Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Legacy Five


Last night Legacy Five was featured in concert here in Nampa. It was great to be able to be with the guys again and hear what's going on in their ministry. Liberty sang 3 songs before the start of the 2nd half, while Testament, a fantastic trio from First Church of the Nazarene consisting of Boyd Hoops, Mike Wiebe, and Carey Cooke, opened up.

I'm here to tell you that Legacy brought the house down. I've been to probably 10-12 L5 concerts since they formed. Last night proved to me that they have taken their music, performance, and energy to a whole new level. To be honest, in the past, their songs haven't wowed me. Yes, they would have a great song now and then, but as a whole their albums didn't have anything that set them apart from everyone else. And then came "Live in Music City". For those of you who don't have this new project (DVD or CD), you need to go buy it. Immediately! It is full of GREAT songs, material that puts them on a whole different plane.

Not only have they chosen their songs wisely, they have also gelled as a performance team. Last night they were exciting! The missing link was Frank Seamand. He has definitely come into his own in the last year or so. He brought an energy to the stage that has been missing in the past. I've seen them several times without Roger, but this was the first time that I didn't miss him. And that's nothing against Roger; he's one of the best emcees in the business right now. But this group has finally emerged from his shadow. Scott Fowler did a fantastic job emceeing last night, while Scott Howard and Glenn Dustin added to the performance with their dry senses of humor. Tim Parton is filling in on piano, and I'm here to tell you the guy is amazing! He didn't miss a note, while playing fills and solos that Roger would be proud of.

They began the concert with a charisma and sound that can only be described as aggressive (in a positive way, of course). They owned it from start to finish. And, they have added an overt evangelistic thrust to their concert. Nearly all of the guys shared their personal testimony, and Scott gave a moving invitation that I'm sure several responded to. Itwas awesome!

Some of the songs they sang last night were Strike Up the Band (an exciting, high-energy concert opener), I Found Grace, The Blood Covers It All, I've Been Changed, Peace, The Right Side of the Dirt, Truth Is Marching On, Precious Jesus Hold My Hand, I'm Winging My Way Back Home, His Name Is Wonderful along with more of their classics. It's one of the best concerts I've been to for a while. Legacy Five has taken it up several notches. They have established themselves as one of the elite groups in the SG genre.

We (along with our families) enjoyed hanging out with Legacy Five and our good friends the Graffenbergers at Dennys following the concert. The guys flew into Boise to meet the bus. Unfortunately, 50 miles outside of Boise the bus's turbo system gave out. Gary, Legacy Five's bus driver, called Royce at 11:30 Monday night to ask if he knew of a place he could take it. He had driven it to the outskirts of Boise and he said smoke was just rolling out from under the bus. He thought that the bus was literally on fire. Fortunately, he was just around the corner from the only diesel shop in town that stays open all night. Gary didn't get much sleep Monday night, so he spent Tuesday crashing at a hotel. He was feeling pretty good by the time he got to Dennys.

I'm convinced Scott Fowler is going to run for office someday. He ought to. If you want to hear some passionate commentary get him going about the recent elections.

Overall, it was a great night. You're not going to find many groups who can match Legacy Five in spirit, performance, or integrity. Go buy their DVD and see what I'm talking about.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great review Keith. Like you, I never had been "wowed" by L5 - especially minus Roger - but last night was very uplifting. I also agree that Scott should run for office. He has his thoughts together and can back them up very well. By the way, the quartet that opened the 2nd half wasn't half bad either! :-) Good Job! Shanna