A “magnificent” evening

Back as promised...with my impressions of the concert in Clovis, CA featuring the "magnificent" Melody Boys Quartet(as they are billed)and Revised Standard Version(RSV)at the Faith Community Church of the Nazarene there.

I would have posted this right after I got home, but by the time I did, it was already 10:30PM...and since I have a "real world" job that I have to get up early for on Sundays(which is from where I'm writing this), I opted to wait until this morning and get my much-needed "beauty" sleep last night.

I had been looking forward to this concert for some time. The Melody Boys had not been here in a couple of years, and they were clearly missed by the audience that attended last night.

It was one of those weird weather days, much like the last time they were here. We had had three straight days of warm, springlike weather, and then a weak thunderstorm system swept in and out yesterday, bringing scattered showers and brisk wind with it. The pollen that was clearly in the air along with the moisture threatened to cause problems for all the singers.

I joked to people when I came that I intended to sit on the front row to help Gerald Williams with his bass notes......but my own voice was affected by the weather, so Gerald would have to survive on his own. Fortunately, Gerald didn't need my help.

The evening opened with a P&W group from a local Baptist church, the Harmony band. Now, they had a very nice sound...but when you have a group of six singers(three male, three female)and as is often the case with these kind of groups, no one is singing harmony, the name might be a bit of a misnomer.

In fairness, though, they didn't sing any of the "7-11" types of songs that P&W detractors so loathe, and they even sang group harmony on a couple of songs. That and the fact that the accompanying musicians played in tune and didn't make any mistakes made this friendly group of singers an enjoyable concert opener.

The audience was clearly there to see traditional quartet singing and the Melody Boys(which go hand in hand, IMHO). They came out and did a wonderful opening set of quartet favorites, and not only was it great to see tenor Mike Franklin with the group that night, but the younger quartet members(lead Terry Robertson and baritone/pianist Caleb Metheny)were fully in command of their material. I might add that I enjoy watching Franklin on stage...he sings every song with a big, wide, sincere smile(the way ALL gospel singers should approach their work).

RSV followed, and in the 11 or so years that I have been familiar with them, they NEVER sang better. Their tenor, Jerry Unfried, was not there, but he was "there" because of the accompaniment tracks the group used. There was a lot of good humor made onstage by the group over and at his absence...RSV has come a LONG way in terms of stage presence. We in the audience were having such fun with what they were doing that I almost forgot that the Melody Boys were coming back to wrap up the evening. Among the singers, lead Eric Maine stood out the most to me...but the entire group was really "on" last night.

After a short intermission, RSV led off the second half with more solid stage work and good singing of good songs. For some reason, they didn't get to sing on the main stage of the GWSGFF last year...but if this concert is any indicator of such things, that WON'T happen this year. RSV did us Central California quartet fans proud by the job they did.

The Melody Boys returned to wrap up the evening. Much like two years ago, they did the first set with piano accompaniment, and the second set with a combination of backing tracks and a cappella singing. The a cappella numbers were especially good, especially "Faith In My Savior", the old Joe Roper song.

Robertson's lead was reminiscent of Jonathan Sawrie, who I STILL miss in the quartet. But Terry has enough of Jonathan's vocal style while retaining a winning style of his own tto satisfy any longtime Melody Boys fan. And the second set featured a brilliant piano solo by Metheny, who was by far the youngest(and youngest-looking)singer on the stage that evening. His versatility on vocals and piano is a tremendous asset to the longterm future of the quartet. Gerald, DON'T let these young'uns get away!:-)

Gerald himself was in his usual solid form last night. He anchored the quartet's chords with absolutely NO help needed from me.

And yes Gayla, he DID give me the CD(that was the first thing he did when I came up to him!)!

Gerald Williams is a legend...and always brings dignity and class, as well as good singing, to every personal appearance he makes. In fact, everyone on the night's program did exactly that for the nearly-full church in attendance.

I'm glad people came out to enjoy a good evening of excellent gospel singing and fun. I can hardly wait until May for the Great Western Southern Gospel Fan Festival...good gospel singing doesn't come to the Fresno area as often as I'd like, and when it does, you can bet I'll be there to see it. I'm glad I was there to see just that last night.

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