The new, "Edgier" blues-tinged album by American CCM phenomenon Steven Curtis Chapman is being tipped to be his biggest yet. Phil Crawley reports.

22nd August was when Steven Curtis Chapman played his first UK gig. Nick Castle saw it.

It was a warm late summer evening as we all piled into Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London. Carolyn Arends came out with a three-piece band and they played some of the classics off her debut album. The acoustic feel along with her beautiful music and articulate lyrics made it a superlative way to start the evening off. It was then time for a 15 minute break while the Chapman roadies set up for the person whom all the people in attendance had been waiting years to see.

The lights dimmed and the multitude knew it was the moment they had been longing for. Chants of "Steven" arose from one corner of the auditorium until the whole throng were joining in. Then he appeared out of the darkness at the side of the stage with his brand new 6-piece band (whom he'll be touring with for the next year or so). Without uttering a word they zoomed straight into "Children Of The Burning Heart" from 'Signs Of Life', complete with an astonishing guitar solo performed by Steven himself.

By now seemingly the whole of Central Hall was on their feet and rushing to the front. The band rocked straight into "Dancing With A Dinosaur" which was equally astounding. After this it was time to change guitar and this gave him time to say the first few words to his long awaiting British fans. The CCM star observed, "It says 'for where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them,' (Matt 18:20) so God is with us tonight." The pop/country/rock veteran went on to tell that he was about to break the rules and play on all night as "We have a lot to catch up on!" Before sharing about his family and how his son, Will Franklin, had just hit his first ever home run for this school team!

The band soon moved on to playing all of Steven's old classics such as 'The Great Adventure", "Heaven In The Real World", and "The King Of The Jungle". This was Steven Curtis Chapman at his best. Interspersed between the 'hits' were songs from his new album, such as "The Walk" (a prime song written for his Grandpa Rudd), the title track off 'Sings Of Life', "Living In The Land Of Opportunity" and "Let Us Pray" which had such a catchy chorus it got the whole auditorium singing it though we'd never heard the song before. Steven's new sound, especially when he plays the slide guitar, sounded dazzling.

After two hours of severely cool music he said "goodnight" and they all walked off the stage. The chants of "Steven" arose once again but this time at ear splitting volume. The sweating musos eventually strode back on and Steven declared that he wasn't sure how he would be received in Britain but after this evening, he'll be back! They burst in to their first single in the States off his new album, "Lord Of The Dance". WOW, what a song! His band then left to huge applause while the singer stayed to tell us about his faith. Steven prayed with us and then we all sang the chorus of "Heaven In The Real World" with just him and his acoustic guitar. After he had gone off and the lights had come up, a rugby scrum rushed to the merchandise stand to get their hands on any Steven Curtis Chapman goodies they could.

In all, Steven Curtis Chapman was a great performer, singing with sinuous passion and playing his guitars with great enthusiasm. During "Heaven In The Real World" he didn't play guitar, instead he ran energetically round the stage and even came onto the floor into the crowd. Not bad for a CCM veteran who hadn't slept for 24 hours as his plane was delayed and only arrived the morning of the concert!