Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve Reviews

Lenny K from Toronto, Ontario

SPECTACULAR...BEST CONCERT I HAVE EVER SEEN...PERIOD!!

I have never witnessed such a spectacular concert in my entire life. The effects were mind- blowing, and the sounds and the sights were just superb, and just when you thought it couldn't get any better...it did! I am a huge fan of The Nutcracker, and quite frankly, I have never heard such a roaring rendition of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy as I did last night in Toronto (I'm certain that Tchaikovsky would have given his approval). The TSO's version gives a whole new meaning to the term 'classical rock.' People of all ages would love the concert, although it may be a bit loud for the younger ones. I can't wait to see them again next year, and would definitely recommend the show to everyone. We were a party of 9, and had little trouble getting seated at The Fox restaurant on Bay Street, which is literally across the street from the Air Canada Centre, along with a few other restaurants, and parking can be found all around the ACC from about $20-$30 for the evening.

Jen Williams from Toronto, Ontario

BEST SHOW EVER!!!

There is no better way to kick off the Christmas season. This show is absolutely outstanding. It gets right into your soul. I would see it again and again!!

John Rush from Toronto, Ontario

TRANSIBERIA OCHESTRA

Amazing concert, well worth the money, I expected a 90 minute concert, was 2 1/2 hours.

John Rush from Toronto, Ontario

TRANSIBERIA OCHESTRA

Amazing concert, well worth the money, I expected a 90 minute concert, was 2 1/2 hours.

Gerry S from Chicago, Illinois

TSO - SO MUCH TALENT, TECHNOLOGY AND BEAUTY. LOVED IT!

Was totally enthralled with the talent, the visuals and the fantastic musical arrangements. Christmas never sounded or looked so good! Someone commented, "a little heavy on the religion." I don't know what that means, but Christmas...really? The two female lead vocalists were superb; different styles with equally strong impact. Guitarists and fiddle player were top tier and pivotal to the show. The piano player was great, totally focused with unbelievable energy and style. The other singers and dancers added a classy element in every appearance. We're going to make this show a tradition for the family every Christmas. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" was fantastic. Would be great to hear "Night on Bald Mountain." Well done, TSO. You are truly peerless in your art.

Jody Recek from Fresno, California

SHOW OF A LIFETIME !!

I've seen dozens of top named bands in concert. I had a favorite for many years until last night. I now have a new favorite that I feel will never be beat. So much talent from so many members of the band. I can't wait to see them again. Please come back to Fresno !!!!!!

Ryan from Seattle, Washington

WOW - FIRST TIME I HAVE SEEN THEM - WONT BE THE LAST!

First off, what is the name of the blonde soloist that sang a few songs??? She Was INCREDIBLE!!! Her voice and talent just BLEW US AWAY!! But the entire show was spectacular. (the venue, Key Arena SUCKED! Pretty bad when airplane seating is roomy in comparison. I am 5'10" & 185# and was crammed in my seat) But this was much more than a show - it was and EVENT!! The effects were incredible, the music was fantastic, the talent was astounding - there is just not enough adjectives! GO see the show! I will be back next year! (and hopefully NOT at Key Arena!)

Karah Christian from Birmingham, Alabama

IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!

The best concert I’ve EVER been to. It’s like being at an 70s/80s rock concert but with Christmas songs! The drums and electric guitars were so thrilling. Old City Bar sounded soooo damn good!!! Like 1000x better than the song they recorded! It was magical! It was full of soul! My ONLY negative opinion is when the Christmas songs ended and they started some demonic looking performance, with flames on all of the screens, flames shooting out of cannons, a woman doing weird sexual movements in the flames in a nightgown on the video… It was so random and I didn’t understand what that had to do with Christmas stories. If they would have said, “we’re now gonna play some of our other popular songs aside from the Christmas ones” that would have been better. “Ohh okay. Got it.” But with children there for a Christmas performance, it was like “okay what is this… a little sexual and weird.” The rest was an amazing Christmas story! Would see again! The whole place was rocking!

Paul Ricciarini from Tampa, Florida

MAKING AN IMPACT

This was my first time seeing TSO live and I was completely blown away by The power, consistency And versatility of their presentation. They are way more musically gifted than I could've imagined with impeccable-no mistake timing of their powerful, energetic, passionate style never missing a note! The vocal versatility and quality hits at every inner emotion that we all carry and it's so enjoyable to feel this once again. The Tech Show is tantalizing and lends to the Energy as well. If you don't leave their show feeling way better than when you first entered, then y'all need to go back to Art's 101 and start all over. They are an Artistic Treasure and especially in these times I highly recommend everyone to go watch their performance whenever available. A special hand to Asha.

