For those that haven’t had the chance to get into the Christmas spirit yet, Tuesday night played out to be the perfect opportunity to do just that at Lindsey Stirling’s show for her “Wanderland” Tour. Members from Stirling’s dance group paraded through the auditorium of the Orpheum Theatre as fans were finding their seats keeping the crowd entertained to say the least. These energetic young women were in costume encouraging various individuals to dance, switch seats, plus many more jokes and jests in an attempt to prepare show-goers for what was to come. Soon Stirling herself began speaking through the speakers sharing a comedic set of rules and expectations if you will to further prepare the crowd for the exciting evening ahead.
Low and behold, a member of the crowd was brought on stage that began playing an impressive number on the violin and after a quick removal of a wig the audience was in awe as the individual was Lindsey Stirling herself. She began the evening with a cover of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, “Christmas C’mon”, and “Let It Snow”. After a short message to the audience, she continued the evening with “Warmer in the Winter”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, and “I Saw Three Ships”. About halfway through her rendition of “I Saw Three Ships”, she brought up a couple [Megan & Larry] from the audience who proceeded to join in dance with Stirling and her cast. It was very impressive and comical at how fast they picked the choreography up. At the conclusion of the song Stirling asked the couple to describe their ugly sweater attire to the audience, and you were soon able to find out that she is a fan of both Harry Potter [she’s a Gryffindor] and The Legend of Zelda. Stirling soon left the stage for a costume change while keyboardist, Kit Nolan, entertained the crowd with a cover of Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good” during a short musical break.
For the next part of the evening, Stirling, Nolan, and drummer, Drew Steen, played a mash-up of songs on tiny toy instruments. This was very entertaining to watch, and at first I was with [hopefully] some of the crowd thinking that playing on these tiny instruments would be a challenge. The group did nothing less than impress and blow me away, however – it was incredible! The mash-up they shared was of the following: “Jingle Bells”/ “Deck the Halls”/ “It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas”/ “Feliz Navidad”/ “Hedwig’s Theme” [LOVED THIS]/ “Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer”/ “Oh Holy Night”. After a lot of cheering, and support from the crowd Stirling went into a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.
At this point in the evening she shared a story of a time when she was so exhausted in her training for Dancing with the Stars, and learning new dances, etc. for her own tour. She found herself wanting to give up accompanied by a lot of doubt. Stirling had previously lost one of her close friends and her father in years past, but she soon came to realize that both of these individuals were always with her whether she could physically see them or not. She had just flown in for an episode of Dancing with the Stars, and she realized she had forgotten her whole routine for that evening. There really was no other choice than to hope for the best, and in the moment before the music started she asked, “Dad, Help”…from that point on the routine flowed out of her like it never had before. She knows her close friend and her father are both watching over her; they are her angels. Stirling concluded the story with “Angels We Have Heard on High” which was accompanied by an amazing light show.
Next, a cover of William Chatteron Dix’s “What Child is this?” was played followed by Stirling’s own, “Crystallize”. The evening then picked up again with “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”, and meeting her pink dog, Luna. Before a costume change, Stirling played “Santa Baby”, during which her violin was dropped down from the ceiling. To add more humor to the evening, fans were able to watch a moment at one of her other shows where the violin actually hit her in the head as it was delivered (oh no!). I always enjoy when artists share moments such as this because it breaks up the flow of a typical concert, and shows their sense of humor. During her last costume change, a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolph” was played for fans. To conclude the evening, the following were played: “We Three Gentleman”, “Carol of the Bells”, “You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch”, and encore, “I Wonder as I Wander”.
This was honestly probably one of my favorite shows as it was entertaining all throughout with singing, dancing, stories and jokes. Stirling knows exactly how to make the show enjoyable for everyone and family-friendly. If I wasn’t in the Christmas spirit before, I definitely am now, and I plan on taking the opportunity to see her another time when she comes through Minneapolis again – you should too!
