Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Emerson, Lake and Palmer, the legendary rock trio of the '70s never left us, they simply expanded and morphed into the "Trans-Siberian Orchestra". I had the chance to catch their performance in the new Sprint Arena here in KCMO, on a very Siberian night.

The TSO blends classical music, heavy metal and a somewhat preachy Christmas theme into a 2 1/2 hour extravaganza of music, lights, fire and narration. I had heard of them before and thought they were somewhat esoteric, but judging from the packed crowd at the second of two shows, many are familiar with this energetic group and came out despite the suddenly Siberian weather.

The first 1/2 of the show is decidedly the weakest. A Christmas-themed rock opera in the style of "Jesus Christ Superstar", featuring a decidedly religious narrative about an angel who comes down on Christmas Eve to rid the Earth of loneliness and makes sure everyone is "home". Soupy, emotional ballads are woven in between the aforementioned narrative. Some of the ballads are so strongly religious that I would not have been surprised to see some of the audience waving their hands in evangelical fervor. The show came alive during their hyper energetic instrumental renditions of popular carols, which served to comment on the story.

The second half dropped most of the references to Christmas and was a tour de force of light, fire and energetic singing and playing. Everything was in the mix from "Carmina Burana", Mozart, Beethoven, to "Proud Mary" and even Vince Guaraldi's immortal "Linus and Lucy" theme from "Peanuts". There's no holding back as the blazing fire, fireworks and lights join the hyper-kinetic players (most notably a violinist that thinks the thing is a guitar, she loves to play it upside down, while running through the audience and flinging it around in the air)to mesmerize the audience.

Certainly enjoyable, a spectacle for all the senses and worth seeing once for sure.

More fun was the chance to see the new arena from the vantage point of one of the VIP suites. My friend Barb's company has one and we were treated to the show and suite. I admit I enjoyed looking down on the "little people" who had no place to hang their coats, a refrigerator full of drinks, chips and salsa and great seats with tons of leg room. If you got bored with the show, there was a TV you could watch or just sit in back and eat and drink. Ah the suite life!