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By J. MATTHEW COBB Opening up the festivities was the Hopewell Baptist Church Choir singing a few common favorites, which included Hezekiah Walker's "Hold Out" and Walter Hawkins' "My God Is Standing By". Then the platform opens up for the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, radio personality and local gospel favorite Minister Prince Yelder. He pulled out some old classics, done in impromptu fashion, which included Charles Nicks' "I Really Love The Lord" and Richard Smallwood's "Total Praise". The audience sung along, like a grand super mass choir, while the musicians and Yelder followed suit. These cuts were a great preparation for the wondrous occasion heading our way. Dr. Feranda Williamson later greeted the audience, after receiving a wonderful introduction from concert promoter Albert Grant of Al Chris Entertainment. She was very excited about being in Birmingham and compelled us to break forth in praise after she began to declare God's goodness and bountiful blessings in her dynamic preaching tone. Upcoming gospel comedian Tony K. stepped out and gave off some very humorous and hilarious moments using his clean-style of church jokes and witty candor. He then quickly introduced the next guest and warned the audience that he would be returning. That he did, in between set-ups and performers. Next came Kevin T. Wasser, along with his background singers, whom delivered a nice set of up-tempo praise numbers and a nice churchy number. His testimony of how God healed him of prostate cancer spoke of great volumes. A few sound problems got in the way of their ministry, but the music was a great introduction to what was to come from him. Joshua's Troop, the youth choir from Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church of Chicago, loaded up in the choir stand and featured almost fifty-five young adults decked in their various colors of red, blue and yellow along with their urban jean wear. They pulled out from their repertoire the infectious, funky "Lift Him Up" (from the Project Youth collection) which contained a nice vamp and serious choir movements. "Jesus", heard on their debut project, followed, while the choir closed out with Isaiah Thomas' version of "I Will Bless The Lord". The song even got a nice, original tag on the end; helping to get the audience on their feet and ready for an onslaught of reprises. It was also very moving and touching when it was announced that Joshua's Troop staged fund raisers and began to save their monies to prepare for the tour. After a few more comical teases from Tony K., New Direction hit the stage with their blue denim jeans and t-shirts and delivered a zesty rendition of one of their early numbers, "New Direction". The breakdown of parts on this cut, done in the fashion of Ricky Dillard's "More Abundantly", was seriously killer and had the audience in total awe. No one really expected this group to deliver a presentation like this. Then came "I Came To Jesus", which was also well received with its funky rhythms and New Direction's commanding vocals. Then they proved that they could get down to some traditional gospel when they pulled out a blazing take on the classic "Leak In The Building". New Direction then closed out with "I'm In Love With Jesus"; a passionate worship ballad that sounded so much better live than the studio version found on the GospoCentric "Rain" project. Intimate worship was thick amongst the gatherers and held up the service for a number of minutes. Around 10:00 p.m., the legendary Chicago Mass Choir, in their uniformed white tops and black pants, were ready to minister with Percy Gray, Jr. leading the way. They opened up, to the audience's surprise, with a soft, tender version of "Time". With nothing but piano, Gray's exhortations and the Chicago Mass singing, the song was a nice way to open their set. After singing that, choirmaster Percy Gray reminded the watchers that they were not young as New Direction and Joshua's Troop but the packed house knew they were still in for a divine treat. They pulled out the unforgettable church jam, "He That Believeth", and reminded their listeners why they are so greatly loved and respected. Gray opened the floor for song suggestions. To our amazement, none of those were really done, except for the energetic "Oh Taste And See". Instead the choir leaped into "Prayer Will Fix It", "I Cannot Tell It All", "The Lamb", "I Pray We'll All Be Ready" and the down-home churchy "Holy Ghost Power". Lemmie Battles, known for tearing up a meaty Chicago Mass number, was not present, but fans were well pleased. Lots of songs that are synonymous to the Chicago Mass Choir's history were not presented like "I Can Go To The Rock", "Call Him Up", "Take Over Lord", "Nobody But Jesus", "You Love Me", "Lord Make Me A Vessel" and "Take It To Jesus". What else was shocking was that Dr. Feranda Williamson didn't even sing one song. But the Chicago Mass Choir sounded very good and vocally lived up to expectations. For a finale, it was Percy Gray's idea to merge the choirs for a closing selection. With all of the guest choirs and ministries on board and barely fitting on the same platform, the mega-mass choir bid us farewell with the classic "Rise Up And Walk"; a befitting selection that is purely dedicated to the rich traditions of Chicago gospel music. Rev. Milton Brunson would have been proud. If the staff of Chicago Mass Choir and GrayBoyz Productions decides to do another tour of this magnitude, Birmingham surely would be interested in receiving them with open arms again. Of course, the expenses for this event had to include a massive budget, but it was well worth it. All three groups deserve their share of recognition and praise for a job well done.
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