2012 NQC – Friday Night Recap

Friday night of the NQC is complete.  Personally, this was my favorite night of music thus far.  There were plenty of great sets of music tonight that I’ll try not to miss anything.  What were tonight’s hits and misses? Be sure to talk amongst yourselves discussing your favorites of Friday night.

• Last night was the night of live music moments.  Tonight the a cappella moments trumped.  There was so many great ones!  “Thou Oh Lord” by Sisters, “I Will Praise Him” by the Isaacs, “Christ The Lord Is Risen” by the Nelons, the moving “Only God Knows Why” by Scott Inman (Triumphant Qt) and when the Hoppers brought Taranda Greene to do an a cappella finish to “I’ve Come Too Far”.  Wow!
• Dixie Echoes classic quartet set always enjoyable.
• I was impressed with the Taylors first appearance on the main stage.  I wish it would’ve been longer.  It is good to see a young group keep classic mixed quartet Southern Gospel music going strong.
• The Gaither Vocal Band’s set was impressive, as usual.  The new songs from Pure And Simple are great.
• I didn’t think anything could top the Gaither Vocal Band set and then the last three artists came on and blew my socks off.  Triumphant Quartet, Mark Trammell Quartet and the Hoppers absolutely ended the night with power house performances.
• I wanted to send congratulations to the winners of the first NQC music awards given this afternoon.  There were some different winners which included Kim Collingsworth winning musician, David Phelps picking up tenor, Jason Crabb winning solo artist and the Collingsworth Family winning mixed group.  I have no doubt this will be their first of many mixed group awards.

• The Christmas segment was fun to close the evening, but this is still too early for me to warm up to Christmas music.
• Tonight we got to hear what the Perrys sound like without Joseph Habedank when he didn’t show up for the first song.  Let’s hope that never happens again.
• Those performances that seemed to fall flat (at least from viewing it via webcam), in order of appearance are as follows:  Diplomats (“Meet Me On The Other Side”) – forgot the words, Perrys (“Everywhere I Go”) – song missing a member of the group, Booth Brothers (“I Played In The Band”) – not scheduled and didn’t need it and Pfeifers (“Father’s House”) – forgot the words .

**Now to crown the best of the night:

Best single song performances (in order of appearance):  (1) “Song Of Heaven” – Tribute Quartet  (2) “Unworthy” – Dixie Echoes  (3) “Gettin’ Ready Today” – Taylors  (4) “Thou Oh Lord” – Sisters**(favorite of the night)  (5) “I Will Praise Him” – Isaacs  (6) “Christ The Lord Is Risen” – Nelons  (7) “I’m Going Home With Jesus” – Nelons  (8) “Where No One Stands Alone” – Gaither Vocal Band  (9) “Rasslin’ Jacob” – Gaither Vocal Band  (10) “Glorious Freedom” – Gaither Vocal Band  (11) “Only God Knows Why” – Scott Inman  (12) “I’m Standing On The Solid Rock” – Mark Trammell Quartet  (13) “I’ll Take You Home” – Hoppers  (14) “I’ve Come Too Far” – Hoppers with Taranda Greene

Best Set of the Night:  This is the toughest call of the week.  There are at least a half-dozen artists who turned in strong sets tonight but the one that got me shouting (here in my recliner) was the Hoppers.  When they brought Taranda up to sing the a cappella reprise to “I’ve Come Too Far”…I really have no words and then to follow it up with “Something’s Happening” and then later bring the house down with “Oh Holy Night” on the Christmas segment.  Maybe Taranda should join the Hoppers.