The atmosphere was electric as Trans-Siberian Orchestra took the stage in Kansas City in front of a crowd of more than 8,000 people Saturday, Dec. 26.
Of course, I expected nothing less from a group of musicians that has kept me coming back for their winter tour for years now, both for their less-than-traditional take on Christmas music and the laser and light spectacle that accompanies each performance. Yet my favorite part about these concerts has always been the story told through the lyrics of their songs and the poetic pieces between each piece. Knowing this concert promised the first-ever live performance of the orchestra’s album, The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, I was particularly excited to finally hear the story which had inspired each of the songs from the 14-year-old album. Yet, as the band reached the end of the half-hour long story and continued on with the next set in the concert Saturday night, I found myself both happy and slightly unsatisfied at the group’s performance of the story, especially after being so thoroughly impressed with the plot in the performance of The Christmas Attic at last year’s concert.
As always, the concert began with an almost musical-esque performance by the orchestra members and by storyteller Bryan Hicks. In a series of  small videos, recited poetry verses and the group’s musical pieces, the group told the story of a young girl who had run away from home many years ago. As the story went on, the girl was encouraged by memories of past Christmases and by the angelic caretaker of a run-down theatre, ultimately finding the courage by the end of the tale to return once more to her parents and her past life.
The story itself was sentimental enough, delivering a message of the love and joy felt at Christmastime that is present in all of their stories. I have always enjoyed feeling the nostalgic swell of the holiday season as the characters in each Trans-Siberian Orchestra story realize the reason for the season and find their way back to their loved ones and make amends for any past wrong-doings they may have caused.
In this story, however, much of that nostalgic feeling seemed lost on me at the beginning of the show. Whether this was from my confusion as to what was happening or the vague connections Hick’s poems made to the songs, much of the time spent telling the story seemed as a way to fill space in between each song rather than another engaging piece for the audience — unlike in past albums like The Lost Christmas Eve or The Christmas Attic.
This isn’t to say that the concert itself was a bad one — the orchestra, as always, kept the audience grinning and hollering well into the encore, and the flames, lasers and fake snow the group used made the concert as much of a visual experience as it was an auditory one. The group even made use of the extra space near the back of the Sprint Center arena with the addition of a large fire-spitting pyramid of projection panels, an element that some may have found excessive but I thought fit the group’s extravagant nature.
While the story behind The Ghosts of Christmas Eve might not have had the development and ‘wow factor’ I’ve come to expect from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the group still managed to impress me with their ability to convey the true meaning of Christmas and break any previous conventions in rock music and holiday concerts in the process. I hope the group continues to bring such a unique twist to the holidays to their performances in the future — I look forward to seeing what they have in store for next Christmas, and hope I’m able to enjoy it as much or more than I did this year’s concert.