Why for KING + COUNTRY Transformed Christmas Tour into Cinematic Experience
By Movieguide® Contributor
For KING + COUNTRY’s Joel Smallbone explained why he and his brother adapted their Christmas tour into a cinematic experience, A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS.
“We love Christmas, we love the Christmas story, we love these incredibly nostalgic, beautiful Christmas songs, even being from Australia where Christmas falls in the summer, but we’ve adopted a lot of your Northern Hemisphere, wintery songs and tradition…” Smallbone told Movieguide®. “When we first arrived in the States, the first Christmas we ever had, it snowed, and we were mesmerized, and so it’s very apropos that as musicians we would celebrate this season by going on tour.”
READ MORE: FOR KING + COUNTRY ISSUES A ‘CHRISTMAS APOLOGY’ TO FANS — HERE’S WHY
“The only trouble is that the season is so short that you can only play about 10 or 12 shows before it’s all over, and therefore, you end up upsetting like three-quarters of the U.S. because you can’t get there or Canada or the UK, you know,” he continued. “And so towards the end of last year, we’d finished producing UNSUNG HERO, it was yet to be released, but we took the film crew and we put them in the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. It was the last show of the tour, 12,000 folks in attendance, and we captured this cinematic concert experience.”
He said the experience was “pretty stressful, but somehow we pulled it off, and we pulled it off with a little bit of charm and beauty. I’m deeply proud of it.”
“It’s also the last arena show that we know we would be doing for the foreseeable future — we’re only doing theater residencies this year and we don’t have any plans to do any Christmas shows next year, — so it just seemed like the right moment to cap for the first time to fully cinematically capture our live experience,” Smallbone added.
The movie version of the concert certainly captured the epic nature of their performance, so much so that Smallbone’s wife prefers it to their live performance. It also focuses on the true meaning of Christmas, helping audiences appreciate just how special the season is.
FOR KING + COUNTRY: A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS – LIVE is a music concert produced and performed by Joel and Luke Smallbone. It brings the epic nature of Christmas to life as the 2024 Christmas season approaches. The powerful voices and lyrics of some of the band’s signature songs and favorite Christmas hymns make for a satisfying listen. The interpersonal moments where the leads interact with the audience and tell stories may be more powerful than the concert itself.
The overall worldview of the movie is strong biblical Christianity. The focus on the true meaning of Christmas is refreshing. It’s gratifying that the Smallbone boys convey the biblical view of Christmas as a central battle in the war against evil. They also drive home the idea that “God is not an abstract concept; God is here,” a critical and powerful point. FOR KING + COUNTRY: A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS – LIVE has no objectionable content and is safe for all ages.
READ MORE: FOR KING + COUNTRY: A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS – LIVE REVIEW
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