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POG and FFH Concert: "Awesome" Describes It!
(Posted: February 25, 2002) (Printable Version)
Awesome! If there had to be one-word description of the Point Of Grace and FFH concert Feb. 23 at UA Fort Smith, that would be it.
The crowd of 3,000-plus was mixed in age, from toddlers to senior citizens. The lines outside had snaked almost around Stubblefield Center as they waited for the doors to open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. concert. Seats at floor-level were $25, with arena seating at $20, but the concert had been sold out for more than two weeks before the event.
As the concert began, the crowd listened quietly, seeming to be in awe of the sound itself, those intricately mixed four voices that make up the Christian supergroup Point Of Grace — Denise Jones, Heather Payne, Terry Jones and Shelley Breen. Some had expected the sound to be good, but probably not quite as good as on their CDs — they were wrong and immediately knew it. The sound was perfection.
It wasn’t long before the crowd got into the act, sometimes standing and singing with Point Of Grace. The event brought together individuals and church groups, including one contingent of youth from Grand Avenue Baptist who were involved in an entire weekend of youth activities and included the UA Fort Smith concert as part of it.
Eric Breuer from Cavanaugh Free Will Baptist Church expressed what many felt:
"I just think it’s an awesome praise of God’s name," Breuer said.
Breuer is part of the praise team at his church and said the team plans to do a couple of Point Of Grace and FFH songs, but he also had a more personal interest in coming to the concert — he wanted to pick up a few guitar tips.
"Awesome" was also the word used by Doyle and Pamela Dawson on radio station KZKZ, better known as Spirit FM, on the Monday morning after the concert.
The Dawsons, on the air to advertise their companies (Aqua-Flo and Merry Maids), talked about the "awesome" concert, the people they had seen worshiping there, and how appreciative they were that a Christian concert had been the first concert for Stubblefield Center. Spirit FM helped promote the event.
Kristin LaMar and Kristel Hoffman were also enthusiastic about the concert. The two are members of a four-voice quartet that has been singing Point Of Grace songs at their church, at the Arkansas-Oklahoma State Fair and for youth rallies of the Concord Baptist Association.
LaMar, a junior at River Valley Christian School, said she "loved it."
"After singing so much of their music, it was fun to finally get to see them in person. I think they are very talented musicians."
Hoffman, an early childhood education major at UA Fort Smith, said she thought the concert was "just really good." She said she liked the personal aspects of it.
"When Shelley walked out into the crowd, that surprised me," she said. "And they took questions, talked to the crowd. I thought it was neat when they brought the kids on the stage."
Hoffman was referring to the sons of Point Of Grace member Denise Jones, who claimed the crowd’s heart, as did four-year-old Jessica Olienyk, who won a contest to appear on stage to sing with Point Of Grace. (See separate story.)
Kirsten Cutsinger of Arkansas’ NBC News 24-51 (KPOM-TV) was impressed with the concert also:
"I thought it was a great concert," Cutsinger said. "I thought it was cute when they brought the little girl up on stage — kind of reaching out to public made them more personable."
One youthful fan, 12-year-old Heather Gray of Fort Smith, was first in line for autograph signing time. Her mother, UA Fort Smith student Valerie Gray said Heather "likes to be first."
Valerie, a speech pathology major, said she had seen Point Of Grace about six years ago in Barton Coliseum in Little Rock.
"I enjoyed it better here," Gray said. "They hadn’t been out of college long, and none of them had children then."
Marie Higginbotham, a liberal arts major at UA Fort Smith, said she thought the concert was "really great" and that Point Of Grace and FFH put on a really good show:
"Not only did they put on a good show, but the personalities they showed afterward was what really made them inspiring," Higginbotham said. "They were really friendly and loving."
Carolyn Gross, one of the grandmothers in the concert said she thought the concert was wonderful.
"I wasn’t familiar with FFH," she said, "but my granddaughter was, and she sang the words along with them."
Gross also commented on the way picture-takers were accommodated at Point Of Grace and FFH autograph time. Gross had raised her camera, and one of the group put an arm around Gross’s granddaughter and said, "Guys, picture to the left."
Chip Johnson with Guest Reddick Architects, the firm which designed Stubblefield Center, had a business interest in the facility and the concert.
"The concert worked really well for a facility of that size," Johnson said. "It was very, very good…I was very pleased…It was just a great concert."
The concert at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith was part of Point Of Grace’s Free to Fly tour. For other stories and photos on the Point Of Grace/FFH concert see "POG and FFH Concert: FFH Has a Message" and "POG and FFH Concert: Voice of a Child."
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Information | |
| Photo(s) by: Jamie Mitchell of Jamie Mitchell Photography; David Helliker, Project Specialist, University Communications; and Sondra LaMar |
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