Saturday, September 02, 2006

Denver & the Mile High Orchestra


Traveled to Kennesaw last weekend to see Denver & the Mile High Orchestra with my son, his wife and our granddaughter, Niah. What a great night!

We had a great time with the kids, don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful family! It was Niah's first concert and she had a ball! She was clapping and dancing and laughing all night. She didn't stop moving until the band stopped playing.

We ate at a buffet before the concert - we ALL needed to keep moving to work off the extra food. Every time I eat at a buffet I say "never again" simply because I eat too much. We in America are so spoiled...

The band was fantastic. Denver is the name of the band leader. I imagine you probably thought, as I did, that Denver referred to the city. Turns out the leader wasn't born in Colorado or anywhere near - his mother just liked the name Denver. He, in turn, named his son Boston. Nope, they don't live in or near Boston. In fact, they live in Tennessee. I don't know that there are two areas that contrast more than Boston and Nashville!

The band plays a fun mix of big-band style Christian music with a bit of almost every genre tossed in. The leader, Denver, is truly a talented artist who could be famous in the "secular" world. If you ever have the opportunity to hear the band, don't hesitate!

They played at the Dozier Art Center. It's brand new, this was their first concert. The Center boasts a 600 seat auditorium (where we were) and a 300 seat black-box theater.

It's a private venture, not funded by any public money. Dozier is a developer who wanted to support the arts and felt he could make a profit doing so. It's going to be interesting to watch this venue and see how it does. It's gorgeous, huge, and it looks like they're doing things the right way.


We in Fayette County are trying to 'grow' an art center. Currently a group is working with the YMCA to build one near the center of the county. At one point I was involved in trying to raise some money for a center, it didn't pan out.

I am a huge supporter of the arts. I would love to see a nice venue for the arts in our great county. It will be interesting to see if the community is willing to support an arts venue. There seems to be a lot of support for sports in the area. I'm hoping the arts can garner at least as much support.

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