SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 5, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Unless you literally live under a rock, chances are you’ve heard at least a handful of Trans-Siberian Orchestra songs on the radio or elsewhere in the run-up to Christmas.
And I have to say, after attending the TSO show at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Nov. 21, at 3 p.m. (they did a second show at 7 p.m. that day too) I realized just how many of its songs I was familiar with.
The multi-platinum rock group kicked off its spectacular holiday tour, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve — the Best of TSO and More” on Nov. 15, and two bands tour simultaneously on the east and west coast, hitting a total of 62 cities for 104 performances between now and Dec. 30. Since its touring debut, TSO has played more than 2,000 Winter Tour shows to more than 18 million fans. In just the past 10 years, encompassing nine tours, they’ve performed for more than 8 million fans.
This year, the group, which has sold more than 12 million albums and DVDs, also launched its SiriusXM festive channel, Trans-Siberian Orchestra Radio. Available on the SiriusXM app through Dec. 26, the channel takes listeners to the realm where rock music pushes classical’s boundaries, where holiday classics fuse with powerful electric guitars, and where a diverse lineup of vocalists come together to create storytelling like no other. TSO has also digitally released “The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve — The Complete Narrated Version” in Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio and hi-fidelity stereo mixes this year.
The 2023 tour presents a new and larger version of the beloved holiday tradition, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve.” A product of the imagination of TSO’s late founder Paul O’Neill, and based on the multi-platinum CD and TV special, the rock opera follows the journey of a runaway who breaks into an abandoned vaudeville theater on Christmas Eve. The second half of the show boasts a splashy set containing greatest hits, fan-favorites, and surprises.
I was rather intrigued as we approached the Delta Center to see what kind of folks TSO attracts; particularly because the show was mid-afternoon on a Tuesday. And the answer is, well, basically, every age group seemed to be represented. There were families with little kids, couples and groups dressed up to the nines for a rock concert, still others who looked like they were heading to see a symphony at Abravanel Hall, older folks a-plenty and definitely lots of “repeat offenders,” which is what the band calls the fans that come and see them year after year. Heck, there was even a guy in a reindeer onesie. I must just mention as well, the workers at the Delta Center were incredibly accommodating and helpful as the audience found their seats for the sold-out show. I particularly am directionally-challenged at big concerts but thanks to the staff, we arrived at our seats on the floor approximately one minute before it began.
I’m sure there were plenty of people, my husband and myself included, who didn’t know exactly what we were in for. But wow, as soon as the action started, we realized just how dramatic this show was set to be. When TSO was founded in 1996, founder Paul O’Neill aimed to take the best of all forms of music he grew up with and form a new sound; so you have the expansive, dramatic rock opera vibe created by bands like The Who, the classic rock and trippy visual style of groups such Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, with plenty of the glam rock vibe of outfits like Guns ‘n’ Roses and Aerosmith, but also echoes of rock and metal ensembles that have heavy classical music influences like Queen and Metallica.
But imagine all of those bands playing on a stage at the same time; the west coast TSO group is comprised around 20 touring artists from around the world, including lead guitarist and musical director of TSO West and the co-musical director for studio recordings Al Pitrelli, who’s played with Megadeth, Alice Cooper and Savatage and who Gephardt Daily interviewed last month. Then there’s violinist Asha Mevlana, who’s performed alongside Alanis Morissette, Roger Daltrey, and Dee Snider, as well as guitarist Angus Clark, who has toured with the internationally renowned and Grammy-winning New Age artist Kitaro and the hard rock acts Drill and Naked Sun. So first of all, you have the absolute wall of sound that comes with a large group of musicians who are all at the top of their game. Then added to the touring artists, there are what Pitrelli refers to as the “Utah Chapter” of guest musicians on strings that round out the distinctive TSO sound. I should also mention that the sound guys did a brilliant job; the concert was definitely loud, but perfectly mixed.
For the first half of the show, there’s also a narrator, who, with help from massive screens on either side of the stage, tells “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve” story. The storyteller, Phillip Brandon, who is also a musician, has the slightly difficult job of matching the energy and power of the musicians with spoken word alone, and he achieves this masterfully.
