Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Wednesday after a full day of class, lunch, class, party, and a ton of rain, I drove out to Raleigh to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert! So exciting! I've heard a lot of really awesome things about their shows; they're super elaborate, with lights and pyrotechnics, along with awesomeness. On tour they only use a small string section, which I think takes away from the sound (normally in recording they use something like 50 musicians, while on tour it was about 10 or 12), but it's still pretty distinctively them. They play a beautiful combination of rock, metal, and classical - it's pretty fantastic.
Anyway, since it's early and I'm usually not able to come up with anything to say anyway, I shall link you to YouTube videos. Some of you may recognize TSO from this recording:
The cello opening is always one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. I honestly think it might be because the first time I ever heard this piece I was 12 or 13 years old and my music teacher was playing it for us and talking about why we were playing it at our Christmas concert. When you're 12 or 13, you don't know much about the world to start with, and at that concert one of our classmates, whose family were refugees from Bosnia, spoke.
The version from the concert is also amazing, with some very good narration at the beginning:
Other than Christmas songs, which is half the concert and of which Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24 is possibly the most famous, they played other pieces in the second half from their new album. I'm sure most of you recognize some version of this song:
And this extremely long video is the closing (which includes a reprise of Christmas Eve Sarajevo), which you'll also recognize:
One of the things I admire the most about this band and the people that see them is that not only do they pay for the venue, the lights, the pyrotechnics, the travelling, they also donate $1 of every ticket sold to a local charity. At this concert, they donated almost $14.5 thousand to the North Carolina Children's Hospital.
Now I'm all in the Christmas-y spirit! If only I could also be in the paper-writing-finishing-my-first-semester-as-a-grad-student spirit as well.
Anyway, since it's early and I'm usually not able to come up with anything to say anyway, I shall link you to YouTube videos. Some of you may recognize TSO from this recording:
Click to viewThe cello opening is always one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. I honestly think it might be because the first time I ever heard this piece I was 12 or 13 years old and my music teacher was playing it for us and talking about why we were playing it at our Christmas concert. When you're 12 or 13, you don't know much about the world to start with, and at that concert one of our classmates, whose family were refugees from Bosnia, spoke.
The version from the concert is also amazing, with some very good narration at the beginning:
Other than Christmas songs, which is half the concert and of which Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24 is possibly the most famous, they played other pieces in the second half from their new album. I'm sure most of you recognize some version of this song:
And this extremely long video is the closing (which includes a reprise of Christmas Eve Sarajevo), which you'll also recognize:
One of the things I admire the most about this band and the people that see them is that not only do they pay for the venue, the lights, the pyrotechnics, the travelling, they also donate $1 of every ticket sold to a local charity. At this concert, they donated almost $14.5 thousand to the North Carolina Children's Hospital.
Now I'm all in the Christmas-y spirit! If only I could also be in the paper-writing-finishing-my-first-semester-as-a-grad-student spirit as well.