Christmas Diaries Day 20: TSO

Yesterday was the day: the annual Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert at The Q in Cleveland! This was my 6th year in a row, and probably Luke's 9th. It is one of the highlights of the Christmas season every year!

Last night there were 6 of us who went:

Patty and Diana (my mil and sil)
Poor Di just had surgery on her ankle and was on crutches...we did not park close, and she had to hobble all over downtown Cleveland on her crutches! Not to mention going up and down the tons of narrow steps down to our seats! I bet her arms are sore today.

JC and Laura were there (our friends from church)...not sure why the flash was so blindingly bright
And of course Luke and myselfWe ate dinner at BW3s on the way to Cleveland...our waitress was super slow! And then we hit a bunch of traffic coming into Cleveland. We were really worried that we would be late. I tried to get a picture of Tower City glowing green and red as we came into the city in the VERRRRY slow traffic. You can kinda barely see it back there

We finally got to The Q and realized we had nothing to worry about, because of course the concert didn't start on time!

Our seats were pretty close. 5th row in the bleachers, right beside the stage.
It looked like there wasn't an empty seat in the place
Once the concert started, I was completely mesmerized through the entire thing, just like always. The show was a lot different from last year, because they just released a new CD a few months ago. It's hard to describe it, so here are some pictures and videos that can do a better job of that than I can! :-)
Last year I wrote about Anna Phoebe and how she is an amazing violinist who plays with TSO. She was there again this year with her pink violin in tow. Seriously, I want to BE her, and I'm more serious than ever about really wanting to learn how to play violin!
I took lots of pictures of her, because I just think she's awesome...

And this little guy was probably the most amazing keyboardist I've ever heard. I think he must have had 2 extra secret hands :-P

And...my favorite picture of the night taken during the finale

They ended the concert by playing "Cleveland Rocks," as they always do in Cleveland. It was great! We got home WAY too late, and I've been like a zombie all day at work, but it was totally worth it! If you ever get the chance to see them perform, don't pass it up!

Tomorrow is my last day of work before Christmas, and I am more than ready to be done! I will be sooo happy at this time tomorrow!

I'll leave you with a few videos that Luke took on his iPhone last night.

Opening:

Cool Narrator & Stars:

Another Cool Song:

Amazing, right??