Trans-Siberian Orchestra Concert Review

GREATNESS AWAITS

Famous rock operas by groups such as The Who (“Tommy,” Quadraphenia”), Queensryche (“Operation Mindcrime”) and Pink Floyd (“The Wall”) often fade in our memories, getting relegated to the “oh, I remember that” part of the brain when we hear these songs, which are rarely played on the radio anyway. However, for the past 16 years, Trans-Siberian Orchestra has remained timeless, somehow finding a way to live forever in fans’ hearts and minds. Unlike other rock operas, TSO's are immortal.

Part one of their Christmas trilogy, “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” has been performed for 15 years to sellout audiences across the country. Such success goes against the formula of consistently having to have new material to stay relevant in today’s entertainment world, and proves that the story (performed by an all-star band who has never been an opening act, nor has had anyone open for them) is a timeless masterpiece that is handed down through generations of fans. For their 2014 tour (and their 16th year of touring), TSO is debuting “The Christmas Attic,” part two of the trilogy.

For those who don’t know, TSO is broken into two touring groups, East and West. That’s why their touring schedule might show two shows on the same date in different cities.

LASERS, SPARKS, AND FIRE, OH MY!

The Philadelphia show on 12/23/14 was an incredible experience. Having attended a Christmas Eve and Other Stories show at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. many years ago, the expectations were high. And in true TSO fashion, all expectations were met or surpassed. Led by Chris Caffery (ex-Savatage), TSO-East includes a large cast of consummate musicians, led also by the guitar shredding of Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake, ex-Night Ranger). Large classical orchestra and vocal sections work in perfect harmony with narrator Bryan Hicks, whose performance was impeccable. Roddy Chong goes crazy on violin in a way that reminds us that Skillet isn’t the only band with an uber-talented Asian violinist. Drummer Jeff Plate (who played with Caffery in Savatage and some other of the same bands), while an impressive talent, plays in a way that lets him stay out of the limelight and not call attention to himself. This lets the audience focus on the story and the overall performance and environment.

The current show features a giant opening toy box with all but the guitarists and vocal section rising out amidst the pyrotechnics. As the story unfolds, the box opens and closes as appropriate, lending a characteristic magic to the show that no attendee will ever forget. Following the completion of the Christmas Attic set, they played another hour of various selections from other albums.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra continues to be in my top 3 favorite bands of all time. They are a blend of contradictions that make them special, and like no other band in history. Contradictions such as a spiritual yet very human story, a stadium-style show of the past while maintaining an intimate environment, and hard rocking while staying family-friendly combine with unrivaled musicianship and impressive production to make a TSO show something to remember for a lifetime.

Video Edit Experiment

Open highway, speed limit 70

Raise Your Hand if You Have Multiple Felonies

Ferguson: From Around the Web

Thought I'd post some stuff from around the web. Some of it illustrates the absurdity by being absurd. Some shows us what thugs and misguided idiots with which we're dealing. Some are newspaper comments reacting to articles. Its nice to know that despite the media leading us to believe that most of America is out protesting perceived injustice, there are still Americans who get it. May this blog post provide some balance against the racist narrative being pushed by the race-baiters, thugs, and liberals.

The thing that disgusts me is that many in  the black community think we're still in 1950s Selma. It starts at the top with Obama's comments to stir up hate and divisiveness. Every time he interjects himself into issues to make them racial (the Harvard professor arrested for breaking into his own home that resulted in the beer summit at the WH, Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner), he only divides the country and promotes violence.  Helter Skelter is coming if he doesn't  stop.




--The fact is, the Justice system worked perfectly in the Ferguson case. No charges were made until all the evidence was looked at, and all the witnesses vetted. Unfortunately, this didn't fit the black good/white bad narrative of many liberal bigots.

--No justice, no receipts!

--The retardation level in Ferguson is off the charts. Put your hands down, pull your pants up, quit breaking the law and get a fucking job you GD morons.

REACTION TO A LOCAL NAACP LEADER'S COMPARISON OF POLICE TO THE KKK GIVES US THESE GEMS:

 

--These racists exposed exactly what the problem is with blacks in America, them, and their mind set. Lets blame the police, lets call for more training of police, and lets blame more black deaths on white police than their black counterparts or other whites. Really?

The problem is how blacks are raised and their entire culture of racism. Here is the solution, teach your kids and neighbors not to be racists at every turn. Teach them not to commit crimes. Teach them to be respectful of others. Teach them to be respectful of others property. Teach them how to respect authority figures, and not be insolent to them and attack them. Teach them to use the education system to actually learn something called a skill, and further themselves by getting a good job and being productive instead of being a burden on society because all they were taught was how to work the system. Teach them how to actually obey laws. Start simple like stopping at red lights and not parking in Mothers With Infants or Handicap spots, and work your way up to stopping the stealing and being a thug and then up to stop being a felon and robbing and killing. Then the most important thing to teach them is how not to be a black racist. Those are the worse kinds because they live by the code and excel at it and it only brings them down blaming someone else for their plight when it is they themselves and their actions that are bringing themselves down. Lastly, rid your ranks of racists like Al Sharpton, and these so called black activist who only continue to stir the race pot to stay relevant and keep racism alive. They will never admit the real facts of their agenda, and they will never admit to their lies. The truth is, more blacks are killed by other blacks than all the other groups combined and tripled. Yet these gullible dolts believe their lies so they can continue to hate and do nothing while living off the system so they can stick it to whitey. Hows that working for you? We see your still full of hate, still poor, still having to cheat and lie and steal your way through life so you can show off to the other black about your $50/K car while you sit in an empty house and cry poor and oppressed. Spare me.

 

--His comments set us back 50 years

 

--This from a guy who was a paid informant for the Wilmington Police. I guess when you get into the position that Richard "Mousey" Smith has you have to distance yourself from the very police officers and department that you label KKK, but took money from in return for information.

 

--Another useless loud mouth d*** with a microphone. No matter that the KKK was started by southern democrats following the civil war in which hundreds of thousands died ending slavery. Prick.

 

--Just when you think these poor "victims" have nothing left to demand they surprise you. The Congressional Black Caucus wants Obama to invite Michael Brown's parents to his State of the Union Address as props. I have a better idea. He should have the business owners who lost their businesses from arson and loorting there. As an added attraction he could include the car NJ Senator Corey Booker claimed he drove to Hawaii when he got his drivers license at the age of 17.

 

--The NAACP has to play the race card. Otherwise there would be no reason for it to exist.