Recently in Monday Video Category
Well, it looks like the computer issues from last night carried over to my work PC over the weekend. That, and I decided to alter my weekend schedule in a way that meant I might not capture all three services. Instead, I got one - Sunday 8:30. Adding insult to injury, there's some hiccups in the video of the special from the weekend. So in my effort to plod through it all, I give the video a couple of tries on the surgery table. No luck there. So this week, close your eyes and pretend you're there.
The audio here has a hiccup or two as well, but it's less annoying (and headache-inducing) than the video. Enjoy it and know that both Michael and Fiona looked fantastic.
One sidenote to mention from the night. Here's a screencap of the special:
Notice anything new? Like the lyrics underneath, maybe? It took all of one week from me whining about the lack of lyrics for the special to actually getting them placed on the big screen. That's got to be a record. It's also frightening to think that people actually read this blog. Thanks to all responsible, though. Since these are typically songs we don't know from repetition, my hunch is that this might get people more into the song (and hence, more into worship).
One Sunday Special this weekend, brought to you by the Woelfel Trio ...
As highly as I think of Michael's singing voice, I kinda wish the video & music team would consider putting lyrics up on the screens for his specials. It's not quite the same vocal clarity you get from most of the others. Whatsmore, I think Michael's voice is pretty well suited for this song as I much prefer it over the original Matthew West version.
Oh, and since these kids now seem to be travelling as a trio for moments like these, who do I nag to see that some name recognition goes to Michael's sisters?
No doubt swept up in her excitement of Saturday night, Victoria sorta forgets a detail from Friday night ...
Sunday morning, she spoke about the renewing our minds. You gotta love that.
I'm guessing that there's a certain level at which even Michael W. Smith can appreciate the mistake. I doubt he'd want folks to remember the concert from Friday because of Michael W. Smith. Even though it should be noted that he led one great service. More on that later.
The latest & greatest ... complete with a witty Joel Osteen quip at the end:
If you want a version of the song you can carry around with you, here's the MP3 via Amazon. Enjoy!
By request, this is the video from the first performance of "Great God" by Israel Houghton and the Lakewood ensemble. So, take a ride in the time machine with me ... all the way back to the end of last month!
Obviously, still working on that whole "find time to blog about the world around me" thing. I assure you of this ... I have not gotten counseling for my blogging addiction. Anyways, enjoy the pretty, moving pictures in the meantime.
'bout time I got around to posting this ...
Great job, Clayton.
I had the rather unique experience of sitting through the Saturday run-through of this. Basically, I got to see about 3-4 complete practice runs of this. By now, I think I can perform it. It's a very different experience seeing this in person and on video ... and I'm not entirely sure that the video version isn't better. It just eliminates so much of the other distractions and forces one angle of viewing this.
Aimee Beard rocks ...
That's "Footprints in the Sand" as performed by Leona Lewis. The comparison of Lewis' version to Aimee's does nothing to diminish my calls for Aimee to land a recording deal anytime soon.
This just in: Stephen Crawford is a better singer than I can ever be. This is seriously incredible stuff. I thought he did a great job with the previous version of this song he did. And that one was overdubbed in the studio.
Oh, and there's also some nifty Hodge guitar work that's worth enjoying on this song.
It's not quite as momentous as a full-fledged Aimee Beard special, but kudos to the choir folk for giving Aimee a little run to open this song. It's almost a throwback to when Aimee did the occasional (and overdue!) Wednesday services all by herself. I normally don't like to clip video during prayer time, but Aimee singing seems to trump that rule. Enjoy ...
SEMI-RELATED SIDENOTE: While I'm the topic of some of the awesome choir/ensemble folk, I noticed while posting this latest video that Stephan's moment in the spotlight from this past weekend has already been viewed 316 times in a matter of mere days. We all know Steph is a talented singer ... but are his marketing skills completely underrated? For the record, here's the all-time most-viewed videos I've got at the vault. Stephan cracks the Top 10 in a matter of days. That's just unreal.
