Artist: Trans-Siberian
Orchestra
Title: Christmas Reborn: An Eve With
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Venue: E Center, West Valley
City, UT
Date: November 25, 2005
Website: http://www.trans-siberian.com/
Photos:
Thomas Garner
Being the music lover that I am, I can honestly say
I’ve attended literally thousands of concerts in my lifetime. But no
production I’ve ever seen could possibly prepare me for what I was
about to witness when Trans-Siberian Orchestra came to the
E Center in West Valley City, UT.
We arrived early to pick up our tickets and the scene
was amazing. Thousands of people from every walk of life filled the
landings to the arena’s concourses as they filed in to find their
seats. Ours were on the floor about fifty feet from the stage.
Photo left – Al Pitrelli.
A thunderous round of applause from the audience
greeted the band as they took the stage, each man adorned in a
tuxedo and black evening gowns with large rhinestone clasps for the
women. They broke into “Wizards In Winter,” a spirited instrumental
that merged the sounds of heavy rock with stringed orchestration,
courtesy of the Salt Lake City Strings.
Red and green lasers pierced the air and a discrete
layer of fog crept along the stage floor. The song ended in a blast
of blinding white light that masked the entire stage. And then it
was dark.
“In an old city bar/That is never too far/From the
places that gather/The dreams that have been…”
Deep purple spotlights shown down from above to reveal
Anthony Gaynor as he narrated a story to some light piano
work by Jane Mangini. He went on to tell the tale of
“Christmas Eve,” a yarn about an angel who flies over the Earth on a
mission from God to discover some worth in mankind’s efforts since
the birth of Christ.
Then Guy LeMonnier, a hulking tree of a man,
walked onto the stage and sang “An Angel Came Down.” What a set of
pipes on this guy! In his deep, booming voice he took up where
Anthony left off … and a lump formed in my throat.
Of course the light show was absolutely spellbinding.
After all, TSO has been developing it for years. In fact, one of the
band’s main concerns is making sure everyone gets a great view of
the stage; from the floor seats all the way to the nosebleed
sections at the sides of the stage … no one misses the show!
But even as awesome as the strobes flashing in sync
with the music, the sea of stars that served as a backdrop for the
stage or the multicolored spot beams that scanned the audience were,
none of it prepared us for the opening of “First Snow,” when real
snow began to seemingly fall from the heavens upon the audience on
the floor. What a treat! To be sitting in an arena filled with
people and hi-tech lighting and sound equipment and have an ice-cold
snowflake melt on my skin was truly an indescribable experience.
Jane Mangini
As the story of “Christmas Eve” progressed, TSO
brought out many of their talents to perform different songs. I can
honestly say I bore witness to some of the most outstanding
performances I’ve ever seen … or likely will ever see. Most notably
might have been Jill Gioia’s interpretation of “Prince Of
Peace.” Later in the evening, when Tommy Farese introduced
the players, she was described as “…having the biggest voice on such
a small person.” And that’s no exaggeration, either. Though small in
stature, Jill belted out some of the most powerful notes I’d ever
heard and she drove home the idea that Trans-Siberian Orchestra only
puts the best in their show … I’d say they’ve got it nailed!
Photo right - Angus Clark
So far, the production was spectacular. This being my
first time at a TSO show, I found myself so enthralled with
everything unfolding in front of me that I often forgot to take
notes for this article. The people behind us knew TSO’s material
quite well. Many times I could hear them singing all the lyrics to
the songs. In fact, there was a lot of audience participation
throughout the E Center. Everyone was having a great time.
Tommy Farese took the mic to perform what was
apparently a crowd favorite, “Ornament.” For me, this was where the
story really came together. A young runaway lost in the night and
the prayers of her father to bring her home safely overheard by an
angel as he flew overhead. At the end of the song Tommy became
choked up as he struggled to get the last line out through a very
real sob. I don’t know if this was part of the act or if he was
truly caught up in the emotion of the song, but it added just the
right amount of drama and I was feeling that lump again.
Mr. Gaynor narrated more of the story as a derelict
entered the stage garbed in a ratty overcoat and carrying two paper
sacks. It was rumored that this guy was wandering the concourse
before the show accepting money from audience members as they made
their way into the arena. On stage, he approached the microphone,
reached into his pocket and pulled out a small whiskey bottle. He
took a drink and sang “Old City Bar,” as straggly strands of his
long hair constantly fell in front of his face. Later we would find
out that this was none other than Bart Shatto, part of TSO’s
chorus.
His performance was tremendous.
Shatto played an
excellent bum and in between sips from his bottle, which he offered
to guitarist Al Pitrelli (who declined), he wrapped up the
plight of the young runaway with a gruff old bartender having a
moment of Christmas spirit by clearing out his cash register so that
she might have the money for a flight back home to be reunited with
her father.
Photo left - John Lee Middleton
Thus ended the tale of “Christmas Eve.” The angel
found his one redeeming moment to bring back to the almighty and the
story ended. When Tommy Farese returned to the stage to introduce
the TSO players he had a message for the audience. To pick up the
phone and call someone you care about, if only just to tell him or
her you care. He also told us that anyone who gave money to the bum
on the concourse wasn’t getting it back, but don’t worry … it goes
to charity. Now I was crashing back into reality and wishing it
would never be over, but it was really just beginning. Now it was
time for a rock concert!
Al Pitrelli took the mic now. He told us a
story about an experience in a local hotel, where a young, naïve
bartender have a scantily stocked bar. He told us how she breathed
heavily with disinterest as he told her the entire road crew would
be entering in a few moments and that she should really get more
drink. Then he told us of how the look on her face became one of
absolute horror as she looked past Al and his wife to see a crowd of
76 people walk through the door and, in his words, she must’ve been
thinking something like this…
And the chorus broke into the operatic “Carmina
Burana,” a very dramatic and somewhat scary piece that you’d
recognize if you heard it, but is hard to describe with mere words.
The best I can do is to say that it got the bartender’s feelings of
frenzied dread across to the audience, who responded with a huge
round of laughter.
Afterwards, Pitrelli asked us if we wanted to see
something really cool and they broke into a few tunes from their
current album, The Lost Christmas Eve. This was
accompanied by an intense pyro show. Balls of fire leapt from
several parts of the stage. I could actually feel the heat from my
seat.
Not being familiar with much of Trans-Siberian
Orchestra’s material, I couldn’t really tell you which songs they
played. We were treated to a keyboard dual between Jane Mangini and
Carmine Giglio. We were awed by an operatic vocal performance
courtesy of Kristin Gorman. We were even entertained by
guitarist Angus Clark and violinist Anna Phoebe when
they left the stage and walked through the audience to mount a small
platform, which rose above the crowd some 20 feet as they continued
to play.
Geysers of red, green and yellow fire spouted from the
stage and showers of sparks cascaded from the rafters at the back of
the stage. It looked like the finale of a very well done fireworks
show … but with lots of lights. Then, the entire cast lined up along
the front of the stage and bowed in unison, but not before
announcing that they’d be signing autographs outside. The house
lights came up and everyone began to leave.
So there it was and I could write volumes of raves
about the show. Again, I’ve been to literally thousands of concerts
and productions in my life, but none of them could hold a candelabra
to Trans-Siberian Orchestra. In my opinion, it was the single
greatest musical experience of my life and I intend to find out how,
in the words of Al Pitrelli, “Next year’s show will be even bigger!”
For more information and to contact the author,
click on the author’s name at the top of the page.
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