I knew as soon as the tour got started this list would get a little more active.
Chris and Melanie Castleberry [begin review clip]
It's Chris and Melanie in Houston. Thought we'd let you know how the
concert was in Houston. Rich sure didn't let us down. True to form, it
was a feast for the ears, the heart, and the soul.
Carolyn Arends was such a treat. What a talented lady. We just recently
got her album and have been thoroughly enjoying it! Her songs run
deep,as Rich's do, and she has this incredibly refreshing way of
delivering them. She had such a precious personality too. Ashley
Cleveland's voice and guitar playing were amazing! When she sang "Henry
Doesn't Care" Beaker brought her three-year old, Henry, up on stage. It
was really cute.
We had never been to this particular theatre before. It had great
acoustics (although they had a few minor sound problems),and a really
intimate atmosphere and a cool rotating stage.(It was a round theatre.)
Rich and the guys seemed to be in a great mood. One neat benefit of
this rotating stage was that we got to view the musicians from various
angles throughout the night and you could really get a keener
appreciation for their talents this way. We thought Aaron Smith was a
great drummer before, but getting to occasionally see him strut his
stuff from behind was amazing!
Of course the highlight of a Rich Mullins concert is getting to hear
the things he has to say. We always love how Rich is so honest about
his weaknesses. He gave this great message about fleeing temptation and
resisting the devil. Every time we see him (this is the 4th time) or
hear or read an interview, or read one of his articles, and certainly
when we listen to his music, we come away feeling well fed. He always
gives us a lot to chew on and ponder, along with a huge dose of
encouragement.
We could never give an adequate enough critique to equal the
performance they all gave, so we'll just sum it by saying that it was
so VERY, INCREDIBLY, GOOD! A few of the songs we really enjoyed that
night (not necessarily our favorite Rich songs overall ) were Eli's
Song", "Cry the Name", "Quoting Dueteronomy..", "Boy Like Me" (they
really performed this in such a fun way), "One Thing", "Creed", "The
Color Green", "Brother's Keeper", ... Never mind. We liked them all.
Something else that was neat about the concert was that although
Carolyn and Ashley each had their own turn at the beginning, they were
also incorporated into the show later on. Rich and the band backed up
Carolyn on her song "Power of Love" (Awesome!), and then they backed up
Ashley on "Soon and Very Soon"(Again, what a voice! What a privilege to
see a performer of her caliber.) On the encore, Rich had Ashley lead
while he and Carolyn backed her up.We also really like how Rich (at
least on the last few shows we've seen of his) ends his concerts with
the Doxology. It just caps the whole night off with a real special,
sweet spirit.
We brought our five kids with us this year (ages 10, 8, 6, 4, and 3).
They really enjoyed it. They've grown up with Rich as such a big part
of our family's life. It's no secret to them that their parents are
major fans. We have an autographed picture of us with him on our
bedroon wall, and when we took the kids this time we hoped that maybe
we could get a picture of them with him. Well God is so wonderful that
He cares even about our silly little wishes, because when the concert
was over, and we were leaning towards skipping the autograph party at
the bookstore so as not to have our little ones out past midnight, we
just happened to run into Rich before we left the theatre! We got the
coveted picture of our kids with "Uncle Rich" after all and were able
to drive away that night with no regrets! Oh, and we also bought a cool
painting from Beaker!
By the way, we received your mail about Ashley's van being broken into
while we were in the middle of this review. We are so sorry to hear
that. It is so weird because we have prayed for this tour more than any
other tour or concert before. We've been especially impressed to pray
for the whole crew's safety. We will definitely continue to pray.Hope
it didn't ruin the whole tour for poor Ashley. We thought Carolyn was
traveling with Ashley. Did her things get stolen too? That is such a
major bummer.
[end review]
Danl here again..
I hadn't heard anything about Carolyn's stuff getting stolen, but if I hear any other news, I'll pass it along. God Bless Your Day!
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