Whether you caught it live, or whether it was beamed to you through your television set, few will dispute that Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation Tour raised the bar for mega Gospel concerts, with lights, staging and more to gape at.

This video attempts to capture the essence of that tour, providing footage of the Baltimore Arena concert before multi-thousands of fans in January 1999. Over an hour’s worth of Kirk, CeCe Winans, Trin-i-tee 5:7, The Family, One Nation Crew (1NC) and Steps of Praise in non-stop energy is included. However, a video can never give you the real thing, so there are bound to be some who are disappointed that certain segments either weren’t included, or weren’t shown in their entirety.

Oh well. Tours cannot go on forever, and this is definitely the next best thing.

Highlights of the video include the mega-medley of Franklin hits from all albums, including “Praise Joint”, “Watcha’ Lookin’ 4”, "Melodies From Heaven" and “You Are The Only One”. With a remix of “He’s Able” and a disco flava tagged to “It’s Gonna Be A Lovely Day”, there’s variations of Franklin’s music on here that you just won’t find on CD.

Multi-level staging and flawlessly-stunning choreography work their desired effect. A low-key number of nearly the entire concert cast singing “Now Behold The Lamb” also provides some spine tingles.

CeCe Winans continues the medley trip by stringing together some of her biggest songs (some from waaaay back), and is more than ably backed by Franklin on piano. Her version of “I’ll Take You There” is another all-cast get together, and is lots of fun to watch.

The camera work showcases the talent of director Debbie Allen, and for the most part, succeeds in providing excellent footage that doesn’t distract from the performances (although some transitional segments seem to be victims of weariness in the editing room.)

With 1NC on the music horizon, it is likely that there will be another Kirk Franklin tour in the offing. In the meantime...