Written by Kaylee Beth Swayne
Despite snow and ice that locked Harding students on campus, Matt Wertz performed in the Administration Auditorium Friday, Jan. 29.
Approximately 200 students attended the concert, eager to hear from Wertz, a musician that many students were unaware of until the concert.
“I hadn’t heard many of his songs before the concert, but he was really a great performer live.” said Callie Huey, a sophomore at Harding University.
Wertz connected with his audience by talking and making jokes either about himself and Harding, showing his ability as a dynamic performer who kept the attention of the crowd the entire show.
While Wertz played many of his songs with his band, at one point in the show he had them exit the stage and he played acoustic.
Wertz shared that he had grown up in a church setting all his life, and that he shared a lot of the experience of being in an almost entirely Christian environment. Wertz said that he sometimes forgets how much God loves the world, and that he gave everything for it. Wertz said that he has only just started to fully remember God’s grace and believe in it again recently.
“It was really amazing to see someone who is famous like that profess their faith boldly,” Harding student Lauren Binford said. “It makes me respect him so much more as an artist.”
Wertz continued by playing an acoustic song about God’s message to the world, titled “I will not take my love away.”
“I will give you what you need in plenty or in poverty. Forever, always, look to me and I will give you what you need,” Wertz sang.
Wertz said a lot of people take this out of context and want to use this song for their wedding, but that the intended message is how much love God has for his children and how He is going to provide for them.
Wertz ended the concert by granting an encore, andstayed in the auditorium to students, sign autographs and take pictures.
Wertz was spotted on campus the next day in the student center and in the Heritage. His next tour stop is Nashville, Tenn.