The concert honestly would have been wonderful if it had just been the performers on a bare stage, such is their artistry. But it wouldn’t be a TSO show unless there were layers upon layers of dramatic lighting effects, lasers, smoke, fire, ice and snow. The visuals are more dramatic than any rock gig I’ve attended, with many of the effects happening at once like a crazy multi-layered Christmas cake of visual delights. The basic stage set depicts the marquee of a classic movie theater, with the two massive blow-up Nutcrackers on either side, and the afore-mentioned screens. But then, you have lasers shooting about all over the place, along with fog machines that make it look like are giant strips of smoke hovering over your head and moving towards you. A little boy next to us kept reaching out towards the fog as if he could grab it. Then there are pyrotechnics so hot you can feel them from half-way back in the arena. The lighting plot is also insane; there are six lighting trusses over the stage that every now and then drop down and sort of bounce up and down, which I’ve never seen before. There are also dozens of small lights that resemble icicles that move up and down vertically. In addition, two giant walkways unfurl and stretch out over the audience, so at times the performers are standing right above you. Oh, and it snows as well. There’s so many effects happening at once that depending on where you’re seated, the show would be completely different each time you saw it.
Oh yeah, and then as if there wasn’t enough going on on the stage, particularly in the second act, effects happen behind most of the audience as well (we were in floor seats in row 21). At one point, a large pyramid-shaped structure bursts into flames, and then a massive snow globe inflates with one of the singers inside it. There were no camels, but as Pitrelli said in our interview, the TSO team tries to top last year’s tour every year, so fingers crossed for 2024. Compared with the production values, the costumes are pretty straightforward, which I think works perfectly as the ensemble gets to focus on their music rather than costume changes. The performers are all dressed in black and white, with tight glam-rock ensembles that include tail coats and slimline trousers for the men and leggings and waistcoats or dresses and boots for the women. With all the running around they do, they need to be comfortable. And also there is a LOT of hair onstage, you wouldn’t want to upstage that.
After the “Ghosts of Christmas Eve” portion, the second half of the piece (there is no intermission) showcases some of the band’s greatest hits. The show, in total, is around two-and-a-half hours long, so chances are, if you have a favorite TSO song, you will be treated to it. My personal favorite, along with a lot of other folks, I think, is the show-stopping “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,” which tells the true story of a lone cello player in war-torn Sarajevo, who went to the town square, climbed onto a pile of rubble that had once been a fountain, and played Christmas carols as the city was bombed.
This leads me to mention an aspect of the show that I found surprising, which is how emotional it was at times. Pitrelli mentioned when we interviewed him that the audience becomes unified during the performance because everyone feels the absence of someone during the festive season: “I always think that everybody, me in particular, I have an empty chair at my dining room table,” Pitrelli said. “And it’s magnified around the holiday season. The people that have left this planet, that have passed on, or I haven’t spoken to somebody from my high school for like 40 years. And whatever it is, everybody misses someone, and the tradition, especially with the live show, is that people realize that the other 14,000 people in that building have the same emotion. It doesn’t make yours any less, but at least you realize you’re not alone.” I actually enjoyed the fact that this is just not a rock and metal spectacular, but has a lot of depth.
The performers also really worked hard to make sure that the audience was involved in the show. Because there are so many musicians, on such a big stage, in a venue that seats 20,000, they mostly interact with the audience members that are closest to them. Guitarist Angus Clark particularly revs up the crowd, encouraging different sections to cheer and make noise. And Pitrelli, who addresses the audience the most, makes sure to honor O’Neill, introduces every band member, and also to chats about Salt Lake City specifically and TSO experiences that are unique to Utah (for example that Salt Lake City was the first place they debuted the two-show-a-day format). And speaking of which, any group of musicians that can spend five hours on stage in a day rocking out to the extent they do is pretty incredible in my book. I guess they get to sleep in January.
I would say that most people leaving the show seemed to be pretty jazzed, especially for 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon. For lovers of rock music, it was very like spending an afternoon in church. And according to Pitrelli, the 2024 shows are going to be even bigger. I’m not sure how that’s possible; they might have to bring in the camels.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra is touring through Dec. 30; for more details on tour dates and ticket sales, click here.
