Praising God, urging human compassion

Gospel music veteran Bill Gaither has proved once again he has a faithful Northwest following.

Busloads of Gaither fans, many of them in their "golden" years, turned out for his Friday night "Give It Away" concert at KeyArena, the first stop on his 10th-anniversary tour.

For more than three hours, Gaither and his crew held court with new songs from the Gaither Vocal Band's latest CD, "Give It Away," as well as old Southern gospel standards. His fans, nearly 6,000 strong, seemed well pleased.

The casually dressed Gaither — at 70, in those golden years himself — still has the maestro's touch. Gaither and Friends opened the concert with a gospelized version of Bill Withers' secular hit "Lean On Me," a surprising choice, considering that Gaither has been credited with composing or rearranging more than 700 songs.

It wasn't until the second half of the concert that Gaither and his Friends sat in semicircles onstage for a medley of old Southern gospel standards familiar to fans of Gaither's television show, "The Bill Gaither Hour."

Gaither knows his crowd and he keeps the ball rolling — complete with grandfatherly banter to his stage manager offstage — and his audience politely sat waiting for the around-the-piano gospel sing-alongs Gaither has become known for.

Gaither explained that he'd named this anniversary tour the "Give It Away" tour "because we're trying to encourage people to give of themselves.

Review

KeyArena, Seattle Center, Friday night

"We're really selling a concept here," he said. "When people learn the joy of giving, we will be able to take care of poverty, hunger disease and lots of things in the name of Jesus."

Among more memorable moments during the concert were the tribute to Anthony Burger, the Gaither group's pianist, who died unexpectedly in February at age 44 after suffering a heart aneurysm during a Gaither cruise concert; and a set by Gaither's current accompanist, Gordon Mote, who is blind, who sang a song he wrote for his wife, "If They Could See You Through My Eyes." Mote has been with the Gaither tour since last spring.

Other highlights were Ernie Haase & Signature Sound's "Morning Has Broken" and 76-year-old Ben Speer's "In the Midst of It All."

Capping the second half of the concert was Gaither's own signature composition, "Because He Lives."

Charles E. Brown: 206-464-2206 or cbrown@seattletimes.com