1. 556 views - Emergency at Lakewood ... this went a little viral, as it was posted on a couple of other blogs out there in the internets.
2. 501 views - Cindy Cruse Ratcliff: "Love So Amazing" ... I seem to remember there was a church overseas that was using this to practice the song.
3. 409 views - Michael Mellett "Moving Forward" ... this was a first performance moment. So maybe between that and everyone in the choir checking out the choir leader's chops, that might begin to explain the popularity of this one.
4. 389 views - Israel Houghton: "To God Be the Glory"/"How Great Is Our God" medley ... It's Israel. What else do you need to know?
5. 389 views - Joel Introduces Police Chief Hurtt and Asbury seminary students ... linked on another blog, plus I'm pretty sure each of the students that were at Lakewood sent the video to a few hundred of their friends.
6. 383 views - Lakewood Worship "Everywhere That I Go" ... this kicked off the live recording of the last CD. Whole lotta buzz around this back then.
7. 332 views - Jemine Leigh "Abundantly" ... if it's true that scarcity drives up demand, then Jemine videos are easily in "gold"-level status.
8. 327 views - Aimee Beard "My Help" ... God as my witness, I did not skew these numbers.
9. 316 views - Choir + Stephan Jackson: "Still Standing" ... in a matter of DAYS, dude gets this many views?
10. 315 views - Michael Hodge "Amazing Grace" ... Hodge + guitar + ebow + classic hymn = Solid Gold
11. 313 views - Thanksgiving Testimonies: Joel & Jonathan Camey ... I'm guessing every 15 yr old girl from Lakewood with a crush on these two guys watched this.
12. 288 views - Carrie Hodge "Healing Rain" ... Once again: God as my witness, I did not skew these numbers. I did, however, make a countdown of this video for Koinonia. Oh, and it's also just flat-out incredible to listen to.
13. 283 views - "Everywhere That I Go" + "Again I Say Rejoice" ... a pretty good combination.
14. 283 views - Da'Dra, Stephen, & Jonathan Camey: "Mighty To Save" ... who knew there were this many people interested in watching Jonathan play drums?
15. 273 views - Cindy Cruse Ratcliff "Alabaster Box" ... what's to say? It's Cindy, it's a special, it's a good song. Do the math.
Here we go ... another Choir-centric special, with Stephan Jackson doing a walk-on solo in the middle. Looks like both handled their roles wonderfully.
Thanks to Rachel, I know this to be "Still Standing" by Bishop Paul Morton.
Oh, and thanks to Abel Orta himself, I also got a title on his Spanish service special from a few weeks back: "Por Amor" (if I'm remembering that correctly). Also got to meet his son, Jonathan, who's also one of the fill-in guitarists for the English service band. Once more, my timeline for meeting all the band is well on track for being completed by 2012.
At long last:
That's Clayton Ring, Mayra Parrales, and Aaron Rodriguez - our youth worship leaders. Great job on Tim Hughes' "Happy Day." Clayton's been on the big stage before. The other two are welcome additions. Gotta admit, though ... it looks odd now to see guitars on the stage that aren't McPhersons.
This was one of those odd weekends where I managed to be at none of the services. I was running late all weekend (thanks dayjob!), so I decided to chill upstairs again for the Saturday night service. A bad habit I hate to get into. One bonus from doing so, though, was watching Josh the sound guy gleefully enjoy watching "his boy" Aaron in action as I had the service blasted on the big screens.
Also had an errand to run that meant swinging by church on Sunday. As luck would have it, I got there right around the end of praise & worship for the Spanish service. In case nobody ever knew already, that place is hopping Sunday afternoon.
Yeah, I know I'm behind on slapping up some video this week. Trust me, the special from this past weekend was great, with some new talent to shine a spotlight on. But I'm obviously running behind thanks to some work over the weekend and taking my time in getting going on this lazy Monday. So look for footage a bit later than normal.
The Lakewood Choir, doing what they do ... sing:
I may just be suffering from temporary memory lapses here, but I'm thinking the choir's done this before. But since it's not in the video archives here, it looks like the first post I'm doing of it.
