A few months ago, I saw a notice that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was coming to do a show in Tallahassee. I’ve been a fan for a few years. I like bands that merge different musical styles. I’ll always mourn the passing of the rap-rock ‘fad.’ And honestly, I’m not a big fan of Christmas music. Some sort of wanna-be diva starts belting out songs and trying to make it her own, by warbling and croaning every chance she gets. Well, TSO uses some heavy rock guitars combined with a string orchestra to produce some of the coolest Christmas music ever. Needless to say, we were stoked that they were actually coming to Tallahassee.
At the time we learned of the concert we were still raising funds for the Nicaragua trip. By the time we added ticketmaster fees, tax, convenience fees, ripoff fees and the ticket itself, I estimated two tickets would be over $100. We were so far from our fundraising goal that $100 might as well have been $1000. I was bummed that we weren’t going to be able to go, but still excited about the Nicaragua trip. Besides, I’ve gotten to see some great shows and knew that there would be others in my future.
TSO during their 11/17/2008 performance in Tallahassee, Florida
Well, Sunday night my friend Jeremy’s mom called. She never calls, and Jeremy is overseas, so at first glance I thought that maybe something had happened with him. Turns out they had some free tickets they had received from work and wanted to offer two to Jamie and me. SURE! We’d be glad to have them.
We got there a little late, since Jamie had to work until 7:30pm that night, but as we were finding our seats they were starting their first song. Wow, what a show! Fire, lasers, snow, fire, more fire, it was great! Plus screaming guitars blending with cello and violin combined to make a wonderful gunk in my brain. I don’t have a better way of saying that. It was a great blend. We didn’t get home until almost 11:30 but it was worth it. But the best part about it was that I had totally written off being able to go to the show because of our lack of funds, but friends pulled through in the end. Thanks a lot, John and Anita…