Photos provided by Mark Weiss, Bob Carey and Jason McEachern

It may have been an encore of a show frequently staged by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but when “The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve – The Best Of TSO And More” Tour filled up the Fiserv Forum twice in a single day, it felt as fresh and festive as ever.

That’s because the seasonally-centric group never spares any expense when it comes to an entire city’s worth of lights, lasers, hydraulic lifts, a life-size snow globe, conceptual screens and a series of explosions to rival if not fully blow away any stadium act, and for those who’ve yet to see for themselves, luckily there are two area shows to go at the Allstate Arena on Thursday, December 28.

Thankfully, TSO’s unconventional blend of hard rock and heavy metal with just as many progressive and classical elements is similarly innovative (think Meat Loaf meets Emerson, Lake & Palmer), now attracting multiple generations since its mid-1990s beginnings.

However, “The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve” TV special and soundtrack remains a quintessential undertaking, which earned front to back treatment during the matinee after an introduction of members’ origins in Savatage via “The Hourglass,” alongside TSO’s “Mozart/Figaro” and “The Lost Christmas Eve.”

From there, the centerpiece segment alternated between signature spins on traditional tunes (“O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night,” “What Child Is This?”) and increasingly adored originals, such as “Christmas Dreams,” “Music Box Blues,” “First Snow” and “This Christmas Day.”

It also provided an early opportunity to hear “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” accompanied by a steady stream of special effects, but beyond all the technological marvels, the troupe still made sure messages of hope, healing and redemption were always at the forefront.

And that was merely the front half of the two-and-a-half-hour extravaganza as “The Best” was radically reworked from prior incarnations to include Savatage’s “Temptation Revelation” and “This Isn’t What We Meant” through “Queen Of The Winter Night,” plus a couple non-holiday notables off “Night Castle” and “Beethoven’s Last Night.”

If anything, the mixture provoked curiosity of what could come if Trans-Siberian Orchestra stepped outside its winter travels to explore a standard song cycle, though in the meantime, its ambitious musical and visual extension of the Yuletide spirit was nothing short of extraordinary.

For additional information on Trans-Siberian Orchestra, visit Trans-Siberian.com.

For a list of upcoming Live Nation concerts, visit LiveNation.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the Fiserv Forum include Travis Scott (Jan. 17); Keith Sweat (Feb. 3); Bryan Adams (Feb. 22); Blake Shelton (Feb. 24); Keyshia Cole (Mar. 2); TobyMac (Mar. 3); Sam Hunt (Mar. 15); Olivia Rodrigo (Mar. 16); Zach Bryan (Mar. 20); Fall Out Boy (Apr. 2); Dan + Shay (Apr. 4); Andrea Bocelli (Apr. 6); Nicki Minaj (Apr. 13); Tim McGraw (Apr. 19); Hogfest (May 3); NF (May 8); Greta Van Fleet (May 21) and Blink-182 (Aug. 7). For additional details, visit FiservForum.com.

Related Articles

Trans-Siberian Orchestra conjures up “The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve” for an awestruck Allstate Arena Two decades into traveling, Trans-Siberian Orchestra huger than ever Rejuvenated Trans-Siberian Orchestra wraps season, decade with dazzling display of debut Trans-Siberian Orchestra: “20 Year Anniversary” Tour at Allstate Arena Trans-Siberian Orchestra: “Still The Orchestra Plays” Tour at Allstate Arena Trans-Siberian Orchestra: “The All-New Christmas Eve And Other Stories” Tour at Allstate Arena Symphonic rockers Trans-Siberian Orchestra pass the torch during mind-blowing bonanza Colossal Christmas tunes meet hard rock originals in latest Trans-Siberian Orchestra extravaganza