Yes, for those that aren't aware of who the gentleman is beside Kayla, that is Mark Hall the lead singer for Casting Crowns after the concert where all the performers from the concert met those with "backstage" passes. This was a little misleading because the meet and greet actually took place after the concert and at the top of the convention center/arena/meeting place thing rather than actually backstage. We really did have a good time with some friends of ours from Georgia and with Kayla's parents. We loved getting to hear Casting Crowns perform, but they were the headliners for a concert that featured six different either performers or ensembles, including: Michael English, Natalie Grant, Avalon, Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, and PureNRG. While we enjoyed most of these groups perform, it was a lot to pack into one concert.
Here were the final thoughts on the concert from my perspective: Denver and the Mile High Orchestra should have won "The Next Great American Band" last summer, those dudes can play! I am still trying to convince myself that if I practiced enough I could sound like they do (I'm not doing a very good job selling that line to myself.), Michael English has one of the best male voices I've ever heard, Casting Crowns should have played more (it was a wonderful worship experience with them, it was just over too quick), I've heard much better renditions of O Holy Night than the one I heard on stage, I think the kids (Pure...) were lip-synching I just can't believe that you can have that steady of a tone whilst doing a backflip, they still have some kinks to work out in the spotlight and balance departments, and probably the highlight of my night (other than getting to spend it with my wonderful wife on what felt like a semi-date) was getting encouraged and reminded of how much influence over lives I have as a music teacher. I got to have a pretty significant conversation with the drummer of the Denver group and the story he told me just reminded me to see my tough kids as a challenge rather than a problem.
Here are a few more pictures from the concert:
It was a very beautiful set and the stage lights were done very well. Christopher, if you read this, I noticed the lights and it was all because of you!
Wrap-up for the rest of my life right now: Thanksgiving was very fun in Houston; we got a Christmas tree tonight which Brenna thoroughly enjoyed, I realized that I have been doing a lot of talking about Santa and trying to get Brenna to not be scared of Santa when we see him again, but not a whole lot of talking about Jesus. I am now making a conscious effort to mention the reason for celebration of this season a whole lot more. We had 11 kids out of 17 that tried out make it to region band, and 4 kids advance to area including my bass trombone player. The 4 kids are a little misleading, though because 3 of the 4 were automatic advancers due to the lack of further competition (meaning they take two to the next round and there were only two who tried out). I have two concerts this weekend a concession stand on Monday and Friday of next week, a Veteran's Day program on Saturday next week and singing in the Christmas Cantata on the 14th. I'm sure I'm busy past that, but I'm too scared to look further. Right now, I'm just making sure my 6th graders can all play the songs together at the same time and it sound like something that might be recognizable to a loving, supportive parents ears. Pray for me! I'll let everyone know how it's going when I get a chance to breathe!
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