24 Years – Trans-Siberian Orchestra

24 Years – Trans-Siberian Orchestra –

 

I was asked recently, by a number of people, if I would be writing anything about seeing Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) again this year. The odd thing is that while I was sitting in the balcony watching the show, I was thinking that it was time to write about and share more of my TSO experience.

 

 

 

So, yes, I guess I will be writing.

Then, it came time to sit at my desk and begin this piece. I was already thinking of including video clips in this piece, but I really have no idea if this will work. Mostly, because of my limited knowledge on such matters. My friend Brad could do this whole thing in his sleep. Me, I will lose sleep trying to put this idea on this page.

Anyways, the other thing that struck me was, where do I start?

I have written about TSO many times before. I have been poetic and I have shared dozens and dozens of pictures. I have gushed like a teenager that cannot possibly put the experience into words which I then intensified and multiplied by trying to get all the words out as fast as possible.

 

 

 

 

So, I thought maybe I will just try to mention the beginning and then some of the commentary I have heard over the years. Honestly, the commentary I hear the most goes something like this. Maybe this is the start then.

Me: “Have you ever seen Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert?”

Someone: “No. They are not really my style of music.”

Me: “Fair enough. What style of music do you think they are?”

Someone: “Well, I don’t really know. Ummm. Ummm.” Pause. Change the subject.

Then some of those people, I have taken to see TSO myself in subsequent years. And you know what? So far they have all loved it.

I know this isn’t for everyone. Then again, Christmas isn’t even for everyone either. I don’t know how many shows I have seen now, but it is a lot more than the 50+ Christmases that I have done.

Me? I am a winter, if not, a Christmas baby. Born in December, very close to Christmas. I love Christmas. I love the Lord Jesus. I honestly do not know where I would be without the hope of eternal life in heaven through the Lord Jesus Christ. Seriously, this is part of my thought process every single day. I am merely human, a sinner saved by grace.

I still love winter. I love snow and fir trees, wreaths, and candle light. I still love the notes that I know are coming in TSO shows and songs. I love the spirit of the show and the total presentation. The creativity of the light show, the various arrangements, and other things that I cannot accurately name. 24 years of seeing TSO shows and I still love it.

You know what else is great? I see new people experiencing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra live shows for the very first time every single year, even though they have been touring since 1999. My first show was in December, 2000.

I guess that is the point. No matter when you start, it is a pretty awesome night to behold.

So how do you picture a TSO song or show? Is it like this?

 

 

 

Or more like this?

 

 

 

 

 

There is going to be a lot of these clips.

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe part of the draw for me, for many of us, is that little piece of us that gets hidden away and trampled on over the years. That little piece is that thought that we hold so dear, that we love Christmas, and we would have loved to be a rock star, even if it were for one glorious night.

 

 

 

 

The beginning.

I heard a Christmas song on WAAF radio out of Boston in December, 1999. I had no idea what it was, or who it was. I called the station and asked, “Who in the world was that? The Trans-Sib-what? Orchestra? Wait, What? It was on Dead Winter Dead? I have never heard a Christmas song like that before.” The guy on the line, “I know, it rocks, right?!?”

Yes it does. It still does.

Little did I know. I started to dig and explore the song, the band, the whole thing. I don’t count myself as a starstruck kind of guy, but I had to learn more. I figured, if this was just one song, then what would a whole concert sound like.

One year later I had tickets to my first TSO show. In Albany, NY. On a snowy December night. In a theater. Perfect!

 

 

 

 

Believe me when I tell you, those shows in 2000 were nothing like the full arena presentations that they are now. Though, they were every bit as captivating and awesome to attend as any of the shows now. I was hooked on a song in 1999. I was hooked on an album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories, soon after my phone call to the radio station. And in December, 2000 I became hooked on TSO in concert.

I don’t remember my first ‘meet and greet’ with the band after a night show, but I remember being really nervous. I mean, I had just seen these people sing, and play, and rock the stockings off of the mantle, and now I was in a line to say hi and stand face to face with them. Not starstruck, but in awe of their abilities and also how much fun they seemed to be having.

I have done numerous greeting lines since, and all I can say is this. If those guys and gals can sing and play well, they are even more impressive to speak with even for a moment. It’s quite a testament to the quality of the people, and to the vision of their late founder, Paul O’Neill.

This is partially explained by these quotes from Paul O’Neill.

“I’ve always believed that music has the power to transport and transform,” O’Neill explained. “The original concept of Trans-Siberian Orchestra was how to make music have the most emotional impact. We always try to write melodies that are so infectious they don’t need lyrics and lyrics so poetic that they don’t need a melody, but when you combine the two together they create an alloy where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Once those songs are woven together into a tapestry they create a story which gives each song a third dimension.”

“That was so much in the spirit of Trans-Siberian Orchestra,” O’Neill explains. “This is a group –a constantly morphing group– of extremely creative and talented individuals who are always trying to raise the bar of where a band can take its audience sonically, visually and emotionally. With that as our core ideal, the possibilities are endless.”

Yes, the possibilities. Like getting to meet all the stars of the show. Maybe a picture here, or a guitar pick there, or even a hug and a conversation. Pretty awesome to be that in tune with the people who come to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

I have no reason to doubt Chris Caffery (guitar, and emcee on stage), when he references the band’s founder and visionary, Paul O’Neill is looking down from heaven. All I can say is that in the year 2000 and for a few years before and after that I had contributed mightily to the mounting difficulty in my life during those years. It was then that I found TSO, or they found me. And the spirit that exuded from the stage night after night, year after year, was a necessary piece in my life that helped me back to a much more complete version of myself.

