psiu
9-10-2006, 10:10 AM
Heads up for everyone who may be interested. The Trans Siberian Orchestra is touring yet again, presale begins on Tuesday if you signed up for the fanclub and received links to it (though I believe you might be able to buy from their webpage) and then public sale on Friday.
If anyone hasn't seen them, think lasers, lights, fireballs, wailing guitars :guitarist :gdrockf:, and Christmas music :hert: :dazzler: :singer:
Here's some of my webclippings from last year:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15565076&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455149&rfi=6
"Once again, the Trans Siberian Orchestra didn't disappoint as the orchestra ensemble delivered a two and half hour multi-media extravaganza of music and songs accompanied by incredible video imaging and amazing special effects. "
"Falling snow, laser lighting and an awesome display of pyrotechnics and are just some of the special effects used on the 2005 winter tour. There are even more surprises, but giving them away might spoil it for today's crowds. It will be worth the wait though. "
http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2005/11/16/a_tso_christmas.html
"As one of the top live concerts in the United States, the group’s 2004 holiday tour was No. 7 in overall top grossing concerts and No. 2 in attendance, according to Billboard. For good reason. A TSO concert is a multi-sense experience, using sound, light and snow (yes, snow) to create a one-of-a-kind Christmas rock concert."
" “A fan described it best,” Kinkel says, describing a TSO concert. “It’s like seeing Phantom of the Opera, a Who concert and the lights of Pink Floyd all at the same time. And there’s a story element there.” "
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1126275.html
"The TSO experience is unlike any other. As the lights went down and a blanket of lasers shot through the fog, the spectacular shows of Pink Floyd came to mind. Then came the blistering guitar leads, the chunk-chunk sound of metal riffs and a pounding bass drum. That display would soon fade into the soft lull of a quiet piano playing background to a narrator's story about one Christmas Eve, and the magic inherent in that night."
"TSO's show was all about the magic of the season, and the band created magic on stage. At one point, fake snow fell from the ceiling, and I could see it light upon a man with white hair and beard, an image of Santa Claus before my very eyes in mid-November."
http://www.al.com/entertainment/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1131877341123970.xml&coll=2
"Imagine sitting among thousands of people, your ears overwhelmed with screaming guitar licks, orchestrated strings and keyboards, your eyes bombarded by synchronized lights that dazzle and dance to the rhythm of the music. The 15 musical masters of this phenomenon are dressed in black and white.
Melting snow begins to fall. As laser lights cross the falling snow, it appears as gold flakes falling like angels' breath to the seats below.
You are less than 30 minutes into a Trans-Siberian Orchestra show that will last nearly two and a half hours. "
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051118/ENT02/511160364/1005/ENT
"A heavy metal guitarist with long hair and lighting fast fingers is probably not the first musician you envision as a member of a Christmas-themed touring concert that has grossed more than $50 million since 1999. This is assuming, of course, you are not one of the 1.5 million people to have bought a ticket to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO), a symphonic rock outfit featuring heavy-metal guitarist Al Pitrelli."
"He peeked though the curtain and saw a packed auditorium. "I thought I was in the wrong building. There were ages 7 to 70 years old, Megadeth and Slayer fans. Talk about a cross section. " Either this was the weirdest, most bizarre crowd, or it was going to be huge." "
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/18747
"TSO’s 2005 stage arsenal includes five laser machines and 400 new LED lighting devices. “They are small lights that throw out 1,000 watts, really powerful, and they pulsate to the beat with more control than regular lights” because their filaments light instantly O’Neill explained. “We also added pyros that change color to the beat.” "
"“Every year, we take the show completely apart and rebuild it from the ground up. This year, we brought a gazillion extra motors with us to even keep the trusses moving. Trusses usually locked in. In our show, every section moves.” "
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2249&dept_id=450607&newsid=15628183&PAG=461&rfi=9
"When Paul O'Neill heard about a new stage light that uses LED technology, he apparently couldn't contain his excitement. So much so, that the salesman immediately started asking how many he should put the Trans-Siberian Orchestra founder down for: 10? 12?
"I said, 'No. 400'," O'Neill laughed. "If one goes out, we still have 399. When you have that many of them, it's just massive." "
"This year, in addition to those new LED lights, new pyrotechnics will not only shoot off in time with the music, but also change color."
"This year's show will feature the full "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" album, including poetry readings, for the first half. O'Neill said the band has borrowed a page from The Who playbook, which played "Tommy" in its entirety even after it had released "Quadrophenia."
