CFTC-A Benefit for St. Vincent DePaul

Stevie Warren of Road 23 opens the evening's event

 Concert For The Cause

By Lydia Lowe
(all photo's by Bob Hunter)

     It’s amazing what a little promotion before an event can do to help a charity raise a phenomenal amount of money.  On Saturday, St. Vincent DePaul raised the largest amount of money ever raised for a CFTC Saturday in the park event.  The crowd showed up early, en mass, and the line for food and drinks never stopped.  It was one of the best events CFTC has ever held.  St. Vincent DePaul had completely exhausted their funds so this was a windfall that is going to make a big difference within the community.

Road 23 entertains the crowd

      The evening started out with a group from El Dorado, Kansas known as Road 23.  The lead singer for the group, Stevie Warren, sang The National Anthem to open the evening’s entertainment and hit every single note.  It looked to me like it wasn’t that much of a stretch for her, either.  Obviously she has put in a lot of time singing and practicing to make it look that easy.  The rest of the band’s set did not disappoint, it only got better from there.  The crowd was rocking out to every song the band sang, and the band, collectively, put their whole heart and soul into each track.  

The Brian Davis Band wow's the crowd

      This group set up a merchandise table, along with The Brian Davis Band, and had CD’s, t-shirts and various other items for sale.  The crowd purchased a variety of items and seemed thrilled to have the opportunity to do this.  I overheard a few concert-goers who mentioned that they wished other bands would do this so they could take home the band’s music with them to play later.  So having that merchandise table really helped the crowd connect more fully with the band.  I believe that it will also remind them of the band’s name so they can catch them again the next time they see the name advertised for an upcoming performance.

Brain Davis entertains the crowd; he's not really purple, we were experimenting with colored lights

     Following Road 23 was The Brian Davis Band.  What a group!  This band is a favorite around Hutchinson and the surrounding area.  They bill themselves as a Christian rock band but what I find interesting about this group is that they don’t just draw a typical Christian rock audience.  They seem to have the knack for meeting people from all walks of life where they are and then delivering a Christian message that everyone can relate too.  Truly a unique group.  One of the first songs they played for the evening’s entertainment had a bit of a harder edge to it.  Something different from the group on this evening and another one of their new songs not yet recorded.  The St. Vincent DePaul ladies up at the concession table as well as the crowd, were intrigued by the new sound coming from the stage and we weren’t able to see what group was playing at the time.  Then of course there was that unmistakable Brian Davis sound and everyone just knew then, and began moving and grooving to the beat on that one.  

     The Brian Davis Band always brings a lot with them to any show, and on this night they also brought the first band with them.  In fact, the crowd has The Brian Davis Band to thank for introducing all of us to the opening act, Road 23, as they met them at a battle of the bands event at the Cotillion earlier this year and asked them to play for CFTC.

Frankie Shayne of ZSP (Zero Self Project)

     ZSP aka Zero Self Project rounded out the evening.  Frankie Shayne has several projects going with several different musical groups.  Each one has a unique sound all their own.  I missed ZSP last year when they played CFTC.  I thought this group might be similar to the Soapbox Troubadors that Frankie also heads up.  I was so wrong.  This group plays a wide variety of different genres of music that all seems to flow together; everything from rock to country to Christian, etc.  Too end the evening Frankie even performed a song they’ve been working on, an original heavy metal screamer type of song that seemed to confuse everyone at first, then the crowd was intrigued, and a variety of remarks were made, nothing negative, other than a few members of the crowd thought he might ruin his voice with the vocals.  The crowd stayed until he finished that song because it was so out of character with the rest of the evening’s music that no one could leave until it was done.  Many were grooving to the beat and really enjoying the uniqueness of the song.

ZSP performs after darkness sets in over Avenue A Park

      The evening ended far too soon for the record number of concert-goers and they filed out of the park slowly and reluctantly.  Never fear though, CFTC will be back for three more concerts on Saturdays in August.  You won’t want to miss the final concert, a thank you concert for the crowd, the first Saturday after the Kansas State Fair ends.  This was one of the favorite concerts last year.  Find out more about the concerts, the music, and the charities by checking out CFTC on Facebook and the CFTC website.