Wishing you all a great 2013! I'm glad to see 2012 go for the most part and I know I'm not alone. A lot of changes coming for me and mine, but I've always worn jersey 13 so this should be good luck!
I know many of you are dying to get my review of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. I'm not that familiar with them, just "Carol of the Bells" and am constantly mixing them up with Mannheim Steamrollers. Their shows are a bit different from what I normally see, but Mark thought the kids would really like it and I think they did.
Here is what I thought:
The tickets are pretty expensive, even for our seats in outer space. The ones on the floor were up to $700 a crack and that wasn't happening. This is one show where being on the floor though made a big difference. Much of the light show and special effects are targeted for straight-on floor viewing. Not only did we miss some of the effects, but many were downright annoying as the lights burned right through my retinas! When we watched the video (below) we saw the sheets of light and smoke that were cool to look up at, but we were above them. We also had stage stuff blocking the view on occasion.
They did make some effort to go to the back of the hall and got on lifts a few times so we could see them. Overall, I enjoyed it. But the "Christmas Story" is depressing and lengthy with too many dragged out solos. A few entertained the singer more than the audience if you know what I mean. I have been known to sing a little so I understand the joy of singing certain songs as more of a "vocal exercise" but they are best left as warm-ups or rehearsal pieces.
The "story" section went on and on and when it was over I thought the whole concert was over. The kids were mad because their favorites weren't performed. Then the lead guy said "before the second half" he wanted to introduce everyone... great. As he did introductions of about a dozen of them, he mentioned that the 10ish string folks were from the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra. While he had explained the names, talents and places his folks were from, he didn't even quickly name the COSO folks. Considering his band members get introduced over and over around the world, it would have meant more to the COSO folks to take a minute and introduce them here in their hometown!
But I digress...between doing new songs (more self-aggrandizing solos) they did the familiar tunes and then it was interesting. I also found out they are plain old Americans and I have no idea what the name connection is with Siberia. The musicians are excellent though, especially the lead violinist and guitarist. They had some dance sequences that were odd and I haven't seen hair shaking like that since the 80s. Wouldn't be surprised if they all had whiplash. You had to have long hair just to be in the band!
We had a nice family day. Would I go back to see them again? Probably not unless I had that $700 seat and didn't have to pay for it. Here is a you-tube link to the identical show done a few weeks ago. Almost looks like a totally different show than what we saw at our vantage point...
Until next time!
Gale
I know many of you are dying to get my review of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. I'm not that familiar with them, just "Carol of the Bells" and am constantly mixing them up with Mannheim Steamrollers. Their shows are a bit different from what I normally see, but Mark thought the kids would really like it and I think they did.
Here is what I thought:
The tickets are pretty expensive, even for our seats in outer space. The ones on the floor were up to $700 a crack and that wasn't happening. This is one show where being on the floor though made a big difference. Much of the light show and special effects are targeted for straight-on floor viewing. Not only did we miss some of the effects, but many were downright annoying as the lights burned right through my retinas! When we watched the video (below) we saw the sheets of light and smoke that were cool to look up at, but we were above them. We also had stage stuff blocking the view on occasion.
They did make some effort to go to the back of the hall and got on lifts a few times so we could see them. Overall, I enjoyed it. But the "Christmas Story" is depressing and lengthy with too many dragged out solos. A few entertained the singer more than the audience if you know what I mean. I have been known to sing a little so I understand the joy of singing certain songs as more of a "vocal exercise" but they are best left as warm-ups or rehearsal pieces.
The "story" section went on and on and when it was over I thought the whole concert was over. The kids were mad because their favorites weren't performed. Then the lead guy said "before the second half" he wanted to introduce everyone... great. As he did introductions of about a dozen of them, he mentioned that the 10ish string folks were from the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra. While he had explained the names, talents and places his folks were from, he didn't even quickly name the COSO folks. Considering his band members get introduced over and over around the world, it would have meant more to the COSO folks to take a minute and introduce them here in their hometown!
But I digress...between doing new songs (more self-aggrandizing solos) they did the familiar tunes and then it was interesting. I also found out they are plain old Americans and I have no idea what the name connection is with Siberia. The musicians are excellent though, especially the lead violinist and guitarist. They had some dance sequences that were odd and I haven't seen hair shaking like that since the 80s. Wouldn't be surprised if they all had whiplash. You had to have long hair just to be in the band!
We had a nice family day. Would I go back to see them again? Probably not unless I had that $700 seat and didn't have to pay for it. Here is a you-tube link to the identical show done a few weeks ago. Almost looks like a totally different show than what we saw at our vantage point...
Until next time!
Gale
