Trans-Siberian Orchestra brings Holiday Rock Spectacular to Wachovia Center Nov 29

The “rock orchestra” known for their powerful renditions of classical Christmas and holiday songs takes over the Wachovia Center as Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) will ring in the holiday season with two shows on Saturday, November 29 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets priced at $39.50 and $50.50 will go on sale this Friday, September 12 at 10 a.m. exclusively via ComcastTIX.com, 1-800-298-4200, the Wachovia Complex Box Office, and select ACME locations. For a limited time, select tickets will be available for the 3 p.m. performance for $24.75 each when purchasing a minimum of four of more.

The band’s four CD releases, including the holiday-themed Christmas Eve & Other Stories (1996), The Christmas Attic (1998) and The Lost Christmas Eve (2004) have sold more than 5,000,000 units. TSO’s 2001 DVD release, The Ghost of Christmas Eve, has also achieved platinum status.

TSO’s 2007 Winter Tour was its most successful to date playing to over 1.2 million fans in 90+ cities, and generating revenues of nearly $45 million, which according to Billboard Magazine’s midyear touring chart put them as the #2 most attended tour. Since its first Winter Tour in 1996, TSO has been one of the concert businesses’ most successful acts, consistently rating in the Top 10 for both gross revenues and audience attendance.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra was born when Paul O’Neill - the group’s producer and lyricist, and its primary composer approached longtime friends Jon Oliva, Robert Kinkel, and Al Pitrelli to help him record the song “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24),” a holiday-inspired instrumental with a rock n’’ roll edge. The song - which combined the timeless melodies of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “Carol Of The Bells” with new, original music - was an instant radio hit, garnering airplay in diverse formats from classical to pop, and metal to adult-contemporary.

In 1996, “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” became the centerpiece of Christmas Eve and Other Stories, the group’s double-platinum debut album. It showcased the group’s unique “symphonic rock,” which fuses elements of pop, folk, Broadway, R&B, hard rock and orchestral music into a distinctive blend of original compositions and classical standards. Critics from such well-known publications as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and People championed the group’s music as one of the most ambitious and unique sounds of modern times, with Rolling Stone praising its “stately yuletide rock operas with high-concept subject matter and majestic processionals.”

After the release of 1998’s The Christmas Attic - which, along with Christmas Eve and Other Stories and 2004’s The Lost Christmas Eve, is now one of the 10 best-selling holiday records annually - the demand for live TSO performances became overwhelming. Nearly a decade later, it still is. Billboard, which praises TSO’s winter tour as a “rock extravaganza that incorporates elaborate staging, metal mixed with Christmas carols and dazzling visuals,” now calls the group “a winter staple,” and this holiday season - when the group will also perform material from its 2000 album, Beethoven’s Last Night, as well as the latest Night Castle - TSO is on pace to sell more than one million albums, and nearly as many concert tickets.

Tickets for all Wachovia Center and Wachovia Spectrum events are available exclusively through ComcastTIX at ComcastTIX.com, 1-800-298-4200, the Wachovia Complex Box Office, select ACME locations, and the Virtua Health Flyers Skate Zone at Voorhees. Join the free Wachovia Complex CyberClub and receive advance notice and special offers to future events at Comcast-Spectacor.com.

Monday, September 08, 2008