How Sweet The Sound: The Audience

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As they say, the crowd went wild. The audience was primarily but not exclusively African-American, and the show was the best of their religious musical heritage. The music was designed to move people and they moved.

I am the volunteer photographer for Pedal The Cure, a fundraiser for cancer research and treatment at Washington University Medical Center. The kickoff was last night and the main event, a long bicycle ride, is this morning. Pix tomorrow.

Heart And Soul

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Two more images from How Sweet The Sound. The singers in the top picture are from the New Sunny Mount Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis. Their act (and it was a theatrical act, among other things) was based on beautiful voices, pulsing religious music, precision timing and dramatic hand and arm gestures. Silver-white gloves got the attention of the audience as the movement enhanced the message of the hymn. You can see another picture of this here.

The choir in the bottom picture is from St. Alphonsus Liguori Rock Catholic Church, also in The Lou. The judges, who I think are from Baptist backgrounds, expressed pleased surprise that a Catholic choir could rock out in praise so very well.

New Sunny Mount won the people's choice award, in which the audience got to send a text message naming their favorite. It also won the judges' grand prize, getting a lot of money for the church and a trip to Washington, DC, for the finals.

How Sweet The Sound

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It was finally time. Tuesday night I made my first venture through the media entrance of anything (our hockey arena in this case), was given a big pass to stick on my jacket and escorted to a meet and greet room. People were milling around with badges that said Event Staff, All Access, Talent or, like mine, Media. A house TV crew was ready to roll. The two main hosts of the show, Donald Lawrence and CeCe Winans, swept in for interviews and photos. I had no idea who they were. Somebody told me they were top gospel music stars.

A woman from the event's PR company reviewed what we could do. I had the run of the floor of the arena, including in front of the stage, as long as I didn't block the audience's view for more that a moment. Now, I don't look for gospel music when I turn on the radio. I'd never heard of the star hosts or judges. But the music was infectious, brilliant and bursting with feeling. Every choir was fabulous in its own way. I felt very privileged to be there, to hear and photograph it. It was exhausting too, on my feet and often crouching or kneeling for nearly four hours.

The singer in the top picture was one of the judges, Marvin Sapp. He was an electric performer who brought the audience to its feet, swaying, shouting and waving their arms. The bottom picture is one person's reaction to Winans' singing. I took about 1,300 snaps (I'm really good at taking poorly exposed and focused pictures). It's down to just over 400 in the first cut. The first to be edited are in a set on Flickr here. More on STL DPB in days to come.