Lutes + Synthesizers +Rock Beats = America's Most Popular Christmas Music? By JODY ROSEN Published: December 18, 2005 The Kansas Coliseum is a 12,200-seat hockey arena that rises above a wind-lashed plain 11 miles north of Wichita. [snip] The crowd had come to see the instrumental ensemble Mannheim Steamroller, but the music onstage was just part of what the band likes to call "the complete Mannheim Christmas experience," a full sensory immersion in holiday pomp. Carolers roamed the arena corridors. Santa-hat-wearing ushers distributed programs. Balconies were festooned with holly. The pièce de résistance, located at the rear of the arena...
