Album Reviews
Movie Reviews
Concert Reviews
Past Concerts
Book Reviews

Top 10

Contact Us

I met Chip Davis in the 1970’s, Omaha, Nebraska. He was composing with electronic equipment in a garage. Thirty-plus years later, Davis has Mannheim Steamroller, with the distinction of having sold more Christmas albums than anyone. Period. This particular tour was to introduce the group’s latest album, Christmas Song.

Mannheim Steamroller comes through the Midwest almost every year, and this was their first time in the new Sprint Center, which is part of the upcoming Entertainment District in downtown Kansas City, Mo. The building resembles a large glass bowl from the outside, and is fitted inside with stadium seating to accommodate concerts on one end or sports events on the floor. Seating capacity is 18,000 and it was almost full on Steamroller’s night. My bone of contention is that the rows of seats are not numbered well. We had section 209, while the circular outside aisles were numbered from 204-208, and then 210-214. It took three ushers to find out that row 209 started inside the auditorium and unfortunately, someone neglected to put this on the outside numbers. Through the evening, people were trickling in to find their seats in our section.

Mannheim Steamroller’s basic members were present, including Chip Davis on percussion, Jackson Berkey and Almeda Berkey, keyboards, Ron Cooley, guitar, Roxanne Layton, recorder, Rebecca Vanderholm, violin and Chuck Penington, conductor. Chip Davis is the spokesperson and through the evening, each member had a chance to shine. This particular evening, Rebecca Vanderholm’s violin won. 

Three large screens, on the side of the group and overhead, provided visuals to go with the music. This brought quiet comments from the audience, for some were expecting a laser light show. I say, for portraying an old-fashioned Christmas, the visuals were fine, with pictures of gathering Christmas trees in the forest, birds on snowy branches and you get the idea. Plus, there was a miniature village on the arena floor with lights that changed color during the show. During intermission, people dressed as "wooden soldiers" paraded round the little town.

The first half of the program had the Steamroller group enforced by a small orchestra. The orchestra was at the back of the stage and could be separated from Steamroller by a curtain or screen. Selections from the first half included a rendition of Handel’s “Hallelujah,” “Feliz Navidad,” “We Three Kings” and a nostalgic “White Christmas.”

The second half was the best with the seven members of Steamroller doing their thing as casual as if they had been in your living room. In fact, this is their stock in trade. The group has been together so long, their timing is exquisite, banter timely and they flow around the stage naturally, changing instruments as they go. Highlights of the last half were “Gagliarda,” “Little Drummer Boy,” Winter Wonderland” and the audience favorite, “Carol of the Bells.” The entire show ran almost three hours with three encores.

This was my first experience with the Sprint Center and I found their sound system that night to be just right for the group. You could hear the delicate notes of the recorder, warmth of the violin and percussion did not overwhelm. As for the group, for fans who have listened to Mannheim Steamroller’s recordings for years, the tapes were going through their mind. I wondered if the group would stop playing, whether some fans would even notice.

As years pass, the cutting edge of Mannheim Steamroller is getting milder. On this tour there are fewer original pieces, instead classic winter songs like “White Christmas” are getting lush, almost romantic attention. On this point, I was a bit disappointed, hoping the group would take on Bach with a bite. Perhaps, another year.

Copyright 2007 Marie Asner