TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA bassist Dave Z (ZO2) has filed the following road report, recapping the east coast company's fifth week on tour in North America:

11/24/06: Show #23 & #24 Verizon Wireless Arena – Manchester, NH

"Finally, normalcy. I can run and dance and finally rock my ass off again. And no better place to do it than before the fine people in Manchester. I didn’t expect much going in because it’s not one of our bigger markets like OH or PA. But, man, I gotta say they were by far the best crowd we’ve had on the tour so far. People were actually getting up out of their chairs and dancing during the show. There were even some standing on chairs. There were times it actually felt like a rock show where people were standing and cheering rather than just sitting sedately and pumping their fists in the air. It also felt a little like a ZO2 show because of all the fans in the crowd wearing ZO2 shirts (and that’s always my favorite part)."

11/25/06: Show #25 & #26 Mohegan Sun Arena – Uncasville, CT

"When we pulled into the Mohegan Sun, my only thought was to find the casino and gamble. Unfortunately, I like to play Texas Hold‘em poker and the Mohegan Sun has done away with it. In past years I would take a 30-minute cab ride over to Foxwoods and play there. I was now faced with that age-old question: much needed rest or stay up all night gambling away all my money? What? That’s not an age-old question? This isn’t a dilemma that plagues the masses? Well, I left the decision in the hands of the host at the Mohegan Sun. I decided that if they would provide me with a shuttle to and from Foxwoods then I would go. Probably fortunately for me, they did not provide that service and I slept and saved my money… that is, of course, until after the matinee show. I figured I was already in a casino and, well, when in Rome… Somehow though, I get the feeling that the Romans didn’t lose over $300 in three card poker and roulette. That sounds more like 'when in America.'"

11/26/06: Show #27 Bell Centre – Montreal, QC

"Crossing the border into Canada is usually a piece of cake. We’ve never had any problems and have always been able to stay comfortably tucked in our bunks all the way across the border and into Canada. Oddly, this time we were awoken to go into the border patrol offices. Truthfully, I was a little excited. I had no experience with it so I went straight to imagines in movies and being interrogated under hot lights. But, in fact, all they did was have each one of us personally take back our passports. Sure, it was a good thing in reality but what a let down considering where my imagination had gone. Suddenly this was not the story I thought I’d be telling. LOL

This was our first time in Montreal and I had been told it’s just as nice if not nicer than Toronto. Unfortunately, I couldn’t judge for myself because I never left my hotel room or the venue to see the city. The one thing I do know is that the people are definitely just as nice. In fact, I never met a Canadian I didn’t like. They possess something that a lot of us here in the States don’t… manners. The only real difference that I found between Montreal and Toronto is that people in Montreal speak French. Most of the television channels were even in French. It reminded me of when Paulie and I were in France years ago, only without the attitude towards Americans. I tip my hat way off to you Canadians. I can’t wait to get out there with ZO2 – though I think we’d be called Zed O2."

11/27/06: DAY OFF

"After such a lingering illness, a trip to the gym was long overdue. It was my first time back so I took it easy. After all, I didn’t want to strain myself. Oh, who am I kidding, I was just too lazy to keep going. The rest of my day off trying to catch up on Lost until I decided I should probably get out and get something to eat. I ran into some other band members and we went to a really nice Italian restaurant across the street from the hotel. I paid more than if I had gone to Subway like I had originally planned, but the 'hang' was well worth it and the food was delicious."

11/28/06: DAY OFF

"The second day off and my laziness continues. In fact, I might be getting good at it. I had planned to go to the gym but wound up making the classic mistake of 'putting it off till later'. Anyone who procrastinates knows good and well that 'later' becomes 'never'. I did, however, get some great holiday shopping done in a huge mall near the hotel (noticing a pattern; everything I do has to be within a few blocks of where I am otherwise I’m too lazy to do it).

Today’s day off, unlike yesterday’s, had something more than TV viewing on the agenda. We landed tickets to the Maple Leaf hockey game against the Boston Bruins in the same arena we’ll play in tomorrow night. Sound familiar? We did the same thing in Indiana when we went to see the basketball game in the same venue as the one we were going to play. I think this is a pattern. Could Yankee stadium be next?"

11/29/06: Show #28 Air Canada Center – Toronto, ON

"Today for an appearance on Canada AM, we had to leave the hotel at 6am. It was like throwing cold water on me and completely snapped me out of my bliss of two days of laziness. First, we had to pick up some gear from the buses. The buses were parked on a dock with huge yachts. It reminded me of a scene from The Sopranos. It was only fitting that on the way to the show I saw a cab that turned out to be a police car. It didn’t have any sirens though. I wondered how they would pull someone over. Then I thought I might get my answer when I noticed our van was doing 100. I thought for sure we’d get pulled over. Then I realized that it was 100 kilometers per hour and not miles per hour. Have I learned nothing from Bret in the movie Pulp Fiction? They use the metric system, the metric system. We finally got to the station and performed two songs; one of which will air sometime in December for a holiday special. The sad thing about it was that when asked at the show later on that night if anybody saw it, no one replied. We may as well have stayed in bed. Oh well, as always, I found a bright side: at least we got free breakfast."

11/30/06: Show #29 Blue Cross Arena – Rochester, NY

"We got snowed on tonight – and I’m not talking about outside. During the song 'First Snow' when the snow is supposed to fall magically on the audience… it didn’t. Tonight it snowed on us. Apparently there was a strong wind in the arena. And the band played on… covered with soap flakes made to look like snow. The upside is that we all smelled nice afterward.

After the show, because we were in Rochester it was more Dinosaur BBQ for everyone. There was definitely no shortage of ribs being passed around on the bus tonight. A few of the members even decided to head on over to the restaurant itself and have some drinks in the bar. Me, I was just fine with my full rack of ribs and the DVD player playing more episodes of Lost."

To read Dave Z's previous reports click the following links: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4.