By 2013, Christmas-themed symphonic rockers Trans-Siberian Orchestra were selling over a million tickets per tour – but remained a remarkably well-kept secret in the prog world. As they prepared for theirs first road trip outside the US, architects Al Pitrelli and Paul O’Neill (who died in 2017) told Prog about their continuing ambitions.
It’s difficult not to feel bewildered when you’re escorted past a couple of dozen lorries and 10 tour buses into the vast backstage area of an arena, and you find the star of the show in a locker room fighting a man half his age. But that’s what just happened. It’s shortly before lunchtime on a characteristically sunny day in Denver, Colorado. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra are in town to play not just one, but two shows at the 20,000 seater Pepsi Center.
That’s the level of demand we’re dealing with here: if the number of vehicles wasn’t evidence enough of the scale of the operation, there are also over 120 people working on each show each day. There is a second, identical Trans-Siberian Orchestra tour running simultaneously on the East Coast, also playing two shows today.
The Christmas-oriented nature of this rock opera means that starting in August isn’t really an option, so four shows in two cities is the only way to go. That’s almost 250 people on the road at any one time while circa 80,000 people witness the TSO magic every day. They’ve sold 1.3 million tickets on this American tour. What do you mean, you’ve never heard of them?
“We’re the world’s most famous unknown band,” laughs lead guitarist and musical director Al Pitrelli, relaxing on a sofa in his dressing room after his sparring session with a trainer. “If you were here in ’99, when we did our first show, there was one box truck and two buses. We had a fog machine and some guitars. It’s grown up.”
Locals join the crew in every town. These include the eight-strong string section – and the athletes brought in to spar with Pitrelli. “As I get older I’ve been trying to stay in better shape but I don’t just want to get good at doing chin-ups,” he explains. “And then I discovered the art of fighting.”
“His dad,” he says, pointing to the trainer, “is an ex-featherweight champion from Dublin, Ireland. And he’s a guitar player. Most of my trainers are musicians, because if you fight, you understand rhythm, you understand counts, you understand the mathematics of it. Somebody coined a phrase – ‘A complete art is a dead art.’ As a fighter, you never stop learning; and as a guitar player, as long as Jeff Beck’s alive, I know I still suck.”
Band, transport and stage crew aside, there’s even more going on behind the scenes. Meals are cooked by a catering crew that travel with the band. TSO bring their own washing machines and employ a man to operate them. Everything has been set up to ensure that every day goes as smoothly as possible – and it does. It’s one of the slickest operations Prog has ever seen. While this arena-level production will be pared back when the tour reaches Europe, TSO aim to bring as much of it with them as possible.
We were a Christmas band because the song got played at Christmas, but it evolved…without the Christmassy bits it becomes a human story as well
Al Pitrelli
To prepare for the two-headed American road trip, the entire crew congregates in Omaha, Nebraska. The bands are set up opposite one another in an arena, allowing Pitrelli to oversee the music from both sides. The quality control is high; Pitrelli – as well as TSO founder Paul O’Neill and Pitrelli’s former Savatage bandmate, vocalist Jon Oliva, have come far too far to allow standards to drop now.
“We hire exceptionally good players for a reason,” says Pitrelli. “They’re respectful to what I’ve created with Paul. But they’re always trying to get away with something – especially the guitar players. Angus Clark is an extraordinary guitar player. Miles Davis said it the best: ‘You get talented people in a room, let them be talented people. Just remind them who signs the paycheck.’ I let them run with it if they come up with a great idea – a complete art is a dead art.”
Via phone from the East Coast tour, O’Neill says: “Bands like Pink Floyd, when I saw them in ’95 on the Pulse tour, taught me you can put on a show where there’s no such thing as a bad seat.” He talks at length about the construction of the live production – and the annual destruction before starting again from scratch. He talks about wanting to be bigger and better each year and about buying every last one of the custom special effects designed for the final Michael Jackson tour that never happened.
“All the special effects companies know that if they come up with something great that’s insanely expensive, there’s one band dumb enough to buy it, and that’s us!” he chuckles. “I just love the look on the audience’s faces when they see a brand new effect.”
When Yes and ELP came over – take every light, every laser, every pyro shot away. What’s left? Really, really good music
Al Pitrelli
We know the history of the TSO and how their massive first single, Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24/, lit up American radio and became the second most downloaded Christmas track behind All I Want For Christmas Is You. We know three of their five albums are Christmas-oriented rock operas – but is their reputation as a ‘Christmas band’ diminishing the quality of their legacy?
“Growing up in New York City, I’ve always been fascinated by Christmas,” says O’Neill. He adds something that really resonates about connecting entertainment and Christmas. “You don’t take on Christmas until you have several platinum albums,” he states. “To this day, when people hear ‘Bing Crosby,’ they think of White Christmas. So we think of it more as a positive thing. Most artists do Christmas later on in their career. We just have to get it out of the way first.”
How are Trans-Siberian Orchestra expecting reserved British audiences to react to their overblown American bombast then? As much as Brits love a good rock opera, surely the Christmas aspect can’t resonate in mid-January.
“It started out that we were a Christmas band because the song got played at Christmas time; but it evolved into this winter tour,” says Pitrelli. “Without the narration, without the Christmassy bits, it becomes a human story as well. We’re going to do a winter tour in Europe and they’re going to hear all the prog rock, all the craziness, all the great singers. If you take Christmas out of our show, it’s still an amazing show.
He continues: “Paul wanted to create the biggest rock show because when we were kids, when Yes came over, when ELP came over, when Floyd built The Wall with an airplane coming out of it… Strip it all away. Take every light, every laser, every pyro shot away. What’s left? Really, really good music. Really good performances. Paul and Jon Oliva’s writing stands up all by itself. You British musicians all started this. We learnt from the masters! We just wanna be you.”
“TSO has always been a rock opera,” adds O’Neill. “We never planned to do rock operas for 15 years in a row. We planned to kinda be like The Who – two years on, two years off – but it didn’t work out that way. In Europe this year, it’ll be the first time we do a straight rock concert, which is a big jump for us.”
The band’s 1999 tour consisted of 10 shows, but more and more promoters were demanding a show, which necessitated the dual touring situation and the division (or further acquisition) of prime resources. “There will be three generations in the audience tonight,” Pitrelli says.
As we walk around the arena he’s unbothered by the thousands of fans milling around, highlighting both his lack of ego and the way the show serves to almost camouflage his true identity. “Nothing makes me happier to look down and see a little girl sitting on her granddaddy’s lap,” he says, thoughtfully. “The two of them are having the time of their lives for two and a half hours. I’ll take that with me; because in that moment in time, they were together for one reason and one reason only.”
It really does seem like it’s about the fans. If it’s not O’Neill’s drive to ensure the live show has the most ridiculous light show, overblown walkways and dramatic pyro possible, it’s that ticket prices are consistently low – no more than $80 – and a dollar of each ticket goes to a local charity.
If they’ve neglected their overseas fans, you’ll have to trust that they’re sorry – it’s a genuine regret for O’Neill – and that they’re about to right every wrong they can in as grandiose a fashion as possible.
