Two years ago, my brother Nathan fell in love with Trans-Siberian
Orchestra after a friend gave him one of their albums. My parents and I
soon followed suit, but my brother Benjamin wasn't at home anymore, so
he missed out on the constant exposure to Nathan's latest obsession.
Then last Christmas, Benjamin's girlfriend suggested they go to see
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and he agreed though he didn't know the first
thing about them. He was wowed. And such was the impact of that
performance that he decided we ought to experience it this year. This
Christmas, he bought the four of us tickets to see Trans-Siberian
Orchestra, playing their first-ever January show in frigid Erie, PA.
What a fantastic way to extend our celebration!
Back in
December, my parents and I attended a Clay Aiken Christmas concert at
the Tullio Arena in downtown Erie. It was lovely and intimate -
especially since we managed to score seats in the second row - but a
whole lot of folks missed out on it. Only 1700 people showed up, a
number vastly superior to the paltry smattering of folks fellow American Idol alum Rickey Smith
got back in February but nowhere near the sold-out crowd of nearly six
thousand of which we were a part last night. It was mayhem navigating in
and out of the arena, particularly when we hit the gridlock of the
merchandise table, where we purchased a ten-dollar ornament on the way
out, and the food vendors - none of whom, sadly, deigned to entertain us
by hawking their wares
out in the stadium before the show. But when all of those people were
settled into their seats, the effect was impressive, particularly during
a song from the upcoming Nightcastle during which, at band's
request, everyone who had a cell phone flipped it open and held it
aloft, filling the arena with tiny twinkling lights.
The first half of the show consisted entirely of Christmas Eve and Other Stories,
TSO's first album, with a very bombastic narrator reading verse from
the liner notes that connects the songs. He did a fantastic job, as did
all of the instrumentalists and vocalists. The performances were
electrifying. And it was a feast not just for the ears but for the eyes
as well, with spotlights and lasers of various colors - mostly red,
green, blue and white - filling the arena with a blinding spectacle in
perfect coordination with the music. Toward the end of the show, which
included selections from their other albums as well as a few extras such
as a fun homage to Vince Guaraldi, they added some impressive plumes of
flame into the mix, and up in the second row from the top, the heat of
it practically singed out faces. We were all pretty eager for the relief
of that biting Erie air by the time the concert ended, but the
pyrotechnics certainly added to the excitement.
Each song was
performed brilliantly, usually with a heaping dose of spectacle on the
side, the notable exception being the exquisite Old City Bar, which featured just one vocalist and one guitarist in the spotlight on a dark stage. I was especially impressed with Christmas Canon Rock and the pulse-pounding Wizards in Winter,
and the finale in which the guitarists were lifted up on a platform
amid an explosion of sound and color was thrilling. Under any
circumstances, performing so skillfully night after night must be
incredibly difficult, but I would think all those flashing lights would
be very distracting. The members of the band never missed a beat, and
those with portable instruments leaped around the stage to boot, trying
to ensure that everyone in the audience could see them as well as
possible. In their effort to be accommodating and approachable, they
went so far as to invite everyone to stay after the show and chat with
them onstage. It was a tempting offer, but when the concert ended,
nearly three hours after it began, the crowd drove us forward and before
we knew it we were out the door, venturing into the night to face the
inevitable parking ramp traffic jam while visions of laser beams danced
in our heads. Christmas visited again on that January evening. Thanks,
Benjamin!
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