainly a smaller, more intimate venue.

First up as support was Ben Fuller.

Maybe I should ask my wife what song this was since I see she was videoing. This is Ben Fuller’s band.

Fuller is a relatively new artist, who originally moved from his Vermont upbringing to Nashville to be a country star, but was moved in a different direction. As one of his songs and shirts states, God had Other Plans.

Near the end of the show, Ben went acoustic for a song.

Fuller is best known for his two hit CCM singles, Who I Am and But The Cross. He played them both, along with a handful of other songs in a half-hour set.

Then it was the distinctive look and sound of Cochren & Co.

I’d heard the songs but never seen Michael Cochren. You’d think he was a truck driver if you met him on the street.

Their big current single is called Thank God for Sunday Morning, but he was more interested in their next song, called Parking Lot. Everyone comes to the Lord in different ways, but his was sitting in his car in a parking lot.

On this song, they switched up: Michael’s wife played keyboards while he played the acoustic, but this time she played guitar while he tickled the keys.

Of the three, I actually liked these guys the best. Maybe it’s his Midwest roots (Cochren hails from southern Indiana) or just the way he came to the Lord in an unusual manner, as did I.

After a 45-minute or so run through more of their hits, like Running Home and One Day, they yielded the stage for a message from their sponsor.

As I noted above, touring is getting more expensive, so a number of the shows I have been to over the past few years are sponsored by a group called Compassion International. So you have their spiel during the changeover before the main group takes the stage, although they weren’t assisted in this case by local volunteers but by members of Ben Fuller’s band. It’s not a bad thing to sponsor a child for a few dollars a month (my wife does) and we’ve come to expect the intermission - it just seemed longer than usual. The crew is probably wore out from touring, too.

Hitting the stage at the end of a long night was We Are Messengers.

We Are Messengers gave the crowd a rocking good time, working through all their popular songs put up over the last eight years or so. But I think the sound got a little muddy as their set went on.

This was about a good a shot as I could get with a simple cell phone camera. I think this was a stripped-down version of Magnify.

The end came pretty quickly; once the set was over the house lights came on as they were exiting the stage.

Aside from the quibble with the sound, I have to say Eagle’s Nest Church was a pretty good venue for this show, with the one exception of setup. As you can see, we were well off to the side and I also felt bad for the people in the back since the stage wasn’t particularly high. It may work all right for Sunday service - which I imagine is a “contemporary” setup with a backing band as opposed to the more “traditional” altar of our church - but next time I’ll sacrifice a few rows to get in a center section. (I also was thinking I was on the more central aisle based on the seating diagram presented when I bought the tickets, not on the side aisle. Then again, the seats were marked by a sheet of paper so they’re new at this, too.)

But we got right in and out, and it’s a venue about 45 minutes from my house as opposed to schlepping across the bridge to see a show, which I refuse to do anymore. If people want us to see them, they can come to us - the Delmarva is a happening place.

And thanks for giving me the chance to bring back the memory of a long-running monoblogue series of posts I did called “weekend of local rock.” This fit the bill well.

Don’t forget: you can also Buy Me a Coffee, since I have a page there now.