palace of winds

Last night my dad and I went to see the TransSiberian Orchestra at the Excel Center in St. Paul. I wish you all could have seen it. I wish everyone everywhere could have seen it, because it was amazing. And I was sitting close enough to actually feel the waves of heat from the fireballs.

That’s right. Fireballs.

The view from the second row (just to the right, seat 13) was spectacular. The sound might’ve been better further away, more well-mixed, but if I wanted perfect sound I’d pop in their cd. And honestly I probably wouldn’t've been able to tell the difference; the sound was pretty damn astounding from where I was. The best part was watching the musicians interact. Everyone was enjoying themselves immensely, all grinning and exchanging glances and appreciative nods.

The TSO, for those who don’t know, is a group that mixes traditional orchestra instruments (violins, cellos) with drums, pianos, and electric guitars. The performers were all dressed formally — the men in tuxedos, and the women (save the pianist) in black dresses with short, flirty skirts and black knee-high boots, and fishnets for some of them. They also sometimes had these black velvet overcoats with bell sleeves and fastenings just over the chest/stomach, so it split back to show the dress skirt and the boots et al.

The lead violinist had this rock violin. It was pink and the frame was — well, just a frame. It wasn’t solid casing with a hollow middle like a traditional violin — it was just the frame of the violin done in pink, and the strings and fretboard (or whatever it’s called on a violin) down the center. There were some lovely guitars as well, but I’m used to thinking of electric guitars in fun shapes; violins are another matter.

They began by pretty much doing the ‘Christmas Eve and Other Stories’ album with narration, which is wonderful because that’s the album I know (and adore). So they played the song which I call Revenge of the Sugar Plum Fairy but which is not actually named that (and I thought of you, B-Fu).

Afterwards they played some bits from their other albums. And then they played a new piece they’re working on for their new album, which is not due out for another year or more. It was their version of ‘O Fortuna’ from Carmina Burana, and I was savagely glad they played it because I love the song and I loved their rendition. They also played their version of a piece by Liszt, who I guess wrote famously difficult (nearly impossible-to-play) piano music. And it was impressive to watch.

They performed for over two and a half hours, and were spellbinding every second of it.

Oh yes, the fireballs. They shot off sparks — great big gold showers of them behind the stage. And then fireballs. Giant fireballs, mostly orange but sometimes green, jetting up behind the stage and burning out just beneath the spotlights, and each time they set them off we could feel the blast of heat. They also made it snow, though it fell mostly a half dozen rows behind us and further out. It was gorgeous to look up at, though, and in the lighting looked like a shower of glitter, like we’d all been stuck in a giant snow globe and given a little shake.

Everyone was beautiful, and sang and played beautifully, and everyone was just so happy to be there. And I was happy to be there. Immensely happy.