German Christmas Tour 2005

In November 2005 The Ten Tenors came back to Germany for their first full length christmas show ever. The tour was named after their latest album release "A not so silent night" (which is a remake of their 2001 christmas CD entitled the same).

Among fans this tour's show was said to be the best TTT show ever, mainly because it was something new and exciting, and you could easily see that the guys had a wonderful time on stage performing this unusual repertoire. Personally, I wouldn't go that far. Due to those christmassy music most songs sounded very sedate (although they tried to mix it with some more "action-loaded" songs and comedy parts). I like a concert to be more peppy with songs that allow cheering and dancing, so if I had to decide between a "normal" and a christmassy TTT concert, I'd definitely prefer the normal one.

However, the show wasn't bad at all. It featured some of the best modern arrangements of christmas songs I've ever heard (coming from me this is a huge compliment, because for christmas I usually prefer classical arrangements), two marvellous songs originally written by the tenors as well as some all-time favourites. The two additional musicians Darran and Jeremy (all previous tours were accompanied only by Steven and Michael) were a great choice. They made it all sound so much more resonant and "alive". I really hope they will keep that concept for all upcoming tours.


My personal show highlights
My favourite song of the show definitely was "The Boxer". I absolutely adore their rendition of this wonderful Simon & Garfunkel song - sadly it's on none of their CDs. Another highlight were those three comedy parts I mentioned earlier. The "Opera faces" (Shannon and Stew showed the audience what a typical tenor's face looks like when acting in a German, French, Italian and Australian opera), the "Stew vs Liam fight" (Stew wanted to sing "O come all ye faithful" whereas Liam appreciated a modern Australian christmas song, so both ended up fighting like two little kids) and the "Cricket lesson" (we were taught the rules of Australian christmas cricket by Chendry) were simply unbeatable. I cried of laughter.


What I didn't like
I really disliked the renditions of a German christmas song called "Oh Tannenbaum" (Oh christmas tree) and of "Santa Claus is coming to town". The first was much too modern for me (a traditional song with a new soul arrangement is too much for my taste) and the second was too boring.


What surprised me
A huge surprise was the song "Veni, Veni Emmanuel". I liked that song right the first time I heard it on "A not so silent night". But this recording was done in 2001, when the tenors' voices still sounded very classical. I wouldn't have believed that they could do it so great these days. Also surprising: Liam's "Nessun Dorma" - it was the first time he sang it (Dom had usually done it before he left last summer) and he nearly knocked me off my chair.


My overall tour highlight
The best thing of this christmas tour for me - like for many other long time fans - was the chance to see and talk to Nathan again. He'd left TTT some while ago and now jumped in as the group's understudy as a one-off. Unfortunately I didn't get to see him live on stage (he's got such an amazing voice), but met him during the signings of all three concerts I went to. That was really great.



Setlist

1 Little Drummer Boy
2 Veni, Veni Emmanuel
3 Joy To The World
4 Blame It On The Boogie
5 Without A Song
Opera Faces
6 Opera Without The Boring Bits (Di Quella Pira, Questa o Quella, Pearl Fisher's Duet, Largo Al Factotum)
7 O Tannenbaum
8 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9 Mary's Boychild
10 Oh Holy Night
11 Beach Boys Medley (Wouldn't it be nice, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Help Me Rhonda, Don't Worry Baby, I Get Around, God Only Knows, California Girls, Good Vibrations, Fun Fun Fun, Surfin' USA, Barbara Ann)

interval

12 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Stew vs. Liam part 1
13 Silent Night
14 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Stew vs. Liam part 2
15 O Come All Ye Faithful/Christmas In Cairns
16 The Boxer
Cricket Lesson
17 Cold Lunch
18 Bohemian Rhapsody
19 BeeGees Medley (You should be dancing, How deep is your Love, Night Fever, Stayin' Alive)

encores

20 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
21 Nessun Dorma
22 We Wish You A Merry Christmas - The "sing along song"

Added: January 28th 2006
Reviewer: nkruemel
Score: