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St. James in the News:
Lily says she enjoyed the show and, despite not being allowed to, managed to get this shot just before the show got underway. | Lily Troupe
Audience review: 'Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound of the St James AME Church Choir'
Last Update: Monday, February 11, 2008. 3:42pm AEDT
Most of the crowd had settled into their seats prior to the show commencing however, the show was delayed for five to seven minutes. As the light faded, a squawk could be heard, as the spotlight revealed the MC for the night - it was non-other than our own Minister Hargraves. He was called to MC at the last minute to cover the sudden absence of the nominated MC. His one-liners were lame, but given the circumstances, his awkwardness and 'ocker-stralian' seemed to do the job of entertaining the crowd. After a further technical hiccup, the show finally began.
Introduced by Hargraves, Reverend William D Watley described the good news of the Bible and that this show was a contribution to the people of Canberra of our Lord, Jesus. Watley requested that before the show begins, the crowd bow their heads in prayer. As heads were bowed, Watley gave thanks, and asked God to pour his blessing out upon us. Then Hargraves called the St James AME Church Choir and Dance Group a group of worshippers and not singers and dancers, just as they opened the show with their first number.
As my date began taking pictures of the dancers, an usher assertively requested that we kindly turn the camera off and put it away. The entire theatre was illuminated by the colour red as the dancers were birthed into aisles along the seated crowd. A wave of white fabric flowed from dancer to dancer on the stage as the crowd awed at the gospel dancers' movement spectacular.
Hargraves continued his artistic heathen influenced comments throughout the introductions for the evening. A mix showcase of artists such as the Big Band Sound, Tongan Toyatalatalanoua Choir, Frank and Edgar, Circ Extreme, Emmanuel - the African Dancer/Singer extraordinaire and the Parkway Acapella Group, brought forth a variety of entertainment and talents. Amazing Grace was the theme and focus of Parkway's Circ Extreme, which had the audience gasping at the acrobatics and pure showmanship. Parkway Acapella Group's six part harmony did not begin without its pitch problems, but finished off on the right note.
After a dull performance by Emmanuel, the St James AME Church Choir emerged to give us the finale for the night. A vocal and dance spectacular, which will have me praising the Lord with full gusto for many years to come. As a Christian and member of Parkway, I was honoured and privileged to see our American guests twice, but I'd have more pleasure in seeing them perform alone than with a mixed group of acts, only because nothing beats the culturally rich African-American sound of a true gospel concert, and such a concert must stand alone, so one can truly appreciate the uniting of soul and spirit.