By the way, Chris Caffery is my favorite. I feel like I have become much better acquainted with him over the years, but that’s more likely me just being wishful. He carries himself well, and always has great insight from what I have been able to gather over all these years. He had me sold, that first night back in 2000.

 

 

 

 

With Chris, and the band, and the occasional opportunity to see the generosity of Paul O’Neill in action, there was most definitely a spirit of Christmas that moved through me. I will never forget sitting in the balcony out in Albany, NY for that first show. All that was right about the show, the spirit, and the message was pulsing through me like the power of the incoming tide. I had to yield. And it took me some time.

So when I listen to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, or see them in concert, I am often brought to tears. The weight of the material that it took to bridge me back to The Reason for the season is forever intermingled into the very fiber of my adult being. Each perfectly played note or shrill that seems a little too long for some is just long enough to reach me in that Albany balcony and give me that thread to hold onto. Seriously. That is just a small sense of what this all has meant to me. And still does.

 

 

 

 

I also have the sense that the previous paragraph is true, or at least relatable for others. Maybe I am off the mark on that, but when truth in spirit is wrapped in the Christmas message (the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ), and then magnified by wholehearted performance, it is near impossible not to be moved. Frankly, I find it galvanizing.

Over the years I was able to meet fellow fans, and chat with Angie and her sister, Amy. These two women from Wisconsin are awesome and talented in their own right. It has been awhile but I think Angie hit the nail on the head with the following. “This band just never gets old”. If you follow the link, then I would second Angie, Bryan Hartley is amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

Life has continued to march on, and even speed up it seems. But come August and September I am on the lookout for TSO tour dates and then tickets. It has become more difficult to make time for this annual event in our household, but we make it.

And then, when one of the youngest two (twins) of our six comes to me tonight and says, “Dad, how’s the TSO writing coming?” And, “I love seeing TSO in concert”. Well, then, it’s “coming along just great”! And I am so glad that this tradition has carried from those dark years of mine to the present. If you wonder how I feel about my place in life at the moment, then this piece I wrote as a tribute, On Days Like These might help explain it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ya, maybe this isn’t your style of music, but I love it. And it doesn’t hurt to have Bryan Hicks wish me (and the rest of us) Merry Christmas from the stage for the last 20+ years. From what I can tell, Bryan is just as awesome a person as his voice and narrative is. A trademark. My Christmas season has begun with Chris, Bryan, Jeff (Plate) and the others for more than 20 years. That is just awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, here we are. I still have 7 video clips or so to share here. If you think you might want to check out a show near you, check out the Trans-Siberian Orchestra page. If for some reason, you cannot get to a live show this year or in the future, I might have a solution for you. My friend Brad. Brad and I go way back, 23 years, exactly. Even though we didn’t know each other for most of those years, we did connect on a few points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously, TSO is what brought us into the same realm. Then through videos, messages, and seeing each other at shows, we discovered that we both saw TSO for the first time at the same time. Yes, unbeknownst to us, we were both at the December 8th, 2000 show in Albany, NY.

I don’t know Brad’s story but I do know that he is talented, focused, and he is perseverant. He is much closer to the band members and many of the fans than I am but that is to his credit. For example, if you want to see the entire show that I attended here in New Hampshire last week, you could check Brad’s page here. Seriously. I have spent hours on his page over the years. Awesome stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, yes, Brad’s videos are totally awesome! But even more so, I think that you will notice things in his video captures that you didn’t see yourself. And in the massive production of sounds, lights, and lasers, there are details.

Like when you sit back on your favorite recliner and your favorite team mounts a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, and then, BANG! a walk-off homerun to win it! The stadium erupts! You jump out of your seat and wake half the neighborhood with a bellow of celebration from the depths of childhood that echoes through decades of moments that were building toward this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Even in those moments, all of them, there are details. There are the fundamental skills that have been mastered through practice, through overcoming adversity, and through trial and error that literally set the stage for the impossible to happen.

The fireworks are going off and lasers are straight, true, and brilliant, but in the beautiful mayhem there is a musician just bringing the skills, like a most exquisite personal crescendo of worth! Noticed or not, they give their best and it is true, as the audience’s ears could attest.

There is a vocalist bringing the song’s meaning to life, rising high above their own expectations and bringing thousands of hearts to the brink of the most treasured moments they can think of in many years. And they hold the note because they know they can, and in the noise and the delirium, the singer holds thousands of adoring fans in their single hand.

There is a hitter risking it all by swinging a piece of wood like ten thousand times before. Then the hitter connects perfectly with a thrown baseball that might have originated from his dad’s hand in the backyard on a sunny day in a time known as ‘those were the days’. And the throngs go wild, while the ball sails away, and the batter becomes a runner who is still bound by the rules while all around him defies reality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so maybe it’s just another concert. Or just another video on YouTube. I am guessing that for many, it’s THEE concert. And for Brad, maybe it’s THEE video. Perspective is critical. But behind it all, adding one to the next and then the next, and so on, there are details. And I like to think that details are about excellence and constant improvement.

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously! A snow globe! Now that is constant improvement! Speaking of constant improvement, the vocalist in these last two video clips is Natalya Rose. If you have ever been cold, or even lost, you need only a moment to meet Natalya to feel the warmth of home, even if that home is only imagined. What an authentically sensational human being. That is Natalya. Absolutely awesome part of the show!

And I guess that is a great place to end this. In a globe, which intimates, or hints at a full circle. 24 Years – Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Loved it from the beginning, and I still do. Awesome!