Delirious performs for extreme teen Promise Keepers event, Promise 2002

Delirious was a featured performer at Promise Keepers’ Passage 2002, an extreme-teen youth event held recently at the prestigious 17,700-seat Arrowhead Pond arena in Anaheim, CA. During the event, the band’s first experience with Promise Keepers, Delirious performed new music from its critically acclaimed recording, Touch, which released November 19 on the newly formed Furious? Records Inc.

Hailed as one of the best live bands to hit America, UK-based Delirious brought its powerful worship and energetic performance to Passage 2002, igniting the thousands of 13 to 18-year-old teenagers gathered for the event. Hundreds of fans rushed the stage when Delirious launched into the title track and current radio single from the new record. Concerned stadium security promptly escorted the zealous fans back to their seats.

“Our first event with Promise Keepers got off to a lively start with lots of crowd surfing and moshing,” says Delirious member Stu G. “Before our very eyes the venue safety people asked all the young men to sit down where they proceeded to sing their hearts out!”

“Delirious proved to be a valuable instrument at our recent Passage Conference,” says Randy Phillips, Promise Keepers’ Passage senior vice president. “This band combines integrity of character with profound musicianship into a powerful experience for all who will hear.”

Promise Keepers created Passage, part of the men’s organization’s 17-city, 2002 nationwide conference season, after recognizing the tremendous opportunity to positively impact teenage boys at an impressionable age. The event encouraged participants to live out faith and virtue in their homes, schools, and churches. It also features a six-week follow-up curriculum study led by local mentors in area churches.

Passage continues Promise Keepers’ long history of innovation and famous firsts. The organization packed tens of thousands of men into sports stadiums in the mid ‘90s and gathered a reported one million men to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for 1997’s Stand in the Gap, the largest religious event in U.S. history.

In addition to the Passage 2002 concert, Delirious is preparing for a full tour of the U.S. in the spring of 2003.

Pictured (l-r) backstage at Passage 2002, are: Jon Thatcher, Delirious; Reggie Dabbs, Passage 2002 emcee and motivational speaker; Tim Jupp, Delirious; Larry Acosta, Hispanic Ministry Center and KidWorks founder and president; Randy Phillips, Promise Keepers’ Passage senior vice president; Stu Garrard, Delirious; Erwin McManus, author and Mosaic Church (Los Angeles) senior pastor; Greg Stier, Dare 2 Share Ministries co-founder and executive director; and Martin Smith and Stewart Smith, Delirious.