June 23, 2010
by Wes Burke
Last Friday night, my wife and I attended one of the Cathedrals Tribute series concerts, that are promoted as “An Evening To Remember.” Quite so. The concert was held at a fairly large church in Olive Branch, MS. The balcony area was empty, but the main floor of the sanctuary was pretty much full. My guess would be 400 or so in attendance. We were a bit surprised that there weren’t more people, as I said, no one was in the balcony area at all. There was no opening group (thankfully), and the concert lasted for nearly four hours.
First on stage was Danny Funderburk. I’ve had to guess at a couple of these song titles, but the guess does at least make sense, and here is his set list:
- The Offer Still Stands
- He Set Me Free
- Rise Up And Walk
- Everybody Praise the Lord
- You’re Still God
- Statue Of Liberty
Danny may not have the range that he used to have, but his voice is still strong and pure. Most of his solo stuff is pitched more in a lead or baritone range, so much so that Christy leaned over and said “I thought he was a tenor singer??” at one point. That was a bit of a shock to us, as I’d not really heard much from Danny since his Perfect Heart days, save a couple of Silent Power cuts and a Royals cut here and there. However, Danny still has that ability to connect with his audience, and still can convey his message in song like few others. He used a video presentation with “Statue of Liberty” that was very well done, and added a lot to the impact of the song. Danny has had a lot of major health issues over the past 4 years or so, and it’s nothing short of a miracle that he is still standing on stage and performing at a high level. It was good to see and hear him again.
Next came the Mark Trammell Quartet, whom I was looking very much forward to seeing. I’d not seen Mark since his Gold City days. Here is their set list:
- Gentle Shepherd
- Hallelujah I’m Going Home
- How Big Is God
- Leave Your Sorrows And Come Along
- Loving The Lamb
- I’ll Have A New Life/Everybody Will Be Happy Over There
MTQ hit the stage with Dustin Sweatman at the piano and Mark playing bass. “Gentle Shepherd” was incredibly smooth. Pat Barker has really made a name for himself with “How Big Is God”, and could soon be likened to Ernie Haase and “Oh What A Savior” in that he has taken an “oldie” and turned it into a signature song all of his own. He really does an outstanding job on it, and has a tremendously expressive bass solo voice. After that song, Dustin got up from the piano for the next two. “Loving The Lamb” is absolutely huge. Great lyrics, great arrangement, great performance. Barker’s bass foundation really completes the song, and Mark absolutely sings the fire out of it. Easily one of the highlights of the night, but so was the next song. Mark said “I’ve got 3 minutes left and I don’t know what to do with myself…”, and at this point Legacy 5 had made their way to the stage and were sitting down in some chairs off to the side. Mark said he’d had a request for an old Cathedrals tune, left the mic for a minute and spoke with Dustin and Pat, then Dustin started into the Cathedrals’ classic medley of “I’ll Have A New Life/Everybody Will Be Happy Over There.” The crowd ate it up, so they encored it and Legacy 5 joined in on the encore. It was a great moment.
Obviously Legacy 5 hit the stage next. After some humorous banter between Mark and Scott, L5 got their set going. Here is the set list for them:
- Strike Up The Band
- I’ve Been Changed
- Wonderful Grace Of Jesus (piano solo)
- I Stand Redeemed
- Life Will Be Sweeter Someday
- Great Is Thy Faithfulness
“Strike Up The Band” is a great, high-energy song for Legacy 5 to hit the stage running, so to speak. Glenn Dustin’s performance of “I’ve Been Changed” is fantastic, and Tim Parton is a true piano guru. Gus does well with the reinvented version of “I Stand Redeemed”, and it’s a great feature for his full-voiced tenor style. He has really fit in well with Legacy 5, and has taken them to another level. “Life Will Be Sweeter” is another Cathedrals tune that popped up before the actual “tribute” started, and they do well with it. “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” is a typical Goss epic ballad, and was another one of the night’s highlights. I came away incredibly impressed by Legacy 5, their sound with Gaches has really gelled.
Sitting in the headliner slot was Greater Vision. I was very excited to get to hear them so soon into Allman’s return tenure with the group. Their set list included only one “recent” GV song, the rest have been around for quite a while:
- I Could Never Praise Him Enough
- He’d Still Been God
- Tell Me The Story Of Jesus/I Love To Tell The Story
- You Better Hurry Up
- Hallelujah Square
- My Name Is Lazarus
- It Pays To Pray
I hadn’t heard Greater Vision in concert since the mid-late 90s at the beginning of the Waldroup era. Chris Allman has either been stuck in a time warp, or had his voice cryogenically preserved. He sounded amazing, like he just stepped out of 1994. My earlier comments about Pat Barker and “How Big Is God” could easily be repeated here for Allman and “Hallelujah Square.” One advantage to a previous member returning to a group is that it does not take long for the sound to gel, and that is the case here. They’ve just kept going without missing a beat, and are vocally top notch. I also really liked the pacing of their set, it was pretty much high energy from the get-go.
After an intermission, Gerald, Scott, Mark, Danny, and Glenn performed their tribute to the Cathedrals and shared some stories along with the singing. Here is the set list:
- Plan Of Salvation
- Master Builder
- There’s Something About That Name
- I Will Serve Thee
- Somebody Touched Me
- Movin’ Up To Gloryland
- Heavenly Parade
- Boundless Love
- Wonderful Grace Of Jesus
- Daystar
- Champion Of Love
“Plan Of Salvation” was pretty predictable to start out this portion of the concert, but the predictability in no way compromises the effectiveness. Gerald played for Danny, Scott, Mark, and Glenn, and those four have a really nice blend. Glenn Dustin deserves some praise here. His performance was very reminiscent of George Younce, without being an obvious imitation of George. His approach to the song was similar to George’s, without mimicking Younce’s vocal stylings. In George’s absence, no one could do a finer job on the song than Glenn Dustin. “Master Builder” was as great and exciting as ever, and the next two songs “Something About That Name” and “I Will Serve Thee” featured some really smooth harmonies. Danny gave a great performance on “Somebody Touched Me.” I mentioned that he’d lost some range over the years, but listening to this song took you back 20 years or so. “Movin'” provided some nice comedic fodder. First, Pat Barker had written out the words for Glenn Dustin, and had purposefully mixed the lyrics up. At one point, Gerald took over singing bass for Glenn with Tim Parton moving to the piano, and in “retaliation”, Glenn started pulling the slack out of Gerald’s mic cord, with the unexpected result of nearly changing Gerald from a bass to a soprano! Gerald quipped as he avoided the cord, “You about made me jump 2 octaves!” After the laughter subsided from ALL parties, Gerald stayed on bass vocals for an acappella rendition of “Heavenly Parade.”
Dianne Wilkinson was in attendance that night, and so the guys paid tribute to her by singing her monster hit, “Boundless Love”, and again, you’d have thought you were listening to the Travelin’ Live album. “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” was delightfully disastrous, then Gerald, Mark, and Danny provided another concert highlight with an incredible performance of “Daystar.” “Champion Of Love” concluded the night with everyone on stage for the finale.
This was one of the most enjoyable concerts that I’ve ever attended. Gus Gaches told me afterwards that a lot of what went on during the Cathedrals tribute was spontaneous and unplanned, but that was what they all enjoyed about these concerts. The artists are truly having as much fun with it as the audience is in listening. If you get a chance to attend one of these, do not miss it! You’ll laugh, cry, and have the time of your life! Thanks guys for a wonderful evening!
Burke's Brainwork 
Recent Comments