Concert For The Cause

 
Concert For The Cause:

Featuring Carla Ayala and Jonathan Fleig

Avenue A Park

Hutchinson, KS

© Lydia Lowe 2013

       Saturday's concert took an interesting turn with a variety of different musical styles represented.  There was hip-hop and rap provided by Skyylow, who had all ages on their feet and dancing in their seats.  His tunes were irresistible and whether you had rhythm or not, on Saturday night it was hard to sit still.

     Next up was The Guthrie Brothers Band.  Primarily a Christian band, their style was a little bit country and a little bit rock-n-roll.  A couple of their songs were familiar and some were not, but their music was a crowd pleaser.  I'm sure they will be performing at a lot more locations around Hutchinson in the upcoming months.  The crowd seemed to enjoy the constant change up of musical styles.

     Back for a second week and after a grueling mini tour, The Soapbox Troubadors returned to the stage at Avenue A Park.  Last Saturday, there was a song "Washed By The Water" that they played during their sound check that got lots of crowd pop, they played it during the concert and it got pop again.  Saturday they played it once more and once again, crowd pop. This is an amazing song.  I imagine it may be their signature song at some point because no concert featuring them should end before they play it.  The Guthrie Brothers Band sang this very same song during their set.  It was interesting to hear two different versions.

     Then it was time for Carla Ayala to step on stage.  Carla owned the stage.  She sang soulful ballads while seated at the side of the stage, connecting intimately with the audience and then jumped up on stage for faster paced songs.  She had incredible energy and range to her vocals.  Her lyrics and music were spot on.  The crowd had really settled in at this point and were very tuned in to the music, the overall stage performance, the whole experience of the evening.

     Jonathan Fleig wore two hats on Saturday.  He performed as the sound engineer and the headliner.  He made everyone's music sound great.  So, of course, when Fleig started his performance it was fitting that off in the distance there were the booms of fireworks.  (By the way, I believe this was planned in advance.)  Fleig's music is just what it is.  Jonathan puts it out there and the audience gets what it gets out of it.  I've heard Fleig play several different places and I'm always amazed at the comments afterwards.  One of his songs can mean so many different things to different people.  That's a gift very few performers have.

     Salvation Army was the featured non-profit this week.  Last week they raised close to $300.  I was a little concerned this week that with a rival music event across town that the crowds might be smaller and that the charity featured might not raise much money.  But there was no need to worry.  The crowds were bigger this week than in weeks past and the Salvation Army did very well in their fund raising efforts.

     New acts are added to the card every week, so if you miss a week, you miss a lot.  In the next few weeks, I have it on good authority that a 14 year old singing sensation will make her debut on the Avenue A Park stage.  You'll want to be there for that one. 

     On Saturday, the lineup will be Simone du Garfunk and John Rowdy.  The featured non-profit will be Boys and Girls Club.