“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful song.” ~Psalms 100:2
A DREAM that started 11 years ago came to fruition at this year’s World Youth Day (WYD) when Liveloud got to perform at two different venues during the week-long event, held last August 1-6 in Lisbon, Portugal.
The band, composed of members from five countries and three continents, performed at the Terriero do Paço at Praça do Comércio on August 2 and on the main World Youth Day stage at the Campo da Graça at Parque Tejo, Trancāo, Lisboa on August 5.
Inspired by the theme of the WYD, “Mary arose and went with haste,” the Liveloud band conveyed the themes “RISE” and “GO” for their performances, respectively. The songs included Liveloud favorites like, Shout, Our God He Reigns, Gracious God, With You, and Incredible, songs with melodies and lyrics that the audience from different countries could enjoy.
The band also led the 1.5 million attendees of the WYD in singing Live for You in four different languages — French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian — aside from its original English version.
Along with thousands of Catholic bands and performers, the Liveloud Team applied online for the once in a lifetime opportunity. It was a day of rejoicing when it was announced that Liveloud was one of the few groups chosen to perform at the Youth Festival. There were fewer groups chosen to perform on the main stage and Liveloud was one of them!
Despite the challenges encountered by the Liveloud team, like lack of rehearsals and issues with visas of some members of the band, the performance garnered positive feedback and support, even from those who heard Liveloud for the first time.
The advocacy to proclaim Christ through music continues to flourish as Liveloud is set to release new music this year along with an upcoming schedule of concerts all over the Philippines and the world, starting with a concert in Cagayan de Oro on September 23.
Liveloud is a Catholic worship advocacy that declares Christ to people through Catholic Worship Music, and is present on social media at facebook.com/theliveloudworship, @liveloudworship on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube, as well as music streaming apps Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer. (Maria Laarni Mallari)