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Trans Siberian Orchestra |
| Written by Maryellen Gustafson | |
Trans-Siberian Orchestra"Christmas Eve and Other Stories"December 15, 2002T.C.C Music Hall, Tuscon AZIn what has become an Annual Event, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA once again has an East and West Tour of “Christmas Eve And Other Stories” on the road through the end of December. If this show has not come to your city yet, and is scheduled to do so (check www.trans-siberian.com), BUY, BEG or FIND A SCALPER for tickets!!! I just attended the West Tour, with original members and Savatage mainstays John Lee Middleton and Al Pitrelli, along with West Tour alumni actor/singer/guitarist Tommy Ferese, Narrator Tony Gaynor and vocalist Rod Weber, formerly of Broadway’s “Phantom of the Opera,” leading the way into a show that gets bigger and better every year! I thought last year’s show was so awesome it couldn’t be improved upon. WRONG! This year’s Tour has more musicians (John O’Reilly – drums; Angus Clark – guitars; Jane Mangini and Carmine Giglio – keyboards; Ted Falcon – String Master with the Tucson Symphony Strings), more vocalists (Sanya Mateyas – flute and vocals, Kristin Gorman, Michael Lanning, Max Mann, Bart Shatto and Jill Gioia), more songs and one hell of a laser light show to go along with a LOT more in the way of lighting effects. It completely blew me away! Opening to the strains of a track from the Children’s Choir in the TSO DVD “Ghosts Of Christmas Eve,” the musicians, all clad in black tie finery, filed onto the stage and joined the music track. As the song ended, the Narrator began the now familiar story entitled “Christmas Eve” set in an old city bar “. . .and the night Christmas Eve,” with the first vocal, “An Angel Came Down,” laying out the theme of the album and story. If you’re unfamiliar with TSO, you should really acquire a copy of this CD, and it’s follow-up “The Christmas Attic.” This is a “story” album, but you won’t hear the narration that makes the story progress on the album. Instead, the booklet/liner notes include a synopsis in the very beginning and the narrated parts are printed between the lyrics so you can follow along. The story and all the lyrics were written by Paul O’Neill, while the music was written by O’Neill and his partners Robert Kinkel and Jon Oliva (of Savatage). This partnership has produced a new slant on the spiritual, fantasy and childhood wonder of the Christmas season for kids of all ages. Besides, if you haven’t heard Christmas Carols done TSO style, you don’t know what you’re missing! Old standards like “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “O Holy Night and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” come alive with the help of a tremendous hard rock treatment blended with orchestra strings and various vocals. The way O’Neill and company send traditional songs off in a more modern direction, with blazing guitars and twists and turns, before returning to traditional mode, is actually quite a refreshing experience. As the show progressed, it stuck pretty close to the album by the same name with a few added attractions here and there, including the song “Boughs Of Holly” (yes, the one from the Gateway commercial and the second TSO Christmas Album). Some amazing instrumental songs from the album, like the wild ride through parts of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” named “The Silent Nutcracker” and “A Mad Russian’s Christmas,” were more than well received. As the opening strains of “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24),” originally released as part of the Savatage Rock Opera “Dead Winter Dead” were heard, the crowd went crazy. This is probably THE most recognized song by TSO and it certainly did not disappoint! Starting with the lonely notes of the cello played by either a member of the Tucson Strings Orchestra or String Master Ted Falcon (I couldn’t see which person was playing), then accompanied by Tanya Mateyas on flute and John O’Reilly on drums, there was a slight pause before the main part of the song with the full band and the first of many laser and massive light exhibitions crashed in to raise the level of intensity to a fever pitch. This turned into an extended version of the song with massive guitar solos, keyboard work and the full string ensemble. At it’s end, the band received the first of their many standing ovations that occurred during the show. The concert continued through the rest of the album with a slight change toward the end. During the song “Old City Bar,” Vocalist Bart Shatto stood on the stage dressed as an old, perhaps homeless, man to sing the story about the girl out in the snow by a broken pay phone. Accompanied only by Al Pitrelli on acoustic guitar, it was extremely moving. Coming close to the end, with the song “Promises To Keep” sung by one of the female vocalists with a fantastic voice and whose name I didn’t catch, followed by Tommy Ferese leading the entire cast through “This Christmas Day,” with major guitar solos and lighting effects going all over the place. “An Angel Returned” began with a single vocalist soon joined by the entire cast once again. The Narrator finished the “Christmas Eve” story and the first half of the show was over with a resounding 5 minute ovation!
Loosening up just a tad, Concert Part Two was less restrained and a lot of fun, although the music was still totally excellent. Travelling through more of the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA repertoire we were treated to the song from the soundtrack of “The Grinch” starring Jim Carey first. Then came the familiar boogie woogie strains of “The Three Kings And I (What Really Happened),” a totally cool song from TSO’s second album “The Christmas Attic.” I wish I knew the right name to credit as the vocalist, because he was WAY awesome both singing this song AND joining a “note for note” challenge with Al Pitrelli picking notes from the guitar while the guy sang the same notes. I’ve seen this in past shows, but it’s still way cool!! You could tell as things progressed that the people on stage were having as much fun as the audience was. Then it was time to take off into a few songs from TSO’s third album, “Beethoven’s Last Night.” Angus Clark got things going this time with the wild guitar track to kick off part of the “Overture” of the album that mixes music by Beethoven and Mozart and breaks down into “Flight Of The Bumble Bee” (the name people recognize), “Ode To Joy” and “Beethoven’s 5th Symphony Allegro Con Brio” to name a few. Starting with guitar and ending with an amazing string presentation, it definitely let the audience know this was classical music with a BIG twist!A beautiful new song of which I did not hear the name was sung by Sanya Mateyas and a new addition to the TSO Classical sound was executed to perfection by the entire cast doing “O Fortuna” from the opera “Carmina Burana.” This was all pretty darn amazing and sent chills up my spine – and I’m about as far from a classical music fan as you can get! A few other songs from “The Christmas Attic” were performed and again the cast left the stage to a wild ovation that lasted several minutes, only to return and Reprise “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) in an even grander fashion. And then it was over – I think to everyone’s disappointment because we wanted the music to go on and on. However, in another TSO tradition, all the members of the cast showed up at a long table in the lobby to sign autographs for the fans. After this huge, strenuous show, they take the time to talk to every single person that waits in line before they pack up and hit the road, headed for the next city.
To put the period at the end of this review, a GREAT and WONDERFUL time was had by all!!
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