Vince Gill and Amy Grant have been married for 11 years. For the past five Decembers, they have taken their contemporary Christian-meets-Nashville-country Christmas show on the road with "The 12 Days of Christmas" tour.
And for more than two hours on Friday night, the couple brought a mix of old-school and new-school songs of the season to an appreciative and very polite Landmark Theater audience.
Backed by the ultra-smooth support of a 12-person musician/vocalist ensemble, Gill and Grant worked the two-set show in front of an elaborate stage backdrop decorated in starry night and Christmas tree motif.
Gill appeared almost professorial in his dark suit and dark-rimmed glasses, while Grant opted for the quite non-professorial look, opening the show in a shimmering, full-length sleeveless dress.
Leading off with a jazzed-up arrangement of "Jingle Bells," the couple worked off a song list that alternated between the oh-so-familiar to the less well-known, primarily original tunes.
The first half of the evening was devoted almost entirely to secular music, especially tunes made famous by such favorite artists as Mel Torme ("The Christmas Song"), Brenda Lee ("Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree") and Johnny Mathis ("Winter Wonderland").
Gill and Grant's voices can stand very nicely on their own, and the quite large sound of the small army-sized group at their backs occasionally detracted from rather than enhanced their deliveries.
Audience members who closed their eyes during "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" may have thought they had been temporarily transported to a Las Vegas lounge. And Grant's lead vocals on "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" were almost completely swallowed up by the volume of her backing sound.
More often than not, though, and most notably on such tunes as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside," the singers and the players found a highly satisfying middle ground and balance.
Gill and Grant were responsible for some moments of high emotion not usually found in an evening of Christmas music.
Gill made many audience members happy with his trademark gospel offering "Go Rest High on the Mountain" and then knocked out a lovely rendition of "Let There Be Peace on Earth" with a vocal assist from his 29-year-old daughter, Ginny Gill.
Grant reminded everyone of the reason for the season with "I Need a Silent Night" and followed with her lovely "Better Than a Hallelujah."
The most memorable of the evening's many highlights, though, arguably came when Grant asked audience members to stand and join her in singing "O Holy Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful."
At that point, anyone in Friday night's audience who had not yet figured it out must have realized that we are now officially in the middle of the holiday season.
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