The Festival of Praise (FOP) 48 City Gospel Concert tour ‘showed up and showed out’ in Nashville at the downtown Municipal Auditorium. Featuring noted gospel artists such as Fred Hammond, Kim Burrell, Isaac ‘Ike Nice’ Caree, Israel Houghton, Zacardi Cortez, Jessica Reedy, Donnie McClurkin and others. On some stops, Bishop Hezekiah Walker joined in with the FOP tour but didn’t make Nashville. FOP is still receiving rave reviews and mass attendance across the nation.
FOP headliner Fred Hammond is the original idealist for the tour, along with his brother Ray. The artists involved stick together and perform interacting as a team, with featured spots as opposed to going on one at a time. This was no ordinary gospel concert by any means. The mixture of music styles and featured genres kept the audience positively engaged and guessing. The acoustics were amazing, and seemingly each seat in the packed arena was considered a good seat. The musical variety and stream of good musicians collaborating together worked in a seamless fashion at the successful performance. As they stop in their allotted cities, the closeness and continuity of the artists is displayed and the family like atmosphere on stage carries out into the audience.
As an example: Grammy-winner McClurkin once confirmed the family like tightness of the group when he was moved to tears on stage one night following the death of his 13-year-old niece Trinity. While he was momentarily unable to sing through tears, the other vocalists rallied around and with outstretched arms, prayed and sang.
“Their love helped me minister,” McClurkin said.
That togetherness makes for a heart-warming, rich and intimate experience for concertgoers. Nashville is often known for being Music City U.S.A. for the wide array of music and numerous talents. Many successful artists, writers and musicians were either launched from here or call this city home.
Among the notables spotted in the crowd were Dr. Ben Tankard and wife Jewel Tankard. There were also area ministers; Bravo TV reality television stars (Thicker Than Water); entrepreneurs; and philanthropists.
The Festival of Praise tour gave ticket holders more than their money’s worth with this show. The music, theatrics and unique arrangements were amazing—not to mention the praise and worship development at the end of the concert.
For remaining tour dates visit FestivalofPraiseTour. com.
