Some people start to decorate for the winter holidays as soon as they've finished handing out Halloween candy. Others wait until the last leftover from Thanksgiving dinner has been put into the fridge. And if you follow the same calendar as most big-box stores, the holiday lights come out right after you take first-day-of-school pictures.
For guitarist Al Pitrelli and the rest of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, there's no singlar most wonderful time — instead the holiday spirit lasts year-round.
The rock orchestra, formed by Paul O'Neill in 1996, has become known for criss-crossing the country in the fall and winter with its extravagant, live Christmas rock shows, which include pyrotechnics, lasers, light shows and extensive string sections. Those unfamiliar with Trans-Siberian Orchestra shouldn't expect lightweight "Jingle Bells" sing-a-longs — the band leans heavily on progressive metal electric guitar wizardry and lots of propulsive drumming to invigorate both holiday classics and winter-themed originals. In other words, yes, you may find yourself headbanging to "Carol of the Bells" at a TSO show. And save for a week or two of rest in January, Pitrelli says that he, the TSO's management team, and the family of the late O'Neill start planning the next tour almost as soon as the prior year's outings conclude.
TSO shreds its way to Spokane Arena on Black Friday with its latest touring production, "The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO and More."
Growing up in a nonmusical family, Pitrelli often felt like the odd one out.
"My parents could barely play the radio," he jokes.
Still, there was always music in the house, as Pitrelli and his family listened to Motown, Frank Sinatra, big bands of the '40s and anything that played on the car radio. But it was while watching the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show that Pitrelli, then only 2 years old, realized he wanted to do more than just listen to music.
"I don't really have any recollection of the thing, but my mom will tell you the story, just being transfixed to the TV and grabbing my granddaddy's beater guitar that was in the corner by the fireplace and (trying) to make believe like I was a Beatle... I don't know what it was, but boy, did they wake up a sleeping dragon."
Fast forward to 1995 when O'Neill asked Pitrelli — who had by then played with the likes of Alice Cooper, Dee Snider and Asia — if he would help with a new project. Pitrelli remembers his reaction like it was yesterday.
"I walked in the studio, and he put the faders up on what was to become 'Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24).' The last thing I was expecting him to play for me was a Christmas song," Pirelli says. "He goes, 'It's more of a soundtrack depicting the events that took place on Christmas Eve during the war in Sarajevo.' Now you got my attention."
The song went on to be featured on Savatage's Dead Winter Dead, a rock opera set during the Bosnian War. Shortly after its release, "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" began to sneak up the charts and started its reign as a holiday staple.
"When talk radio is playing your song or sports radio stops and plays your song, you know you're onto something really important," Pitrelli said. "That was the lightning strike."
O'Neill decided to expand upon the story told in "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" and asked Pitrelli if he wanted to help. In the winter of 1996, O'Neill, Pitrelli, Bob Kinkel and Jon Oliva began writing in O'Neill's apartment, throwing riffs and musical segments around, trying to fit the story O'Neill had in his head.
"He knew exactly what he needed, where he was going to place it, how he was going to bring these characters to life," Pitrelli said. "And it worked, to say the least."
Trans-Siberian Orchestra's debut album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories, would go on to sell more than 3 million copies in the U.S. alone. The group crafted a hit Christmas trilogy with the follow-ups The Christmas Attic and The Lost Christmas Eve, before most recently releasing Letters from the Labyrinth in 2015.
On its current tour, TSO is highlighting The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, a 1999 made-for-television film that featured songs like "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)," "Christmas Canon" and "This Christmas Day."
"Those songs are going to be played because they're telling the tale," Pitrelli says. "Then you got songs that you know that if we don't play, we'll get beat up. Those fall under the heading of the 'Best of' because people just love those songs... Then we get to dig through the rest of the catalog and say 'Hey, we've never played this song. We haven't done this song in 20 years. Or let's do a cool arrangement.' It really is a fun process. It just takes a long time to fill in all the blanks."
After nearly 30 years with TSO, Pitrelli says it's more fun to perform now than it was in the band's early days because he's gotten to grow older with the show. He recognizes fans who come year after year, whom he lovingly calls "repeat offenders," and is excited when they bring their children and grandchildren to concerts.
"I remember recording these songs, helping Paul arrange these songs, writing some of these songs with Paul. And knowing people still enjoy that? Yeah, I'll never get tired of it. I'll never get bored," Pitrelli says. "I'm happy to say that too because again, hitting the other side of 60 now, part of it's also, 'Dude, you're still doing this at this age at the top of the food chain and people love it. They love something that I was there when it was created. That's what makes it so special every day."
Though TSO is at the top of the Christmas music food chain, Pitrelli said the band will never rest on its laurels and go through the motions on stage. Instead, he said he feels a deep sense of responsibility to make each concert better than the last.
"What would break my heart is talking to one of those folks who come back year after year and them saying 'You know, last year was better.'" Pitrelli says. "That will never happen on my watch... I always compare it to whoever won the Super Bowl last year. 'Congratulations. What an accomplishment.' Once you hit the practice field again, you've got to rebuild from the ground up. There's no guarantee you're gonna do that again next year. And that's how we approach the same thing: back to the nuts and bolts of it. Let's rebuild it and see what we can make better." ♦
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve • Fri, Nov. 24 at 7 pm • $39-$110 • All ages • Spokane Arena • 720 W. Mallon Ave. • spokanearena.com
