Damn.

Just got back from TSO. Every year I think, "They can't top this." And then they do it. This year, they sat around and said, "Umm, okay... how can we up the ante? How about... uh... I got it: cherry-pickers that hoist players over the audience, and a giant pendulum clock with flames coming out of it. Yeah." Batshit crazy.

Nice twist this year, too; they scrapped the old storyline and built a new one around the "Lost Christmas Eve" album. Same sort of schtick (angel comes to earth searching), but different storyline with different songs. As usual, they follow the plot for the first half, and after introducing the band at the midpoint they dive into other stuff (Mountain King, Beethoven's 5th, Nutcracker, a few Christmas tunes they didn't play in the first half).

So do they have different touring groups? How do they hit so many Cities in the month of December?

I saw the show two weeks ago in OK City, and it was you say "Batshit Crazy". The Christmas Concert was great, but the rock concert at the end was beyond anything I can describe.

ah.....my suspicions were correct....they do have two touring groups to cover more ground during the holiday season




Trans-Siberian Orchestra first toured in 1999, performing a handful of concerts in Upper Darby, New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit. The next year, two touring groups were formed, allowing the band to cover more ground in the short time frame Paul O'Neill allows the Holiday Rock Operas to be performed (November & December). Trans-Siberian Orchestra has maintained the dual band format for touring during those months ever since, but performs as a single band during the rest of the year.

The two touring groups are informally known as TSO East and TSO West, although these descriptions are not entirely literal. Before 2008, for example, TSO West historically played in Atlanta and Florida. Both groups have appeared in Midwestern cities such as Chicago and Indianapolis.

Shows on the orchestra's fall/winter tour are divided into two acts. For their first thirteen tours, the first act was a narrated performance of most of the songs from Christmas Eve and Other Stories. Beginning with the 2012 tour, the first act is a narrated performance of most of the songs from The Lost Christmas Eve. In the second act, the band performs a mix of songs from their other albums. Their Spring tours to promote Beethoven's Last Night in 2010 - 2012 used a similar format, with the first act being a narrated performance of most of the songs from Beethoven's Last Night followed by several songs from Night Castle. On the 2012 tour, the band also included two Savatage songs, both from the album Handful of Rain - the title track and "Chance", which concludes the show.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Orchestra

Holy crap! Their doing Savatage songs from Handful Of Rain? Dang, I missed them this year. :banghead:

Chance is one of, if not the first Savatage song that I can recall where they started experimenting with vocal harmonies and such.

Seen them this afternoon in Orlando and they put on another awesome show as always.

I have been twice but haven't gotten to go in a few years. They put on amazing shows.

I'm going to see them later on this month.

Saw them yesterday. They give you your money's worth. A good portion of the audience didn't realize it would be more rock concert than quiet orchestra christmas carols.