The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘Ghosts’ of Christmas past
On latest holiday-season jaunt, juggernaut TSO playing its first album but also allowing for ‘Chance’ encounter
In terms of holiday shows that have become family traditions, productions of “The Nutcracker” and “A Christmas Carol” are always popular public choices. ¶ One national touring act that also has achieved such obligatory-attendance status is Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which decades ago quickly found an audience hungry for a prog-rock-meets-Christmas show. ¶ TSO drummer Jeff Plate said during the act’s 1999 touring debut, Cleveland lived up to its Rock Hall City moniker.
“The first very tour we did we sold out the Cleveland Music Hall,” said Plate, calling from New York City. “So they tried to book us another show the next night, but that venue was already taken. We went to Playhouse Square, and we sold that out. Then a third show was added back to the Cleveland Music Hall.
“The next year we did five days in a row at the Palace Theatre at Playhouse Square. That area has always been a strong market for us. Cleveland kind of set the standard for our fanbase.”
Someone who played a key role in introducing TSO to the market was WNCXFM 98.5 disc jockey Bill Louis.
“A long time ago, I was listening to some Christmas songs while I was eating my lunch and saw something called Trans-Siberian Orchestra,” Louis, who is also the WNCX program director. “My initial reaction was this has to be one of those novelty things. So I put it on, and instantly its power just spoke about everything that was good about rock ‘n’ roll. It was a little like ELO and a metal band. The first album was just a remarkable piece of music.”
That first album was TSO’s 1996 debut, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” which details a young runaway who on Dec. 24 seeks shelter in an abandoned vaudeville theater.
Plate said by the time TSO started touring, the album was already platinum, with the act’s 1998 follow-up “The Christmas Attic” also selling well.
“The one question everyone asked was how would the material translate live?” Plate said. “Paul O’Neill (the TSO visionary, who died last year) was very careful about presenting this show. We had to be careful about volume, the length of the show and the fact there was no opening act. It was just TSO.
“Lo and behold, when we first went out there and played, there were metalheads and grandparents in the crowd. Once people saw this is a rock band and at its core it’s a rock show, they realized there was something here for their entire family. That word-of-mouth just kept the audience base growing year after year.”
This year TSO is again presenting its “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve Tour,” which includes two shows Dec. 30 at Quicken Loans Arena. The outfit will play the album in its entirety, followed by other songs. One is Savatage song “Chance,” which is from the progmetal band’s 1994 album “Handful of Rain.” The tune was written by TSO founders O’Neill and Jon Oliva.
“This was one of O’Neill’s real first serious endeavors into orchestrated classically influenced metal, with the counterpoint vocals, the big harmonies and the tempo changes, the chord changes,” said Plate, who didn’t appear on the track but joined Savatage as a touring musician around its release.
“It’s great because lead vocalist Zak Stevens, who was also in Savatage and sang the original version, is on tour with us this year. So it’s an epic song, and it’s really cool to be able to play this for people who maybe haven’t heard it before. That’s one song, to me, that’s a real thrill to be able to play every night.”
Considering TSO has enjoyed continued success with an ever-changing lineup, it seems as though the annual touring tradition easily could last another 20 years.
“I don’t see why not,” Plate said. “There are a people who get the entire family together to come see us. That’s how they celebrate Christmas. Now, TSO is passed from generation to generation. Also, I think the music itself is strong enough that it’s going to stand that test of time.”