Steamrolling into the New Year

Chip Davis is now 77 years old, and I'm quite sure he could not have imagined 50 years worth of producing records, and then concerts that led to the selling of 50 million records. For 40 of those years he has done Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concerts, and though he no longer tours with the band, they are still going great guns, now with two separate groups on tour. We got the benefit of the green tour group on Dec. 29th at the wonderful Lexington Opera House. The concert took about 2 hours counting a brief intermission, and most of what was played was Chip's jazzed or rocked up versions of familiar Christmas carols, finishing with the encore of Silent Night, one of his best arrangements. I've been to several of these concerts, and this one was by far the most high tech, complete with nice program celebrating the 50 years, and lots of visuals on the back screen, and even a smoke machine, fake snow falling from the rafters, and even a bit of humor. The opera house was packed, and a good time was had by all. It is remarkable that this sort of concert, which is the self-proclaimed Number One Christmas tour in the country year after year (sorry Trans-Siberian Orchestra) is still going strong, and even picking up steam. What's the attraction? This concert has real Christian hymns and carols, indeed, even a bit of Handel's Hallelujah chorus, and Bach's Air on a G String. It has a Christmasy feel in an old timey kind of way, and does not slight the Christian element in these songs. And the players all play with zest- several drummers, 2 keyboard players, a small string section and lead conductor of strings who herself plays the violin and does nice solos. This is a very nice family show, and next year you should put it on your calendar to go. It provides some joy and blessings for all ages.