Is it Christmas yet? Are you still waiting for the Thanksgiving week to come to a close or are you already putting your Christmas tree up? Either way, Christmas is around the corner and it’s just about the right time to start getting ready!
Lindsey Stirling
Lindsey Stirling just opened up Christmas holiday season in Atlanta this week with her new album Warmer In The Winter! Here is what you need to know Lindsey Stirling: she flawlessly plays the violin while jumping around and dancing to the upbeat musical patterns played by her band.
Lindsey came to Atlanta the day before Thanksgiving. And although a lot of people would consider it too early to start celebrating Christmas, it was certainly not for Lindsey as well as for everyone who came to the show. The reason is very simple – Christmas is all about the good news of Jesus being born into this world. And good news is timeless. Other than that, the album was written in summer, and the tour started in the middle of fall – it’s definitely never too early.
The show took place at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, which is quite a large venue. It was packed. All the VIP seating areas filled up way before the doors opened. There were a lot of musicians attending the event. Especially cheerful and joyful were little violin players that were in every single corner of the venue for Lindsey who is a great inspiration in the community.
Alexander Jean
The show started off with the folk band named Alexander Jean. Alexander Jean is a two person band that consists of Mark Ballas and BC Jean. They are quite interesting in their sound, mixing everything from folk, to soul, to pop and rock.
A fun fact about the BC Jean is that it was her who wrote the song “If I Were A Boy” that was later performed by Beyonce and got very popular in a really short period of time. Alexander Jean performed the song adding some folk vibe to it.
A fun fact about Mark Ballas is that he was Lindsey Stirling’s partner in the 25th season of “Dancing With The Stars” which ended the day before Lindsey’s show in Atlanta. Lindsey and Mark finished in the second place, but, as Lindsey mentioned later in the show, the purpose was not to finish in the first place, but to dance well, enjoy the experience, and make it to the end of the project – all of these goals have been achieved, so the project was definitely a success.
Alexander Jean
Alexander Jean concluded their set by asking the audience to light up their phones, which created the atmosphere of celebration. It immediately got bright at the venue. The people were very excited and ready for Lindsey to come on stage.
Lindsey Stirling
The main part of the show started after a short break. The stage was decorated with small houses covered with snow and some amazing Christmas lights. Lindsey came out of one of the houses right from the center of the stage. The first song of the tour was “All I Want For Christmas” – a very famous Christmas song flavored with some amazing violin spiels.
Beautiful costume, smiley face, confident moves, and amazing violin music. Dancers on the stage right and stage left. Production people rolling out more decorations and staging the performance – you would never see the crew on stage unless it’s meant to be. This was meant to be. The crew played a role in the show too. That was pretty special.
Lindsey’s shows are a mix of playing music, dancing, and singing all of that combined with fast outfit changes and moving things around on stage. These types of shows take a lot of planning and a lot of onsite work, all of which was done extremely well! Lindsey’s band and crew deserve a separate thank you for them for every single thing they put together.
Apart from being highly energetic and spectacular overall, the show was also special because of Lindsey interacting with the audience and sharing her heart with people.
Every musician has a story behind each piece of music they write. Sometimes those stories are sad. Lindsey has some of those too. She chooses to share them with people because those stories give hope and help people keep going.
In the past Lindsey battled with anorexia and had some rough times when she felt like she was not seen and noticed by anyone. Earlier this year she also had a family loss that she went through – her dad passed away after fighting cancer for a while. But despite all of this, Lindsey stays cheerful and shares her joy with others.
Lindsey played the famous “Hallelujah” written by Leonard Cohen and shared her story behind it. There was an experiment she did a couple of years ago in the subways of New York. Dressed up as a street performer she played this song at a crowded station, but during the time that she played there, there was barely anyone who stopped and listened to the music. It felt like no one could hear and see the beauty in music, which is exactly what we all feel at times – as if the beauty in us is never seen. But the good news that Lindsey shared was that God sees the beauty in every one of us. She is a Christian and finds a lot of comfort in her faith, which is what she talks about at her shows. This tour is filled with the stories of hope like this.
Another song with the story behind it was “Silent Night”. But if you want to know more about this one, you would have to go see the show for yourself, because there have to be some special moments and stories that you don’t yet know of if you choose to go. Check out the tour schedule!
This show was overall a very powerful experience. It is amazing to see people get filled with hope and joy, get inspired and comforted. This is what this tour is. It is not just Christmas music and celebration, it’s much more than that. So much more than that!
Written by, and all photos by Alisa Malkova. Check out Alisa’s photos from the show:
