Kari Jobe’s The Garden tour kicked off on Oct. 5, 2017, after her fourth full-length studio album of the same name dropped eight months earlier on Feb. 3. The 14-track album centers around the redemption found in Christ after suffering a heartbreaking, soul-crushing season. And Jobe’s tour performances followed in suit with a tracklist dedicated to praising God’s deliverance.
Jobe’s bandmate and husband of three years, Cody Carnes, opened the show with songs from his debut album The Darker the Night / The Brighter the Morning. Carnes’s album took the Kari Jobe audience by surprise with its alternative rock, electropop sound. But his strong vocals and convicting stage presence introduced the tour’s underlying message of God’s freeing power.
When Jobe finally took the stage, the audience kept to its feet with hands spread out as she belted highlights from The Garden and sang today’s top hits like “What a Beautiful Name” by Hillsong and “Here as in Heaven” by Elevation Worship. She made sure to include fan favorites like “Revelation Song” and closed the night with “Forever,” a seemingly go-to finale track.
Jobe’s sound was clear and clean, as it typically is. But what made these performances unique was the theme of redemption as mentioned earlier. In a YouTube interview hosted by her husband Cody Carnes, Jobe shared that the album title was born out of a family tragedy; the lead singer’s sister, Chris, lost her baby just months before Jobe became pregnant with her first child, Canyon.
Vulnerably recalling that season, Jobe says, “It was grieving but celebrating all at the same time, which is uncharted waters — for many people.” She goes on to describe the paralyzing pain her family suffered and how God met her where she was, disappointments and all. “I feel like you,” Carnes adds sympathetically, “you’ve really cut your heart open and really allowed people to see the process.”
The couple shares how their family’s story of redemption symbolized regrowth in the garden, connecting even to the name of Chris’s lost baby: James Ivy. However, Carnes explains that the big picture is “redemption back to that garden of Eden. That original intent” for God’s relationships.
Jobe and Carnes’s partnership—in both musicianship and marriage—are evident every moment of the night. But the core-striking, soul-healing takeaway from The Garden is Jesus’s revenge on the enemy and the re-claiming pursuit of His bride.
For more information, visit Kari Jobe’s website for city dates and ticket purchases.
Featured Image by Corinne Kutz
