[MitchMailList 074]: Round Rock, TX 03/11 review

From: Tracy Guynes
Subject: Mitch's Texas Concerts Review March 9-11

Hey, all you "peculiar" Mitch fans out there!

I'm not sure you can really call this a review - there are no lists of songs or anything, but my husband Tommy and I got to hear Mitch this past weekend at his three Texas concerts and I just really wanted to share the experience with you guys. I was going to try to keep it short, but I somehow managed to turn it into a 1,500 word report. So my apologies in advance for the longevity of this review...

During this concert tour, Mitch was joined by Brad Layher (our favorite Tin Man!), Joe Curet (Cobra Joe!), and also Mark Robertson (what a great surprise!).

On Friday March 9, Mitch was at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. Great night! It was awesome getting to hear Mark play with the band! I think more than anything though, I'll remember this night as a night for friends. Some we had invited and some we had met and gotten to know at Mitch's earlier concerts. So "hello" to all of you - Diana, Dennis, Charlie, Mike, Nancy, Aarron, Corinn, Tina! It was great seeing each of you and I look forward to seeing you all again soon at another concert! This was really a special night for our friend Mike who had come with us. Mike has Down syndrome and doesn't get to go a lot of places, so we had invited him to go along. I think this is the first concert he has ever been to. He really enjoyed it too. As a matter of fact, he had such a good time that when he met Mitch, he even asked if he could be in the band. On the way home, we popped in Mitch's new CD "Chasing the Horizon" and Mike sang along with the music until he finally fell asleep. I think Mitch has definitely found himself a new friend.

The next concert, on Saturday March 10, was at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler. This was just one of those weird, fun, "anything-might-happen" nights. I'm sure most of you know the kind I mean - nights when a lot of guitar strings get broken, Brad gets to fix them, and Mitch gets to fill the "dead space" in between.<g> Needless to say, this can all get quite entertaining because you just never know what's going to happen next. We got to sit and watch Brad in complete silence as he wrapped a guitar string, we got to hear Mitch's story about calling home to his mom (It's really hilarious, but I don't want to give it away here. It's just one of those stories that only Mitch can tell...), and in a rare, candid moment, Mitch even went on to share a little about himself with us. He said, "You know that saying 'one can short of a six-pack?' Well, I've got all six cans up there - really... I just don't seem to have that little plastic thingy that holds them all together." Well, we all laugh and applaud, so Brad (still working on those broken strings btw) moved up to the mike with a grin and the solemn warning: "Please... don't encourage him..." Well, now they're all laughing, too, and we're just laughing and applauding all the more because, of course, after being told not to, we just have to encourage them.<g>What a fun night!

On Sunday March 11, we went to Mitch's concert at North Austin Community Church in Round Rock. It was a bit of a drive from Greenville, but well worth it. The church was small, but you know, the size of the building really doesn't matter much when it's filled with love and the spirit of fellowship I felt in the room that night. There were no tickets to purchase, but rather a love offering that was taken up during intermission and a bake sale table set up in the back with all the proceeds being given to Mitch and the band to help in their expenses. So everyone got to enjoy the concert while munching on cake, cookies and brownies. (And let me tell ya, those brownies were good!<g>) It was just a really comfortable, relaxed atmosphere - no airs, no pretenses. It almost felt like we were sitting around at home just hanging out with family. At the end of his concerts, Mitch likes to close with everyone singing worship and praise songs. It's always so wonderful hearing everyone lift their voices to sing "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High," "Step By Step," and "I Want To See You," but when we sang tonight, it just felt so different - at least to me anyways. I don't know how to explain it really, but have you ever had a moment where you're just hit with the knowledge that you're in the midst of true worship and you can do nothing more than just stand there and let it wash over you, soaking up every little bit of it that you can? I was deeply moved and I hope I will never forget that moment. Afterwards, when the concert was over, we got to say "hi" to the guys. We talked with Brad about his new CD coming out soon, the Appalachian Christmas Quartet, how he and Mitch are roommates, and how they've got lots of cleaning and laundry to do when they get home.<g>I was sitting down again when Mitch walked by, so he sat down beside me and thanked us for coming (hope he's not too tired of seeing our faces yet...<g>). He went on to sign a CD for my friend Trevor who was supposed to have come with us, but was sick and couldn't, so had made me promise to bring him back a CD instead. We thanked Mitch and said our goodbyes, then headed outside, which is were we found Joe and Mark sitting at a patio table taking a break. We thanked them and told them what a great night it had been. I told Mark that my brother would absolutely love that hat of his. He thought that was pretty cool because his wife can't stand it.<g>Then, somehow, we got into this conversation about X-Files with Joe. He was surprised to hear about the cliffhanger episode with Mulder that aired a few weeks back. And I have to say I was just as surprised to find out these guys watch X-Files. Cool! Well, after that, we had to leave and so ended our weekend with Mitch and friends.

You know, the one thing that always blows me away every time we meet these guys is their openness and complete honesty. They allow you to see their hearts and aren't afraid to show you some of the scars you might find there. So thank you Mitch, Brad, Joe, and Mark for being who you are and doing what you do. Peace of Christ to you and I hope to see you guys again soon!

And to all of you who have actually been able to read my review to this point and not been completely bored to death by it, take care and God bless! And, hey... stay "peculiar"!<g>

Tracy
(but y'all can just call me "Spacy" if you want.<g>)