|
This Past Weekend in IN & MO
Mon., May. 28. 2007 12:11pm EDT
This past weekend's tour was a sports fan's dream; we played in the hometowns of the current world champs of both football and baseball (the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Cardinals, respectively), and we even played in Indy the same day as the Indianapolis 500.
Of course, the closest we came to on-field action was passing the stadiums on the way to our concerts in New Castle IN (Friday), Kirkwood MO (Saturday), and Avon IN (Sunday), but our fans are always good sports.
Take Rich and Marie Polick, for example, who continued their assault on the all-time record for most ApologetiX concerts attended and states attended. The father-daughter team travelled all the way from Pittsburgh PA to Kirkwood and Avon and have now seen us in 62 and 61 times respectively in 13 states.
Rich's 61st and 62nd concerts corresponded with our 961st and 962nd, so he's only 900 behind us! Incidentally, the all-time record still belongs to another father-daughter team, Larry and Bethany Davis, who have seen us 104 times in 17 states and 110 times in 18 states, respectively.
Previous concert promoters Mike & Chris Sackett, travelled from Bronson MI to see us in New Castle, and have now seen us play in three states. Then there was Ruth Hanawalt and Heather Delaney, who came to all three concerts this past weekend. And how about the Hensley family:
This Memorial Day weekend marked the seventh anniversary of our family coming to know the incredible ministry of the ApologetiX. In addition to being an anniversary it also was a major milestone of our 25th live show.
It all began on a small parking lot stage at Taste of Cincinnati and has been absolutely life altering for the three of us. Our son Bradley is now 11 and has grown up with ApologetiX as one of his primary musical influences. He has joined the band on stage several times, not to mention amassed a collection of Messner picks, Rieger and Tanner drum sticks and plenty of signed memorabilia.
The band puts on an awesome show. We have been blessed to have been a part of this worship experience 25 times. Each show is unique and holds a special place in our hearts. We have been able to take part in such things as the debut of Jimmy Tanner, Bill "Moose" Rieger reunion weekend and a Christian magician opening the show. Many of these shows have even been part of a birthday celebration for one of us. Our ApologetiX chronology is as follows: 327, 339, 371, 446, 496, 505, 518, 533, 579, 586, 629, 648?, 653, 692, 706, 732, 775, 786, 792, 793, 880, 893, 940, 952, 960
I work at a public university and regularly play ApologetiX in my office. On countless occasions clients and coworkers have been in my office and are either singing along (in their own special secular way) or just blurt out "Oh, I love this song". Usually at that point I say, "Wow, I love meeting other ApologetiX fans!" Typically the look of confusion on their face evolves into a powerful and mutually comfortable witnessing tool.
The ApologetiX have grown so much in the past seven years and 633 shows. We can't wait to see you when you hit 1,000.
Jerry, Tracy and Bradley Hensley
Dayton, OH
Perhaps the most unlikely person at our concerts this weekend was the original ApologetiX bassist, Jerry Hayostek, who came to our show in Kirkwood. Jerry hadn't seen us live in almost a decade (He and his wife have seven kids and another on the way, so they're kept pretty busy), but he was in St. Louis on business and brought some guys from work with him to the show. Jerry plans to bring his entire family to our 15th anniversary show on June 29 in Pittsburgh.
Special thanks to:
Our concert coordinators: Lana & Dave Freeman (New Castle); Dave Kirk (Kirkwood); and Doug Slater (Avon).
Our merchandise coordinators: Aaron and Keith (New Castle and Avon); Marie (Kirkwood and Avon); Audra, Gordon, and Desiree (Kirkwood); and Lauren (New Castle).
|
