On the Road Again, USA TODAY’s spotlight on artists on tour, looks at the prog-rock holiday sounds of Trans Siberian Orchestra.
Who needs a Yule log? “When we have pyro hits, you feel the heat roll across the arena,” says Trans Siberian Orchestra founder Paul O’Neill. Over the past 16 years, TSO concerts have become an annual tradition for Christmas buffs who like their holiday tunes delivered with arena-sized grandeur. TSO’s 2014 tour grossed $51 million in 52 days. This year, two versions of the band will launch tours simultaneously in Erie, Pa., and Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Nov. 18
New ghosts, familiar tunes.
TSO’s core Christmas repertoire consists of three rock operas, beginning with 1996’s double-platinum Christmas Eve and Other Stories. This year’s tour will see the first live productions The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, which contains musical highlights from the trilogy. “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve was something we did for Fox back in 1999, kind of spur of the moment,” O’Neill says. Ghosts tells the story of a runaway who breaks into an abandoned theater to seek shelter on Christmas Eve. The concerts also will feature music from the group’s album Letters From the Labyrinth, released Friday (Nov. 13).
Two bands are better than one.
In 2000, O’Neill split TSO into separate touring units to cover more of the country in a limited time.. “I simply won’t do those rock operas outside November and December,” he says. “We wanted everyone to be able to see the rock opera during the holiday season.” Having two troupes, each of which features a full band and multiple lead singers, allows TSO to play 100 shows in 60 cities between Nov. 18 and Dec. 30.
Playing to the back of the room. Past TSO tours have featured catwalks that descend from the rafters, robotic arms rising from the stage and lots and lots of pyrotechnics. “Pink Floyd taught me you could design a show where there’s no coach; every seat is first-class,” O’Neill says. “It’s unbelievably expensive, but it’s so worth it when you see the looks in the kids’ faces when they’re at the back of the arena and all of a sudden there’s a guitarist in front of them on a robotic arm, wailing out a solo.”
Quality control. As the scale of TSO productions increased, O’Neill stepped off the stage. “One time I was on the stage playing, and we had this huge pyrotechnics spectacle that only went off on half the stage,” he says. “After the show, a DJ asked, ‘Why did you have a wall of flames on only half the stage?’ I hadn’t noticed it, because I was on the stage.”
Top that, Clark Griswold. A decade ago, a TSO show at New Jersey’s Meadowlands arena went dark a half hour into the performance. “The production manager tells me, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but we just blew the circuit breaker for the Meadowlands,'” says O’Neill, who still relishes the accomplishment. “After that, whenever the band would tour, we’d carry a couple of tractor-trailers of generators to provide the extra electric.”