An Evening in December with the Nelons and LeFevre Quartet

An Evening in December Christmas tour with the Nelons and LeFevre Quartet made a stop in Malvern Thursday night. It had been several years since seeing the Nelons live in concert, so I was looking forward to seeing them again. I just saw the LeFevre Quartet in August, but I was excited to see them especially with Tim Duncan filling in at bass.

First of all, I need to mention that it was quite an adventure getting to the concert between road construction on the Interstate and a Christmas parade. Once we got into Malvern all we could see were blue and red flashing lights. At first, we thought it was a massive wreck in front of us only to realize it was the town's Christmas parade with every emergency vehicle possible participating. It's a good thing there were no fires in Malvern right then because some kids would have been booted off a fire truck. Of course the main route to the church was blocked, so my friends and I had quite the adventure finding an alternate route. If you don't believe me about the craziness of the parade, check out Kelly Nelon Clark's SocialCam of it. We thought we were running extremely late, but thankfully the concert started 30 minutes later than we thought! Right as we were walking in, the parade was passing in front of the church. 

LeFevre Quartet - Harold Reed, Jordan LeFevre,
Mike LeFevre andTim Duncan

An evening in December started with the LeFevre Quartet. They sang "When I Get Carried Away." They sang a song from their newest project next, "Come and See," which featured Jordan. I remember first seeing him as a drummer with his dad's group, and he's become a solid lead singer.

Mike introduced the group next, and said that they had Tim Duncan on loan from Hagee Ministries for this tour. Tim then sang a song from his solo project, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." Tim is just incredible, and I love that he's first a singer and then a bass.

They then sang "Jesus Saves, " and the Nelons came up to join them and finish the song with them.

The Nelons - Jason Clark, Kelly Nelon Clark and
Amber Nelon Thompson

The Nelons began their portion with "Come to the River." Then, they sang the Nelons' classic "O For a Thousand Tongues." Kelly did a beautiful job on this song as always. Jason then took the lead on "Excuse Me Are You Jesus?" where they had the concept video for the song playing along in the background. Jason does a great job of conveying the message of this story song.

They ended the first half with "I'm Going Home with Jesus." It was a great upbeat way to end the first half and had the entire audience clapping along!

Most concerts I have been to recently have a heavy first half with only a few songs after intermission. This concert was much more heavy on the second end which was all Christmas. Even though the groups didn't sing together much, I really liked how they were both on stage the entire time.

The second half started with both groups on stage minus Kelly but plus Autumn, the youngest member of the Nelons. Kelly started singing "An Evening in December" from the back of the sanctuary and made her way to the stage and the empty stool. Next, the LeFevre Quartet sang "Sleigh Ride."

After the song, Kelly started talking but was interjected by Sam (their Dachshund) of the famous SamCam. You probably have guessed from previous blog posts that I am a big fan of SamCam. If you don't follow Kelly on SocialCam to see SamCam videos, you should start immediately!! Sam gave a great rendition of Ave Maria. :) The Nelons then sang "They Rejoiced With Exceeding Great Joy."

The LeFevres sang the first Noel. Tim sang the first verse, Jordan the second and Harold the third. Then the group took the time to show a short video on Compassion and encourage people to sponsor a child.

Amber of the Nelons then sang "Light a Candle." If anyone doubts the talent of young gospel singers, they haven't heard Amber. This for me is one of the standout songs from their Christmas project. I loved the way they did this song with the lighting too. They had a mostly dark stage and other group members had candles that they started "lighting" as the song went on. The LeFevre Quartet then sang "Away in a Manger" which featured Tim.

Amber started "Silent Night" a cappella with the rest of the group then joining her. Autumn stepped out front and did a recitation from Mary's perspective. Kelly then was featured on "Rest on Me." I had never heard this song before, but it's beautiful and also from Mary's point of view. Autumn then sang "Happy Birthday Jesus." I had not heard Autumn sing before solo and was really impressed by her vocals on this song.

Mike LeFevre was then featured on "O Holy Night." This is my favorite Christmas song, and it's not a Christmas concert without this song, in my opinion. And Mike definitely did the song justice. Jason Clark then led the congregation in a song.

Mike spoke briefly and read from Isaiah where the birth of Christ was prophesied. The Nelons then came forward and sang "More Than Wonderful." This is another stand out song from their Christmas project. It's a powerful song and great choice to wrap up the night, and had the audience on its feet afterward. All group members then stepped forward to close the night with "Come On Ring Those Bells." The audience stood through the song, clapping along.

It was a great night of gospel and Christmas music. I'd love to see these two groups team up again next year for more concerts like this one. If you have missed seeing "An Evening in December," it's probably too late for this year unless you are near Columbus, Miss and available tonight! Then you should definitely go see them!