As a proud Denver native I feel deep shame to admit I've never been to Red Rocks until this evening. It is a simply stunning venue with majestic views of the foothills and Denver. Not to mention the unique acoustics provided by the massive rock formations. Throw in a world class choir, perfect weather, thunderstorms in the distance and a transcendent musical experience is born.
Many of you may be thinking an evening with Mack and the Mo-Tabs would be a dull round of hymns with gaudy organ work. A fight to stay awake and maintain dignity. Far from it. I've been to Mo-Tab Concerts before, but never like this performance.
The choir performed everything from classical masterpieces to old-time spirituals to Island music. Much of it was upbeat and rousing, but well complimented by more somber spiritual pieces. The choir had a soloist offer an animated and very soulful rendition of "I want Jesus to Walk With Me" that brought the house down. I've never heard people hoot, holler and cheer like that before during a Mo-Tab song. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but it was electrifying. I could even see silent bursts of lightning in the distance as he sang. This was shortly followed by an organ solo that was done almost entirely by foot at a fast pace, which also brought the crowd to roars of applause. I was stunned and overjoyed at the scene.
Surreal as venue, the music and the moment, at the beginning of the concert it was announced that the Prophet, Thomas Monson had decided to attend. Nearly 30 feet away he rose to a standing ovation. It was a pleasure to stand and cheer for God's prophet in public and to see so many others do likewise. The Spirit flooded the amphitheater at that time and set a remarkable tone. Jim Gassman, the friend I owe many thanks to for inviting me made an insightful comment that it must be a treat for the Prophet to actually watch the choir rather than just hear them over his shoulder in conference.
Seriously, this could be one of the greatest musical events I've ever witnessed. I'm not sure I ever want to see anything else at Red Rock to spoil the memories I now have. I'd tell you to go see them the next time they are in your area, but I'm not sure that performance can be topped. To make things even sweeter, we somehow zipped out before traffic and made it home in record time. All in all, a genuinely transcendent evening.
4 comments:
Sounds like quite an experience!
I'm rather jealous.
Nothing would be a truly Mormon experience if it didn't include audience members rushing to jump in their car before everyone else does.
Yeah... I'm sure it was a real "zinger" of a concert... From the pictures you can see the rowdy gerital crowd. I mean, did they give the old guys especially long intermissions for all of the potty breaks from their enlarged prostates or did they just had out extra packs of 'Depends' at the door. Man that must have been wild! You really know how to live it up Jon!!!
ok, so now I have a real account.. I was the Anonymous guy above... Grats on 100 posts a while back... I didn;t realized you posted about holding you water earlier... maybe I have presented some alternatives for you though...
I'm almost dissapointed you stayed anonymous. Nothing like a salty comment. Yes, the concert was not rowdy in the typical "I wanna rock!" sense, but it was a great experience.
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