Louder Than The Music

LTTM reviewer and guest blogger Philip Aldis reports from the Pete McAllen Secret House tour in Spalding...

Britain put its clocks forward when it went to bed late on the night of Saturday 28 March, but ours stopped a few hours earlier, just a few minutes into this Pete McAllen Secret House evening. He did a couple of songs to get started. Then he said “these next three I'm going to sing over you”. We didn't applaud, instead we sat soaking up the beautiful stillness.

It was a big thing for us to host. Cupcakes? check. Drinks? check. Napkins? not check, more floral. Deodorants? Check. 19 people in the lounge could get, shall we say, "challenging". Tissues? No one warned me we would need tissues for a crying guest. Fortunately, the solution was merely the throw of a toilet roll away.

LTTM has already nailed its colours to the mast of the good ship Review, so read that for the full low down on Pete, his 5-star album “I Hear Your Voice” and the songs on it. What I will tell you is those tracks came to life in the living room. In the run up I was intrigued to how the more upbeat numbers such as “Spirit is Life” and “Faithful” would translate to just one man and his guitar. They spoke a new language: voice and guitar delicately amplified and perfectly mixed through his amp the size of a microwave. The more acoustic-based numbers were accurate representations, “Shadowy Place” becoming even more intimate and personal.

The Secret House Tour is a project led by Barnabas Me which aims to bring excellent live music into the home with the purpose of encouraging worship. And what a great idea it is, as one of the beautiful things about hosting a real live breathing musician like Pete McAllen in your home is you get the chance to hear about the real breath of life that brought the song into being.

Pete chatted through some of the songs, helping to create a frame of understanding to hang thoughts on: “Die to Myself” being a good example, the album title track another. But of course, as well as the stories, you also get to meet the person behind the music: it’s so easy for musicians to be one thing on record, CD or the stage, and another in the every day. Beforehand, as he chatted with my kids, during the break and then afterwards as we all shook hands, hugged and handed back that left-over loo roll, it was confirmed to us that the Pete McAllen behind the recorded and live microphone is the Pete McAllen behind the wheel of his car and the closed door of his house.

So to summarise: we met, we chatted, we sat, we listened, we cried, we laughed, we stood and sung the rousing “Enemies” (Praise the Lord for detached houses in noisy town centre locations). Pete’s appeal crossed the room’s age range of 7 to 60, (we were infiltrated by at least 3 teenagers who loved it, and showed that in the face of this new fangled pop stuff they can have taste after all). The mood was just right: not too intense, but never merely an evening of music; Pete helping to lead and guide us to new places, to start some new journeys, and to sense those first indications of new seasons and callings.

Would we book again? Yes. Would our friends come again? Yes. Would Pete come again? Yes, if only to pick up the box of Uplifting Lemon and Ginger Tea Bags that he erroneously left. However, there's no point him coming back to pick up the happy memories, good feelings, significant moments, and generous spirit that he left, as we're not giving them up.

Philip Aldis

Additional Info:
A book about the Barnabas Me "Secret House Tour" project is due to be released this summer, you can find out more at barnabasme.com.

Read a review of Pete McAllen's album here.