Last year, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his studio album, Speechless, CCM legend Steven Curtis Chapman launched [SPEECHLESS] The Tour with the ambitious goal of playing the 1999 album from start to finish, for the first time, in front of a live audience. To help recreate the sonic textures of the album - particularly the orchestral flourishes - the La Vie Quartet accompanied Chapman and his full band on the road to provide string accompaniment. Now, for 2026, SCC and company have added more dates, continuing the successful Fall 2025 run into the spring.

I love full-album live shows. They're usually pretty rare, and they're usually celebrating iconic records. Furthermore, it's often the only way to hear some of the artist's deeper cuts performed live, too. While it's not exactly the first album that comes to mind when I think of SCC, Speechless is still an iconic Steven Curtis Chapman release. I'll never forget listening to the songs for the first time and hearing the edgier, more rock elements that were a bit of a departure from Steven's usual, more acoustic-based sound. It's a grand album, and when I saw a Pennsylvania date added to the spring leg of the tour, I knew it was a must to experience for myself.

As one might expect, the audience of the Keswick Theater was a mix of grown up 90s kids with their own kids in tow, and even some of the 90s kids' parents. It warmed the heart to see some younger folks in the crowd (and I was excited to have my own 15-year-old son along with me for his first experience of seeing Steven Curtis live. SCC's music got me through some really tough times when I was his age, and it was quite a full-circle moment to see him - not only experiencing, but enjoying one of my favorite and most spiritually influential artists in person).

The doors opened at 6, and the show began a little after 7pm. Since Steven was performing Speechless from front to back, there were little surprises to what songs he'd be playing - but that wasn't an issue. It just meant we were all in for a treat when he opened big with one of his most loved songs, "Dive." Right off the bat, the La Vie Quartet were a welcomed addition to his show. The last time I saw Steven live, it was on his SOLO tour in 2018, which was literally just Steven, a microphone, his guitar, and a piano. It was a great show, but a much different experience. This tour, though? Yeah, this was the sweet spot.

As expected, "Speechless" was next, and then Steven paused to introduce his tight-knit band and the talented La Vie Quartet. After that, he continued to play through the album, one encouraging rocker and inspirational ballad after another. Before "Fingerprints of God," he talked briefly about how the song was written to encourage his daughter Emily when she was little, and how it was a response to a time when she'd struggled with feeling ugly and inadequate. After "The Invitation," Steven joked that this marked the end of "Side A" for the album, and talked about how it was more recently pressed on vinyl for the first time. He then mentioned how, if you flipped the vinyl over, you'd hear this - and after a needle-drop sound, he launched into the boisterous "Whatever."

The rocking "I Do Believe" was a set highlight, and then he performed his love song to wife Mary Beth, "What I Really Want To Say," before talking about how grief and loss led to the penning of the next song, "With Hope." The album version of the song began with little Erin Mullican, a friend of the family, singing "Jesus Loves Me," but the live concert version featured a recording of his own grandchildren singing it. (The song was inspired by the Mullican family's loss of Erin, who'd died in a car accident at age 9.)

For the instrumental "The Journey," Chapman furiously picked at his guitar strings while the Quartet recreated the beautiful arrangement. The Speechless set then came to a soft close with one of my favorite ballads of Steven's, "Be Still and Know" - and hearing it live did not disappoint. After the set finished, Steven talked about the Chapman family adoption charity Show Hope, and even introduced some of the families the organization has helped who were in attendance this evening. Before leaving the stage, he annnounced a second set would be coming after a brief intermission, and left the stage.

It's funny, because having an intermission in the middle of the set, coupled with an organization pitch like Show Hope (where other shows might have World Vision, Compassion International or Food for the Hungry), felt very reminiscent of 90's Christian concerts, so while some shows and tours still have those moments, it kind of added to the throwback feel of the evening.

After a lengthy intermission, it was roughly around 9pm or so - maybe later - when SCC returned with his band to perform a short second set. The Quartet opened with the "Overture" that precedes "The Great Adventure" on the original album, and Steven then emerged to perform what is easily still the biggest hit of his illustrious career. A fun medley of "Live Out Loud," "Dancing with the Dinosaur," "Let Us Pray," and "Lord of the Dance" followed (although, I would have loved to hear full songs of all of those, too), and then he played in full "For the Sake of the Call," "I Will Be Here," and "Cinderella." For the latter one, he briefly shared the story of how he'd written it after a tough night of rushing his adopted daughters to bed. As he performed the song, a father stood with his young daughter in his arms and swayed with her. Before the song's close, Steven encouraged folks to stand and dance with the loved ones next to them. It was a tender little set moment (that even made SCC emotional). He shared one last word of encouragement before playing his final song, "Don't Lose Heart," and then, as the song ended, brought back a reprise of "Dive" to finish the night right where it began.

If you've ever been a fan of SCC's music, this tour is not only an absolute delight, it's a gift. Truly. Steven paved the way for a lot of today's Christian artists, but also represented such a beautiful time in Christian music where music was topically and spiritually rich, and honored the Lord without needing to be specifically crafted for Sunday morning replay. Go see this tour; take the family. It just might leave you speechless.

From the merch table: I took a peek at the merch offerings for Steven Curtis Chapman, and there were several t-shirts and a long sleeve turtle neck shirt, as well as some fun accessories (like a "Speechless Tour" koozie, "Great Adventure" tote bag, etc). Speechless recently made its vinyl debut, and they have it at the merch table - along with his latest studio album, Still, for $50 a pop. You could also buy an autographed copy of the Speechless vinyl for $100(!). The shirts and turtle neck were $30 each, which isn't cheap, but a little better than $40 a tee I was seeing at shows last year from other bands. He also had his brand new book, Still Here, which he wrote with his wife Mary Beth, on sale early, as it's slated for release nationwide later this month.