Now, for a taste of some music

During one of our meals on Christmas Day, my father-in-law muttered, "I'm sick of eating." We were startled by the comment, but then we nodded our heads in agreement.

I'm sick of eating. I'm sick of cooking. I'm sick of my pants being tight from all of the eating. And I'm sick of writing about cooking and eating. I have about five recipes I could catch up on, but is anyone really interested in making fudge and dipped pretzels at this time of year?

So, for today, I'm going to write about something different -- music. Specifically the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert I went to at the Blue Cross Arena tonight. I won two free tickets from WARM 101.3.

The concert was sold out, so I had pretty high expectations for the concert. And for the first half of the concert, I wondered what the heck the attraction was.

They performed a Christmas "rock opera," narrated by a guy whose voice was both melodramatic and monotonous. The story was something about an angel flying over the world and and a guy in a bar and a little girl. I tried, but I couldn't follow the thing. The music was deadly serious and it all sounded the same. Even ballads accompanied with just an acoustic guitar were almost screamed. Every now and then they'd rock out a traditional Christmas carol, which was a little relief from the boredom. There were lights and lasers, but they kept shining the lights right at the audience, and I closed my eyes from the glare. With my eyes closed and my complete lack of interest in the concert, I actually felt my head bob at one point.

I tried to amuse myself by reminiscing about the good concerts I had seen in that arena. Paul Simon on his Gracelands tour -- happy music that I still listen to on road trips. Bruce Springsteen -- a fun, energetic concert, even though I was grossed out by him shaking his sweat on the people dancing in front of the stage. (I don't care if you're "The Boss." I wouldn't want you shaking your sweat on me.) James Taylor, on an early date with Tom -- James didn't need lights and lasers to hold our attention.

Then a long-haired dude from the TSO came out and introduced the band, and I figured my misery was over. Then he said something about the "first half" of the concert, and I half muttered, half moaned, "first half???"

But I'm glad we stayed, because that was when the concert really started. They played rocked-out versions of a lot of familiar classical pieces -- Beethoven's Fifth, Pachelbel's Canon in D, and so on. The music was energetic and interesting, and the lights, lasers and pyrotechnics really added to the experience. My only quibble with the second half was that I could have done with a little less of blonde women in go-go boots swinging their hair around, but I'm guessing I'm not the kind of person that would appeal to.

The guy announced that the TSO sticks around after their concerts, so you can hang out and talk to the band. I asked Tom if he thought I should tell the guy to lose the whole Christmas story and stick to rocking out the classics. Tom didn't think he'd take kindly to the criticism, so we went home.

So I'd advise you -- if you have a chance to go to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert, go. Just don't go at Christmas time.

Back to food tomorrow...