"We'll probably play it for two more years and then change to possibly 'The Lost Christmas Eve,'" he explained."
"Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which has promised to tour "Beethoven's Last Night" since 2000, vows to tour in 2007 after the release of Night Castle. The band will go out in its full glory of all 60 members to support that record, yet still split into the two touring groups to play to as many people as they can during the Christmas season.
"It's grown beyond our wildest imagination," O'Neill said. "It kind of freaked us all out." "
http://www.garageradio.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1000
"If you remember the video "I Want To Rock With You" where Michael Jackson sang in front of a bunch of criss-crossed lasers, then you'll understand what I mean when I say a giant "grid" of lasers shot out across the auditorium. . . and it moved and rotated and was extremely beautiful. Way up top, in between statues, they had rigged some snow machines. It began to snow as strobe lights and other lights shot through the flakes, making them sparkle. The combination of the classic theater, the lasers and snow is a sight I won't soon forget. It was breathtaking."
"The band had featured some awesome vocalists I haven't mentioned, including Marcus DeLoach, Danielle Landherr, and Jennifer Cella during the evening, but Tany Ling, who performed "Queen Of The Winter Night," another tune off their latest release, was hitting notes that only dogs could hear. I feared all the restored glass in the theater would shatter. She hit one of the highest, clearest notes and held it. WOW."
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1133173217280510.xml&coll=1
"They've got the subtlety of a Mack truck or a Mike Tyson haymaker -- think Andrew Lloyd Webber on steroids.
But for all the extreme nature of walking a fine line between seriousness and parody, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is ultimately a moving experience. And whether you think they're cheesy or not, their musical ability is remarkable.
And that orchestra thing? They're about as much an orchestra as Slayer is a lounge act. This is a rock band, pure and simple, that happens to have a slew of classical tendencies. No matter how much you try to clean them up, they're still a bunch of long-haired rockers."
http://www.uterwincenter.com/applause/2005/dec05/TSO.html
"Imagine a staid, formal conductor approaching his orchestra. See him raising his elegant baton in anticipation of the strings and brass section taking hold of the audience. Hear the audience take in a quick breath of anticipation. Feel the sensation when a hard, electric guitar takes over and rocks the expectations of the crowd."
"The smell of sulfur and powder is not just for the benefit of those lucky enough to grab a seat up front; the sheer amount used momentarily stuns the senses of all in the room. The laser light shows are known to open up the performance to the delight of all watching with fog machines pumping out the atmosphere for most of the show."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2249&dept_id=450607&newsid=15660424&PAG=461&rfi=9
"With its mix of a rock band and strings, and its memorable songs, the band was sure to be a hit. But the cross-generational appeal was something I never saw coming."
"If you think about it, cofounders Paul O'Neill, Bob Kinkel and Jon Oliva have done something remarkable: They've made a heavy metal band have broad appeal. A scan of the audience will reveal young children all the way up to grandma and grandpa, with every age in between."
http://getout.amarillo.com/content/outloud/120905_transsiberian.shtml
"Audience demographics are a continuing surprise, Pitrelli said.
"Let's face it, everybody is a headbanger," he said. "I'll look out in the audience and see a kid in a Slayer T-shirt and sitting next to him is a grandmother in a knitted Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sweater. I just go, okey-dokey." "
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051209/ENT01/512090417/1032/ENT
""We keep trying to throw more and more surprises at the audience," O'Neill says. "I think I learned this from Pink Floyd. Every single time I thought the show couldn't get any better, the show had peaked, they'd come up with a new effect where I was like 'Oh my God!'
"We do the same thing. We go through the show and then, by the end, we're throwing the kitchen sink at the audience. It's just like fog it, light it or blow it up, just keep it interesting and make it entertaining. It's going bigger and bigger." "
http://www.seaoftranquility.org/article.php?sid=552
"As they have done in the past, the group performs the entire Christmas Eve and Other Stories in it's entirety, complete with narration from Brian Hicks in between each song. This album is a real classic, and its mixture of memorable, soaring instrumentals with traditional and original vocal pieces makes it an especially endearing listen for rock as well as general music lovers, and something that can really be listened to all year long. Jay Pierce really slayed the audience with his interpretation of "O' Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night", and the dual guitar team of Chris Caffery and Alex Skolnick mixed their technical chops with the keys and strings on the stunning 'A Mad Russians Christmas" and "Christmas Eve: Sarajevo 12/24", two modern holiday classics. It also should be noted the incredible vocals of James Robert Lewis, who adds a nice hard rock touch and real grittiness to many of the tracks from this album."
