By Sean Roberts ~ Trans Siberian Orchestra, or TSO as they’re known, rolled through Sioux Falls April 16 as part of their “Beethoven’s Last Night 2012 Tour.” This tour is a smaller, more toned down version of their traditional, large arena, Christmas tours.
The Sioux Falls arena, with a capacity of no larger than 2,200 people, was packed to the brim for this Sunday night event. The stage was packed with rock instruments, and classical violins, cellos, and violas; a strange sight indeed.
Before the show started, founding member and guitarist Chris Caffery came on stage bearing an oversized check; DJ’s from a local radio station and a member of a local charity joined him. Caffery went on to talk about how since their creation, TSO has donated one dollar from every ticket sold each night, and that they raised $2,200 for a local children with cancer fund.
The show started out with a bang in the bands traditional classical music influenced heavy metal show began. You could tell from the start it was going to be over the top with lasers, moving lights, pyrotechnics, and hair flips galore.
The first piece ended and a narrator came to the microphone to lay out the story of the night. Basically, Beethoven finished writing his tenth symphony (spoiler: he only wrote 9).
Satan then comes to visit Beethoven to tell him that it was Beethoven’s last night on earth, but he’s willing to cut him a deal to extend his time on Earth. The rest of the show goes on to tell the story of Beethoven, Satan and their struggles to make an agreement.
The show went on for an hour and a half, continuing in the dramatic classical-metal format. After they finished up the story, the band introduced themselves and went on to perform a half hour’s worth of unknown original music that seemed to leave the audience confused at what they were watching. How can you go from a great story with music accompaniment to a random female fronting the band and singing about how she hates her parents?
At the conclusion of the show, TSO received a standing ovation, which they greatly deserved. As the audience shuffled out fans got to choose to wait in a line to meet the band or to walk past the merchandise table and leave. Despite being a bit over the top Trans Siberian Orchestra didn’t fail to entertain. Their patented mix of strings and metal has certainly been perfected and it really showed
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