Bringing the Heat and the Ice - Day Four - Silver Dollar City's Southern Gospel Picnic

So far there have been plenty of groups bringing the heat, but last night Triumphant Quartet brought the ice… in a whole new way. Duane Garren teased to something happening that had never been done at a gospel concert before last night at Echo Hollow, so the crowd really didn’t know what we were in for! The night ended a little icy, but there was plenty of heat during the day.

Mark Bishop

The day started with Mark Bishop at the Riverfront Playhouse. It was great to see him again back at Silver Dollar City. He sang a lot of familiar ones like "Remember Who He Is," "Perfectly Honest," "Listening for the Call" and "Can I Pray for You?" It was great hearing all live. I forget not only what a great vocalist he is but incredibly gifted songwriter. He talked about writing songs and how he has the greatest resource for songs in the Bible, but the difficult part was that all Christians have the same resource. Therefore, we all know how the stories going to turn out. He said no matter how he paints a song about Lazarus, we know in the end, Jesus is going to raise him from the dead. He sang "Bring Lazarus Back," which I don't remember hearing much before. It's offers good possible insight into what Jesus was thinking at this miracle. He also sang one of his newer songs, "Love's Gonna Get You Yet." I really enjoyed it, very different from anything he's ever written. In fact, he said that his daughter said it was the first cool song he had ever written. He ended with "My Name Is Jesus." I love this song, but it was interesting to see him sing it live and do all the different parts since I'm used to hearing it with several different singers. Still just as powerful though!!!

Spoken 4 Quartet

After his show, we made our way to the front of the park to see Spoken 4 Quartet at the gazebo. They started with "Try a Little Kindness." Then Steven was featured on "I Hold a Clear Title to a Mansion," but he really shined when he went to the keyboard and played and sang "Who Am I." Lead singer Jon Charles was featured "Back to Me," a song about the prodigal son. He gave a brief testimony saying he had once been that prodigal son and wondered away from God and then returned. They sang "Swing Down Chariot" a cappellla! Bass singer Cecil Stringer showed off his chops on "Life's Evening Sun." They also sang a few more from their latest project "I Know I'm Going Home" (a favorite and highlight of the set) and "That's Why He Died." I'm looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow, and they'll have a special guest with them!!

Freemans

We caught two of the Freemans' afternoon shows. They did completely different sets, I think only repeating one song which was "Lead Me Home," great powerful song that Darrell sings. Chris Freeman has to have the most recognizable voice in gospel music. She sang a newer song that I had not heard before, "Last Time I Looked." Incredible song that she absolutely tears up!! Love it!! Someone requested Misty sing "Faith, Hope and Love." I'm so glad they did. That's one of the first songs I remember hearing from them. Great to hear her sing it live again. She and Caylon also sang "Water Grave." A few more highlights were "Three Rugged Crosses," "Ole' Tresspasser" and "What a Day That Will Be."

While we were in the last Freemans show apparently it decided to rain just for a bit. So when we came out the ground was wet and the steam was rising from the pavement. It did eventually cool the air a bit, but the outdoor amphitheater for the night's concert was pretty wet! The crew did a great job of getting the stage set back up in record time and helping dry as many seats as possible. But that also meant Mark Bishop did his sound check with half an audience. He opened the night before Triumphant took the stage. We got to hear some repeats but a few songs we hadn't gotten to hear yet like "I Can Rejoice," "Pray on the Little Days" and "I Got Here as Fast as I Could." He said during the day he was able to sing in the air conditioning, so he wasn't used to the heat. He offered a free DVD to someone who would come fan him during one of the songs, and he had two takers! Haha!

Triumphant Quartet took the stage last night to close the day. This is normally the only time I get to see them during the year, and I forget how incredible they are to see live. They started the night with "Because He Loved Me" and repeated the chorus a cappella. From the first song, you could tell this was going to be a great night.

Triumphant Quartet

They sang a couple from their most recent project. Clayton sang "I Will Rise," and David sang "This Blood." I love the concept of their latest album, and it's great to hear these songs Triumphant Quartet style. "This Blood" was definitely a highlight of the night!!!

Eric sang "Long Black Train" which seems to always be a crowd favorite. They sang other favorites too like "Somebody Died for Me," "Movin' Up To Gloryland," "Take It From Me Meschach," and "Love Came Calling." That last song is still my favorite that they do. Love hearing Scotty sing it live!! And of course, they sang "The Old White Flag." I don't know how Clayton puts as much into it every night as he does, but it's always so fun to watch him on this song. I was sitting with several who had never seen the group before and had no clue that all of Echo Hollow was about to pull out handkerchiefs and white napkins to wave in the air. It's always such a fun environment for this song!!

G.W. Southard was playing piano with them and he and David did an instrumental duet of "I'll Fly Away" on keys and harmonica.

Duane Garren teased to something big happening in the second half. Well, Eric said that they had been challenged to do the ice bucket challenge at Silver Dollar City. So they set up chairs for the entire group to take the challenge together, and they did like champs!! Danny Jones of the Singing News got a great video of it! Be sure to check it out on their Facebook page. They challenged the Booth Brothers to do the same Monday night, so we will see! The irony of it is that they sang "I Wish It Would Rain" right before that.

But even after the challenge, they sang one more song soaking wet, "When the Trumpet Sounds." It was such a fun night!!

I've spent most of today driving, which is why this post is a little late. But I drive back to Branson tomorrow and will be there the rest the time! Looking forward to six more days of gospel music!!