Todd Agnew

We hosted a Todd Agnew concert last night. Wow, what a fun time it was. I came away feeling somewhat conflicted though.
First of all, we did not have as many people there than I thought we would. We had around 200-250 people total, not bad for our first production but still we are talking Todd Agnew here. Not Stephen Jones and his talking puppets but Todd Agnew, you know, "Grace Like Rain", "This Fragile Breathe", that Todd Agnew, the one that gets played on the radio? But oh well, I am sure there was something really good on TV that will never replay on TV Land one day that you could not miss. But for the people who were there, they all walked away pretty much blessed by the time they got to spend worshipping with Todd.
Second it was that worship thing that kind of surprised me. I mean he does this for a living. He goes some place, tunes his guitar and sings and plays for work. But he never made it sound like work. He truely enjoyed connecting with the audience and leading them into a place of worship.
Thirdly, I really expected him to plug his newest album, "Need'. You know, the new album is the one that makes the money. I do not think he did but a couple of songs off that album the entire time. If you pick it up check out "Writing on the Wall", I was kind of disappointed he did not do that one but acousticly it probably doesn't have the kick it would with a live band.
Fourthly, I know I am still going. He was a really good guitarist. That impressed me a bunch, it wasn't just up, down, up, down and chord changes but he added some riffs and kept a pretty good groove going the whole time. And trust me people, he did not have any help. His guitar went into a tuner and then into a direct box that went into the sound system. There was no track machine, click track or anything else to help him out, just Todd and the guitar.
Fifthly, I really like the guy. You know he is like famous and all but he was really a down to earth kind of guy. He carried his luggage in, we finally did relieve him of that but he wasn't demanding or expecting something, he almost seemed somewhat embarrassed that people were trying to treat him like a star. I guess I know why I am probably not a famous musician now, I would be big headed, obnoxious and demanding so GOD keeps me humble by being not so famous.
Sixthy, the dude has a sense of humor. He had everyone laughing and crying, singing and worshipping and laughing and crying some more. There was a point he kind of broke into a stand up comedy routine then realized that he had a guitar and kind of looked at it like, "I guess I should be playing this thing...". He was a riot with the stories he told and the theology he brought to the table.
Seventhly, He is what he is. When you see Todd, that is what you get. I was running around in a pair of cargo shorts and a polo trying to get dinner ready for everyone, making sure my wife was not too stressed out and then had to change to get "Pastorly" for the service. By the way my "Pastorly" dress was a pair of jeans, printed T shirt with a button up patterned shirt over the top. No suit and tie for me! Well Todd, he came in wearing this "Chuys" shirt right from the airport. "Chuys" is a Dallas restaurant that I was at years ago, so I keep waiting for Todd to go get into his "performance" clothes. We leave him for a few minutes and when he comes out on stage, yep front and center "Chuys" is heralded to all. Todd should hit them up for some burritos or tacos or something as the food sponsor for "Need" tour. Something like, "we all "NEED" to eat, at Chuys!!" Saying all that, he was real, transparent, and humble. Hopefully next time we have him I will get to set with him for an hour or so and just play guitar.
Eightly, that dude has a set of pipes!! I love Todd's voice, when "Grace Like Rain" came out my wife wanted to do it for worship. Now I am a baritone/bass by nature so I was loving it when she said she wanted me to sing it. All was good until the "Hallelujah" part where I pulled a hamsting trying to get that high. But Todd can just fill a room with his voice. Little guy, big voice. (disclaimer, Todd is not that little but I am 6'3" and 3 bills, he seems a little guy to me for that voice).
Ninethly, he got married a little over a year ago. A ready made family with a 8 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. His son's birthday was the night of the concert. He could have cancelled, I would have understood but he didn't. He told me that they got up that morning, and had Birthday Cake for breakfast before he flew out. That is a pretty good dad! I hope Sandy remembers the day that he had Birthday Cake for breakfast, because his dad was a man of honor. So much so that when the concert was over he went first to call his family. That was too cool, he wanted to share the worship experience with his family.
Tenthly, he was so nice. My wife is a control freak and she plans everything down to the minute and event. Well we were leaving having sent Todd off to get some sleep, finished cleaning up and I asked her how we were supposed to pay for the remainder of the bill to bring him to Miami. She kind of went white and started calling trying to find out what happened to the check. I kind of chuckled because I once had a guest speaker's offering check in my pocket when after I took him to lunch he had to kind of hem and haw and finally just asked me, "that offering you took for me, well are you going to mail it or did you write me a check?" I was so embarrased, I had it in my pocket and forgot to give it to him. Well we forgot Todd's check. Yep, sent him off without paying him. My wife ran him down at the hotel and he was like, "no problems, just mail it to me." He met us all of three hours ago and yet he trusted us with this living and said to just mail it. Well Todd, I will make sure the "check's in the mail" today for you.
Thanks for all you did, you were a blessing.
Pastor Pat