''Welcome to the Freak Show'' is a live audio and video recording by DC Talk. Chronicling the Jesus Freak Tour in the spring of 1996, they were released separately two months apart in 1997 on CD and VHS, respectively. A DVD version was later released in 2003. Each version has been certified gold by the RIAA (audio for 500,000 units and video for 50,000 units sold). Track listings differ slightly between the two. Select videos included a bonus audio disc that remains one of the rarest recordings in the DC Talk catalog. The audio version won the 1998 Grammy Award for

Best Rock Gospel Album The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...

Release dates

* VHS June 17, 1997 * CD August 26, 1997 * DVD October 21, 2003

Jesus Freak Tour

''Jesus Freak'' released in November 1995 to first-week sales of 85,000 units, a record for a Christian album at the time. This placed it at No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Anticipation was already high for the scheduled 65-city tour set to begin in the Spring of 1996, but DC Talk's record label,

ForeFront Records ForeFront Records is a contemporary Christian music and Christian rock record label founded in 1987 by Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo, Dana Key, and Ron W. Griffin. It was purchased by EMI in 1996 from Dan R. Brock and Eddie DeGarmo, and is a divi ...

launched a massive marketing blitz to increase awareness. The tour debuted to a sold-out crowd at the Bren Center on the University of California Irvine campus. It later included stops in several European countries (which is documented in the video).

Audio Adrenaline Audio Adrenaline was an American Christian rock band that formed in 1986 at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky. The band gained recognition during the 1990s and received two Grammy Awards and multiple Dove Awards. Audio Adr ...

opened for DC Talk on the tour.

Audio version

The audio version was recorded in the Pacific Northwest, more specifically in Portland, Oregon and Tacoma, Washington, as evidenced by the band dialogue in several places, such as following "Like It, Love It, Need It" (Michael and Kevin banter about what they like about Seattle). Of notable absence is " Just Between You and Me" which was the album's biggest mainstream hit. This song's rise on the ''Billboard'' charts was a result of the partnership with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

that came after the close of the tour. "Between You and Me" was not played until the last dates of the tour, which was after this recording had taken place.

Track listing

Awards and recognition

The audio recording was awarded the 1997 Grammy Award for "Best Rock Gospel Album". It was certified gold by the RIAA (500,000 units sold) on October 25, 2000.

VHS version

Track listing

# "

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles " Help!" and " Ticket to Ride", ...

" (

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

cover) # "So Help Me God" # "Luv Is a Verb" # "

Colored People ''Colored'' (or ''coloured'') is a racial descriptor historically used in the United States during the Jim Crow, Jim Crow Era to refer to an African Americans, African American. In many places, it may be considered a Pejorative, slur, though it ...

" # "Like It, Love It, Need It" # "What If I Stumble" # "In the Light" # "Mind's Eye" # "Day by Day" # "Walls/Time Is..." # "Alas, My Love" # "The Hardway" # "

Jesus Freak ''Jesus freak'' is a term arising from the late 1960s and early 1970s counterculture and is frequently used as a pejorative for those involved in the Jesus movement. As Tom Wolfe illustrates in '' The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'', the term "fr ...

Description

The video was filmed in a variety of U.S. locations. This is evidenced by the band members wearing different clothes within the same songs. Footage was obviously spliced together. As with the audio version, dc Talk's mainstream hit "Between You and Me" had yet to be added to the set list at the time of recording. "Jesus Is Just Alright" and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" were left off the video recording due to time constraints. The video, however, added short segments between songs that were filmed at various stops in Europe.

Awards and recognition

The video was certified gold by the RIAA (50,000 units sold) on March 2, 1998.

DVD Version

Track listing

The DVD has the main feature of the VHS versions but adds the following bonus features: # "Jesus Freak" (music video) # "Just Between You and Me" (music video) # "Colored People" (music video)

Bonus disc

Included with an extremely select number of videos in 1997 was a four-song bonus disc. The cover reads "Limited Edition EP" although is more commonly called the "Freak Show Bonus Disc" among collectors of dc Talk's more rare releases. It contains the extremely rare release of "Colored People (Organic Mix)".

Track listing

# "In the Light" (Welcome to the Freak Show Live Version) # "Day by Day" (Welcome to the Freak Show Live Version) # "Colored People" (Organic Mix) # "What Have We Become?" (Jesus Freak Album Version)

Credits

dc Talk *

Toby McKeehan Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC), is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was first known f ...

– vocals *

Michael Tait Michael DeWayne Tait (born May 18, 1966) is an American contemporary Christian music artist. Michael Tait met Toby McKeehan in 1984 when he was in high school. Both Toby and Michael met Kevin Max while attending Liberty University in the late 1 ...

– vocals *

Kevin Max Kevin Max Smith (born August 17, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and poet. He is best known for being a member of the Christian pop group dc Talk. As a solo artist following the band going on hiatus, he has recorded 12 full-length stud ...

– vocals Live band * Jason Halbert – keyboards, organ * Brent Barcus – guitars * Mark Townsend – guitars * Otto Price – bass * Will Denton – drums * Marvin Sims – percussion Production * Dan Brock – executive producer *

Eddie DeGarmo Eddie DeGarmo (born October 3, 1954) is an American contemporary Christian music recording artist, keyboardist, producer and singer. He became best friends with guitarist/lead vocalist Dana Key in first grade, and co-founded the Christian rock ...

– executive producer * Toby McKeehan – producer, mixing *

John Hampton John Stephen Hampton (c. 1806 – 1 December 1869) was Governor of Western Australia from 1862 to 1868. Early life Little is known of John Hampton's early life. His death certificate states that he was born in 1810, but other evidence suggest ...

– mixing * Tim Roberge – engineer * Robert Tassi – engineer * Stan Coty – assistant engineer * Joe Hayden – assistant engineer * Tim Roberts – assistant engineer * Jeff Boggs – editing * Damon Riley – editing assistant * Erik Wolf – mastering * Louis Leluca – photography * Martha Neumann – photography * Tom Davis – art direction * Kevin Max Smith – poetry, art direction

References

{{dc Talk DC Talk albums Live video albums 1997 live albums 1997 video albums ForeFront Records live albums ForeFront Records video albums Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album Christian live video albums