Stuart Derdeyn at The Ottawa Citizen has filed the following report on the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA:

Orchestral Holiday Treat An Unexpected Success

Frankly, the whole concept of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra sounds as likely to succeed as guitarist Nigel Tufnel's symphony idea in the movie Spinal Tap. At the height of the Seattle grunge and alt-rock explosion, they formed a 60-piece progressive metal group to perform a Christmas-themed rock opera à la the Who's Tommy or Pink Floyd's The Wall. After all, everyone really wants concept albums to play alongside Nevermind and Jagged Little Pill.

Better still, put together a huge, expensive stage and lightshow to go with the package that can only really hit the road for a few months of the year around the holiday season. That should make big bucks. The label exec signing off on this was putting pen to paper for the last time.

"That's what I thought when I first went into the studio to hear what Paul O'Neill had in mind," says Trans-Siberian Orchestra musical director and guitarist Al Pitrelli. "Then the first song he played was 'Christmas Eve/Christmas In Sarajevo' and I said 'Wow, great piece nobody in America will buy it.'

"Little did I know that the accident called 'Christmas In Sarajevo' would launch five CDs and give a 45-year-old who had more than the allowable kicks at the can a massive career hit."

Debuting in 1996 with Christmas Eve And Other Stories, Trans-Siberian Orchestra reunited Pitrelli and former Savatage bandmates Robert Kinkel, Jon Olivia and singer/lyricist/librettist and producer Paul O'Neill.

O'Neill had the original concept, uniting his seasonal short stories, lyrics and genre-bending compositions into Christmas-themed rock albums. He was clearly onto something.

The group's debut sold 2.5 million copies and remains on the Top 5 Holiday Album charts 11 years later.

Subsequent releases -- The Christmas Attic (1998); the DVD The Ghost Of Christmas Eve (2001) and The Lost Christmas Eve (2004) -- all hit million-selling platinum status, too.

The group is in the ranks of such enduring seasonal faves as New Age instrumentalists Mannheim Steamroller now.

Last year, its catalogue sales were more than 900,000.

"I worked with everyone from Megadeth and Alice Cooper to Céline Dion and Taylor Dane and most of the rest of the guys come from similar musical backgrounds," he says. "From the start, Paul had the sense to let us all throw our musical two cents on the kitchen table when we were putting TSO together and that's why it has such wide appeal. It's a number of different things."

All of which appear to grab concert-goers by the arena-load. Since its '99 tour, TSO's tours rank in the Top 10 for both gross revenues and audience attendance. The 2006 road show was awash in players, pyrotechnics, ambitious stage design and played to over a million fans. Earning an excess of $40 million, it scored high on Billboard's Top 25 Tours chart.

"People have embraced us as part of their existence and part of their holiday season experience and I'm just thrilled to be a part of that," says Pitrelli. "We may only tour a few months out of the year, but scripting out the logistics of ever bigger spectacles starts a few weeks after we finish each time out on the road."

The 2007 production includes 32 trailers, six buses and a 150-person crew, which Pitrelli believes makes it the biggest show on the road at the moment. There is pyro, laser, fog, special effects you might not have seen before and a big entourage of musicians as well.

"But at the same time, there are these incredibly intimate moments with just a singer and an acoustic guitar. Weaving the story in to get the listener to understand that there is much more than just the rock show is key to ensuring that everyone from seven to 70, from the kid in the Slayer T-shirt to the one crocheting gets something that they can enjoy."

Lately, the group is working on getting itself positioned to tour off-season with non-Christmas albums.

"Beethoven's Last Night was the first non-Christmas album we released and we're working on a second one right now called Nightcastle, which is another of Paul's beautiful rock operas. We figure one more after that and we'll start touring spring/summer and the rest of the year. Perhaps the group will eventually even live up to its name, crossing Russia's tundra on a tour."

