Savatage / Trans-Siberian Orchestra guitarist Chris Caffery has checked in from the road with the following update:

"We just arrived in Long Island. This is our first time playing in the remodeled Nassau Coliseum. We’ve had some pretty epic shows at this venue in the past. Many of our special guest appearances happened here. This was also somewhere I played with Savatage on New Years Eve in 1987-8! This was on the tour with Dio and Megadeth. I remember my Mom, Ray Gillen and a lot of my childhood friends were at this show. This was also the venue where I saw my very first concert ever when I was just 11 years old. KISS with special guests Judas Priest. I didn’t even know who Judas Priest was yet. KISS was on the Dynasty tour and Priest was touring in support of Unleashed In The East. Needless to say I bought every Priest record I could find and afford in the weeks and months following that show! That began my love for Flying V guitars. 

I had seen many other concerts here. Some of the most memorable being Rush on the Permanent Waves tour and Black Sabbath with Ray Gillen singing. Ray was a good friend of mine. It was funny because Ray and I were supposed to go see Sabbath on that tour in New Jersey and he couldn’t go with me. It turned out that the reason was he was called to audition for the band! Glenn Hughes was having a lot of vocal problems on that tour, so Ray went from maybe going to a few of those shows with me to auditioning at one and singing on the rest of the tour! He was so amazing on that tour. 

Funny story was he had barely any time to learn the songs. When he got onstage he had some lyrics written down and placed on the stage. The dry ice that flowed across the stage was covering his lyrics. I just remember Ray waving his hand and feet over the smoke trying to clear the smoke enough to read the lyrics!

Last night in Richmond was awesome. One of the more lively audiences of the entire tour. Time to rest a little and enjoy our last day on the tour with only one show! After today the last 7 show days are 2 shows each...with that said only 15 left!

Please be safe this weekend; some crazy weather is hitting the country once again."

TSO’s annual November-December multi-sensory extravaganza, which sells out venues year after year, has cemented the group’s status as a must-attend, multi-generational, holiday tradition. This year’s 20th anniversary tour, a presentation of TSO’s unforgettable The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, featuring founder/composer/lyricist Paul O’Neill’s timeless story of a runaway who finds her way into a mysterious abandoned theater, kicked off on November 14th and will visit 65 cities across North America, for 100-plus performances, before concluding on December 30th (see full itinerary below). TSO’s Winter Tour 2018 is presented by Hallmark Channel.

Based on TSO’s multi-platinum DVD and long running PBS fundraiser, The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve, this year’s tour will include new awe-inspiring effects, as well as amazing staging with an all new design from the dedicated team handpicked by the group’s late creator, Paul O’Neill.

The rock opera also features such enduring fan-favorites as "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". Additionally, the tour will enjoy a new second set containing some of TSO’s greatest hits and fan-pleasers.

As in all previous years, a portion of every ticket sold benefits select local charities. To date, more than $15 million has been distributed from TSO to worthy charities all across North America.

Tour dates:  

December
21 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center (3:30 PM & 8:00 PM)
21 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center (3:30 PM & 8:00 PM)
22 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
22 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
23 - Washington, DC - Capital One Arena (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
23 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
26 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
26 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
28 - Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
28 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
29 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
29 - St Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
30 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)
30 - Milwaukee, WI - Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center (3:00 PM & 8:00 PM)

Since its historic touring debut, TSO has played in excess of 1,850 Winter Tour shows for more than 15 million fans, with tour grosses of more than $675 million. The group has also sold 12 million albums and DVDs.

TSO’s Winter Tour 2017 achieved a record gross of more than $61.5 million with approximately 1 million tickets sold. The tour was ranked #11 on the Worldwide Ticket Sales “Top 100 Tours” chart (also #11 in 2016), #15 on the “Top 200 North American Tours” chart (up from #16 in 2016), and #27 on the “Top 100 Worldwide Tours” by concert industry trade Pollstar magazine. In 2009, Pollstar ranked TSO at #20 on the “Top Tour(s) of the Decade” and Billboard placed TSO at #25 on its “Top Touring Artists of the Decade.”