Stephen McQuiggan from Worcester, Massachusetts

DCU CENTER TRANS-SIBRERIAN 3 PM SHOW

Loved the music, however the seats make a BIG difference do not get them near entry way. Show was great however the event handlers not so. Seats were located in the fourth row with stair way to the left and another one to the right. For the first 45 minutes a consistent stream of people going to their seats – this completely blocked the stage. After most got to their seats the up/down for concession kicked in

David from Seattle, Washington

GOOD, BUT, A LITTLE OFF THIS YEAR

Great show, as usual. This was my 6th time seeing them and I brought alot of people to see them for the 1st time. I should of brought those people last year, instead! They had lots of mechanical issues this year(the stage where the drum set sits was supposed to hover down and during "Winter's Palace", 3 of the members were supposed to come down from the ceiling). They also had a couple other things that I noticed. I also thought it was strange that they played a Savatage song besides "Christmas Eve 12-24", this year. It just felt out of place. They also skipped one of my favorites like "The Mountain". Other than that, it still was really good! I just wish they brought their A game this year when I brought other people. I am still a fan, though

JL from Birmingham, Alabama

STRANGE AND UNEXPECTED

I took my family of 4 to see this show expecting some magical Christmas entertainment. I thought it would be more of an Orchestra with some rock band type themes mixed in. I was shocked to see the whole things was actually more of an 80's metal hair band group. The musicians and vocalist were extremely talented. However the show seemed to have an overall dark feel with racy dancers and promiscuous scenes flashing on the screens. The show constantly showed what I can only compare to the boat tunnel scene of the original Willy Wonka with all the psychedelic strange images constantly flashing across the stage screen throughout the night that made no sense and left you confused. The "story" they told throughout the first half of the show made no sense and was dark. The second half of the show seemed to try and imbed thoughts and insinuations of Satan with some even heavier and darker type music as well. My 9 year old told me as we were leaving....Mom that show was kind of devilish,

El Heffe from Black Forest, Colorado

IM CONFUSED...

First time to see TSO - and Good King Joy rocked! i was reminded that if i pay attention closely i could see the story unfold and be enriched - or something like that. I have the DVD (thanks SIs!) Ghosts of Christmas Past - so i thought I already knew "The Story". Well it seemed it started with a story - but then about half way thru the show - the story ended. And Fire breathing dragons and red lights took over and seemed to usher in a satanic "message". So i need to ask TSO - what the hell do fire breathing dragons have to do with Christmas, ghosts, past? While the first female vocal was the highlight of the show, i felt after 20 years - and such awesome stage capability - the on stage visuals were amateurish at best and distracted from "the story". And yes - they could cut 5 minutes off the show if all the guitarists got haircuts. Other than that - PARKING SUCKED. UNNECESSARILY Funnelling all those people into two lanes is probably why the show had to start 30 minutes late.

Mary C from Houston, Texas

HONEST OPINION

I have wanted to see TSO for years. I found the first half nothing of what I expected and honestly could have left at any time. The second half proved to be more of what I believed to be their claim to fame. It was excessively loud and although the laser light show was fantastic I am glad I did not have any seizure issues as I was blinded on several sweeps of the lights. The talent is unbelievable but the push to amplify detracted from whole concert. I wish I had taken ear plug to dampen the decibel level which would have made it a better experience. Must reiterate the talent was exceptional

Susie B from Seattle, Washington

FUN, BUT A LITTLE OFF

It was my first time seeing TSO. The visuals were amazing but the actual music had me wondering if most of the people were actual musicians. It seems like the guitarists in particular were phoning it in and were more concerned with flipping their hair than playing their guitars. It was also a little heavy on the religion. I thought they did a great job on their take of the Nutcracker, though.

Todd J. from Colorado Springs, Colorado

TOO MUCH THEATRICS

This was my third time seeing TSO in the last ten years. I can honestly say that this was there worst performance to date. They need to get back to delivering a Great Christmas story and leave some of the theatrics.

Roxane Robbins from Worcester, Massachusetts

TSO

Show itself was fantastic as always. We were excited to get front row seats this year - until the show began. From that point, several of the DCU staff were talking and laughing - loudly. We were unfortunately at the end of the aisle right next to them, but a man 5 seats away from us kept turning and giving them looks. My husband spoke to them - they ignored him. I finally got up and told them their behavior was rude and distracting and asked them to please be quiet. I received a sarcastic, "shoore." Not sure we'll return to that venue again - really unprofessional behavior. One of the women was singing a beautiful song, and their raucous laughter really ruined it. TSO, as always, gave a fantastic performance - pretty sure they wouldn't have been pleased to know what was going on in the front row.

