I See... The Best Thing About a Piano Guys Concert

If you're Mormon, and you don't know who The Piano Guys are, then you haven't been heeding apostolic advice to leverage social media to capture and spread all that is good and right and true throughout the world. The Piano Guys are four seemingly normal Mormon Dads with 16 kids between them that do some amazing things with a piano and 16 cellos. While their music creatively inspires open-hearted listeners to seek the Lord's influence in more corners of their lives, it also carries a strangely sincere and broad appeal to unsuspecting gentiles. 70 million youtube views means they must be doing something right. You can read more about them and their music here.

So, naturally, when we heard they were coming to Red Hat Amphitheater in downtown Raleigh, we took a crowbar to our budget and blew our whole entertainment budget wad on tickets. They weren't cheap so we expected excellence, and we were not disappointed. As our senses were flooded with so much uplifting stimulation, the mind and heart of the Mormon Third Eye instinctively detoured down a random pondering path. If someone asked me what the best thing about a Piano Guys concert is, this concert specifically, how would I respond?

Was it that the drive into town to the concert venue consumed no more than 30 minutes door-to-seat? Or that we found parking right across the street for almost nothing?

Nope. It was probably the most convenient concert arrangement we have ever experienced, but it wasn't the best thing.

Could it be the perfect 70-degree overcast weather with a light touch of rain to keep us watered, refreshed, and on the edge of our seats?

Hardly. Certainly the weather gods shined on us and held back threatening thundershowers from ruining our evening, but it wasn't the highlight.

Could it be excellent seats we found on the Internet and the exclusive meet-and-great with performers we attended after the concert?

Quite possibly. We scored seats on the very front row- close enough to rattle our bones with booming bass notes and requiring us to duck if performer's flying sweat and spit accidentally flew off the stage. Could we actually be in the studio or backyard with Jon, Steven, Paul, and Al being treated to a semi-private performance? They were playing for us! We've been to a Piano Guys concert before, but we learned this night that the closer you get to them, the more impressive they are. The icing on this triple chocolate fudge cake of marvelous music was the meet and greet afterwards with our good friends Jon, Steven, Paul, and Al. They were humble, personable, funny, and engaging. We now have friends in high places.

Their performance oozed prevalent and persistent messages of faith, family, and love disguised as musical feats of comedy and comraderie. It was entertaining, exciting, inspiring, and mesmerizing. However, believe or not, that was not the best thing about the Piano Guys concert. Halfway through the performance, I glanced momentarily at the woman sitting next to me- the wife of my eternities- and witnessed a joyful light emanating from the familiar face I've been waking up to for the last 31+ years. She was laughing with her eyes. The Piano Guys had done this to her.

THAT was the best thing!