Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas show comes to St. Petersburg

Thirty-one years ago, Mannheim Steamroller revolutionized Christmas entertainment with its high-tech concerts and lush, progressive rock versions of seasonal music.

Its annual Christmas concert tours have become an essential part of the season, almost as much as stagings of "The Nutcracker" and performances of Handel's "Messiah."

The band, still directed by founder Chip Davis, will be at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg on Nov. 10. The St. Petersburg concert is the first stop of Mannheim Steamroller's 2015 Christmas tour. It's a little early in the season, but unlike Santa Claus Mannheim Steamroller can't make it to every place in the world they're wanted on one night.

Actually, at this point, the name "Mannheim Steamroller" refers more to the show than to a group of musicians. There is more than one Mannheim Steamroller show touring the country simultaneously.

Although Mannheim Steamroller is now widely considered a Christmas phenomenon, it started out as a non-seasonal act that mixed rock and classical music. Of the 40 million albums that Mannheim Steamroller has sold, almost a third are non-Christmas recordings.

Davis, by the way, had found fame before Mannheim Steamroller. He and a partner wrote and performed under the name C.W. McCall and had a novelty country hit with "Convoy" in the 1970s.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10, Mahaffey Theater, 401 First St. S., St. Petersburg. Tickets: $45.50-$77.50. Information: 727-892-5767, themahaffey.com.

-- Marty Clear

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas show comes to St. Petersburg ."