Have not seen anyone post on the latest TSO tour here so far this year. I saw them yesterday in Grand Rapids MI. Every time you don't think they can top themselves production wise.....they do. I will write a more thorough review when I get time, but here is some pretty killer footage of the finale yesterday:
Holy pyrotechnics Batman. Even on the rising back stage now I see.
I still think the fire breathing dragon during the Hall of the Mountain King a few years ago was one of the all time highlights of concert pyro.
Jebus Christmas, that looks like a Spinal Tap style accident waiting to happen! One year they should just switch to a bare stage with plain white lighting and see how the crowds react. "Sorry, it's the direction we're going in."
Really, really wanted to go, but tickets are just too expensive for a family.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
I didn't think they were that bad in Grand Rapids. Our tix were $64 plus $10 in fees. There were more expensive tickets as well, but for the incredible production they hall around with them I thought the prices were quite reasonable.Originally Posted by Scott Bails
I couldn't find anything under $75 + exorbitant fees. That's rough at this time of year.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
That's pretty close to how they started - their first few tours (1999-2003) were mostly in theaters and the focus was on the talent and personality on stage. Then the obsession to make it bigger and more over-the-top set in and before ya knew it, it was all about the spectacle. When guitarist Alex Skolnick left the act, he had this to say about TSO: "It is such a big production and big venues with tons of people. It is really more about the show than the people in the show. Keep in mind I have done it nine times. It isn’t like I haven’t gotten the experience. I know the deal and I know what it is like. I had a great time doing it and it was very educational. A show like that helps you. I am very grateful for the opportunity but I am also at a point in my life where I am more interested in doing things that are more about the people performing. I want to be an individual, even if it is smaller. I would rather have a bigger role in a smaller show than a tiny role in a huge show. Some people point to it and say it isn’t a tiny role and they come to see the show for me and my features, but the majority of the show is about a lighting rig. It is a three hour show and there are times where you are playing and their are dancing girls, explosions and platforms rising. It is awesome. But sometimes when you play you want it to be about the music."
My daughter and I still go every year and this year's set list had a lot of my favorites. We enjoyed it quite a bit, but we also hear where Alex was coming from and The Wizards of Winter fill that bill for us. Their tour is very similar to those theater tours of TSO - where the focus was not on the "gee whiz" factor but firmly on the music and the personality and the interaction with the audience. We see each show now every year.
I certainly get where Alex is coming from. There were times during the night where there were 4 guitarists on stage (one of the female singers was also playing guitar towards the end of the show) and it was definitely difficult to tell who was playing what from my vantage point. Of course when TSO do their holiday tours it is two separate touring companies, so yea the players are different depending on which side of the country you live on.
Seeing that TSO evolved from Savatage it always struck me why TSO was able to get so big and Savatage never made it much above an opening act / club headliner level band. The “core” of TSO was, and still is basically Savatage. I remember seeing the last Savatage tour for the “Poets And Madmen” album. This was just a couple of months after TSO sold out the same big hockey arena that I saw them at on Sunday. Savatage played to a crowd of maybe 200 people. For all practical purposes it was most of the same guys, but they were playing to a half empty club under the Savatage name.
One thing that was very cool about this year’s TSO east lineup is they have old Savatage vocalist Zak Stevens back in the fold. His solo spot was one of the highlights of the show for me.
I was excited about this also - and he did a great job, but disappointed that he was hired on to do only the one song. Considering his pedigree, I don't consider him a typical "Male Singer #4" - I was really hoping that he was there to do a Savatage song or something outside the box. Either way, I got he and Bill Hudson to sign my copy of the new Circle II Circle CD.
It is crazy when you think about it. They essentially scored with the Christmas theme and the "variety show" sort of concert, with R&B singers and Broadway singers up there with seasoned Rock pros (and a healthy loan from Mrs. O'Neil to get them started). Just a musical stew that seemed to work. Then later on came the Extravaganza with the lights and fire.
Last edited by Dan Roth; 12-09-2015 at 08:11 PM.
Agreed, I would have liked to see Zak featured more. I was just listening to "In the Wake Of Magellan" the other night and Zak's work on that album is really great.
The other thing that makes the TSO thing so ironic is that the song that broke them "Christmas Eve Serijevo" was originally a Savatage track on the "Dead Winter Dead" album. Maybe it was just the right place at the right time.
Check Stubhub as the show date approaches. Last year I saw them in Philly in a fantastic lower level seat that only cost $10. (I wouldn't have gone otherwise as they aren't really my thing). Bought the ticket just a few hours before showtime. Might be harder to get a bunch of seats together but if you can split yourselves up some, you may luck out.
saw Alex Skolnick play with Stuart Hamm in a tiny hall with about 100 people in attendance last week...intimate, extraordinary, 'real'....saw him play with TSO years ago in a huge arena with 15k plus in attendance and I tend to agree...that show was about the aural as well as the visual magic...I think I liked his show last week more!
The A.V. Club did a pretty good send-up of TSO/Savatage's famous song - love the subtitles on this video:
"As we enter the holiday season, there’s one song you’re almost guaranteed to hear no matter who you are, where you live, or what you do: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s version of “Carol Of The Bells.” For reasons passing understanding, this heavy-metal Muzak has become a beloved yuletide staple, with kids and septuagenarians alike basking in its churning, head-banging wake. In light of this omnipresent tune, The A.V. Club would like to offer a rebuttal, breaking down the song into its flimsy component parts, and exposing it for what it is—namely, a clunky, cheesy slice of distorted Velveeta. O stop, you merry gentlemen."
Last edited by Dan Roth; 12-22-2015 at 11:57 PM.
they were just here in ATL last Friday...I too wanted to go and bring my 14 yo Granddaughter but prices were insane....too bad....it looks like a great experience.
It doesn't seem too impressive judging from the comments. Maybe it's just as well I hate videos.
Funny you should mention Spinal Tap. At the office Christmas party, a co-worker insisted on showing me the 10 minute video he had shot on his phone of the recent TSO concert in Hershey, PA. After sitting through the whole thing, my response was "That looks like what Spinal Tap would do if they had an unlimited budget". He wasn't amused.
Maybe it lost something in the translation to a 5 inch screen and tinny little speakers. I'll never understand why people insist on showing others videos on their phone - it's not going to impress anyone.
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The internet was better before Berners-Lee let the riff-raff in.
I didn't read the comments - just enjoyed the video. lol
That's an interesting way to decide if something is impressive or not.
We took the family to see TSO in Philly last Saturday. Great show. Almost 2 1/2 hours without an intermission. The lights and visual effects were even more off the hook than 2 years ago when I last saw them. Very cool to see Russell Allen too.
Chad
I also went to the show in Philly on Saturday, and again I scored a great lower level seat for only $22 on stubhub a few hours before show time. I used to not like TSO at all but now I find that if I can get a cheap ticket I do enjoy it for the spectacle it is.
It works well enough if you don't watch vids and/or can't stream things at work. The comments can be just as good and often better.
I get it. TSO has a lot of cheese factor to it, especially the Christmas / holiday tours. Their albums are bombastically over the top and get a little too close to Broadway musical theater in style at times. That being said, they are great at what they do, and I think about 75% of their music is really good. Maybe it is because I am an old Savatage fan. As most people know TSO evolved from Savatage. Savatage always had a certain element of cheesiness to their stuff too in hair metal kind of way, but I think some of their albums are fantastic. Most of the Savatage guys are still involved in TSO (Jeff Plate, Chris Caffery, Johnny Lee Middleton, Zak Stevens, Al Pitrelli) and they are all great musicians / singers. TSO also brings in top notch outside singers like Russell Alan from Symphony X. Yes, some of the singing is a bit over the top too, but you rarely hear them hit a bum note, and it gives people like Allan a chance to show off some different vocal styles from what he is known for.
A friend of mine toured with them as part of their stage crew for years and has nothing but good things to say about the band or the production team. He finally called it quits due to the grueling schedule that they take on during November and December sometimes playing 6 shows in 3 days and pretty much no days off. To load in and load out that production meant basically going about 2 months with very little sleep. They also tour quite a bit other times of the year all over the world with a somewhat scaled down production.
As for the ticket prices, the production they do costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to put on every night. I think, for what you get, they have kept the prices pretty reasonable. I have seen them 4 times and have never felt ripped off.
I understand why people here might not like this kind of thing, but I dig what they do and enjoy both their albums and live shows.
I really would like to go to see them myself but the ticket prices and not to mention the hectic scheduling at this time of year just makes it pretty much possible. I've heard they put on one great show though. Maybe next year. Christmas memories shouldn't have a price.
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Saw them yesterday front row center in St. Paul. I can honestly say in 40yrs. of concert going I have never experienced anything quite like this. I was so close I could hear and see the inner-workings of the crane lift. Just a mind blowing visual experience. And I have to say that the music itself was much stronger and emotional than I expected. All of the band are great players, Al Pitrelli is a phenomenal guitarist and conducter/arranger/leader. All of the male lead singers were incredible, esp. the one from St.Paul who introduced his parents in the audience(not sure of his name). Andrew Ross was a standout on guitars and vocals. The sound was crystal clear, and the band was note perfect tight all night long. Im so glad I looked on ticketscalper.com one last time about 3 or 4 days before the show.
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