WOW!!!!
We went to the (next to) final show on their tour yesterday, and it was awesome! They were sharp, LOUD, and beautiful to hear. An absolutely amazing concert. All my son (who's 19, by the way) would talk about afterward was "they had fire! FIRE!" Yes, they did, and so much more!
It was the next to last show of the tour because we went to the 3PM show and they had another at 8PM. I can't see how they'd have enough energy for a second show as fantastic as the one we saw.
Pros: great music, great arrangements, great musicians, great lighting, great vocals.
Cons: this was at AT&T Center here in San Antonio. Our beloved Bexar County Sheriff's Department was true to form, bollixing up traffic, or at least not letting the drivers know WHY they closed gates to the parking lot when they did-right in front of me, for example. No signs about why they closed gates, just "I'm telling you you're not coming in this gate!" from an admittedly rain-soaked deputy. And security at the Center was, let's say, "less than professional." They did security checks-but again, no signs announced this; it was sprung on us AT the door. Of course my wife's camera (we all got dressed up and she wanted to take pictures of us all) was discovered, and the jerk at the door acted like she had a vial of nerve gas or something. He actually drove my wife to tears at the door-while the concert was already running-telling her to go back THROUGH THE RAIN (she was already almost soaked) to put the camera back in the car. It took five minutes before a supervisor addressed the jerk and told him (as if to say "DUH!") "Take the lady to Guest Services to check her camera!" Obviously, getting there and getting in were not the high points of the concert.
The folks in TSO made up for it all, though. It was so amazing! Gush! Effuse! Gasp!!! I loved it.
Earlier in the month, Mannheim Steamroller was in town, and at the same place. A friend who attended with us yesterday said that their show was nowhere near as good as TSO's. I like the Steamroller a lot, but they seem to be a lot more about precision and a lot less about emotion. And their tickets cost about twice to three times what the TSO tickets cost. If you have a chance to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra, RUN, DO NOT WALK, to get tickets. Just arrive real early...
I should point out that I ALSO spoke with the AT&T Center management about our problems-I do not suffer bad treatment lightly. I spoke to both the parking manager and one of the floor managers, and they were not happy that we had not been welcomed and treated nicely. I was able to identify the jerk at the door, so I believe he'll get "a talking to" at least; the Center's policy is to check cameras and recorders, NOT tell customers to go out into 40ºF rain to put their stuff back into the car. I also pointed out that there was no warning about "security checks", which made the process seem arbitrary and mean, and they listened quite attentively. They'd tried paper signs, but those blow down or dissolve in the rain, so I suggested those plastic "sandwich board" signs that could easily be put near entrances before anyone got into the queue at the door. So yes, I acted like the manager I must be inside, but I got listened to, respected, and will probably hear from the Center in a positive (and perhaps economic) way next week. The AT&T Center management seems genuinely interested in making customers happy, and I believe that they will take steps to make things right.
Now I'm off to put on "Wizards in Winter" on the stereo and crank the volume ALL the way up!
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