This concert was the last time James Dillingham would be officially in concert with Wayne, although he may play with Wayne on occasion in the future. But this was the last time he would be playing with Wayne on a regular basis. We have come to be good friends with James, and it was important to us that we be there for this concert.

The concert was held in a beautiful setting at the Sheldon Theatre, and we arrived about an hour ahead of time and were happy to see lots and lots of people already lined up for the concert. The Sheldon Theatre is a wonderful gothic theatre in downtown Red Wing, with lots of glided carvings, a beautiful painted ceiling, and velvet theatre seats. We got a chance to talk to Wayne, and James and Bill before the concert which was nice and the theatre was nearly full by the time the concert began.

I mentioned to Wayne that someone had written me from LA Tech University in Monroe, Louisiana where Wayne had attended college and said that he had just been named Alumnus for 2002. He said he was just coming back from there and was tired but said that it was truly a very special time for him to be honored in such a way and it was nice to go back and relive some of the special memories he had at LA Tech.

Wayne began the concert with Sundown, followed by Almighty, Walk in the Dark, Wouldn't That Be Something, A Little Unusual, Watercolour Ponies, The Blood of Jesus, and he had the crowd join in for Nothing But the Blood of Jesus. He also sang Finest Hour and A Beautiful Place with James on sax. It had been a while since we had heard this in concert and it was beautiful! Then he sang Glorify Your Name from his upcoming album, Living Room, followed by Home Free and Amazing Grace, It Is Well With My Soul, and he ended with The Ones Left Standing. He received a standing ovation and returned to sing Friend of a Wounded Heart for the encore.

During the concert, Wayne mentioned that this would be James'last official concert with him. He mentioned how loyal James had been, thanked him for the last almost 10 years, and wished him well in all his new endeavors.

After the concert, we had a great time talking and laughing and reminiscing with James about past concerts which was a lot of fun and what we remembered about certain situations, etc.

We said our good-byes but would see one another the next morning at First Convenant Church, where Wayne would be the musical guest for the morning.

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The next morning, we arrived 30 minutes before the service and met James in the parking lot and sat together. We also got to sit with Bob Goetz and his wife, Susan. Bob was the contact person for the concert and a very special person, and it was nice to share some time with them.

Wayne sang Merciful Heaven and Friend of a Wounded Heart before the sermon. The sermon that morning was on the "Name of Jesus" and after the sermon, Wayne sang Glorify Your Name and By Any Other Name which was awesome and truly fitting for the topic of the message that morning.

After church, we got a chance to talk to Wayne, James and Bill for quite a while which was nice. We said our good-byes and James said it was harder than he thought it would be but he is looking forward to how God will be using him in the future. We will truly miss seeing James whenever we get to go to another concert but we will be in touch and just thank God for the special times we've had over the years with him and know God has wonderful plans for James.

All in all, one of the most special concert weekends we've had.