Video Review: Gaither Vocal Band – We Have This Moment

by | May 19, 2018 | DVD Review, Reviews

May 18 – Gaither Vocal Band – We Have This Moment (DVD)

We Have This Moment by the Gaither Vocal Band presents a rare case. The quality of the DVD is top notch, as my 4 1/2 Star rating reflects, but some of you may not want to buy it.

The selection includes the same twelve songs that appeared on the We Have This Moment CD that released last year, plus an off-the-cuff/incomplete version of “Low Down The Chariot” and a very nice barbershop harmony piece titled “We’ll Talk It Over.” Songs appear in the same order as the CD, aside from the two additions. Between the performances are segments where the group members discuss the songs and share anecdotes about working together as a musical team. Gloria Gaither and long-time GVB guitarist/bandleader Kevin Williams are also involved in these conversations.

“Low Down The Chariot” and “We’ll Talk It Over” are sung around the piano in the same setting as the spoken segments. “Chain Breaker” recycles footage from the Country Roots DVD (with the Oak Ridge Boys and Gatlin Brothers) that Gaither Music Group released earlier this year. “Chain Breaker” is the only song performed in front of a live audience.

The other eleven songs are concept videos recorded in the same studio setting, but with occasional scenes added to enhance the message. “Manna From Heaven” begins with a vintage black and white effect, for example, while “Hymn Of Praise” includes lyrics with the performance.

So, why might some fans want to skip purchasing the We Have This Moment DVD? Well, every video performance other than the incomplete version of “Low Down The Chariot” is already on YouTube, and I don’t mean previous footage of the GVB singing these songs. You can watch the same footage featured on the We Have This Moment DVD on YouTube’s official Gaither VEVO channel. I’ve made it easy for you. Just scroll down below where I’ve listed the song titles, and click each song title to watch them right now. Once you’ve viewed the songs on YouTube, you can still buy the DVD if you want, but at that point your purchase will primarily be to see the spoken interludes between the songs.

By the way, I mentioned “Chain Breaker” features footage from Country Roots, but the Gaither Vocal Band also recorded a studio version of that song in the same setting as the other concept videos on We Have This Moment. You can view that version of “Chain Breaker” on YouTube as well.

Label: Gaither Music Group
Producer: Bill Gaither
Length: 1 hour and 33 minutes
Song Titles: Hallelujah Band; Man Of Sorrows; Livin’ In The Rhythm Of Grace; I’ll Worship Only At The Feet Of Jesus; Chain Breaker; Low Down The Chariot; Manna From Heaven; We Are The Sands We Are The Stars; We’ll Talk It Over; We Are All God’s Children; Jesus Messiah; You Amaze Me; We Have This Moment, Today; Hymn Of Praise
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

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David Bruce Murray

David Bruce Murray

David Bruce Murray is a church music director in Ellenboro, NC. He is the author of Murray's Encyclopedia Of Southern Gospel Music and the owner of both SGHistory.com and MusicScribe.com.

2 Comments

  1. Kyle Boreing

    This is a concept that I had proposed a while back – record concept videos and release them on YouTube, followed by a “compilation” DVD for purchase for those who either don’t care to watch them on YouTube or want a physical copy on hand.

    This goes along with another proposal I’ve made several times – release songs to streaming platforms (Apple Music, Spotify) in small intervals, then once you’ve released around 8-10 songs, put them on a physical release either to retail or via mail order with additional “exclusive” cuts not available via streaming to drive sales.

    In this case, Gaither included B-roll/interviews to drive sales of the DVD.

    Reply
    • David Bruce Murray

      I wonder how much the profit on a DVD compares to the profit of someone viewing all the YouTube videos from the DVD, say, 10 times each. Add to that the number of people who watch videos on YouTube, but would never buy a DVD.

      I’m just not convinced putting so much of the DVD footage on YouTube before the DVD is released is beneficial to overall sales. If Gaither is going that route, it seems it might be more profitable to skip producing a DVD. I get that some people really enjoy the interviews, etc., that aren’t on YouTube, but my gut feeling is they’d see more DVDs move if they’d only teased us with say 3-4 songs on YouTube leading up to the DVD release.

      Reply

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