Thursday, April 30, 2009

Sweet Sunday. . .

Last month in Kid's Club, Louise helped the kids put together an autograph book. She took the pieces home and bound them by hand (with a little help from her friends. . . ) and brought them back on Sunday for an all-church autograph party. . .


I was pleasantly surprised at how many people stayed after church just to sign these kids' books!

I mostly just sat back and watched the party unfold. . .

It was interesting to see the different generations interact. . .


It was fun to watch the looks on the kids' faces as they went from person to person with hopeful expressions on their faces. . .


The adults were practically lining up to make sure they signed each and every book. . .


It didn't seem to matter whose book it was or how well acquainted they were, everyone was putting encouraging words on paper. . .


It was really cool . . .











































This is something these kids will remember the rest of their lives. . .
Louise just happened to make me a book, too, so I received a few encouraging words as well. These are just a few of the notes that Gloria and I have in our books:













It was a pretty sweet afternoon. . .

Spring Storm Aftermath. . .

We had a short but wild rain and hail storm blow in on Tuesday afternoon. Megan was playing at the shop with Gloria and pointed out this beautiful rainbow just outside the window:

It's actually a double rainbow but it's hard to tell unless you look really closely. . .

A rainbow is such a great representation of hope but all I could think about at that moment was. . .

. . . I hope a storm like this doesn't come up when our canopy is cranked up 25 feet in the air with our lights and speakers attached to it. . .
I think I've been working too much. . .

Sunday, April 26, 2009

My New Favorite Band. . .

Saturday was one of those days that surprised me. We had booked this event about a month ago but I didn't know too much about it. I knew there would be two or three bands playing but I didn't know anything more than that. Sometimes, I think, it's almost better not to know.


This event really started for us on Thursday when we flew our line array in The Brandt Center at NNU. All we had to do was provide speakers, amps and trussing. They used this system for three days and gave us very positive feedback. The main show for them was on Saturday night during our hectic set-up for the two bands in the NNU gym. I ran (literally) across campus in order to take a couple of shots of the auditorium. You can't see or hear our lovely speakers in these pictures but they were there and they sounded beautiful.




I got back to the gym in time for the sound check for both of the bands and to hear these guys play for the first time:

I often research bands on the Internet beforehand to find out a little more about them but since I didn't know the name of the band until they arrived, I didn't have that opportunity until later. This is when it's probably a good thing since I might have been a little more nervous had I known who they were. Not that they are BIG STARS or anything and they were extremely down to earth and friendly but they've had their share of big tours and awards and have played on much bigger systems than ours.

The 4 brother band is from Portland, OR but originally came from The Ukraine with their family when they were kids. I found some very interesting articles on them here and here and especially here. Their website is http://www.sonsofday.com/


They were just a regular bunch of guys with a good message and lots of talent. . .


It was a little disappointing that the crowd was smaller than expected but they played like it was a packed house. . .


It was also disappointing that they only played for an hour!!

It was a good hour. . .







So, even though it was a stressful afternoon and we set up sound, lights and truss for 8 hours for a two hour concert only to take it all down right afterwards, it was still worth it. . .
Here is another one of their videos from YouTube. It's short and REALLY worth listening to: