Concert: Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) at PPL Center (November 2017)

Trans Siberian Orchestra - Great Special Effects, but Needs an Update

My spouse and I attended the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert at the PPL Center on a Saturday afternoon in mid-November 2017. We purchased our tickets online via the PPL Center website. We have attended many events at PPL Center, but this one was disastrous in terms of attendee admission, with security to enter the building taking so much time that many patrons missed half the show while they stood outdoors in ridiculously long lines in the rain and cold. One good thing that we noticed during our wait: the sheer number of tractor-trailers parked on Seventh Street to transport the equipment – there must have been at least 10 full-size trucks! (In actuality, for the two TSO show companies (East and West) that operate concurrently, statistics for the show include 40 (FORTY!) trucks, 20 tour buses, 240 touring personnel, 276 local stagehands, 256 rigging points hung from the ceiling, 256 one-ton motors, 10 custom elevators built into the stage that go 25 feet in the air, a 200-foot catwalk that lifts four stories over the audience, 20 snow machines, 32 fog/haze machines, 28,000 feet of aluminum and steel trussing, half a football field worth of video panels, 15,000 pyrotechnic effects, and nearly 600 flame/fire modules.) We liked that the (darkened) string section was made up of local musicians who supported the TSO professional musicians.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American progressive rock band founded in 1996 and began touring in 1999. TSO has sold more than 10 million concert tickets and over 10 million albums. The band has released a series of rock operas and is known for its elaborate concerts, which include a string section, a light show, lasers, "enough pyro to be seen from the International Space Station”, moving trusses, video screens, and effects synchronized to music. TSO is the first major rock band to go straight to theaters and arenas, never playing at clubs, never having an opening act, and never being an opening act.

Paul O'Neill, the group’s founder who passed away in 2017, was a composer and lyricist who managed and produced rock bands including Aerosmith, Humble Pie, AC/DC, Joan Jett, and the Scorpions. In 1996, he started TSO with music inspired by artists like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Queen, Yes, The Who, and Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Temptations, and The Four Tops. In the 1980s, O’Neill visited Siberia Russia, realizing that it is a beautiful but harsh place; however, one thing that runs across it in relative safety is the Trans-Siberian Railway. He compares this to life, which can also be beautiful but also harsh and unforgiving, and the one thing that offers safety is music; hence, the name of the group. His original concept was to create six rock operas, a trilogy about Christmas, and one or two regular albums.

Well-known TSO songs include the instrumental "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" and "Christmas Canon," (a take on Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major). “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve” story, also performed in 2015 and 2016, is the story once again for the 2017 tour, due to the deaths of two band members and the injury of another. 

Since Trans-Siberian Orchestra began touring, the band has donated over $10 million to local and national charities. At every tour stop, the group donates one dollar from each ticket sold to a local charity, particularly to those that protect and help children. In 2010, O'Neill voiced the band's philosophy, "We are all in this together. We must look out for the well-being of each other, most of all the young. For the young are the architects of the future and we are the architects of the young. We cannot tell those yet to be born that we did our best." He constantly stated that the fans own the band, "TSO's goal is to make the best albums and concerts we possibly can, sparing no amount of time or expense and then charge the lowest possible price. No musician or singer is on the TSO flight deck for the money. We do it because we love the energy from the crowd, especially the kids. Also in Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the crew are as much a member of the band as anyone on the flight deck. They actually have the hardest jobs. They are the first ones in and the last ones out. Watching them at work is like watching a well-choreographed ballet or military operation. TSO could not be TSO without them and we know it”. A member said, "No one in TSO is paid to be on the stage, that we do for free. The money is to stay out of trouble on our off time." Over the years, O'Neill consistently thanks the audience, referring to them as the “second half of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and that without them TSO would just be notes and words echoing in an empty arena. The fans' enthusiasm and energy power the stage show as much, if not more, than any local electric company.”

We are glad that we finally saw TSO, but we would not go again. The lead male musicians resembled a greasy 1980s long-haired band, and the accompanying female singers were a bit slutty and stripperish. But what we loved was the special effect: the snowflakes, fires, fireworks, moving catwalks, and lasers – those parts were incredible!


TSO setlist

http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/lehigh-valley-music/mc-review-trans-siberian-orchestra-at-allentown-s-ppl-center-puts-on-a-big-show-of-course-20161118-story.html

The Ghosts of Christmas Eve Tour

1. Time and Distance (The Dash)
 2. Winter Palace
 3. The Lost Christmas Eve
 4. O Come All Ye Faithful / O Holy Night
 5. Good King Joy
 6. Christmas Dreams
 7. Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)
 8. Christmas Canon Rock
 9. What Child Is This?
 10. Music Box Blues
 11. First Snow
 12. Promises to Keep
 13. This Christmas Day
 14. Wizards in Winter
 15. A Mad Russian’s Christmas
 16. For the Sake of Our Brother
 17. Christmas Jam
 18. Madness of Men
 19. Forget About the Blame
 20. Not the Same
 21. The Night Conceives
 22. The Mountain
 23. Find Our Way Home
 24. Requiem (The Fifth)
 25. Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) (Reprise)