TSO

Last night Nora and I went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform at the Toytoa Center. Here's my review:

First, whoever designed the Toyota Center should be forced to sit in one of those seats for three hours a day until he repents and publishes a public apology. There is no leg room whatsoever. Your calves can be pressed against your seat cushion and your toes will still be touching the back of the seat in front of you. So your legs start to go numb, and the only way you can move your legs is to turn your feet at odd angles. I hate it, hate it, hate it.

The concert was divided into two parts. The first part was called "Christmas Eve and Other Stories," in which a narrator comes out and recite a bit of a story, in verse, about an angel travelling the world on Christmas Eve. The story he tells introduces the next musical piece, and after the selection ends he trots out to give you a little more of the story. He uses a deep, husky narrative tone that is supposed to evoke a sense of enchantment and wonder, but it mostly comes across as annoying. Honestly, we decided to bolt after the first hour. About twenty minutes later they reached the halfway mark, and they paused in the performance to introduce the band. We hopped up to go. On our way out I asked a security guard about the second half. She said it was much better than the first half, so we decided to give it a few minutes and see if it was different. We're glad we did. It was sooo much better. No story, no poems, just good music and an amazing light show with lasers and pyrotechnics. One of the showstoppers was their rendition of "Carmina Burana," (really--does that ever fail to thrill?). They also played a little of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor," Guaraldi's "Linus & Lucy," and other favorites. By the time it was over, we were glad we'd come and glad we'd stayed.