Luckily, my wife and I happened to have had our sunglasses with us when we caught Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Aladdin in the winter of 2004. Otherwise, we might very well have been blinded that night, by the metal-worshipping Christmas ensemble’s exorbitantly over-the-top laser light show.
We took in the spectacle from the Theatre for the Performing Arts’ balcony, which wouldn’t have been particularly noteworthy if we hadn’t literally been the only two people on the entire 2,000-capacity overhang. Why my review tickets put us there all by our lonesome I have no idea, but witnessing TSO’s thunder and lightning rain down on unsuspecting holiday revelers was excellent fun from our private perch on high. –SP
Only one act has been able to replace Mannheim Steamroller in my father’s heart (and CD player) at Christmas: Trans-Siberian Orchestra. These symphonic heavy-metal holiday-music gods—who likely also wore out their Genesis and King Crimson LPs years ago—impressed him mightily in concert a few years ago. “They’re all longhairs,” he remembers. “Longhairs in tuxes.” Accordingly, headbanging was rampant—my mom, who tagged along reluctantly, called it “Beavis and Butt-Head doing AC/DC”—although the band’s shredding on “O Holy Night” especially stood out to Dad. “Think of Jimi Hendrix,” he says. “They [the TSO] know how to play their guitars, believe me.” –Annie Zaleski
November 18, 7:30 p.m., $39.50-$49.50. Mandalay Bay Events Center, 632-7580.