The Wizards

My guys and I went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert on Friday night. I wish I were a skilled wordsmith so I could fully describe what it's like seeing them live. We saw them last year and really liked them. It was five times better this year. I think that's because, when we first saw them, we'd only been listening to them for about a month. This year, we were much more familiar with their music so seeing it performed live made even more of an impact.

We were on the floor in the second section back from the stage. There were times we could literally feel the bass thumping in our chests. I'm not sure it would have been good for someone with a pacemaker. Or, maybe it would have been exceptionally good!

TSO's music is, to me, so innovative, so new, so like nothing else out there. And it converted me to electric guitar. I never liked rock music that had lots of screeching electric guitar. But I'm totally enamored of TSO's guitars. Plus, I'm a total traditionalist when it comes to Christmas music. My theory has always been 'leave it alone'! I've never liked it jazzed up or changed around or made the artist's own. So, to me, if a group can totally rock up Christmas music and leave me enchanted, they are truly skilled artists.
Hearing the music on CD doesn't even come close to comparing to hearing it live. Of course, the laser light show and pyrotechnics add a lot, but just being there and feeling that powerful music wash over and through you, truly makes it an experience that actually is an experience. The bass becomes a heartbeat. Your heartbeat. The guitars make your blood sing, ebbing and flowing with their rhythms from hard driving to sweetly poignant. The strings weave subtly in and out, pulling you along with them. The piano punctuates, exclaiming their greatness. And the voices. The voices, from the sweetly angelic to the sultry, the powerfully commanding to the smoke-and-bourbon growl, all captivate.

I'm already counting the days until I can see them next year. And the next year. And the next ...

Listen to TSO here: http://www.trans-siberian.com/multimedia/index.shtml