(Thanks: Wesnlisa)

Tour dates for the east and west coast TSO companies are as follows:

November

25 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena - 3:00PM
25 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena - 7:30PM
25 - Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena - 3:00PM
25 - Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena - 7:30PM
26 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre - 7:30PM
27 - Salt Lake City, UT - Energysolutions Arena - 7:30PM
28 - Nampa, ID - Idaho Center - 7:30PM
28 - Toledo, OH - Seagate Convention Ctr. - 7:30PM
29 - Toledo, OH - Seagate Convention Ctr. - 7:30PM
30 - Lansing, MI - Breslin Student Center - 8:00PM
30 - Vancouver, BC - GM Palace - 8:00PM

December

1 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena - 3:00PM
1 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena - 8:00PM
1 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena - 3:00PM
1 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena - 8:00PM
2 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arenav3:00PM
2 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena - 7:30PM
2 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden - 3:00PM
2 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden - 7:30PM
5 - Albany, NY - Times Union Arena - 7:30PM
5 - Colorado Springs, CO - World Arena - 8:00PM
6 - Albany, NY - Times Union Arena - 7:30PM
6 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center - 7:30PM
7 - Atlantic City, NJvBoardwalk Hall - 8:00PM
7 - Wichita, KS - Kansas Coliseum - 8:00PM
8 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center - 3:00PM
8 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center - 8:00PM
8 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center - 3:00PM
8 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center - 8:00PM
9 - Hartford, CT - Hartford Civic Center - 2:30PM
9 - Hartford, CT - Hartford Civic Center - 7:30PM
9 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center - 3:00PM
9 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center - 7:30PM
12 - Greenville, SC - Bi Lo Center - 7:30PM
12 - Omaha, NE - Qwest Center - 7:30PM
13 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena - 7:30PM
13 - Hampton, VA - Hampton Coliseum - 7:30PM
14 - Grand Forks, ND - Alerus Center - 8:00PM

14 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum - 8:00PM

15 - East Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena - 3:00PM
15 - East Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena - 8:00PM
15 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center - 3:00PM
15 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center - 8:00PM
16 - Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center - 3:00PM
16 - Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center - 7:30PM
16 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center - 3:00PM
16 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center - 7:30PM
17 - Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse - 7:30PM
19 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum - 7:30PM
20 - Memphis, TN - Fed Ex Forum - 7:30PM
20 - Raleigh, NC - RBC Center - 7:30PM
21 - Bossier City, LA - CenturyTel Center - 8:00PM
21 - Charlotte, NC - Cricket Arena - 8:00PM
22 - Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center - 3:00PM
22 - Richmond, VA - Richmond Coliseum - 3:00PM
22 - Richmond, VA - Richmond Coliseum - 8:00PM
23 - Columbia, SC - Colonial Center - 3:00PM
23 - Columbia, SC - Colonial Center - 7:30PM
23 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T; Center - 3:00PM
23 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T; Center - 8:00PM

26 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center - 7:30PM

26 - Detroit, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills - 3:00PM
26 - Detroit, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills - 8:00PM
27 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena - 3:00PM
27 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena - 7:30PM
27 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center - 3:00PM
27 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center - 7:30PM
28 - Cincinnati, OH - US Bank Arena - 8:00PM
28 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center - 3:00PM
28 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center - 8:00PM
29 - Little Rock, AR - Alltel Arena - 3:00PM
29 - Little Rock, AR - Alltel Arena - 8:00PM
29 - Rochester, NY - Blue Cross Arena - 8:00PM
30 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena - 3:00PM
30 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena - 7:30PM
30 - Nashville, TN - Gaylord Entertainment Center - 7:30PM
31 - Birmingham, AL - BJCC Arena - 9:30PM
31 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena - 3:00PM
31 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena - 9:30PM

January

3 - Erie, PA - Erie Civic - 7:30PM
3 - Peoria, IL - Peoria Civic Center - 7:30PM
4 - Moline, IL - Mark Of The Quad - 8:00PM
4 - Syracuse, NY - OnCenter - 8:00PM
5 - Madison, WI - Alliant Energy Center - 3:00PM
5 - Madison, WI - Alliant Energy Center - 8:00PM
5 - Wilkes Barre, PA - Wachovia Arena - 3:00PM
5 - Wilkes Barre, PA - Wachovia Arena - 8:00PM
6 - Baltimore, MD - 1st Mariner Arena - 7:30PM
6 - Green Bay, WI - Resch Center - 3:00PM
6 - Green Bay, WI - Resch Center - 7:30PM