Yet another fan of Rich's is knocked out by the tour. Margaret Vitalis and I got to meet at a Whiteheart concert last April. It was one of my first face to face meetings with someone I first met on the 'Net. Cool, huh? BTW, I'm still trying to get together with Kathy Sanders for her story on Rich's birthday weekend. He had the next day off, and some friends hung out in Chicago to celebrate. Here's Margaret's review of the Chicago show...
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Once I realized that the Brother's Keeper tour wasn't coming anywhere near me (Minneapolis), I decided that a road trip was in order. Needless to say, this concert was well worth the 7-hour drive to Chicago. I managed to convince a couple of my girlfriends to come with me. I think they were more excited about the prospect of a weekend in Chicago, but they both really liked the concert.
I won't attempt to write a "real" review, partly because we've already seen a few of these, mostly because the concert was 3 weeks ago, and I'm a little fuzzy on the details! This will be more like my incoherent ramblings, so please bear with me.
I don't know if I've ever been to a concert where the opening musicians were of such high caliber. I would pay money to see any one of these artists as a headliner. I had just started gettting familiar with Carolyn Arends music, so I knew that I liked her style and her writing, but I was impressed beyond my expectations. She was warm, funny, personable, just overall a very likable performer. And if she hadn't mentioned it, nobody would ever have guessed that it was only her 2nd show back after severe laryngitis. Her voice sounded great!
Ashley Cleveland was excellent as well. What a voice! Her husband was backing her up on guitar, and I got the impression that this was just a one-time thing, but since then I've read where he's played with her at other stops on the tour. Another bonus was that when Henry came out on stage during "Henry Doesn't Care," he had one of his little friends with him.
And what can I say about Rich that hasn't already been said. It's such a pleasure to experience one of his concerts. I was very pleased with the set list--he played a lot of songs that I was hoping to hear, but never thought he'd play. "I See You" (one of my faves) sounded incredible with so many people singing. I just wish I would have been sitting a little closer to the stage--I love to watch Rich jam on that dulcimer. (I've decided to make that the next instrument I take up!)
I just have one last comment about the encore. I was really curious to see how Rich would handle this. He's not really the encore type, but I figured he wouldn't be able to get away without doing it at such a large venue. And the encore was in typical humble Rich Mullins fashion. Instead of coming back and doing a big hit, Rich, Ashley & Carolyn came out, and we just had a big sing-a-long, which further took the focus away from the stage and put it on God. He said we were just starting church a little bit early--a great way to end an incredible concert.
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Thanks Margaret! I really wish I could have made that one. Oh well, count down to Tulsa (since I have to miss KC as well).