If anyone hasn't seen them, think lasers, lights, fireballs, wailing guitars :guitarist :gdrockf:, and Christmas music :hert: :dazzler: :singer:
Here's some of my webclippings from last year:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15565076&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455149&rfi=6
"Once again, the Trans Siberian Orchestra didn't disappoint as the orchestra ensemble delivered a two and half hour multi-media extravaganza of music and songs accompanied by incredible video imaging and amazing special effects. "
"Falling snow, laser lighting and an awesome display of pyrotechnics and are just some of the special effects used on the 2005 winter tour. There are even more surprises, but giving them away might spoil it for today's crowds. It will be worth the wait though. "
http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2005/11/16/a_tso_christmas.html
"As one of the top live concerts in the United States, the group’s 2004 holiday tour was No. 7 in overall top grossing concerts and No. 2 in attendance, according to Billboard. For good reason. A TSO concert is a multi-sense experience, using sound, light and snow (yes, snow) to create a one-of-a-kind Christmas rock concert."
" “A fan described it best,” Kinkel says, describing a TSO concert. “It’s like seeing Phantom of the Opera, a Who concert and the lights of Pink Floyd all at the same time. And there’s a story element there.” "
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1126275.html
"The TSO experience is unlike any other. As the lights went down and a blanket of lasers shot through the fog, the spectacular shows of Pink Floyd came to mind. Then came the blistering guitar leads, the chunk-chunk sound of metal riffs and a pounding bass drum. That display would soon fade into the soft lull of a quiet piano playing background to a narrator's story about one Christmas Eve, and the magic inherent in that night."
"TSO's show was all about the magic of the season, and the band created magic on stage. At one point, fake snow fell from the ceiling, and I could see it light upon a man with white hair and beard, an image of Santa Claus before my very eyes in mid-November."
http://www.al.com/entertainment/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1131877341123970.xml&coll=2
"Imagine sitting among thousands of people, your ears overwhelmed with screaming guitar licks, orchestrated strings and keyboards, your eyes bombarded by synchronized lights that dazzle and dance to the rhythm of the music. The 15 musical masters of this phenomenon are dressed in black and white.
Melting snow begins to fall. As laser lights cross the falling snow, it appears as gold flakes falling like angels' breath to the seats below.
You are less than 30 minutes into a Trans-Siberian Orchestra show that will last nearly two and a half hours. "
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051118/ENT02/511160364/1005/ENT
"A heavy metal guitarist with long hair and lighting fast fingers is probably not the first musician you envision as a member of a Christmas-themed touring concert that has grossed more than $50 million since 1999. This is assuming, of course, you are not one of the 1.5 million people to have bought a ticket to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO), a symphonic rock outfit featuring heavy-metal guitarist Al Pitrelli."
"He peeked though the curtain and saw a packed auditorium. "I thought I was in the wrong building. There were ages 7 to 70 years old, Megadeth and Slayer fans. Talk about a cross section. " Either this was the weirdest, most bizarre crowd, or it was going to be huge." "
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/18747
"TSO’s 2005 stage arsenal includes five laser machines and 400 new LED lighting devices. “They are small lights that throw out 1,000 watts, really powerful, and they pulsate to the beat with more control than regular lights” because their filaments light instantly O’Neill explained. “We also added pyros that change color to the beat.” "
"“Every year, we take the show completely apart and rebuild it from the ground up. This year, we brought a gazillion extra motors with us to even keep the trusses moving. Trusses usually locked in. In our show, every section moves.” "
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2249&dept_id=450607&newsid=15628183&PAG=461&rfi=9
"When Paul O'Neill heard about a new stage light that uses LED technology, he apparently couldn't contain his excitement. So much so, that the salesman immediately started asking how many he should put the Trans-Siberian Orchestra founder down for: 10? 12?
"I said, 'No. 400'," O'Neill laughed. "If one goes out, we still have 399. When you have that many of them, it's just massive." "
"This year, in addition to those new LED lights, new pyrotechnics will not only shoot off in time with the music, but also change color."
"This year's show will feature the full "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" album, including poetry readings, for the first half. O'Neill said the band has borrowed a page from The Who playbook, which played "Tommy" in its entirety even after it had released "Quadrophenia."
"We'll probably play it for two more years and then change to possibly 'The Lost Christmas Eve,'" he explained."
"Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which has promised to tour "Beethoven's Last Night" since 2000, vows to tour in 2007 after the release of Night Castle. The band will go out in its full glory of all 60 members to support that record, yet still split into the two touring groups to play to as many people as they can during the Christmas season.
"It's grown beyond our wildest imagination," O'Neill said. "It kind of freaked us all out." "
http://www.garageradio.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1000
"If you remember the video "I Want To Rock With You" where Michael Jackson sang in front of a bunch of criss-crossed lasers, then you'll understand what I mean when I say a giant "grid" of lasers shot out across the auditorium. . . and it moved and rotated and was extremely beautiful. Way up top, in between statues, they had rigged some snow machines. It began to snow as strobe lights and other lights shot through the flakes, making them sparkle. The combination of the classic theater, the lasers and snow is a sight I won't soon forget. It was breathtaking."
"The band had featured some awesome vocalists I haven't mentioned, including Marcus DeLoach, Danielle Landherr, and Jennifer Cella during the evening, but Tany Ling, who performed "Queen Of The Winter Night," another tune off their latest release, was hitting notes that only dogs could hear. I feared all the restored glass in the theater would shatter. She hit one of the highest, clearest notes and held it. WOW."
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1133173217280510.xml&coll=1
"They've got the subtlety of a Mack truck or a Mike Tyson haymaker -- think Andrew Lloyd Webber on steroids.
But for all the extreme nature of walking a fine line between seriousness and parody, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is ultimately a moving experience. And whether you think they're cheesy or not, their musical ability is remarkable.
And that orchestra thing? They're about as much an orchestra as Slayer is a lounge act. This is a rock band, pure and simple, that happens to have a slew of classical tendencies. No matter how much you try to clean them up, they're still a bunch of long-haired rockers."
http://www.uterwincenter.com/applause/2005/dec05/TSO.html
"Imagine a staid, formal conductor approaching his orchestra. See him raising his elegant baton in anticipation of the strings and brass section taking hold of the audience. Hear the audience take in a quick breath of anticipation. Feel the sensation when a hard, electric guitar takes over and rocks the expectations of the crowd."
"The smell of sulfur and powder is not just for the benefit of those lucky enough to grab a seat up front; the sheer amount used momentarily stuns the senses of all in the room. The laser light shows are known to open up the performance to the delight of all watching with fog machines pumping out the atmosphere for most of the show."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2249&dept_id=450607&newsid=15660424&PAG=461&rfi=9
"With its mix of a rock band and strings, and its memorable songs, the band was sure to be a hit. But the cross-generational appeal was something I never saw coming."
"If you think about it, cofounders Paul O'Neill, Bob Kinkel and Jon Oliva have done something remarkable: They've made a heavy metal band have broad appeal. A scan of the audience will reveal young children all the way up to grandma and grandpa, with every age in between."
http://getout.amarillo.com/content/outloud/120905_transsiberian.shtml
"Audience demographics are a continuing surprise, Pitrelli said.
"Let's face it, everybody is a headbanger," he said. "I'll look out in the audience and see a kid in a Slayer T-shirt and sitting next to him is a grandmother in a knitted Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sweater. I just go, okey-dokey." "
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051209/ENT01/512090417/1032/ENT
""We keep trying to throw more and more surprises at the audience," O'Neill says. "I think I learned this from Pink Floyd. Every single time I thought the show couldn't get any better, the show had peaked, they'd come up with a new effect where I was like 'Oh my God!'
"We do the same thing. We go through the show and then, by the end, we're throwing the kitchen sink at the audience. It's just like fog it, light it or blow it up, just keep it interesting and make it entertaining. It's going bigger and bigger." "
http://www.seaoftranquility.org/article.php?sid=552
"As they have done in the past, the group performs the entire Christmas Eve and Other Stories in it's entirety, complete with narration from Brian Hicks in between each song. This album is a real classic, and its mixture of memorable, soaring instrumentals with traditional and original vocal pieces makes it an especially endearing listen for rock as well as general music lovers, and something that can really be listened to all year long. Jay Pierce really slayed the audience with his interpretation of "O' Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night", and the dual guitar team of Chris Caffery and Alex Skolnick mixed their technical chops with the keys and strings on the stunning 'A Mad Russians Christmas" and "Christmas Eve: Sarajevo 12/24", two modern holiday classics. It also should be noted the incredible vocals of James Robert Lewis, who adds a nice hard rock touch and real grittiness to many of the tracks from this album."