[img]396|left|Alex Campbell||no_popup[/img]Re “Gospel Surprise, Part 2”
Dateline Boston — After a few minutes, the concert started. The Boston Symphony Orchestra played a hymn, and then the Boston Pops Choir came onstage and sang, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” It reminded me of elementary school back in Brooklyn. We used to sing that song at Friday assembly. I could almost smell the wooden seats that folded up…
I was brought back from my reverie with the introduction of Melinda Doolittle! She sang three songs, and she got a well deserved standing O. Her first song was a traditional gospel song called “I Go to the Rock (with Rock of Ages).” Here’s a little side note: I was raised with no religion. But let me tell you, when Melinda was singing that song, I sure as heck wanted to go to that rock! I would have set up camp at that rock if she wanted me to. I don’t even know what kind of rock she was referring to — granite? Plymouth? A big diamond? All I know is that I felt some kind of spirit, that’s for sure.
Andy ordered dinner for himself — a tuna sandwich and chips. He had to consume his dinner carefully, not during the quieter moments of the string section. All we needed to hear was a beautiful string instrument followed by a loud crunch. The food looked really good. He ate respectfully.
There was an intermission and then more singing and solos from the choir. When I saw the titles of two songs in the program, “You Didn’t Give up on Me” and “I Won’t Let Go,” they seemed particularly poignant. I got a little choked up thinking about Amy and the events of the past fall.
We Absolutely Won’t Let Go
I discovered that when listening to a gospel concert, I much prefer the fast songs to the slower ones. During one slow song, I flipped through my program and made up a game called, “You’re having a baby, and you have to name it one of the names on this page.” For girls, I came up with Ann, Sophia, Claire and Carolyn. For boys, it was David, Tim and Troy. Then I looked closer. The Tim I saw was Tim Smith. I knew a Tim Smith who sang. Could it be Tim, parent at the Co-op where I was a teacher, who was actually on the hiring committee when I was hired 13 years ago? I squinted to look at the few white men up there on stage, and thought I spotted him in the back row. Cool!
Jill, the waitress, came over with a cup of coffee. She asked if we had ordered any. Whoops. Amy explained that she’d take the coffee, but actually, we didn’t really want the food, we were just experimenting with the card. Jill said no problem.
The concert was almost over when surprise, surprise, Melinda Doolittle came back onto the stage! She sang a resounding rendition of “I Won’t Let Go.” Everyone stood up, and we all felt the spirit that time. We clapped and stomped our feet, and it felt like we were in church. If this is what it felt like to be a Baptist, sign me up! I was high as a kite from the music, and the voices, and the energy of the room.
Eventually the song wound down, and Melinda went offstage, along with the conductor. About half the theater left, but a bunch of us stuck around. We got our table’s bill for Andy’s dinner, my gourmet cupcake that I didn’t get and Amy’s coffee. Turns out the only charge on there was the coffee. Sure, I didn’t get charged for a cupcake I didn’t eat, but Andy got a free meal! I told him it was his lucky night, and he agreed.
We all said our goodbyes, and then Amy and I noticed that another man, perhaps the director of the choir, got onstage and started the last song up again. Whoo wee, he got that place burnin’ up! The tambourine was flying, feet were stomping, and we just kept chanting and chanting about how we wouldn’t let go. The band would make a beat and we’d stomp, along with the tambourine: BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! You’d think it was over, but then you’d hear, “And I won’t let go!” and we’d start all over again. No matter how many times we did it, or how much our hands stung from clapping, or how much our feet hurt from stomping, we found the energy to do it again and again, for half an hour. I felt sorry for the people who had already left and missed the highlight of the evening.
Finally we had felt all we could feel, and we left, spiritually awakened and free as birds. I vowed to follow that choir wherever it went. Amy dropped me off, thanked me again, and I went home to email Tim Smith and ask him if it was he whom I had seen in the choir. Lo and behold, it was!
I felt like it was meant to be, this concert with Amy. It was uplifting, happy, and positive, even while we were singing about hard times. If you’re ever down and need to be up, grab a gospel CD and let loose. Call me up; we’ll go to the rock and we won’t let go.
Ms. Campbell may be contacted at campbellalexandra@hotmail.com
