Tonex: Out-The-Box The Movie DVD

By Donte Banks

Now a day everyone is talking about Tonex. You know Tonex right? The cat with the 6 Octave range, The dude with the funny hairstyles, the high energy eccentric brotha that gave us hits like Personal Jesus, God Has not 4Got, & the number one smash single Bout a Thang. Well, Mr. Tonex, Mr. Singer, Producer, Dancer, Director, and now Mr. Gammy nominated artist, is on the lips of everyone one in gospel again with his visual aid to the Out-The-Box release Out-The-Box The Movie DVD.

Out-The-Box The Movie DVD is a high energy high impact DVD that will not only entertain and bless you. It will make you take notice to this minstrel and his relationship with God. The movie, which is actually a mix between a live show at San Diego 's Civic Center in September 2003 and visual elements, is an eclectic hodgepodge of music and mirth with all emotions melding you into a Tonex fan and a Jesus freak all at once.

We open up with some out takes of Tonex and someone we assume is his mother (she refers to him as Anthony) riding the elevator as Tonex acts… Tonex and he introduces the tour and the concert. Many of these excerpt are to be found directly in the mist of the DVD, not put on a separate part like and out takes or back stage segment. But then again that is Tonex. Moving against the norm and breaking all manmade boundaries! Then we start the show with Yolanda Adams introducing Tonex. You can hear the ferventness in her voice as she begins shouting to get the crowd hyped for what is to come. Meanwhile Tonex comes out of a 9 Foot Box onto the Stage and welcomes The Peculiar People as they start the Progressive Rock part of the show. The first set includes Out-The-Box, The Trust Theory, and a true eye opener called Alive where Tonex's speaks as Jesus screaming and a hard rock fashion, “I'm Not Dead, I'm Still Alive!” This song should captivate any Christians heart even with it's aggressive beat and tempo. To hear Jesus say I could have called 10,000 to have my back but I took it like a champ and I'm not dead ran chills up my spine. From Rock to Progressive Gospel Tonex and the PP keep it moving as they shriek out the lyrics to Work On Me, one of the traditional church favorites of 04, and games where Tonex samples uses the theme song to Family Feud to make his point that U shouldn't play games with God. Don't say he didn't warn you… Tonex says about the creation of the song “Last year I was in Philadelphia and I was staying on floor 22. My wife was with me and we took the elevator down and I started writing the concept and putting it together. By the time we hit lobby, I had the whole song written. I told my wife, this is going to be crazy. No one does Family Feud and makes it a choir song. A traditional sounding choir song at that. The concept of what we are talking about would be an oxymoron. We would make it seem like a game, but the words would be very serious which help people digest serious soapbox, fire and brimstone messages in a way that they don't know that that's exactly what they are hearing until the end. The song goes from happy, country major triads to the end where it turns into a warning. There's a sense of alarm after the bridge. Have you been watching CNN?? You never hear choirs singing anything about CNN or about what everyone can relate to outside of church. That's what makes it hot.” The set ends with Tonex doing a round Robin and playing multiple instruments from the Organ to the Clavinet to the drums, proving once again that although he can blow… He is much, much, more than a singer.

The next set finds Tonex sitting at a piano doing a medley of his past hits, like Real with U and Taxi and also finds him giving up his seat for a young man named Kirk Franklin who accompanied Tonex on the hit song God Has Not 4Got. The two attempt to entertain the crowd and each other with their superior skills and Tonex shares some personal feeling with the city he calls home. Then we cut to a small scene of Tonex singing his often sung ballad To Know You Lord at New Birth Cathedral.

One of the true highlights of the DVD is the prequel to last years (2004) Stellar Awards performance of Todos Juntos where Brotha Anthony and Sister Sheila simply light the stage on fire. Pause for commercial…

Sheila E is an immensely talented percussionist who has shared the stage with musical greats like from Prince to Stevie wonder to Phil Collins to Marvin Gaye. She is a proven talent with Platinum albums of her own… Maybe some of you will remember Glamorous Life or Love Bizarre, and now that she is doing Gospel Music (Last 2 LP's on Concord Records) there is no limit to where the Lord can take her.

Tonex sings his heart out on this all Spanish praise song but the spirit of the song is multicultural, multilingual, and multispiritual. If you're not at least thinking about getting on your feet by the end of this song, I will pray for heeling in your legs or salvation in your heart! It's that serious!

Of course everyone is waiting for the breakout song of this album and of 2004 and after a true worship break your patience is affirmed. Tonex starts off with those powerful lyrics…

This song is so very important to the DVD and it gives you a chance to see Tonex in true worship. At some points it seems as though he just allowed you to spectate as he entertains God. But at this point in the DVD no more entertaining is necessary! It's all Worship!

Kirk comes back out for a high flying ending where he and Tonex participate in a dance off…(He Got U Kirk) and they just jam the night away. The band, the venue, the participants, and the crowd, everything about this DVD was well put together and very exciting to the senses. Tonex is able to show the world what San Diego already new… “He's Out the Box Booo”

Feedback - Donte Banks is a published writer, musical director, and songwriter from San Antonio TX. He has been writing since 1998 where he began his writing career at Music.com. There he wrote many reviews and recieved positive feedback from secular artists like BoyzIIMen and the Def Jam's A&R department. Since then he has taken over San Antonio's own The Davidian Project, a gospel group that travels accross South Texas sharing the gospel through song. Although raised around Gospel Music, Donte strayed a away for a season only to return more potent than ever with GospelCity.com, writing powerful reviews for Gospel artists from Byron Cage to Natalie Wilson.