(Live Review) TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA - Phoenix, AR (12/01/24)
By
The Beard & Little Johnny
Greetings friends, fans, and followers and welcome to a special Holiday episode of the Beard and Little Johnny Reviews. Today we will cover a Christmas classic, the traveling juggernaut known as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Originally formed back in the mid 1990’s by a few members of the band Savatage, over the last two decades this unit has had over one hundred musicians (of both classical and rock skill sets) flow through its doors and grace its worldwide stages bringing yearly Holiday rock operas to the masses.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, or TSO is unique in the fact that they never played clubs, never were an opening act and have never HAD an opening act. They have been described as the progressive intricacy of YES, meets the light show brilliance of Pink Floyd, with the grandiosity of The Who. I do not know who said that, but it is a damn apt description. TSO, on any given year and tour, employs between 20-30 on stage musicians and singers, triple that in crew members, and includes members of the local orchestra of whatever town they are currently in.
In a word, the show is massive. It provides more than one’s senses can really take in, what with moving trusses lifting the musicians out over the stage and into the crowd, secondary stages rising from behind the sound board, over a hundred lasers and over a thousand lighting sequences, plus enough pyro to power several hot air ballons, (or roast 10,000 chickens) and the very best in talented orchestral players, classic rock guitarists, and vocalists that hit notes you seldom hear outside an Opera Hall. All of it combines to produce a live narrated Christmas story that makes watching this concert seem like James Earl Jones took a bunch of meth amphetamines mixed with peyote and threw up a dream sequence that came to life.
2024 brought back the production of their “Lost Christmas Eve” show (first performed in 2013.) This was the third show of their decade spanning Christmas Trilogy. The “story” occupied the first one hundred minutes of the show and told a sorrowful tale of loss and eventual redemption of a man who, upon losing his wife during childbirth, walked out on his newborn disabled son only to learn you cannot outrun what life means you to live through.
The remaining hour is many traditional Christmas orchestral songs done to the millionth degree given the blitzkrieg of sound, lights, fire, smoke, and effects thrown at the crowd from the stage and the uber talented musicians on it.
Although I cannot guess the production cost of such an enormous undertaking, the band performs about thirty shows every 40 days throughout their touring cycle meaning all of this must be set up, torn down, relocated to another city, and set up again almost nightly. That is the metaphorical equivalent to setting up and tearing down Chevy Chase's house from ‘Christmas Vacation’ each and every day.
Despite all this, TSO has not forgotten their philanthropic goals. Since the beginning every ticket sold has equaled a dollar to charity. It may not sound like much, but they have sold twenty million tickets over their careers and donated twenty million dollars to various charities. No matter how you slice it, twenty million has a lot of zeros in it so kudos to them.
Even for the Beard, it would take chapters to pay appropriate homage to the many brilliant singers and musicians on this team, so I will not try, but I will mention a couple:
Vocalist Jeff Scott Soto is known to metal fans as the voice of the first two Yngwie Malmsteen albums and since those days Soto has been in more bands than almost any metal singer. He is the essence of a hired gun, and his huge range and voice worked wonderfully on “This Christmas Day.”
Guitarist Al Pitrelli has toured with Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Asia, Dee Snider, Blue Oyster Cult, Michael Bolton, and Celine Dion so trust me this guy can play anything you require on that guitar.
If I had anything that did not work for me about this show, it was that ultimately it was too much for too long. The final hour was one big closer after another. I realize they like everyone to get their songs in and that is appreciated by the fans, but sometimes less is more. The really big numbers were difficult to follow, and a few smaller ones could be trimmed to streamline the whole. That said, April Berry singing “Queen of the Winter Nights” in a giant snow globe behind the soundboard was amazing. That is a Mozart song and in remembering her voice hitting those notes even writing this has me shaking a bit.
I am STILL not doing proper justice to this show as a whole because there are SO many parts I am leaving out, including dual piano work that entranced the crowd, drum solos that were some of the best of the year. And when the Beard (who has seen almost 250 bands this year), says that it means something ... and of course the violin work of the one and only Asha Mevlana whose playing is so great that it finds a way to stand out even within all the other stuff happening.
Clearly, by now, everyone knows I am going big time thumbs up on this show. As I said, it does run long so use the potty before it starts because there is no intermission, but you will absolutely NOT regret the money you spent to see it, at least not if you want to appreciate top quality musicianship, vocal talent, and special effects production. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is an amazing show and well worth cracking a cold one in salute 94/100.
Trans Siberian Orchestra live
Until we meet again, enjoy the pictures and videos attached here, check out many more on TikTok @ thebeard0728, and remember…Live Life. Stay Heavy & of course Horns Up.
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