Southern Gospel Concerts

It was a rainy night in Georgia, but that didn’t hinder a crowd of about 300 or 400 or so people from gathering in the new worship center at the Mount Holly Church of God in Carrollton, Georgia for the 5th annual Diplomats/Gold City sing.  The beautiful, brand new auditorium probably holds about 1500 or 2000 people so there was plenty of room for everyone!  The church had their cameras going and they displayed up-close shots of the groups on their big screens on each side of the stage.  In the center was a huge screen (someone said it was 36′ wide) which displayed the group names all evening.   There were several other southern gospel groups represented in the audience and it was nice to see and talk to Trent Adams (who will begin singing with the Dixie Echoes on 2/11/10) and his wife and 2-week-old daughter.   It was also nice to see a new friend, Carla, that I met at a Gold City concert in Jacksonville, Florida recently!  She drove all the way up from Waycross to see Gold City and then to visit some friends for the weekend.

The Diplomats sang first.  They used to be a quartet but with the addition of Matt Dibbler, they now sing sometimes as a mixed quartet, sometimes as a male quartet, and sometimes as a quintet during their program, and it does provide some good variety!  And if that weren’t enough, they brought on good friend Les Beasley at the end of their set and he sang with them as well!

Here are some video clip highlights of the Diplomats program:

Here’s what the Diplomats sang:

• Had It Not Been – Corey did a beautiful job on this classic.
• Come and Dine – the lead was shared between Matt Dibbler and Rita Pearson on this one.
• Jesus Is Coming Soon – This one featured the male quartet version with Matt on the lead
• This I Just What Heaven Means to Me – This song just belongs to Rita and the 4 men did a good job backing her up!!
• Soul Healing
• Unclouded Day -this one featured the band — Michael Lott on keyboard, Corey Pearson on bass guitar, and Rodney on the drums.
• Satan is On My Track
• Lonesome Road – always fun with Joe Brown singing bass!
• There’s a Blessing Somewhere in This Trial
• Les Beasley joined them and they sang One Day at a Time, Gone, and Standing on the Solid Rock

I’ve been able to see Gold City three times now since Josh and Roy joined the group and it’s so much fun seeing the progress from one concert to the next.  They sang a few more of my favorite songs last night that I had not heard them do at the previous two concerts.

Here’s a video of When He Blessed My Soul – you can see more of the big screen in the background near the end of the song:

Here is GC’s  song list:

• One Scarred Hand – The acoustics were great in the church so they took advantage and sang this song a capella and without microphones!  It was simply beautiful but the volume was just a little too low to capture a good video.
• Where Is God -  This was the first time I’ve heard this group sing this song and it was very nice!
• I Cast My Bread Upon the Water
• What Children Believe – Danny has been suffering with bronchitis again this week but you sure wouldn’t have known it to hear him sing!
• Look Who Just Checked In – this song had such great energy!
• Rainbow of Love – this one gets better each time I see it – and you can tell that Tim really loves it!
• Josh soloed on Satisfied and got a standing ovation!
• When He Blessed My Soul – Tim is just fantastic on this song!  They got a big standing ovation during the reprise.
• Under Control – Another great song with a great message.
• I’m Rich – if you thought nobody but Jonathan Wilburn could sing this song, well, you are wrong!!  I’ll try to get a good video of the group the next time they sing it.  Last night,  I was busy watching Roy Webb!!
• It’s Still the Cross – such a powerful song.  Danny and Bruce did great jobs on it.  And there was another standing ovation!!

I’m getting to see a lot of Gold City so far this year and it’s been wonderful!!  I am planning to be at their video taping next week.  I’ll  write up a short report on it but I sure won’t be taking my own videos there!  We’ll all just have to wait until the DVD comes out!