Spring Fling, Day 1 - Friday Concert

(It's 2 am as I'm writing this, I've been battling this computer ever since the evening's event ended to try to get it to work, and I've finally won. So, my apologies if I am tardy on subsequent reports and if this report is slightly incoherent. Don't blame me, blame my laptop.)

There was a lot of mingling and visiting with old and new friends before the night's concert. Even Mark himself was out and about. (For those of you who are wondering what he thought of my new look, I guess he liked it. He did notice it, and when I noted that I wondered if he'd recognize me, he said "Why wouldn't I? It looks like Wendy." I was afraid for a moment there he was going to respond the way my pastor did, which was: "It doesn't look any different.")

I couldn't stop staring at the stage--even before the concert started. The background was a beautiful starlit effect that kept changing colors. Michael Lord welcomed us by assuring us it was going to be a great weekend. The show kicked off with Mark and LordSong singing "God Calls Us All", followed by "In the Garden".

Spring Fling is, by the way, a key event in the year long celebration of Mark's 50th birthday (which is actually in June). Mark told us that somebody owed him something, so we were in for a few surprises over the weekend.

After LordSong did "Lord of the Dance", Mark poked fun at all the denominations represented by the crowd ("Tell Mary I said hey, and thanks for the song"). Stan Whitmire fired us up with a rousing piano number, and Mark did his parody "You Gotta Have Skin" which he interrupted a couple of times by musing about a couple of things he'll be dealing with at age 50: necessary medical checkups and belching.

The first of the regular Senior Trip "family" members, Woody Wright, came out and did "Back Home Again" (starting with a hilarious impression of Bill Gaither requesting him to do the song during a taping in Colorado). He then reminded this makeover queen and all of us that no matter what we look like on the outside, God is looking at our hearts. Woody then brought out his lovely wife, Vonnie, a very fine singer (check out their "Unbounded Love" duo album). They have been married five years and shared how they both dealt with fear...Vonnie became a widow at age 44 after Danny Gaither's passing and Woody experienced a difficult divorce. Singing "You Belong To The Lord", they encouraged us not to let fear get the best of us.

We can always count on Barbara Fairchild, another beloved Senior Trip favorite, to always powerfully mix humor, music and a serious message. She sang "He's Alive", told a very funny "blonde man" joke about three construction workers who jumped from a building in frustration over the same hated lunches every day. Two of the wives claimed they didn't know their husbands hated their lunches, the blonde man wife said "don't blame me--he made his own lunch." Shifting gears, Barbara sang "On the Other Side of the Hill" and then using the example of the thief and Jesus on the cross, shared a testimony how important forgiveness is, especially if we want to be forgiven.

Mark sang "Whatcha Need", and then came the Perrys for, as always, a strong and powerful set. The musical highlight for me here was when Mark sang lead on "Who Am I", backed by the Perrys. As I told Mark afterward, if I had been Randy Jackson judging that performance, I'd have said "that was da bomb, dude...that was hot, dawg!" I mean, the guy is truly an amazing singer. Other Perrys set highlights were
a Happy Goodmans medley and one of their signature tunes, "I Rest My Case At The Cross."

Libbi Perry Stuffle is my hair hero. I really wanted my hair to look like hers. But Libbi told me her look changes constantly and gave me a few flatiron tips. I also had to disagree with Tracy Stuffle's assessment of being "a poor excuse for an emcee"...I always enjoy his on stage work and gentle humor.

In the second half, we heard "Sweetest Song", "Jump Across Jordan" (with a couple of front row dancers, sort of). Mark asked Stan to play "Misty" for him, and he got a little Johnny Mathis impression in at the end. The sisters of LordSong, Kim, Heather and Valerie, did a lovely song, "Your Grace Amazes Me", from a forthcoming release. The evening ended with "Isn't It Amazing" and the Heaven medley from Mark's hymns CD with Woody and Barbara joining everyone back on stage. So, a great evening of music.

We have been promised some big surprises for Saturday's concert. I suppose it's cool for some people to be in the know on these things, but I say surprise is good. I've heard rumors and may have a guess or two, but I'm looking forward to being surprised.