OK, just kidding. I couldn't resist after I looked at this picture of (l. to r.) David Bisek (BBR), Mitch, Shennea Wells (BBR), and Brad - and realized they were directly under the display.
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| Mitch McVicker and Brad Layher stopped by the Better Book Room Thursday, Sept 30th, before their evening concert at St Francis of Assisi Parish. | Mitch and Brad had also stopped by Light 99 earlier in the afternoon for an on-air visit with DJ Jim Pearson. | They brought their guitars and had a little mini-concert like when Mitch and Michael and Eric were here last April. |
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| Mitch told the small but enthusiastic crowd about his new CD coming out, which is really a re-release of his self-titled CD with some surprises. (See MitchMailList 042) | After singing a couple songs, they visited for a while, and then it was time for some photo opportunities. | Ladies and Gentlemen! Waterdeep! OK, just kidding. I couldn't resist after I looked at this picture of (l. to r.) David Bisek (BBR), Mitch, Shennea Wells (BBR), and Brad - and realized they were directly under the display. |
(click on thumbnails to see a larger picture - will open in a new window)
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| The concert at St Francis was free and started at 8:00pm (right after a 7:00pm evening mass). A solo artist, Vicky Albright, opened with a unique set which was actually a prayer interspersed with dance and song. | Mitch and Brad started their set about 8:30pm. (The lighting was fairly dark, so many of these pics are dark. I choose not to use flash when I'm shooting concerts, so as not distract.) | Except for earlier at BBR, this was the first time I'd heard Mitch and Brad play together. I enjoyed the change in instrumentation, like a new twelve-string that added great fullness on a few songs (especially "My Deliverer"). Brad got that guitar as a gift from Alathea and Michael Aukofer (producer/player) after they finished their second CD last summer. |
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| Brad, like Michael Aukofer, is a very talented and versatile musician. Where Michael's strength is percussion, Brad's is stringed instruments. As you can see, they both play hammered dulcimer. | Mitch was still getting over a bad cold (sharing about having to take medicine to dry him out "which was better then the drippy alternative"), but sang well, and was in good spirits. | The crowd was not quite as large as the last visit to Wichita, but there was still over a hundred (including many of Mitch's former Friends Univ classmates, his mom and dad and grandma down from Topeka, David Mullins, and the Loukota's of the Legacy). |
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| One of the new songs this concert was a very unique arrangement of the traditional "The Solid Rock." It was acapella, with only "guitar back percussion" for accompaniment. The arrangement was very reminiscent of the Appalachian Christmas concerts that Brad would return to Wichita for in December with Micheal Aukofer and David Dibbern. | Today was Brad's birthday, and he received a couple nice surprises. In addition to a huge "care package" (full of cool stuff and junk food from his mom that was there at the church when they arrived to setup) there was also a surprise poem that event organizer Jim Aldrich received from Brad's mom with strict instructions to read during the concert. It was very revealing of Brad's youth :-) but also very sweet. What a wonderful surpise. | Mitch played very strong tonight. I was encouraged by his stronger stage presence, and also the new arrangements on almost every song. He and Brad were very funny and relaxed. In fact at times they were downright silly - the kind of silliness you'd expect from two people who spend quite a bit of time on the road with each other. Mitch closed the concert with a crowd favorite - "The Lemonade Song." |
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| They didn't have any traditional percussion instruments this evening, but that didn't prevent Brad from using his guitar top to cover the all too familiar rhythm on "Lemonade". | Mitch came back for an encore and played one of his newer songs called "Someday." He had told me the previous day at breakfast that he continues to write more songs all the time. We also talked about his new deal with Rhythm House Records, and his plans to go back into the studio this winter (Dec/Jan). He closed the evening with "I Love You Lord." | Even though it was almost 10:30pm (on a school night with a few people having to leave before it was over), many stayed even later to talk to Mitch and Brad and get autographs. Then they had to pack up and get to bed before a really early flight the next morning to North Carolina. |
The complete set list was as follows:
Hope [MCH]
Freedom [MCH]
Right Here [UNR]
There You Are [CAN]
Heaven Is Waiting [CAN]
Gospel Rain [MCH]
Here & Now [MCH]
The Solid Rock
Burnin' the Fields [UNR]
Won't Take Long [UNR]
My Deliverer [MCH2]
Rich's Song [UNR]
The Lemonade Song [MCH]
(Encore)
Someday [UNR]
I Love You Lord
Albums represented:
[CAN] Canticle Of The Plains, 1997 Ragamuffin Records
[MCH] Mitch McVicker (Self-Titled), 1998 Independent Release
[MCH2] Mitch McVicker (Self-Titled), 1999 Rhythm House Records
(Street Date: Oct 16)
[UNR] New/Unrecorded