Retrospective
Despite tribulations involving illness and difficulty is locating a parking spot, I had the awe-filling sight of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, with all their pyrotechnics, lasers and lights, glow-in-the-dark violins, and outrageously incredible music before me.
The show opened with a slightly curtailed presentation of their first album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories. Interposed between the narrator's crisp relating of the tale of a lone angel were such memorable TSO tunes as "A Mad Russian's Christmas" and their biggest hit, "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24." Expertly coordinated to the musics was a brilliant light and laser show that accentuated the symphonic sound in an exciting visual way.
After the narrator (who often played along with the band-members on an air guitar when he was not reciting his story) completed his tale, we were introduced to the members of the band. Following this short break the group erupted into song once more, blasting familiar compositions from The Lost Christmas Eve and my favorite TSO album, Beethoven's Last Night. Among these were the wildly entertaining "Wizards in Winter," "Christmas Nights in Blue," "A Last Illusion," and the electrically-charged rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, "Requiem." The latter was accompanied by breathtaking jets of fire and other pyrotechnics and captured the power and majesty of the famous Fifth Symphony in a way only the Trans-Siberian Orchestra can.
One of the best parts of the three-hour show was a preview of the upcoming TSO album Night Castle. The band played their adaptation of "Carmina Burana" (the "O Fortuna" part, specifically) to much applause. Afterward there was a great keyboardist duel between two pianists which led into an explosive finale featuring a second performance of Sarajevo in an even more grandiose style.
If you are a fan of the Trans-Siberian Orchetsra, you must see them perform live.
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