By Ed Condran
There’s nothing wrong with giving people what they want, especially during the Christmas season. For the last few years, Trans-Siberian Orchestra has delivered its “Ghosts of Christmas Eve” show. However, TSO has decided to go another way on its 2024 tour.
The hard rock band, which dazzles with old school pyro, lasers and lights, is dusting off its “The Lost Christmas Eve” album for the first time since 2013. “We decided to change things up,” guitarist Al Pitrelli said. “It’s about time we go back to it.”
“The Lost Christmas Eve,” which is the third installment of the late TSO mastermind Paul O’Neill’s trilogy, will be quite different than what was presented 11 years ago.
“Just wait until you see what we will hit you with visually,” Pitrelli said while calling from his suburban Philadelphia home. “Due to technology, it will be better, crazier and way over the top. Since we’re approaching the 30th anniversary of Paul O’Neill’s vision, we have to make everything bigger and better.”
The 23-track “Lost Christmas Eve,” which dropped in 2004, ranges from the rocking “Christmas Jam” to the delicate “Christmas Dreams.” “It’s a special album,” Pitrelli said. “And it’s been 20 years since it was released, so we’re ready to play it again.”
TSO, who perform Friday, Nov. 29, at The Orleans Arena, formed in 1996 out of the ashes of Savatage, a metal band that featured Pitrelli. TSO released a series of rock operas: “Lost Christmas Eve,” 1996’s “Christmas Eve and Other Stories,” 1998’s “The Christmas Attic” and 2009’s “Night Castle.”
Additionally, 2012’s “Dreams of Fireflies” and 2015’s “Letters of the Labyrinth” have also been released. More than 10 million TSO albums have been sold. “It blows my mind that we’ve been this successful,” Pitrelli said. “We never expected anything like this.”
There is nothing quite like TSO with its spectacle and larger-than-life performance. “We don’t want to lose that,” Pitrelli said. “This show brings me back to the style of music I enjoyed so much when I was a kid. People miss all of the bells and whistles that were part of live shows from yesteryear. But we always bring that little something extra.”
Pitrelli, 62, and many of his bandmates are in their 60s, but age doesn’t matter to the members of TSO. “Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney are still going strong, and they’re 20 years older than us,” Pitrelli said.
“Jeff Beck toward the end of his life was a better guitar player than he was 50 years ago. We’re all physically fit and just as excited about performing as we ever were. You can be up there in age and still deliver an amazing show.”
If You Go
3 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, The Orleans Arena, 4500 W. Tropicana Ave., Las Vegas. (702) 365-7469; Orleans.BoydGaming.com/Orleans-Arena
