The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996          TAG: 9609280294
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Music Review 
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:   54 lines

TALENTED GROUP OF FRIENDS FILLS COLISEUM WITH SPIRIT

Hampton Coliseum was filled - spirit-filled - Friday night for Bill Gaither and his friends.

Make that: talented friends.

The who-needs-security audience for the Christian music performances represented many denominations and many churches, who enjoyed their musical heroes performing in the round - loud and clear.

Gaither's friends possess a large collection of powerful voices. Gaither does some singing, but usually alternates between announcing and sitting back and enjoying the music like everyone else. He doesn't share the spotlight; he gives it up.

His friends are the ones you see on television commercials that seem to run every half-hour on The Nashville Network and The Family Channel and the like.

The best friends were The Cathedrals, the ``characters'' of gospel who so successfully combine music and comedy.

Like most of the acts, they mix the music with testimony, but the accent is on the music, and the music is usually up-tempo.

One of the best examples was The Cathedrals' version of the foot-stomping ``Ride that Glory Train.''

Many highlights were provided by Mark Lowry, a member of the Gaither Vocal Band who provides most of the comedy - much of it off-the-cuff.

He delights in picking on his boss, and the audience loved it.

Referring to the many videos featuring Gaither and his friends, Lowry said, ``You weren't there when Christ was born. If you were, you would have made a video of it.''

The videos, cassettes and CDs were plugged constantly. The lobby of the Coliseum had as much to offer as a good-sized Christian book store.

The nearly four-hour show featured praise to Jesus. It was nice to hear the name without it sounding like a cuss word.

After intermission, individual performers joined for a spiritual jam session. The performers included The Happy Goodman Family - longtime Southern gospel favorites.

Many of the performers can be described as senior citizens, as many have been around for several decades - most of them long before Gaither came on the scene.

Like Ed Sullivan, he has the knack of finding the most outstanding talents and showcasing them, bringing out their best.

One of the best instrumental moments was provided by Anthony Burger, whose wild piano solos would be at home in any club.

He, like just about all the performers, was constantly given standing ovations.

Few people realized that among the audience members were some of the Statler Brothers, who, like Gaither, often spotlight some of the best in gospel.

KEYWORDS: CONCERT REVIEW by CNB