Concert Review: The Debut of Legacy 5’s New Lineup

Change, they say, is inevitable. Few genres of music experience the turnover in personnel that we see in Southern Gospel. But sometimes, change is a good thing. Sometimes it can bring a new direction, a new energy, and a breath of fresh air. This is what we experienced tonight with the debut of Legacy 5’s new lineup. Lee Black is the new tenor, Scott Fowler remains on lead duties, Bryan Walker is the new baritone, Matt Fouch continues to hold down the bass part, and Josh Townsend on piano rounds out the new lineup of the group.

Set List:

• Who Is This Man?
• A Comfort to Know
• I Found Grace
• I Stand Redeemed
• Getting Ready to Leave This World – piano solo
• Love Pure Love
• The Book
• Great Is Thy Faithfulness – Bryan Walker solo
• God’s Been Good
• Champion of Love

Intermission

• Well Done My Child
• God Bless the USA
• I Made It To Arlington
• Hallelujah Chorus
• In the Hands of a Carpenter
• When the Saints Go Marching In

First of all, though I REALLY wanted to do it, it was requested that no video be taken. So pictures are all I have. I talked with Scott before the concert, and he told me the record labels are going to try and crack down on videos and especially Facebook Live during concerts due to copyright laws. In this YouTube world, I’m pretty skeptical, but we’ll see how this goes.Legacy 5 took the stage tonight with a lot of energy. The excitement of finally getting on stage with the new guys was palpable. “A Comfort to Know” really set the tone for the night, as they inverted the last vocal chord up from the album cut, which helped the energy of the song immensely. This is as good a spot as any to brag on Lee Black. We already know he’s a fantastic writer, but he’s got a nice clear tenor voice and is likely their highest tenor since Frank Seamans. Just his range and clarity alone being a fresh sound to the group, and he did a masterful job on “I Stand Redeemed” and his own penned “In the Hands of a Carpenter”, which featured him moving to the keyboard and singing it as a duet with Fowler.

Both of the new songs that the group performed on their announcement video were performed, and “Love Pure Love” is especially catchy, while “The Book” is very strong lyrically. Bryan Walker then sang a verse of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” acapella, as he used to do with The Perrys. Bryan had been off the road for a few years now, but his voice is as strong and expressive as ever. His voice is so vastly different than Scott Howard’s, but with the brighter tenor tones of Lee Black, Walker fits like a glove. That combination has a world of potential. If you’ve never heard Josh Townsend’s testimony and heard him sing “God’s Been Good”, you need to do so as soon as possible. What a touching an encouraging message. The first half closed with a good rendition of “Champion of Love”.

After intermission, the group hit the stage with the old convention classic “Well Done My Child”. After a comedy bit, Josh Townsend took over the lead from Scott Fowler, but featured some of the highest harmony I’ve heard out of Legacy 5 in years while Matt Fouch rattled the walls with his bass note on the end and the crowd absolutely loved it! The concert ended with a rousing, New Orleans jazz inspired take on “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

For a debut of a new lineup, with 50% of the vocalists changing, the concert could only have been considered a rousing success. It sounds cliche to be sure, but the really was a renewed sense of energy and an enthusiasm in both the crowd and group that was easily felt. Vocally, these guys have a great blend and it will only get better with time to really gel. I’ve not said much about Matt Fouch yet, but this was my first opportunity to hear him and I came away incredibly impressed. He really kicked in the subs several times last night, but did so seemingly effortlessly and without even a hint of vocal fry. He’s got a really full, resonant bass voice that is very pleasing to the ear. Scott Fowler did a great job as lead singer and emcee. It was very obvious that he was excited to kick off this new era of Legacy 5, and mentioned several times that it was a historic night.

Replacing a founding member, especially after a long tenure, is always a challenge. Bryan Walker is definitely up to the challenge. He is so much opposite of Scott Howard vocally that I think it will work in his favor. There’s really no way to compare them as their voices are so different. Lee Black is a very big change at tenor, and it’s definitely a good change, especially with Bryan Walker’s lighter tones at the baritone spot. Having a songwriter of Black’s caliber in the group is also something to watch for, as I expect their material to take a huge leap as well, even as strong as it already was. The future for Legacy 5 looks extremely bright, and I’m excited to see how their sound evolves in the future. This was a great start.