Flamin’ Family Fun

Cover via Amazon

Trans-Siberian Orchestra performed at Texas Tech’s United Spirit Arena last night, and I took my family.

I haven’t been to many concerts in recent years, and was amazed at how far the lighting and pyrotechnics have come. TSO had colored flame jets shooting into the air, mobile revolving lighting rigs that made me feel like I was Richard Dreyfus in the shadow of Devil’s Tower, and a mini-stage that floated at least twenty feet into the air carrying a couple of musicians. Overall, it was as far beyond the light shows of my youth as my MacBook is beyond an Atari 2600.

As for the music, it was TSO. I really enjoy their rock versions of classical tunes and Christmas carols, but I’m not as big a fan of the numbers that don’t have recognizable ties to something else. The ballads seemed overwrought at times. But, when they stuck to their forte, they rocked the house.

The first part of the show was drawn largely from the album Christmas Eve and Other Stories. After about 90 minutes, the lights went down and the “Encore” chants started. I was hoping for “Wizards in Winter” or “Christmas Canon”, both popular tunes that I assumed they saved for the big finish. I thought we had been treated to a good show.

I was wrong. We had seen about half of a great show. The band came back out, introduced the members, and announced it was time to “blow stuff up”. The next hour was an eye-dazzling orgy of fire, lasers, and great songs. They played “Wizards in Winter”, “Christmas Canon”, “The Wish Liszt”, and took me to heaven and hell at the same time with Grieg’s “The Hall of the Mountain King”, a song I love dearly. The reference to hell was in the staging, with flames everywhere, banks of red light giving everything an eerie glow – just a perfect performance.

One of the most impressive things about the band is that, after the show ended, they went and cleaned up then came out into the hall of the arena and sat at a table to talk to fans and sign souvenirs. This kind of outreach to the fans is rare, and I applaud TSO for taking the time to do it.

If you get a chance to see the band during the holidays, jump at it!