Tales From Wales
Clean Slate's 1999 European Tour
Part II of IV.
Hi again! Welcome to the second installment of our chronicle of our trip to Wales. Today,
we cover Day Four (it was a busy day!):
Click here to return to Part I.
Day 4: Tuesday, 12 Oct
After a V=E=R=Y long day Monday, we were not quite looking forward to an early
start today, but we had a 7:30 AM show-time for the drive to Merthyr-Tydfil. At Merthyr,
we set up at the High Street Baptist Church, which is located right in the middle of their
outdoor marketplace. The street is closed to automobile traffic, and serves as the main
street for vendors to set up their market booths every Tuesday.
Due to a scheduling overlap, several of the band members were also enroute to two other
schools this morning: the Greenfield Special School, and an Infant School (3-7 year olds),
both in the town of Pentrebach (about 5 miles away). The remaining team members arrived in
Merthyr to setup for the outdoor concert, due to start around 10:00 or 10:30.
At the schools, as on Monday, we were really shocked to see such an open welcoming of the
Christian message; and a real enthusiasm towards religious education in the public
schools. Kinda makes you think what we're trying to achieve here in the States as we
legislate religion out of public life, all the while complaining that our society is
loosing connection with the things that matter most! Ooops, sorry for the editorial; back
to the trip....
We were initially concerned about the location at the
market, as we had to set up within the gates of the church grounds. Keith & Bob
worried about the 'symbolism' of a Christian Band playing behind iron gates, but there was
very little room anywhere else to set up.
Once all the equipment was in place, we found ourselves unable to start the planned
concert as we were missing Suzanne (lead vocals and piano), Lisa (guitar), Heather
(flute), and Marge (horn), who were all still working in the schools. We played a few
instrumentals on drums, bass, and keyboard; but had to wait for the rest of the team
before starting our set.
Keith used the time during our sound check to recite some memory verses from the Bible,
which Gordon quickly responded to in kind. This "debate" continued during our
'soundcheck' for about 10 - 15 minutes, and was quite an entertaining way to pass the time
as well as place the gospel message out onto the streets of Merthyr. The folks back in
Panton would be very proud of their new-found street ministers!
The rest of the team arrived, and we settled into playing a few abbreviated evangelical
sets of music in the market place. The music was very well received there, with many
people stopping for several songs.
During the first playing of "Clean Slate," we were quite amused when our local
sound technician, Johnny, jumped out in front of the band with his hands raised up to
claim a set of drumsticks! A giveaway wasn't planned at the marketplace, but it was quite
a sight to see Johnny so enthusiastically 'into' the gig that day! Yes, Bob did belatedly
give Johnny a set of drumsticks at the end of the week!
It was during this first set in Merthyr that Bob had a very unusual experience. While
starting to play the drums, he continued to hear someone from the 
crowd saying the same thing over and over, several times
a minute. In a (to him) very clear (and later, he realized, unaccented) voice, he heard
the phrase "Go back to Vermont!" He soon discovered that the voice appeared to
come from one of the vendors out to the side of the church who was selling "Any Bag
for L3.50." During a break in the set, Bob asked first Gordon, then Matt to listen
and see if they heard the same phrase. Neither did, and once Gordon set about a prayer
concerning the voice, it abruptly stopped. No one else there that day reported any kind of
similar experience. Bob made it a point to stop by the bag booth (and pick up a backpack),
where he found the bag vendor to be quite pleased with the concert and happy that he had
set up so near to the music. The vendor wasn't at all upset with the band.
During the afternoon, many members of the team were able to have some very revealing
discussions with folks in the marketplace. There is a very large undercurrent of new age,
occult, and other non- and even anti-Christian spirituality alive and very active in the
region. The team members in the crowd were very busy witnessing to folks with all sorts of
different backgrounds, several of whom claimed some very unusual spiritual philosophies.
It was quite an eye-opening experience to hear their stories; but many locals were
surprised to hear that many of the tenants for their beliefs were founded in inaccurate,
incorrect, or twisted interpretations of the Bible. With copies right on hand, the most
effective means of discussing these areas seemed to be to have the individual find the
disputed area in the Bible and read it for themselves. On several occasions, what they
found in Scripture was not at all what they had been told to expect there, and several
folks left this afternoon a bit confused as to why they believed what they believed, and
somewhat more inclined to go directly to the source before believing someone else's claims
about what is and is not Biblical.
Continuing the long day, we broke down the sound system,
had some dinner [lunch] in Merthyr (while some others grabbed a 'kip' [nap]), and then set
out for Pentrebach to setup at the Cricket Club.
The Cricket Club resembled one of the many club buildings found throughout the valley. A
social club for kids, it included a very nice hall with a bar and stage just the right
size for the band. The event was well advertised locally the previous weeks, and we
expected two groups of kids: The first 7-14; the rest about an hour and a half later aged
15-19 or so.
And as happened all week, we were treated to the unexpected. A problem surfaced in the
sound system which prevented us from playing for about 45 minutes. When we did start the
concert, we had about 3 dozen on hand (a smaller crowd than expected), including parents
and a few local supporters. We decided to change the songs around, and included a time for
some 'sing-along' songs with the kids. This turned out to be the most fun of the evening,
as Suzanne lead the whole group learning some of our more popular Sunday School songs.
Following the first set, we decided to use 
the remaining time for a quick practice in preparation for
the remaining concerts. During this time, David Balsom (one of our sponsors during the
week) helped us work out an arrangement for a hymn which was written right there in the
Rhondda valley, "Guide Me Oh Thou Great Jehovah". This hymn, as it turns
out, is pretty much the Welsh National Hymn. Everybody there knows all the verses, and
sings it with much pride and gusto. When David heard what we were doing to it, he
'volunteered' to help us sing it the right way.
Reflecting on the day, I couldn't help but notice how similar the Merthyr Marketplace was
to our own Burlington (Vermont) Church Street Marketplace back home in Vermont. The High
Street Church was a wonderful meeting place, and seemed to host an active membership.
During one set, we had a pence tossed (OK, rocketed) our way, which we took as a sign of
acceptance of the music and the message we had come to give (since it actually missed
hitting anyone!). The other significant feeling I had was surprise at how close to the
surface the occult, and just plain evil, seemed to exist in that place. Through it all, a
real desire to proclaim God's word there conquered all the troubles and experiences we
had, and resulted in a thoroughly enjoyable experience that day.
* End of Part II. Click here to continue to Part III.
