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We just got back from Hawaii a couple of months ago and I have to say it was an amazing trip. We were there for almost two weeks and sang ten times, not to mention having a little time to play… I mean come on, its HAWAII!!!! Boy did we play. I will just fill you in on some of the highlights of our trip. When we arrived we were pretty wiped out from the flight (8 hours on one flight) so we just crashed that night. The next day we started our tour of the island. The guys and I had five concerts in two days at one of the biggest churches in Honolulu. The audience was very generous in welcoming us. Because of that our excitement level went through the roof. We had more fun those two days and met some incredible people and cannot wait to get back there. Then we got to play around the island for a couple of days and had so much fun swimming and snorkeling and just generally being tourists.
Then we got to do something we as the Imperials have been looking forward to for a long time. We got to sing with and listen to the Classic Imperials. If any of you heard them at NQC I'm pretty sure you were blown away. These four men are the standard by which all quartets should be measured (in my opinion). They sang right before we did and we just sat there in awe of their talent and more so, their spirit. These godly men sang from their heart and you can tell they love singing together again after all those years of being apart. It honestly sounded like they had never stopped singing together. If you don't know whom I am talking about then you have been under a rock for the last 30 years - Armond Morales (Bass), Jim Murray (Tenor), Sherman Andrus (Baritone) and Terry Blackwood (Lead). These four men are our inspiration in that they are what we want more than anything to sound like. When we are in the studio and working on a new song we say to ourselves how would these four legends sing it? To tell you the truth we just wanted to sit there and listen to them the rest of the time…but duty called and we got up there. To be quite honest it was quite intimidating standing next to these legends. But we had more fun and you will not meet more genuine families anywhere. Throughout our trip we sang several times with them and are hoping to do more in the future. (Let us know what you think of that idea).
The rest of the trip went off without a hitch and we had more fun together as a group than ever before. On one of the last nights in Hawaii we got the opportunity to go to a Luau. It was one of the greatest things we have ever done. We laughed more that night than I can remember ever laughing. To start out we were on the bus headed to the Luau, and Jeremie and I started talking to the guide. I mentioned that we should have Ian get up and do the Hula for everyone at the Luau. We all started laughing at the thought when the guide said he would see what he could do… That statement put us guys into overdrive and we had him write down Ian's name and promise he would try to get Ian on stage. So we get to the Luau and come to find our there are 650 people at this place all for the same reason, which makes us laugh even more at the thought of Ian up there dancing for all of them. (Ian, by the way, was not looking forward to this.) We are sitting down ready for the show and having fun when the host of the show comes out to greet everyone and says, "To start off our show right we want to have some volunteers come and dance with us." We started shouting and whooping and hollering to get her attention and the first thing she did was ask if there was an Ian Owens in the audience. We all started pointing and pushing him on (which again, he was not terribly pleased with). We wait for a few more minutes as the show is starting and out comes Ian with two other men from the audience. Now you have to picture this if you can. Ian is in a PINK Hula skirt, no shirt, a coconut bra and a flower headband. If you saw what we saw you would have done what we did, which was hit the floor with laughter. The hostess then announced that it would be a contest to be decided by the audience. So the music starts and the three men on stage start dancing (which by the way I didn't see to well because I was laughing so hard I was crying). They all dance admirably but I have to say as an impartial observer Ian won it hands down. The audience then had a chance to clap for their favorite dancer. The first man didn't get that much applause, the second man got a pretty big ovation. We were sitting there thinking we can't let Ian lose, so when his name was announced we jumped up on the table and started shouting as loud as we could, getting everyone around us clapping as loud as they could. It was pretty close but Ian won!!!! The rest of the night we sat back and enjoyed the show and each other's company. What a great ending to an amazing trip. We cannot wait to go back.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention our wives. They are such a huge part of this group and we couldn't do a thing without them. We were so blessed to have them in Hawaii. They truly made the trip the best it could be, not to mention we saw God move over there. After every concert people would come up and say, "The songs you sang changed my life and I will never be the same!" God is so good. He not only let us minister in one of the most beautiful places in the world, but he also let us have an incredible time doing it. Thank you, God!
God Bless,
Jason Morales
The Imperials
http://www.theimperials.com
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Written: 12/01/2004 
Author: SGN
Category:
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The Imperials
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