In my earlier blog I posted that tonight would be the night to get the Christmas season in gear for me as I had a row 2 seat to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I was not disappointed. In fact, I could only think of one word (and those that know me know that I can be very wordy) and that word was AMAZING! Al promised last year that they would be back again this year with more lights, and he was true to his word. The light show is worth the price of admission alone. However, the music is absolutely astounding. I was able to get to the venue early enough to strike up a few conversations. The guy behind me wanted to hear Wizards in Winter as it is a favorite of his. I had to admit it is a favorite of mine as well. The very first song to open the show was Wizards in Winter. I just looked at him and said, "there ya go." LOL The storyline that runs through the first half of the concert was not much changed, if at all. However, there was less of a "classical feel" this time and more emphasis on the rock. There were a few changes to the cast this year with new female vocalists, the addition of Kelly Keeling and Mad Max (both outstanding vocalists) and a new keyboard player who was completely and unbelievably -- well -- amazing! Anna Phoebe, the electric violinist with the futuristic looking pink violin was (surprise) amazing! In fact, they all were absolutely amazing from Bart's bum to Al's wonderful guitar work, the vocals, the keyboarding - especially the dualing keyboards at the end between Al's wife and the new guy, to the narration to the lights which you have to see to believe. And did I say I love Tommy Farese? :)
After the wonderful show, I bought a few cd's and took my concert program to the autograph line and waited for quite a while. I talked probably both ears off the gal behind me in line. Last year I kind of was scolded for taking to long and chatting.. especially to Angus, I believe. I mentioned this when I got to the end of the line and He just laughed and gave me two guitar pics. At one point Angus and Anna go to the back of the arena and play on a stage that elevates above the crowd. Last year he didn't look so comfortable up there. I was to the front, but a friend of mine mentioned it to me, so this year I watched for that carefully. I mentioned this to him and he really got a kick out of it, or at least he seemed to.
Oh, and during the show, Al said that if you took Alice Cooper and Al Pacino and smacked them together you'd get this -- and then he motioned to Tommy. It was pretty funny because there could be an element of truth in that somewhere. So, I just thought of that program where you upload a pic and it matches your face to celebreties. I wonder if either of those would come up if Tommy uploaded a pic? I mentioned this to him, actually. Yes, I'm getting bold. LOL
Anyway, for me autographs are secondary. They are a way to tell the cast/band of TSO just how wonderful I thought the show was and to connect to the artists a little. I loved every minute - as brief as it was. And, as it happens, I will cherish my autographed program.

At the risk of sounding redundant, I still say, if you have never experienced TSO, then I highly recommend that you remedy that situation post haste.

They will be in Vegas tonight, and then from there to Denver and Colorado Springs.

--Melanie

P.S. There are two different tour groups for TSO, one more to the east, one more to the West, but I hear both are equally amazing.