(4 / 5)

Having seen the last heaven on their minds concert the bar was set very high and this show did not disappoint. The fantastic thig about this show is was that it was just like a traditional Christmas service with every single performer visably having a good time and we’re excited to share their passion for Christmas with everyone who attended.

This show opened with fantastic group rendition of “Its Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas” which was an incredible way to start the show due to what the song is about. On top of this, the harmonic singing towards the end of the song was beautifully performed and gave the audience goosebumps. This was the perfect way to start the show and help inform the audience that they are in for a night of incredible singing. My only issue with this song was that there was a point where one of the performers sang the wrong lyrics and the other performers were visibly confused which was obviously unsettling for the audience. When I watched their last production I commented on the fact that the group numbers weren’t as polished as the solo performances, this wasn’t the case in this show. The group numbers in this show were of a much higher standard and even rivalled the solo performances which shows how well these performers work together but also how talented they each are individually which makes for a much more enjoyable viewing experience.

A highlight in this production for me was ‘Silent Night’ which was another group song but they had creatively performed his song in Welsh, English and signed the words. Not only was this song beautifully sang but the inclusion of these different mediums was incredibly heartwarming and moving. This could have been a perfect way to end the entire show but instead, it was closed by ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Fun Run Rudolf’ which was again beautifully performed but I think the emotional nature of Silent Night would have really helped punctuate the Christmas spirit of the show. Unlike the previous show, this performance contained a small amount of dance and small amounts of acting that set up songs. I think that this was at time unnecessary as it was a concert and it’s not what people expected. Don’t get me wrong they were entertaining but these theatrics were at times distracting from the songs and really the singing should remain the focus of the show. 

All performers in this show were insanely talented and were a joy to watch due to their passion for sharing the Christmas spirit. Nicky Taliesin was one of the performers I had never heard before this concert but he clearly has a great future ahead of himself. He clearly had the most Christmas spirit out of the performance and had a massive sense of joy which made his performance even more enjoyable to watch. Nicky performed an extremely Christmassy rendition of ‘Belief’ from Polar Express, which is a song I personally had never heard of but has now been added to my Christmas playlist due to the stellar performance by Nicky. He also performed one of my personal favourite Christmas songs ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland’ which was amazing to listen to. 

Nicky and Ben-Joseph Smith performed a playful version of ‘Santa Baby’ with the two voices contrasting each other and on stage banter which joined together to create a very enjoyable and fun song to witness. Ben was another talented performer who seemed to excel in the duets including ‘ Santa Baby’ and ‘Cold Outside’ the matter of which he performed with Harriet Taylor. The only issue with the latter was it contained a lot of theatrics which distracted from the performance at times. But the sound of these two performers singing together was out of this world. They clearly have great on and off-stage chemistry which really worked well with the nature of this song. 

Harriet performed took on the massive task of performing the Iconic Christmas hit ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ by Mariah Carey, which is a massive song to take on and Harriet did not appear phased at all. She performed this song in a unique and interesting way which was great to see.  Another new performer that I had never experienced before was Chloe Rolland who is an extremely talented performer and again has a great career ahead of her.  Chloe helped deliver some witty and entertaining anecdotes between songs but also performed one of the best rendition of ‘Oh Holy Night’ I have ever heard.

Although the signing in this show was as near perfect as possible it was clear that this was not the main purpose of the show. The majority of the songs in this show were popular songs everyone knew, even with a singalong of White Christmas at the end of the show, this alongside the theatrics demonstrates that this show was all about generating Christmas feeling and having the audience to be overcome with emotions which it most defintley did. This was an amazing show that did exactly what it needed to while also being a showcase of talent and I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars! I would encourage people to keep an eye on ’Heaven on Their Minds’ as it is a show not to miss and is clearly destined for great things in the future!