Trans-Siberian Orchestra has become almost synonymous with the holiday season, the quintessential holiday soundtrack for a generation willing to trade their Bing Crosby holiday records in for heavier sound. The New York City supergroup, founded by producer and composer, Paul O’Neill, performed two back to back shows on Saturday, December 18th, to droves of fans totaling 22,000 per show. Having played eight shows in a matter of seven days, the band was happy to be home and amongst its strongest fan base.
The live performance was nothing short of spectacular – hundreds of lights, projections, lasers, pyrotechnics, strobes, fire, and dancers. As if the group wasn’t satisfied enough with the theatrics of the performance, there were two motorized catwalks that were lowered format the ceiling for the second half of the show that extended well into the crowd only several feet above that the band members walked out onto while playing to the crowd. The light show and theatrics were almost unparalleled, dwarfed only by Lady Gaga’s elaborate set-up that is still being used to for her Monster Ball World Tour.
The first half of the show was focused primarily around the holidays and featured many of their favorites from “Christmas Eve and Other Stories”. Trans-Siberian Orchestra played the majority of their holiday favorites and were joined with many guests, lead singers, a choir and even their very own story teller. The story teller had one of the more difficult jobs of the concert – seamlessly weaving metal renditions of traditional holiday songs together with a modern day, Capra-esque, holiday narrative. The band barreled through hard rock Christmas ballads for an hour and a half and wrapped up their set just as imitation snow began to flurry onto the audience – an early ‘white Christmas’.
The second half of the show was used as a showcase for some of the band’s ‘all seasons’ material. With an impressive catalog of songs and the band barreled through another hour and a half. The band was able to show just how proficient they are at their individual trades – a several minute drum solo and several guitar solos were interjected amongst a string of monster ballads. Trans-Siberian Orchestra finished off their set with a few holiday favorites, a very special holiday gift from the band to their dedicated fanbase.