Trans-Siberian Orchestra 2008
Band website: http://www.trans-siberian.com/index-main.php
Rating: 
Review by King Lizzard
Now, mind you, I’ve been around the block more times than I care to mention. I am as jaded of an old prick as one can get. I’m meaner than a junkyard dog and twice as ugly. In the past 35-years I have seen KISS Destroyer and Love Gun tours, Alice Cooper three times, ELO, Elton John, Pink Floyd Animals tour, Queen and just about every big ass arena/stadium rock band in existence in that past time. I’ve also seen enough of the Cirque shows in Vegas, Blue Man Group and other Vegas Strip major shows.
Last night I saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and for the first time in my life I had my ass kicked non-stop for three hours and have to say, unequivocally, that this is the best fucking rock concert on the planet. That is, of course, unless you hate hard rock music and classical music, or are an imbecile.
The show was concocted in 1996 by members of the metal band SAVATAGE and has been touring since 
1999. TSO consists of a 16-piece band (including string section), 20-vocalists and various lead vocalists. The show is divided into two parts, the Christmas themed part and when that’s finished, they kick into high gear with classics.
The Christmas theme was sweet, with catchy hyped-up Christmas carols and blues and jazz inspired originals wrapped around the concept of an angel flying across the world on Christmas Eve and a father getting his lost child back. The story was told by a storyteller who introduced the separate acts. Some of the acts were a little long and low key, but the vocalists and musicians were virtuoso caliber.
At one point the angel ordered it to snow, which it started to snow inside the Garden Arena (okay, okay, I know it’s shaved ice blown through a vent system, but it was cool how it hit and melted like real snow). “First Snow” got everyone’s heads bobbing and a metal medley of the Nutcracker, with the Trepak Dance and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, had folks whooping and yelling to 200-year-old music.
The monstrous lighting rigs gimbaled and rotated, morphing and lighting up with neon lights as well as their own lights and lasers, like a living Transformer.
After the Christmas theme the orchestra members were introduced and many people hit the road at that point, thinking the show was over…dumbasses, they missed the best part, for next came the classical-metal show.
With “In the Hall of the Mountain King” the entire stage is engulfed in flames looking like the depths of hell.
And old woman in ratty clothes sitting in a chair for most of the show gets out of the chair, throws off her rags and becomes a smoking hot blonde in a slinky black mini-dress singing “Queen of the Winter Night” in octave ranges only known to dogs.
A choir sings “Dies Irae” from the Verdi Requiem and “O Fortuna” from the Carmina Burana. Dueling guitarists burst into Zeppelin’s Kashmir and dueling keyboards cover Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D, boogie woogie and a Charlie Brown Christmas. They cover Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, Flight of the Bumblebee, Canon in D and Beethoven’s 5th with fiery bombast charges going off around the arena. For Beethoven’s 5th, which turns into a re-attack of “Christmas Eve Sarajevo (Carol of the Bells)” Angus Clark (guitar) and Alison Zlotlow (violin) get off the main stage, go to a smaller stage in the back of the arena, which lifts off and hovers over the audience. When they land, they mingle through the audience. Angus ran up to our seat to serenade the missus with a two minute solo before running back to the stage.
Columns of fire changing color, lasers surpassing Pink Floyd, the whole stage ends by becoming a giant pinwheel sparkler.
Personal opinion: anyone who says this concert was horrendous is an idiot. That being said, also note, don’t think that if you saw TSO on PBS or have the video you’ve seen them…I’ve seen their PBS show and all their videos and it’s not even in the same solar system let alone the same neighborhood.
As I said, I’ve seen the best of the best of the best over the past 35 years and this show will blow you away into another universe within the first five minutes.
BTW, there are two TSOs running simultaneous shows.
SET LIST (gathered from the internet— beats the shit out of me if this is what I saw, but it looks close to my recollection I reckon):
Oh Come Holy Night
Prince of Peace
First Snow
A Mad Russian’s Christmas
Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)
Good King Joy
Ornament
Old City Bar
Promises to keep
This Christmas Day
An Angel Returned
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First Snow (Not great sound, but check out the snow blowers in the top left corner blowing shaved ice out on the audience)
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