This was one of the best days of my entire life:
1. Marrying Rachel
2. Birth of Adi
3. ?
4. ?
5. AVB Reunion concert
I cannot put into words the complete awesomeness of the 3 and half + hours of music. So instead, I will give you multiple video snippets and some commentary so that you, too, can experience just a small taste of what we in Nashville experienced.
If this is what heaven will be like, sign me up on the next train (do I get my own mic?).
Keith Lancaster and Rodney Britt started things off with a little history lesson of Acappella Ministries. In the beginning there were 4, then 3, then..."on the 7th day..." he created Rodney Britt's resonance.
Pretty amazing that 2 guys can stand on stage and sing, with the sound seeming so full. I don't know if it was just the vocals in my head or the audience singing, but they could have done an hour by themselves, and not many would have minded, it was so intimate.
The talked about the evolution of tracks, and how hiring "background singers" would help their backs. :) No more moving sound equipment! But the line of the night came from Rodney, "Hey Keith...I fell like we've finally made it. After 30 years...we're opening for AVB!"
The original AVB (Dale Cal, Dale Underwood, Jay Smith, Bret Testerman, and Terry Cheatham) graced the stage first, joining Keith and Rodney to drop a "bomb".
Check out pitchpipepro.com (Gary Moyers' blog) for some interesting stories, in podcast form, that led up to the concert. One story is that Jay Smith only lasted a week at the start, but managed to convince Keith to let him stay on as the vocal perc guy...I guess that worked out alright since he lasted through multiple albums and quite a bit of group turnover!
More than a Friend was next...with a literal shout out to the current Acappella high tenor.
What a great way to start the show! I know I wasn't the only one making the drum sounds during that song.
Keith explained that they started getting calls to book AVB, much to his surprise, for youth events and such. So the Vocal Band started to strike out on it's own a bit.
Give Me Light quickly became one of AVB's signature song, starting with Dale Cal showing off his range and then Terry Cheatham soaring.
Some may not remember that Acappella and AVB travelled for about a year after Keith lost his voice. As I recall, Bret picked up a lot of the slack after Keith left the road. But then the decision was to recruit in more guys and maintain seperate touring schedules for the two groups.
In 1988, a few weeks removed from HS graduation, a young skinny kid with a big, grown up voice made his debut with the group known as AVB. Thus spawning the oft spoken question, "How does such a big sound come out of THAT body?" :)
The Song in my Soul album was an instant hit and has become a classic. I believe that it is completely sold out on the website. So I guess if you have the CD or tape, it is now a collector's item!!!! :)
Some of the songs off Song in my Soul can be found completely re-done on other Acappella Ministry projects including Roll the Stone Away, Heaven, and Victim.
It was so neat to hear and see Danny Elliott recapture the old energy he brought to the stage. He was so distinctive in his style...and the boy could sing!
It was fun to see some of the singers (and their kids) wearing some of the old T-shirts. Only at a reunion concert would you see not just one Roll the Stone Away tee, but multiple tees!
Bret Testerman sounded the same as always. His voice has always been so powerful. I had not known that Victim was written by one of Bret's friends, Cass Midgley.
The transitions and different make-ups of the group were reflected so well during the concert. The Song in my Soul group saw Terry leave to a rousing applause, and the addition of Max Plaster and George Gee for Joy to the World off A Savior is Born. This has always been one of my favorite songs. And I don't know why this was the song that got me...but I just broke down, missing my mom. She was AVB's #1 fan (along with probably every other group member's mom)! But as Delisa said to me, she probably had the best seat in the house.
Bret leaves the stage to applause and hugs from the rest of the guys. As stated earlier, Bret was such an integral part of the transition from Acappella & the Acappella Vocal Band to Acappella and AVB (if you know what I mean). His charisma, stage presence, and the way he interacted with people was amazing!
The remaining four made "What's Your Tag Say?" This was the #1 selling AVB album in history. I had a 5 hour drive from Little Rock, and I had an AVB playlist on the iPhone starting at "the Early Years," and going all the way to "Real." Five hours of music, and I enjoyed listening to Tag the most. I had forgotten how awesome this album was...it's no wonder it has sold so many albums.
One of the cool things was seeing some of the old choreography and "costumes"...Growin' Up With King James.
"you can't go to church" was a phrase that Wes tortured me with for several months after Tag came out. I still think about this song anytime someone says "I'm going to church."
Now let me take a minute to brag on my kid. since you've seen my videos, let me show you one more. This is Adi learning to jump/dive into the pool, kick to the bottom, and retrieve diving rings...plus she's only 3 and a half! If you check out some of my past blog postings you'll find the video of her swimming by herself for the first time last summer at 2.
At this point it was prudent to shake the order up and go in reverse order. I think this mostly gave Wes and Max a chance to rest up a bit. So I'll also take a break and finish the postings of the "Real," "Way of Life," and "Party" crews later.
