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Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Gets Christmas Off To A Rockin’ Start
I’m usually a stickler for the “no Christmas before Thanksgiving” rule, but I made an exception this year for one reason – the Trans-Siberian Orchestra winter concert.
A TSO concert is a heart-pounding, eye-burning, eardrum-ringing experience…and it’s worth every penny to see some of their most beloved works performed live.
TSO was conceived by Paul O’Neill and formed in 1996. The band enables O’Neill to take the best of the various forms of music he grew up with in New York and “merge them into a new style,” he says in an interview on the band’s website.
Since its first tour in 1999, TSO has sold more than 7 million albums and performed for more than 7 million people in 80 cities across the country.
The Winter Tour performance in Hershey, Pa., focused primarily on songs from “Christmas Eve and Other Stories,” the band’s debut album, including well-known pieces such as “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24” and “This Christmas Day.” The performance then featured pieces from the group’s non-holiday albums, “Night Castle” and “Beethoven’s Last Night,” during the second half.
From giant red and white strobe lights and laser techno Nutcrackers during “A Mad Russian’s Christmas,” to a dragon-like creature created from scaffolding and lighting for the “Night Castle” segment that you’d have to see to believe, TSO performances are as much about the visual as they are about the listening experience.
“There are no second-class seats at a Trans-Siberian Orchestra show,” O’Neill says on the website. “I want people to walk out of our shows speechless and…still not believing what they have seen was possible.”
It’s true. Even sitting on the opposite end of the arena from the stage, the show was still an immersive experience. Laser lights stretched toward every seat, and the heat from the fires on stage traveled across the entire arena.
The pacing of the performance was also well-coordinated, varying from lightning-fast songs with heavy bass that shook the arena seats to solo performers whose comparatively mellow songs calmed the rushes of adrenaline.
With the incredible musical and vocal talents showcased by the band, TSO is the perfect way to start the holiday season. And, just maybe, after seeing one of their shows, you’ll also “dream a Christmas dream” that night.
The rock opera band is currently traveling across the U.S. on their Winter Tour, http://trans-siberian.com
Editor’s note: TSO performances employ heavy use of theatrical fog, laser and strobe lights and fire.