Grace from Concord, NH

MANCHESTER, NH 2019 DISAPPOINTING FOR THIS LONG TIME FAN

My 5th time seeing them. First the unavoidable: Their gear truck broke down and was quite late getting set up, not anyone's fault, just a fact... and SNHU would not let us in until 3:10 for a 3:30 show. There were still people outside freezing in line after the show started at 4. I felt this was just wrong. People pay a lot of money for these shows. We got in on time and were seated directly across from the stage in handicap seating. Ticketmaster stuck us 10 seats apart (wheelchair and companion) so they gave hubby a chair to sit behind me. That's Ticketmaster's issue and I'll deal with them to help them understand this is an issue. Now, to the actual show. I am joining what seems to be common in saying I could not understand 95% of what was being said. It was terrible. The music was as great as it could be missing Paul O'Neill (rest his spirit). But the sets? ugh. Way too much red, ugly sticks going up and down, weird symbolic tv screens up. We left about 1/2 way through. So sad.

RT from Manchester NH

DISAPPOINTING

I have been following TSA for years & last night's show was very disappointing. The screens they set up was mostly orange & read no story behind them. I have seen a much better stage set up then last night's. The money I spent for my ticket was just not worth it.

Evan from Seattle, Washington

MISSING THE MAGIC, LOOKED FORCED, AND UNPRACTICED.

I have been to 5 tso events over the years and having their fearless leader and drummer pass away hit them very hard this year. I will be taking them off my list of things try to do for a couple of years so they can recoup and get there bearings because this year I felt like their story was empty and there songs miss organized and confused. the crowd couldnt tell or feel any start or finish to the event. Just felt very cobbled togeather vs the productions that destroyed me emotionally and my legs and hands sore from claping and tapping to the beat. Also don’t know if Im just crazy but if felt much more religious then past productions. Sorry for new people who watched this event. This is not what you should experienced.

Blue hair from Toronto, Ontario

DISAPPOINTING

This is my 2nd time seeing the show in Toronto. The first show a couple of years ago was fabulous. The show last night was boring. There was too much singing and story telling and not enough music. It sucked!

Brett from Hershey, Pennsylvania

THIS ONE KIND OF SUCKED

I have seen TSO before and loved it. This time I took my wife, it was her first time. Unfortunately this time the show was terrible. There was way to much singing, way to much story telling (FYI, the spoken word story, while presented by a man with a great voice and talent makes no sense, is convoluted, and difficult to understand). TSO's claim to fame is Christmas music with a rock twist, and their light show. Unfortunately after an hour and a half we where so fed up that we left and never got to that point. Its disappointing that they make you go though 90 minutes of slow paced, convoluted boredom before they even get to what they are known for.

D Laveen from Phoenix, az

WEIRD

Music was good, show itself was awesome but didn't hear the story because it was so loud so basically some dude talking in-between. Then random solos, good singing but thats not what I came for. Orchestra was hidden which was weird. I want Orchestra! Too much solo singing, hair shaking, weird videos and random dancing..it was the weirdest thing I've seen. Orchestra songs when they played were great. Also girls walking weird the whole time.

E. Haggerty from Pittsburgh PA.

BAD OVERALL

Saw this in Pittsburgh at the PPG Paints Arena. The "story' was dark and rambling, hard to follow. The music was WAAAY to loud - so loud it hurt. The laser show was OK if you like being blinded. I think it may have been to the venue, but they should be able to tone it down somewhat, if the have a reliable technician. The musicians were phoning it in - I actually think it may have been a sound track!! Not Christmasy at all. We left half way through and getting outside (even though it was cold) was a relief!! Don't waste your money!!

Scott from Detroit, Michigan

LOUD PIPED IN MUSIC

I concur with a lot of the comments about the darkness of the show. This was NOT an uplifting holiday experience. The music was absolutely BLASTED out of the sound system and from the motions of the "musicians" on the various stages it was fairly apparent that much of the music was being piped in from a track. Essentially this is not a "concert" this is a visual production.

AmishLou from Lancaster, PA

VERY DARK & OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD

We saw the TSO show three years ago and I wanted to come back ever since. Unfortunately, the show has changed a lot and was not the least bit Christmasy. It was very dark and disjointed and so loud that I really think it damaged my hearing. I have no desire to see TSO in concert ever again.

Johnny Clark Jr. from Dallas, Texas

WORST. SHOW. EVER.

Where to begin? Too ridiculous. Too loud. Musicianship was quite honestly terrible. And finally, this show is about as NON CHRISTMAS as you can possibly get. I sincerely hope this TSO thing dies a quick death as it is a waste of time and money and is apparently some metal band's last ditch attempt to pretend they made it according to the history I have read!! VERY SAD!!!

Brent Bullard from Sacramento, California

DISAPPOINTING..... CHRISTMAS SHOW...NOT!

