How To Be a Faker

RebelChurch has been getting crazier and crazier. I think the whole RebelChurch team somehow outdoes themselves every rebel event. The last one was out of control. We had a pretty intense dubstep intro (which you can hear here), amazing lighting, Ben Houston preached, the worship experience was epic. But the Rebel from which my story comes was the one before that. The one with Leeland and Carl Lentz.

We were just about to go out to the stage. Music was pumping, people were excited. We had a series of loops ready to go on my laptop, which was parked at the drum set. The first loop was the one with the intro. I started it from my iPhone (with the Remote app) and we marched out to the stage. The crowd is starting to roar, adrenaline’s pumping, we’re getting ready to rock while the intro comes to an end.

Now, up to this point, I’ve practiced most of the songs on electric guitar with a capo. We have about ten seconds left before I go into the “whoa oh’s” for Your Name High and I go to put my capo on and… ka-bam. It snaps dude. Straight up breaks right then and there. I run over to Kenny, our guitar player, and asks if he has a capo. He says he has one but it’s on the side stage. We have no time. What do I do?

Well, I did what I think anyone else would have done. I faked it. I faked playing guitar. What else was I supposed to do? Here’s what went through my head:

• Even though I could still figure out the chords, I still have to remember the words to a set list of almost all brand new songs for me
• It would be weird to just take off my guitar
• I still knew my way around the fret board, maybe I could at least pull off some choruses
• I lead better if I’m at least strumming something

So I sang, and I sang with all I had, and I played what I could. And for the rest of the time I just strummed the air. Weirdness.

Finally, we came to a break in the set list and Kenny was able to get the capo for me. It was probably one of the biggest scares I’ve had on the stage. And with RebelChurch getting bigger and bigger, issues like that can come at a cost. And as much as I don’t need or want to be dealing with that stuff at a time like that, it happens. Stuff will always happen and you gotta roll with the punches. And at a time like that, the most important thing is to just go with it. Don’t make it obvious to the crowd. Plus, your band is counting on you to be confident and not freak out. As the worship leader, you’re at the helm. If you start freaking out, your band won’t play confidently and therefore won’t play to their best. Do what the situation calls for, even if you have to be a faker, like me.

After talking to some people afterwards, turns out it was hard to tell that the capo had even broke and that the band still sounded great. Good to hear! And the bottom line is, people still worshipped, God was glorified, the night was still an epic win. I also went out and bought like four new capos after that, never again!

Below is a video of us playing Yahweh that same night. And there I am, capo-less. Enjoy…