Trans Siberian Orcestra took their massive show to Scotiabank Place in Ottawa on Wednesday night.
This
was the first time seeing the band, and was not sure what to expect in
terms of size of the production. Wow....the scale of this show was
second to none. All the lights you could ask for, lasers, Pyro, the
works. Took a few shots, see below.
Before the show,
Chris Caffery presented the "Sens Foundation" with a $10,000.00 cheque. The band donates to causes in almost each city they perform in.
The 28 piece band performed all their hits, and included non Christmas songs such as
Carmina Burana,
Beethoven's Fifth, and a few Savatage classics, "
Hall of the Mountain King", "
Believe", and of course their trademark track "
Christmas Eve / Sarajevo". As a long time
Savatage fan since
Sirens, it was great to see the Savatage classics with the massive show. I am sure Criss Oliva is proud.
Alex Skolnick - this guy is among the guitar greats. Whether it is thrashing the world with
Testament,
jazzing it up with the Alex Skolnick Trio, or in this case, playing
Christmas songs, he is flawless, classy and as Caffery introduced him
"The Master of Jazz-aster!"
Chris Caffery was the focal point
and face of the band leading the way on rising platform and interacting
with the crowd, accompanied by John Lee Middleton, Jeff Plate, Robert
Kinkle, and a series of great lead vocalists. One of the highlights of
the night was
Anna Phoebe. The sexy violinist was at top of her game and full of energy throughout the night.
Being
from Montreal, I am used to the loud roaring crowds. Ottawa was a
little more tame, except for a few moments including when Caffery came
out with a Senators jersey to introduce the band. Noticed a smile on
Bryan Murray's face (Ottawa Senators GM) who was sitting 2 rows from us.
The
only 2 negative comments were the set list of the first half which
included several interludes with a narrator, nice ,but a little long in
my opinion. The 2nd set kept the momentum on high from the first note
to the last fireworks. The 2nd....Jeff Plate is a great drummer, and
played a great drum solo. However, hearing a drum solo on an
electronic drum kit really does not do him justice.
After the
show, the band stayed for over an hour and a half and signed autographs
for their fans. I bet more bands can score points by doing this!
Some photos of the show below