Pop Music : Winans Go Full-Throttle in Anaheim

The Winans don’t just sing about their gospel passion, they embody it: They radiate. They exult. They reach. And it’s such a propulsive force, you feel they’d probably explode if they didn’t have throats through which to vent it.

At Anaheim’s Celebrity Theatre on Friday, brothers Marvin, Ronald, Carvin and Michael Winans’ full-throttle, 110-minute show melded the fervor of a tent meeting with the uptown pulse of modern R&B;, which, of course, has its roots in the same soil. In artistry, emotion and intent, their nearest rock counterpart may be Van Morrison. And there are four Winans, enabling them to pass the vocal baton in an ever-ascending relay.

All are tremendous singers, though Marvin in particular is gifted with a voice that lands somewhere between Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass. When, on the devotional “A Friend,” he sang “There is a friend that’s closer than my twin,” and then that twin and the other brothers joined in rapt harmony, you knew he wasn’t just dealing in distant metaphors.

Younger brother BeBe Winans joined them for his “Heaven,” with the four taking turns with sister CeCe’s part. One standout new bit was a beautifully sung medley of Beatles songs, given gospel lyrics--such as “I believe in Calvary” for “Yesterday.” Marvin, a pastor in Detroit, took the Easter weekend crowd to the river with some heated preaching, before the group closed with its rapturous hit “It’s Time.”