GAITHER HOMECOMING
CONCERT
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
OCTOBER 2, 2004
TAYLOR MASON - CROSS OF
CHRIST CHURCH
LAKEVILLE, MN
OCTOBER 3, 2004
Romeo and Taylor at Cross of Christ Church, Lakeville
For this year's concert, it was great to have someone else driving--especially in Minneapolis on a weekend, in the midst of prime construction season, Twins and Gopher football games. Connie (Buckey) was my driver (I served as navigator/human map). But an hour before we were supposed to leave from my place, I wondered if she would ever get there. She said she thought she'd be here at 1, but it was getting close to 2 p.m and I was starting to panic. I decided to go downstairs and wait for her. I took my cell phone and called my voice mail on my regular line, but the voice mail system decided to be down and render my phone number non-existent. So I decided to go back upstairs and wondered if I should call and find out when she left (and possibly panic her poor husband Mick). No sooner did I get back in my apartment, did I find a message from Connie saying she was, indeed, downstairs. Wouldn't ya know! (Delayed by---you guessed it--construction!) She came up, toured the accommodations of Hotel Wendy where she would be staying overnight, and we were on our way. A 25 minute ride took us 40 minutes to get there, thanks for aforementioned sports traffic.
We continued our pre-show tradition of meeting at Old Chicago restaurant. This year's pre-show get together consisted of me, Connie (Buckey), Denise (Budzmom), her husband Scott, son Brandyn, Marti (Delmar) and Del, and Tara (HisFavoredChild_1) and her parents. Connie and I left a little early to get there, do some quick socializing at Anthony's table (and for me, a stop at Ernie Haase and Signature Sound's table to offer the guys this advice, "keep the hair and boogie down, fellas!") check in with Taylor Mason and find our seats.
I got on the floor and thought for sure I would find my seat easily. However, when I got to section floor 5, row 2, seat 17 I was supposed to have was not there. Turns out the powers that be felt that I and others in like areas wouldn't be able to see at all due to the equipment setup, so we were being reassigned seats. OK, I thought, so long as it's one I can get in and out of easily. Due to all the distraction of this, I missed the name of the blonde singer in the blue jacket who opened the show (update: Nicole Watts Jenkins). But moments later, an usher came to me and told me to follow her. "You'll like this seat," she said. She was right. I was put in the front row, dead center in front of the up close and personal monitors. So, there is a ticket snafu story with a happy ending! Except for one detail. At the restaurant, I discovered my camera batteries were toast. I decided at that time not to walk up a couple blocks before the show and get new ones. I didn't really care then because I figured I'd only be shooting over heads where I was sitting and wouldn't get any good pictures. When they put me in the front row, all of a sudden I started to care. But it was too late then, and I rationalized, oh well, front row or not, I didn't exactly possess the Mary Hamilton gift of photography, so I will leave it up to those who will do better. Connie loaded me out her camera for the second half. I went for some of the monitor shots I am known for getting...except this time, it was on purpose.
We had a good fairly full house on this one, once all the busloads arrived and people got in place. In short, the show was much like others in past months in terms of lineup, routines ("Pharoah", "Eastern Sky" etc and many other normal crowd favorites). Personal highlights: Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. They have spiky hair, short ties, dance moves ...I loved all of that, along with the fact that they are very, very good. It is very easy to see why there is a buzz about these fellows. They also picked up some of the "Old Friends Quartet" songs and did a great job. Taylor had some new material and showed how creative one can be with a gutted out tennis ball. It was very nice to see Judy Martin Hess in the lineup. Russ Taff the encourager is just a joy to watch and hear when he is performing solo...and got lots of encouragement himself from the audience. By request (LB), I will not hesitate to mention that as usual, David Phelps excited the crowd with "End of the Beginning". This was not my first time hearing Marsh with the GVB--they were solid and tight. And all the artists I didn't mention...well, I love you all as much as ever, what can I say!
Onward to Sunday morning, when Taylor Mason appeared at the Cross of Christ Church in Lakeville (half an hour south of the Twin Cities). We both agreed that this was one of the most inspirational shows we've ever seen Taylor do. With a wide ranging audience demographic, Taylor added something of interest to everyone (and explained to each group what they'd hear and see). Taylor shared much about his life, his faith, and his art (including some background on ventriloquism in general), using the puppets to get his message across and keep everyone royally entertained. We met so many people both on Saturday and Sunday who feel just so blessed by Taylor's special gifts and genuine spirit.
Many people knew that Taylor recently performed on the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon. I had a chance to ask him about that experience. He shared that every one of "Jerry's kids" he had met were strong in their particular faith. He noted that many of them had Bibles with them. Taylor found it to be one of the most inspiring experiences he's had and hopes to do the show again next year.
Once again, a weekend filled with faith and friendship (and cool but perfect weather). The only thing wrong with it was that it had to end sometime.
Next stop: Praise Gathering.