Date: 14 September 1998
To: MitchMailList
From: Danl Blackwood
Subject: [MitchMailList 008]: Indianapolis, IN 09/05 review

• Tim Francis's Indy review
• Darren's Indy review

Tim Francis's Indy review
as posted to the Ragamuffin Mailing List

From: Tim M Francis
Date: Sun, 06 Sep 1998 07:00:20 EDT
Subject: [ragamuffin] McVicker

Saw Mitch and his band play in Indy last night.  They were great.
 I saw Mitch at the beginning of August and again last night and his
voice seems so much fuller or richer now.  He opened with a song called
He's Right Here With Us.  That really ministered to me.  We so easily
forget that.  Then Mitch played Gospel Rain one of my favorites from his
CD followed by There You Are and Heaven is Waiting from the Canticle. 
Mitch followed those with Rich's Song.  What can I say about that one? 
It will make you cry.  All of Mitch's set was really quality stuff.  He
played a song that he said they never did before about being ready to
wear my long white robe.  They really cooked on that one.  Anyone know
who did that originally or where I could find a copy of that song?  They
also really rocked on When You Love.  the crowd really got into that one.
 My very favorite though was Only Love Will.  You could see Mitch was
singing straight from his soul.  He closed with people standing and
clapping and dancing to the Lemonade Song.  I just love the washboard on
that one.

Tim

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Darren's Indy review

From: Darren
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 11:20:39 EDT
Subject: Indy Review from backstage

I just moved back to Indianapolis and what a treat. After seeing Mitch
and Rich perform in Gainesville, FL back in '97 I couldn't wait to see
them again. After the accident, like everyone, I wondered if we would
ever get the chance to hear music so close to the heart of God. Luckily
and obviously by His grace He has given us a gift. I was backstage the
whole day with Mitch, Eric and Michael. They're the greatest,
warm-hearted bunch you could find. The first thing that happened that
was exciting was the early morning interview that WXIR did with Mitch.
Mitch talked about his new songs and the staff was blown away by his
honesty and truthfulness. It isn't often that you meet someone who
"bounces off the glory of God" as well as Mitch does. If there is anyway
to retrieve the interview, I will. Later, during sound check, Mitch
asked me where the closest music store was. I said why, and he said he
needed a 3 way guitar stand and some mandolin strings and he planned on
running to get them as part of their day. Needless to say, it was taken
care of. I got on the phone and had it waiting for pick-up within
minutes, the guys were very appreciative. They got to sit out in the
seats and hear some of the early acts instead of worrying about getting
the stuff.

The concert started with two local bands, the first was Evelyn Cosby who
has a voice that rocks the world, Mike was particularly impressed with
her and actually came back stage before her set was finished to meet
her. She then joined the next act for background vocals, the band was
none other than John David Webster, a man after Eric's own heart. You
should have seen the smile on Eric's face as John David talked about
trying to meet a bird on the sidewalk. "I just wanted to talk to him
and he flew away." It wasn't a joke, he was serious, hehe.

Then came the flashback sounds of Nancy Honeytree. She sat out there
like at a commune or something with guitar in hand, no strap and picked
away at some VERY old songs. For those of us around long enough to
remember the very early days of christian contemporary music it was a
fun time. The younger of us there had a great time to as the campfire
type songs had hand choreography to go along with them now and she
taught it to us.

Then it was time, the guys had spent the entire Honeytree set (45 mins)
prepping and tuning, but Mitch was no where to be found, he showed up in
his van just in time. The new guitar stand worked great, so did Mitch's
voice. There were between 800-1000 people there at the park at the time
of Mitch's set. The crowd was very enthusiastic, and, quite
unexpectedly, sang along on most of the songs. As I looked across the
crowd, there were few eyes that hadn't welled up on most every song.
Eric and Mike didn't miss a thing, in fact they argued back and forth
jokingly about who takes showers more frequently. Mike got the last word
in when he said "Well, at least I wear underwear" The house roared with
laughter and then Mitch got serious "guys, shut up." he said with a
smile to me. Then he had to pull the crowd back in. He asked the
question "Do you know what compassion is? Because I do. I have seen
compassion first hand." Mitch barely held it together and Eric
encouraged him. He managed to compose himself and talk about compassion
USA for a moment and his life on the reservation, and amidst the
carnival type atmosphere of the setting, the crowd's silence was
deffening. He then sang "heaven is waiting" and a few more songs,
including Mikes composition of "It Is Well" on the Dulcimer.

The entire THING seemed ultra-surrealistic. I wondered back and forth in
time as I pondered the past year and a half. I wonder if we have lost a
friend or gained more. It's a funny circle we dwell in, this life. Too
odd for words. After the set, the guys got a standing O, well deserved.
I remembered thinking about when I first heard they were coming to town,
"I wonder if people even know who Mitch is?" The radio station never
said until about a weak before the concert that he was a "fellow
Ragamuffin", whatever that means. I wondered if people would show, since
he wasn't supposed to be the headline event. I mean, Randy Stonehill and
Margaret Becker were still to come, but, to tell the truth, I think
everyone was there to see Mitch, no rock guitars and no pounding drums,
just a simple man with a simple message.

It was a good day. As for me, I stayed until everything ended around
10:30 or so and helped break down the stage. Afterward, I was surprised
to make it to the top of the hill that overlooked the stage to see Mitch
finishing his van-loading. One last time, I sneaked up to him and with
the warmest thanks he greeted me. We talked of song-writing briefly and
the coming Ragamuffin tour, of which one concert will be back here just
south of Indy, I AM THERE, and then I left. It was a good day. I spent
the rest of the evening composing several songs that were inspired
throughout the day, but kept thinking back to a man I can call friend,
Mitch.

God bless you all

Darren

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