The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rocking onward
It was a tough year for Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but the big pyro-filled show goes on
It’s safe to say nobody is more looking forward to 2017 ending than the members of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which earlier this year lost its visionary Paul O’Neill and longtime bassist Dave Z to health issues and a traffic accident, respectively. ¶ Now that TSO is back on the road with its “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve Tour,” which comes through Northeast Ohio for shows Dec. 29 at Quicken Loans Arena, Music Director and keyboardist Derek Weiland said while on stage he often gets lost in the lyrics and feels the presence of O’Neill, who also was his mentor.
“There’s a part of the show where we give tribute to Paul,” said Weiland, calling from Hershey, Pennsylvania. “There’s a specific song that we do near the end of the show called ‘The Safest Way Into Tomorrow.’ The meaning of the words in that song are so important. It’s a very spiritual, acoustic number and just a beautiful song.”
Naturally, the grieving members questioned TSO’s existence without O’Neill, but Weiland said fittingly his music and lyrics are therapeutically helping everyone move forward.
On Tour, TSO is performing its 1996 debut, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” which details a young runaway who on Dec. 24 seeks shelter in an abandoned vaudeville theater.
The album, which is also a 2001 DVD, features fan favorites “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,” “O’ Come All Ye Faithful,” “Good King Joy,” “Christmas Canon,” “Music Box Blues,” “Promises to Keep” and “This Christmas Day.”
The prog-rock act, which is known for its sensoryoverload Christmas performance that often boasts a Pink Floyd concert-like feel, also will be digging into the vault for reworked tunes.
Weiland said he calls one of his favorite segments of the show the “Beethoven Sequence,” beginning with “Wizards in Winter” (from 2004’s “The Lost Christmas Eve)” into “Madness of Men” (from 2015’s “Letters from the Labyrinth”) and “Beethoven” (from 2000’s “Beethoven’s Last Night”).
“That’s a particularly energetic, fiery, exciting part of the show for me,” Weiland said. “It’s a place where as a prog-rock fan, just the electricity of the musicians — they’re able to rock really hard. There are tons of pyro and choreography.
“This year there are new effects and staging. The show is so huge sonically and visually that, unlike any show, every seat in the house is the best seat.”
For diehard TSO fans, there is good news on the horizon regarding new music. While the prog-rock act has notoriously taken its time releasing new music, straying dangerously close to Guns N’ Roses-“Chinese Democracy” territory, Weiland said the plan is to honor O’Neill’s legacy by putting out something new sooner than later.
“We’re in such a transitional period,” Weiland said. “First of all, we’re getting our legs back and doing this tour without Paul and without Dave. On the
“We’re in such a transitional period. … First of all, we’re getting our legs back and doing this tour without Paul and without Dave. On the creative side, we plan to stay in the studio and keep working.” — Trans-Siberian Orchestra Music Director and keyboardist Derek Weiland, referring to late members Paul O’Neill and Dave Z
creative side, we plan to stay in the studio and keep working.
“That’s something that has really yet to come. We’ll have to focus on it and see how it unfolds, but we’re feeling very encouraged. I don’t have details, but I’d say things are going better than expected, so fingers crossed.”