Work still intervenes, so if blogging goes light this week, that's my excuse. Still a couple of more takes from the Speaking of Faith podcast, though. Which is to say ... I'll probably be up a while tonight blogging my fingers to the nub.
Occasionally, I like to record and watch the Spanish service while I work. For one, it serves as decent background noise since I can't understand anything that doesn't match a menu item at Taco Cabana or a melody from one of the more recognizable praise & worship tunes. Secondly, you never know when something cool is going to happen. Today's bit of coolness comes in the form of Abel Orta performing the special. I probably have very little excuse for not getting a song title for the children's choir special, but I think I've got a good excuse here.
For those of us not 100% well-versed with the Spanish service, Abel is the bass player in the Lakewood Orchestra (do they still call it an orchestra? I prefer band.) For my sake, it's just kinda cool seeing our bass player sing his heart out. Be sure to catch a bit of the guitar player in this band lineup. The guy's got some pretty good chops ... another nice side benefit to letting this service play in the background at work.
It looks like there's a few digital hiccups in the video & audio, so don't go getting a headache from this on my account. I might try another upload once I get a chance to reboot what is evidently an overworked computer today.
I'm guessing on the title. Anyone know who does this song commercially? Google wasn't immediately helpful, but I've also got a few work-related distractions to blame for the lack of research. On the whole, a pretty entertaining uptempo number from the kids. As Marcos suggests at the end of this clip, they were indeed great. Job well done by Holly & the gang.
UPDATE: Reggie, from the comments, points out that the song is "My Number One" from the recent Hillsong Kids CD.
This weekend's special, brought to you by the Lakewood Choir:
That's "God Great God" commercially recorded by Kurt Carr.
You all know the drill by now: Aimee Beard sings ... I declare it a national holiday.
That's "God Speaking" by Mandisa. On the merits of Aimee's performance, I'm pretty sure it should qualify her for being a one-named artist, too. Good luck telling your boss you can't come into work Monday because it's Aimee Day.
Anyone know what the deal was with the mic stand? I'm not sure I've seen her operate with one in the past and it pretty much threw me for a loop once I saw both hands in motion during the song. Yeah, we occasionally pay attention to detail here at FBB, Inc.
Another highlight of the weekend: meeting Stephen Crawford before the service. I figure that maybe sometime by the next Olympics, I'll have finally met everyone in the band & ensemble.
As always, there was a pretty good sermon that came after Aimee's performance. I'll work in a little clip of that at some point today or tomorrow.
How can ya not catch some of the enthusiasm that Michael & Fiona brought to the stage this past weekend? If this is the build up for Easter service, I sure hope we have something even better in store for next week. No pressure, guys!
If you want the portable version of the tune, that's "Hosanna" by Paul Baloche.
One of the first things that tipped me off that kinda woke me up to the fact that the Lakewood band wasn't your normal church band was leaving one evening and hearing a little guitar filler that was particularly pleasing to the ear. So in case anyone else needs that jolt, here's a brief double dose.
As if to show that I do occasionally learn a thing or two, I now recognize the spots where - usually - Michael chips in with a riff or two. The point in this song is one such moment. To the point where I'm usually on high alert. This time around, I'm noticing that whatever Michael's doing isn't what I'm hearing. A check of the monitor gave me a clue why - we actually get a rare shot of Joel Camey moving up in the mix a bit and being heard with a little guitar brilliance. Michael follows up with his own added brilliance for a nice two-fer.
I'm just sayin' ... these guys rock.
Kid power ...
Kudos to Miriam Ward and the entire ensemble (and Holly & team for always having her crew ready for prime time). If you want to have the song to carry around with you, Israel's version is available online. I'm thinking he might want to watch out for this newer breed, though.
I owe Joel a video clip since I've more or less missed the point of taking four weeks to highlight some video of him. But with Stephen and Israel making the service so enjoyable, I don't see it as my fault. At least, not entirely.
In any case, here's a dual clip of Saturday night and Sunday morning (11am service). Similar endings, but it's worth showing them all.