Another concert - W&A and EP

We had our best concert so far - (a small clip)


W&A with Eric Peters from James Witmer on Vimeo.

My church has continued to be an enabler to me and supported another concert.  There are a handfull of artists that I enjoy greatly and would love to have play in my living room for us and a few friends.  I'd invite more than my house can hold so the church works very well.  I generally spring this idea on our church and they say run with it.

So this is attempt #3 at a concert at our church.  We had Phredd play in Novemeber '10, Randall Goodgame in February '11 and now Eric Peters this past week (May '11).

Concerts are an emotional roller coaster. 
Stage 1 - Nervous through the first interactions and getting everyone on board. 
Stage 2 - Joy once everything has a greenlight and you can go full bore into planning. 
Stage 3 - Frustrated at the lack of anyone else reflecting your enthusiasm as it gets announced, posters get hung, other venues are sought to fill the weekend for the artist.

C'mon Grove City College!  Independent musicians should be bread & butter stuff for college kids.  I'm trying to give food to starving folks and you're not sure if you can setup a buffet with an outsider.  "Me thinks thou doest protect too much."
(there I feel better)

Stage 4 - The Day.  Now the real ride begins.  The artist(s) show up, go through soundcheck and wait as ppl trickle in.  We struggle with attendance.  There were 55 in attendance so it is getting better, but still a struggle.  Every bit of this keeps me edgy.

Stage 5 - The Show.  Will the sound come through okay? will everyone have a good time?  About 4 songs in I've been able to relax and enjoy.

Something helped this time.

I rejoice that James Witmer came along part way through this process; Stage 3 to be exact.  He had so much energy and it was great to have a partner in battle.  We bounced ideas back and forth seeking to get the best concert out there for as many people as we could.

Also Stage 4 and 5 would leave me crying in a corner if not for support from my wife and our great church.  As I scramble to check the food, water, kids, tables, etc - it is already doing it or has it done.  I have no experience behind a soundboard so Mark "the evening" Hughes is the man who makes the buttons go to the right place to keep it all sounding good.

James and Vince Anastasi  helped HUGE with a 3-song opener.  Double blessing here.  First, it was great music.  Second, they brought there own crowd to the show.  If any future shows happen (Gully, AP a guy can dream) I will certainly seek them out to do it again.  I want to hear more of their stuff, I want them to have an audience for their music.

They were followed by EP.  Eric Peters is a unique singer.  He is influenced by some good classic music (Mammas & Pappas, Turtles, Simon and Garfunkel) and some 80's rock for a very nice sound.  The sound is tricky in that you don't realize how deep he is being with the writing.  I find myself enjoying the song immediately and 4-5 listens through I understand what it's about and sometime later (10-15) I get slammed by the beauty of what I'm hearing.

The concert was fun.  It was a great time at the show; and a great night hanging out as nearly middle aged men, as dads, and as Christians wrestling to be of use in our vocations/locations.