I got a lucky break yesterday while talking with Paulette Tobin, the arts editor at the Herald. 
She was not very impressed with the new Trans Siberian Orchestra CD and was talking about how much she didn’t want to cover the group’s upcoming Alerus Center performance (this Sunday at 4 p.m.). I, on the other hand, saw TSO at the Alerus a couple years ago and actually enjoyed the crazy spectacle that was their concert.
So, I’m working on lining up a ticket to the show this weekend, and will write a review of TSO for Monday’s paper. I’m a little nervous about it – honestly, I don’t particularly like the music itself, and could never imagine fully listening to a concept album about a seven year old girl who sneaks out of her grandfather’s ocean-front house in the middle of the night (seriously, that’s the beginning of their new album). But I’ll probably focus more on the stage and theatrics that go along with the show – when I went a 
couple years ago, they had all kinds of crazy lights and smoke and even a part where a violinist and a guitarist got into some serious head banging on a little platform suspended more than 30 feet above the crowd. It was nuts, and I would expect Sunday’s show to be just as mind-blowing. So even though the music would probably put me to sleep by itself, I expect to be riveted during the live show.
I had decided a couple months ago that I would never pay to see TSO, so I was trying to think of a way to get a free ticket. Luckily, that sounds like it will happen now (and writing a review of the show should be a fun challenge too). I’ll post my review once it’s written up Sunday evening, and will probably have a couple quick updates live from the Alerus Center during the show.
