POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Winans Triumph With Passionate Rock ‘n’ Soul Act

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 to vent it through.

At the 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.

The four-time Grammy winners make no attempt to secularize their music; it all has a Christian perspective. But unlike so much Christian music--which seems to take the attitude that if you say “Jesus” often enough, that’s all the inspiration that’s necessary--every facet of the Winans performance is infused with passion. Even the back line, their six-piece, synthesizer-laden band, flies with a joyful sweep and laughs while it plays.

And the Winans grasp the immediacy that is the so-elusive goal in rock music. In artistry, emotion and intent, their nearest rock co-efficient 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.

The set list was similar to last year’s tour, built off their “Return” album, but it sounded anything but tired. They opened with “Free,” singing with all the fire of the great Motown soul quartets of the ‘60s. Carvin’s aching falsetto struck an intimate note on “When You Cry.” On “Millions” each brother took a verse in his own direction before blending perfectly into the jointly sung choruses. Younger brother BeBe Winans joined them for his “Heaven,” with the four taking turns with sister CeCe’s part.

“Right, Left in a Wrong World” was an unsparing look at a time gone mad with political corruption and twisted televangelists, with its closing choruses peppered with wild Steve Gadd-like percussion flurries from band drummer Dana Davis.

One new standout in the show was a beautifully sung medley of Beatles’ songs. True to form, they were all given new gospel lyrics. Marvin said: “We changed the inspiration. They’re some wonderful songs; they were just about the wrong person.” Hence on “Yesterday” they sang “I believe in Calvary.”

While such an appropriation might not necessarily sound appealing on paper, their soulful versions of that song, “Something,” “The Long and Winding Road” and especially Ronald’s slow, passionate reworking of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” were nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Marvin, who also pastors a church 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.”