Collegedale Trip – Part 2
We spent a few hours resting and practicing. The concert at Collegedale Community Church (CCC) was scheduled for 7:30 pm. So we arrived at the church around 6PM to setup the sound. My first impression was “what a beautiful church!” The church sits on a hill surrounded by trees, which makes it a little hidden from view. It’s like we had to peek around the trees to find a beautiful hidden gift.
Collegedale Community Church
We were excited that we would be singing with our sound system and took our time setting the speakers up into the best position to reach the audience from all sitting angles. The sanctuary is designed in a semi-circle, with a balcony and tall ceilings. The acoustics were great and there was no need for artificial reverbs, since the natural church architecture would provide a natural reverberation to the sound. The reverb gives a great ambiance to the harmony of the group making it richer and more pleasant to the ears.
We took 40 minutes to setup the sound and get ready to start checking the microphones and monitors. It seems like a long time to set up but we were using all of our speakers and that requires more cables and tape and time. We can usually setup the sound system a lot quicker when it’s the abbreviated version.
Once the microphones and monitors were checked, we noticed that church members were already taking their seats and getting ready for the concert. Among them was a friend of mine from High School (in Brazil) that lives in the area. He sings in a male vocal group and they practice in that church. When he saw me in one of the posters around the church he stopped by to watch the concert. It is always good to see an old friend around especially from your native country. Haziel and David also had some friends and family arriving to watch the concert. After visiting with my friend a while, I realized that the sequence of songs was not done yet so I quickly started to write it down.
Collegedale Community Church
I checked with Dave if he had some of the previous sequences we sang in other churches but he was not able to find any concert list where we would sing all songs of the Record. If I had my computer I would find something quickly but that was not the case. I had to come up with a song list from scratch and quick.
As I mentioned in the first part of the blog the acoustics and audience preference plays an important part on selecting the songs. That was not the case here as we would be singing all the songs we recorded in the “His Peace is Mine” album. Since that is what we were invited to do, we assumed the audience enjoy the style of all of our songs. The key factor in deciding the sequence was how to tell a story and finish with a special message at the end.
I like to split the concert into two sections. The concert length is importante to capture and focus the audience’s attention to a message without the perception of time dragging on. I don’t like concerts that lasts more than 75 minutes. For me, the ideal concert length is 45 minutes. It allows enough time to deliver a concise musical message while also leaving the audience wanting more. So I planned to start with “What a Name” and close the first part with “Fire From Above.” We then started the second part with “Completely Faithful” and ended with “The Time Has Come”.
At the end of the concert Haziel called up a friend of his to play a worship hymn on the piano so we could sing with the congregation. She came from a Tennessee town 3 hours away to watch our concert and was put to work. What a great pianist! I wish she lived in Orlando and played for us!
We sing with soundtracks because we have not found quality musicians that are available to accompany us on our many performances. Also the soundtracks don’t require coordinating practice time with an extra player. Coordinating 4 schedules is hard enough! However I would love to have a great pianist playing for us at least in some concerts.
After the hymn we greeted the church members at the church lobby and we felt God’s blessings when they were all saying how much they enjoyed the message we presented and how blessed they were. That is why we do this ministry. To bless others with a message of salvation from Jesus Christ and to take His good news to those that don’t know him and are in need of him. That’s why we drove from Florida to Tennessee as humble servants of the Lord to sing his praises. We are the ones that receive the richest blessings!
We then removed all of the equipment we assembled earlier and loaded them into David’s truck. Tear down was much quicker than set up. We decided to grab something to eat to recharge and refresh. The following morning Haziel and I drove back to Orlando and arrived in time to relax and rest for the week of work ahead of us. Frank also headed to Orlando in his car. David stayed one more week to teach at the college.
What a blessed weekend!
 was scheduled for 7:30 pm. So we arrived at the church around 6PM to setup the sound. My first impression ... )
