Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Touring

Touring

Trans-Siberian Orchestra first toured in 1999, performing a handful of concerts in Upper Darby, New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit. The next year, two touring groups were formed, allowing the band to cover more ground in the short time frame Paul O'Neill allows the Holiday Rock Operas to be performed (November & December). Trans-Siberian Orchestra has maintained the dual band format for touring during those months ever since, but performs as a single band during the rest of the year.

The two touring groups are informally known as TSO East and TSO West, although these descriptions are not entirely literal. Before 2008, for example, TSO West historically played in Atlanta and Florida. Both groups have appeared in Midwestern cities such as Chicago and Indianapolis.

Shows on the orchestra's fall/winter tour are divided into two acts. For their first thirteen tours, the first act was a narrated performance of most of the songs from Christmas Eve and Other Stories. Beginning with the 2012 tour, the first act is a narrated performance of most of the songs from The Lost Christmas Eve. In the second act, the band performs a mix of songs from their other albums. Their Spring tours to promote Beethoven's Last Night in 2010 - 2012 used a similar format, with the first act being a narrated performance of most of the songs from Beethoven's Last Night followed by several songs from Night Castle. On the 2012 tour, the band also included two Savatage songs, both from the album Handful of Rain - the title track and "Chance", which concludes the show.

In March 2011 the band had its first tour in Europe. It included 11 shows in Switzerland, Austria, Germany (six venues), the Netherlands, Belgium and England. All instrumental members of the recent Savatage line-up except Jon Oliva were featured in the show, which led to the opportunity to play Chance as a final song.

In 2009, Billboard ranked TSO as one of the Top 25 Touring Artists of the past decade. Live shows are known for their extensive use of pyrotechnics, lasers, and lights synchronized with the performance, all of which takes 15 hours to set up. They are very well known for these concerts, which are critically acclaimed.