The Peacock Theatre Los Angeles
Since ‘Twas the Season (December 1) and all that, the most colorfully appropriate way to open a review of for King + Country’s A Drummer Boy Christmas show at The Peacock Theatre—and my blissful initial live immersion into the decade-plus phenomenon of the four time Grammy winning Christian rock duo—is to quote my gushing initial Facebook post, which accompanied a raw live video: “Nothing like singing "Silent Night" with 6000 people to ring in the Christmas season.” The clip shows thousands of cell phone lights twinkling and swaying, as multi-talented singer/songwriter brothers Luke and Joel Smallbone led the congregation by singing their soulful, atmospheric arrangement from two separate platforms set up mid-theatre.
While everyone seemed likewise mesmerized by the moment – which followed an equally resounding rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful”—it struck a personal chord for me, reminding me of years in my early churchgoing days when the Christmas Eve faithful held candles (lit one by one, row by row) and sang “Silent Night” a capella. Testament to the Smallbones’ ongoing success story, this concert—one of a mini-residency tour with December stops in New York, London and their adopted hometown of Nashville—was presented in conjunction with A Drummer Boy Christmas Live: The Cinematic Concert Experience, which ran in theatres nationwide for a week in December, in addition to screenings in Canada, the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and the duo’s homeland of Australia.
For those wondering why for King + Country name their holiday concert experience A Drummer Boy Christmas (Live) after the famed 1941 composition by Katherine Davis that began life as a hymn called “Carol of the Drum”—it’s not simply because they close the show with one of the most rousing renditions you’re ever bound to hear (for my money, only Bob Seger’s '80s version comes close), but because the Smallbone brothers and their amazing ensemble make almost every song to some degree about the booming and bustling of the percussive instrument.
The stage was flanked by two full drum kits. Luke often plays a portable drum that has a strap around his neck (and stopped to bang an acoustic drum nearby when he chose. At times, some of the ensemble gathered around to bang an electronic drum machine center stage.
