NQC 2012 Day 3 Highlights

Wednesday night was All Quartet night at the National Quartet Convention. Again, I was able to watch live most of the night via the webcast. Here are my thoughts and highlights:

• It's looking like 2012 could be the year for the newbies. After Matt Fouch had the best moment of the night on Monday, Chris Jenkins and Jordan James made some lasting impressions on Wednesday. Chris, new tenor for the Kingsmen, sang "O What a Savior" and hit probably the highest note of the night (not sure if Brian Free topped him or not). Jordan James is the new bass singer for the Dixie Echoes. He sang "How Big Is God" and stood out on several of their songs.
• Speaking of Dixie Echoes, they had one of my favorite songs of the night with their four-part harmony on "If You Know the Lord." I saw this lineup in Branson before the announcement was made that they were "officially hired." I was more impressed with them last night and could tell they had gelled together more.
• Ok, I'll admit I got really distracted during the Dixie Melody Boys set at first trying to tell who all was in their all-star band. The band consisted of Adam Crabb (harmonica), Madison Easter (guitar), Scoot Shelnut (bass), Stewart Varnado (piano) and Michael Booth (drums). It was cool to see all those guys on stage playing for the Dixie Melody Boys!
• There would have been something missing from Quartet Night if Brian Free did not sing "Looking for a City." I was watching the webcast with a few friends and they couldn't believe Brian's capability on this song! They also sang a couple of songs from their new album, "Guard Your Heart" and "If the Lord Says Do It."

Strongest set of the night was Mark Trammell Quartet. They sang "Gentle Shepherd," "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah," "I Want to Know" and "The King Is Coming." Everyone loves "I Want to Know." They did two encores of the song. You could tell from the webcast that the audience at NQC was enjoying every bit of it. The closed with "The King is Coming" and Mark definitely showed that he is still one of the greatest male vocalists in the industry. Great moment to end their set on!

Triumphant Quartet to me had the second strongest set of the night. The group started their set with "When the Trumpet Sounds" and then sang "He Loves Me." Jeff Stice played "Mansion Over the Hilltop," which was the first hymn he learned to play. I have to say that I agree with his mom and like the playing without the background music. They went directly into "Old White Flag" which the audience got really into as always. They didn't set the song up as they normally do, but Jeff still looked mad like always! :) They ended with "Almost Home."

My favorite moment of the night though was the last song "Have a Little Talk With Jesus." I love it when several groups sing together on stage in moments that seems less than planned (even if they are). Gerald Wolfe came out and couldn't believe that no group had sung the ultimate quartet song. So he got most of Mark Trammell Quartet and Legacy Five to come back to the stage to join Triumphant on this song. They weren't sure when they got to verse two what to do, which proved to be some comedic moments between Gerald Wolfe, Scott Fowler and Mark Trammell. David Sutton was the only tenor on stage so he sang the second verse. Paul Harkey of the LeFevre Quartet joined the bass singers on stage! Great way to end quartet night!