Aussie rockers arrive with a little help from their Third Day friends

Australian rockers Revive met Third Day in 2007 and the quartet from Sydney hasn’t been the same since. Revive and a few other bands opened shows for Third Day during the group’s Australian tour, but Revive was the only one “cheeky” enough to ask Third Day to watch its set and provide feedback, said Dave Hanbury, Revive’s frontman.

“Third Day said, ‘If you ever come to America, please let us know.’ Maybe they didn’t watch the other opening acts,” Hanbury told Christian Retailing.

Revive came to America—they sold everything and brought their wives—with nowhere to live long-term. But the four members had a dream and Mac Powell’s phone number. Now, more than a year later, the band is set to release its first North American album, Chorus of the Saints, out March 10 on Third Day’s label imprint, and is ready to open for Third Day on a 35-city tour starting March 5.

Revive’s music features driving pop-rock and some nice ballads. “You Know,” a strong, mid-tempo song about God’s provision, features vocals from Third Day’s Powell.

Hanbury is most interested in discussing how his band really “connects with the audience”—“maybe that’s what (Third Day) saw in us,” he said—as well as how God has provided for him and his band mates on their unlikely journey to America.

“I just committed this whole trip to the Lord,” he said. “When we arrived in the Atlanta airport, we bumped into this lovely Christian lady who asked us were we going to be living in Atlanta.” After hearing their story, the woman found several band members fully furnished, rent-free apartments.

Revive’s story to date is evidence that Third Day believes in the band, and, it seems, someone else does, too. “God says, ‘Trust Me, and I will provide for you,’ ” Hanbury said. “That’s been our mission, to really trust Him. He wants us on our knees.”

To order Chorus of the Saints, visit www.provident-integrity.com or call 800-333-9000.

• Prev
• Next