I had always wanted to see TSO. My girlfriend had in the past. The first part of the show was very good Christmas and holiday show. The rest suddenly erupted in Gargoyles, chants, fire breathing dragons, etc. It destroyed the ambience they had built up in the beginning acts. Will not see it again if this is the format they use going forward

Karen c from Hartford, Connecticut

WOW

Nothing wonderful or beautiful about that show was all about dragons and fires everywhere!

Diane from Worcester, Massachusetts

DISSAPOINTED

I can’t believe I paid $700 for 4 tickets to see such a dissapointing concert. We saw them in concert 4 years ago and it was wonderful. This time, The music was so loud that we couldn’t understand the words they were singing the majority of the time. The story was over half way through the show and we should have left then. The head banging music started and was so over the top it was deafening. The satanic music and hair flipping by musicians who constantly asked crowd to cheer for them was ridiculous. This is the last time I will ever go to one of their concerts.

Richard from Chicago, Illinois

WHO IS THIS SHOW FOR? SO WEIRD. READ THE REVIEWS BEFORE YOU GO. $$$$$

Where to begin? I guess with the fact that this is not an orchestra. There was a small string section, but that's about it. I don't know what I expected when I saw that it would be Xmas music and a laser light show, I guess I should have been prepared. I titled this review—who is this show for—because of the weird mix of 80s hair metal bands (notes of Rush, Van Halen, and Metallica were heard for sure) paired with Christmas (Christ, religious language and classic songs, symbolism, etc.) would SEEM to alienate one side or the other. The crowd was mostly white, 40-60 years old, so the long hair, heavy guitar licks, and posturing on stage seemed out of place? The laser light show wasn't bad, some of the pyrotechnics good, too, the musicians obviously talented. The videos on the screens felt like the were stolen from a bad video game. And the whole story (and VERY bad spoken-word poetry) didn't convey a message—dinosaurs, the industrial age, The Old Tow Bar (what the hell) was confusing.

Mark H. from Seattle, wa

WTF

I was a huge TSO fan, until last night. I am not really sure what I was watching last nite, some 80s hair band up there flipping their hair around as if that was impressive(I'm a fan of short hair NOW). They were totally off their game, and it seemed as they new that. The earlier show must of not gone well for them. Terrible show.

Llama from Sacramento, CA

DISAPPOINTING

I saw TSO a couple of times pre-pandemic and loved them. Last night (in Sacramento) changed that. The concert was only a shadow of what they were before. It was loud but understandable. It was full of Christmas music and entertaining. Then the edibles must have kicked in because the second half was crazy! Way too loud! It was like late 70’s heavy metal/acid rock that really had no theme or direction. It was not enjoyable! I will not see them again and will not recommend seeing them to others.

John B. from Greensboro NC

SHALLOW AND TEDIOUS

A few interesting riffs but the quality of voice and harmony are definitely NOT first rate. The choreography consists of the lead guitarist prancing about while the others wildly gyrate and motion for recognition. The audience was NOT enthusiastic to say the least. The story-line is stale and rambling, difficult to follow, and lacks coordination and clarity..the Christian message of the Holiday is lost in the exaggerated efforts of the group to appear talented or effectively directed. Do we really need to know the names and hometowns of everyone in the show? At about 30 minutes you could see many feeling uncomfortable and a few heading for the peace-on-earth of the parking lot.

Melissa from Tampa, Florida

NO GO

I hate that I spent so much money for my family to see this show. I seriously have been wanting to see them for years and was so looking forward to it. The theater used has terrible acoustics which probably made it worse than it was. The message did NOT feel like Christmas at all. It's pretty bad that we got up and left before the end.

Therese Monique from Seattle, WA

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED

It was so incredibly loud, so Vegas like. Could barely hear the words. The antics, the throwing the hair around was just too much. Spent approx $ 100 per ticket, regret it.

Tina Thompson from Portland, Oregon

WAY OFF THIS YEAR

This is my 3rd year. This year was not right. Way too loud on instruments and it drowned out any vocals. It was almost painful on the years. Many of the songs didn't fit and shouldn't have been used. I may not go back again. It was brutal and I hope they see this so they can change it!

Bob from Worcester, Mass

DATED POOR MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER RIP OFF

Over the top light show trying to make up for very dated show. No big screens to view musicians? Not even sure if it was being performed live at all. Perhaps an air guitar would have sufficed.

Andrew James from Indianapolis, IN

JUST LIKE THE OTHERS HAVE SAID

This was a terrible show. I left halfway through. Was hoping to start a new Christmas tradition but this show was not Christmas related. Only guitarists and vocalists not good enough to be in a real band here. And I'm not even sure they were performing based on what I saw - I think it could have been just played from a track.

Stoudty from Chicago, Illinois

LAME

To Loud and what the heck were they singing or screaming! Show was awful. I’ve seen many concerts and besides cheap trick this was by far the worst

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