Trans-Siberian Orchestra

This past weekend, Chad and I saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert at the AT&T Center here in San Antonio. To start off, I'd like to say "Wow!" I was completely unprepared for what we were about to experience when we left. I'd heard some of the music-all Christmas type arrangements before, but that was it.

The first half of the concert was devoted to a Christmas theme, complete with a narration that had a beautiful message about Christmas. A good reminder after the fact that the Christmas spirit is something we can feel all year long. As they played music from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, I couldn't help but imagine how interesting a ballet choreographed to such a different arrangement would be. If only I hadn't given ballet up at age 4, I might be capable of such a feat! Meanwhile, the dream lives on in my imagination. Back to the concert...as for the accompanying light and pyrotechnic show, I wouldn't be able to begin to describe it accurately, so I hope you can forgive me for my attempt. There were several lighting trusses that moved independently from each other. They created patterns throughout the show, and were intricately timed to accent the music. A song about starlight nights was accentuated by a backdrop of tiny lights imitating a clear night.

After the Christmas narrative/musical portion was done, we got to learn a bit about the band. It was at this point that I found out an electric violin exists. The show continued and we were treated to arrangements of classical music (much of which I remember playing during piano lessons or high-school band). Beethoven, Grieg, Mozart, Rimsky- Korsakov, and others. It was during this part of the concert we were also treated to additional pyrotechnics. Vents with flames were present on stage, and on a lighting truss just behind the audience on the floor. Not only was there a normal flame, there were also colored flames. After the chemist in me had figured out which chemicals were used to dye the flame red, yellow, blue and green, I sat back to enjoy the rest of the show.

If you're open minded enough to enjoy classical music with a unique rock twist, I definitely recommend checking out some of the things these musicians have done.