Kirk Franklin and Steve Harvey Gospel Comedy Tour
The Kirk Franklin and Steve Harvey Gospel Comedy Tour
Words & photography by Ta-Tanisha Thomas
Kirk dazzles the crowd with his discography of hits!
The Kirk Franklin and Steve Harvey tour brought great gospel music and comedy to Nashville on April 9, 2011 at the Bridgestone Arena. Bringing out an almost capacity crowd in these economic times is no small feat, but event goers showed up in the thousands to enjoy two of the industry’s most premiere acts in their respective fields.
Comedian, Prescott King, opened the show, getting the crowd ready for Kirk to take the stage, and boy was he ready, with a set that was over an hour long showcasing the best of his discography. With the number one gospel album in the nation, Franklin opened his set with his hit, “Brighter Day.”
Franklin’s music collection was shared with inspirational messages of hope as he encouraged attendees to hold on to the unchanging hand of God. The evening’s set was interactive, as Kirk encouraged couples to dance in the aisles, while he intimately played a number of songs at his keyboard. Through a collection of standard, traditional and contemporary gospel music, Franklin also performed, “Imagine Me,” “Hosanna” “Silver and Gold,” “The Reason Why I Sing,” “Now Behold the Lamb” and closed his set with his most recent chart topper, “Smile”.
Before Kirk left the stage, he held a moment of prayer for the act to follow, Steve Harvey, who was in rare form when he hit the stage to Usher’s “Bad Girl.” When Harvey’s theme music stopped playing, he informed the crowd that he was a new Christian, so it would be necessary to adjust for the jokes and next round of entertainment that was headed their way. With one last warning, Harvey released a barrage of punch lines with and without adult language that K.O.’d the audience and “tore their mouths out.”
The Kirk Franklin and Steve Harvey gospel comedy tour was refreshing, entertaining, inspirational, and exceeded expectations. Root Magazine hopes this is the first of many gospel comedy tours to come for Kirk Franklin and Steve Harvey!
