The brilliance & praytell

Last night we took in a concert by The Brilliance and the husband/wife duo Praytell. It was splendid.

Apparently some people from our church paid for them to do a show, so we got in free. It was held in the main sanctuary of the church where we rent space to hold our gatherings (we use a room on the third floor, not the sanctuary). It's a tall spacious room with padded chairs that was beautifully decorated for Christmas. It was very nice (though I was a bit annoyed by the half dozen brightly lit Christmas trees on the stage - it sort of compromised the intimate feel of the evening... but that was probably just me). I don't know how many were there, but the room was full.

We saw The Brilliance a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed them. I believe this was their third time in Fort Wayne. It features David Gungor (guitar & bass) and John Arndt (keys), as well as a drummer, violinist, cellist, backup singer (David's daughter), and Jon and Valerie Guerra from Praytell (David's son also played bass on one song). I talked to the pastor of the main church afterward and he said this was their first performance together so they spent the afternoon working on songs. It sounded like they've all been together forever!

While The Brilliance was once again just phenomenal both musically and vibe-wise, I was unsure what to expect with Praytell. Oh my. I LOVED them! I found their song Lord Remind Me particularly touching and have listened to it several times since. I highly recommend it if you'd like to get into the Christmas spirit. I'd also recommend seeing this concert if it comes anywhere near you.