September 12, 2024 • 8 mins
The legendary holiday symphonic-metal group Trans-Siberian Orchestra is putting tickets on sale for its 2024 tour, which stops in Tampa December 15th. It includes the performance of the rock opera "The Lost Christmas Eve." TSO was founded in Tampa in 1996 by Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli. We speak with lead guitarist and music director Pitrelli about the group's legacy and this year's tour.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. Trans Siberian Orchestra
announcing dates for its twenty twenty four tour. They include
Emily Arena in Tampa and three other locations around Florida.
Tickets are going on sale Friday morning, September thirteenth, at
ten am. Lead guitarist and music director Al Petrelli has
been with Trans Siberian Orchestra since the beginning, and we're
(00:20):
honored to speak with him here on Beyond the News.
Al Petrelli, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you so much, my friend. How are you today
doing well?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
First of all, you know, we have a lot of
people who are new moving to Florida, but those of
us who have been here a while know the roots
and know the history of TSO and Sabotage and your
work with the other founders, John Oliva and the late
Paul O'Neil, and we appreciate that something special started here
in the Tampa Bay area and we hope you feel
the respect every year when you come back to play.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Absolutely, it's hometown show for us. You know, you had
said John Oleaver and Sabotage, you know that's where they're from.
Paul O'Neil and his wife and his daughter made their
home there, their family lives there, so you know, coming
back to you know, we have our recording studio down
in Tampa, our production facilities down that way. You know,
it's a hometown show that you know, every tso show
(01:11):
is awesome. And the fact that we celebrate Christmas, you know,
once or twice a day and the Arenas is spectacular.
But playing at the Emily and all the shows in
the great state of part of but of course the
Emily in particular, it's a hometown venue for us. There's
that extra energy, that extra element of excitement that just
it's such a great show and I love doing it,
(01:31):
you know, I can't wait to get there. But at
the same time, I'm trying not to rush through the
entire talk because I enjoy all the shows.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
One of the things, of course, you know, you have
such a unique niche and you know, Christmas is forever
once you've established yourself as a holiday things. It's really
something that goes on and transcends generations, and it must
be a very special feeling to perform with Trans Siberian,
you know, something that transcends you know, even all the
years that you've been in various bands over the years.
(01:59):
This is to be something special.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, it is because I was there, you know, when
it first opened its eyes almost thirty years ago. You know.
It was an early winter of nineteen ninety five when
Paul I was going to come in the studio with
him and work on this track that he had and
I remember looking at him, going, dude, let's up with
the Christmas song, you know, and he smiled and he laughed,
and he explained to me that it's actually an underscoring
for events that took place during the war in Bosnia.
(02:23):
I said, you got my attention, Now let's go. And
I remember finishing those sessions and listening to this piece
and I'm like, this is one of the most powerful
pieces of music I've ever heard. And I get it
as a soundtrack, I said, oh, you know, and he goes, listen.
I just want to make great art, you know, and
if it's a commercial success, wonderful. If doesn't matter to me,
you know, I just want the art form to speak
for itself. And I think it did and when the
(02:45):
world heard it, it changed everything in that moment. So
very very proud to be part of this, you know,
he made this was my full time job with him
from the jump. You know, everything in my career prior
to that Unbows at the time was leading me up
to the training and the education, and I needed to
be his right hand musically and his musical director. So
(03:06):
I'm very grateful to Paul O'Neil and his artistry and
his brotherhood and everything about him was awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And that's of course you're referencing Christmas Eve in Sarajevo
twelve twenty four, which is one of the one of
the tracks that is so associated with with your group.
And you what you do in terms of the size.
I mean, you've sold You're going to sell your twenty
million ticket this year and a portion of those tickets
(03:33):
goes to charity, and you're going to be hitting in
the twenty million dollar figure this year as well.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, listen again, I'm always going to go back to Paul.
You know, that's who he is or was as a man,
you know, very generous his family as well. I remember
we did our first show in nineteen ninety nine at
the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, and he was so excited
that we had sold it out, you know, and it
sold out in like minutes. It was crazy, and I
remember him saying that we're going to donate one dollar
(04:02):
from every ticket sold at that venue, which I don't know,
maybe it was three thousand people to cap on that building.
I don't recall, but I was like, dude, that's that's
just lovely. He goes, well, listen, man, it's the holidays,
and let's give back a little bit. Let's do something.
And I'm like, well, of course, why wouldn't we, you know,
it just seemed like a no brainer. Well, that was
twenty million tickets ago. And if you you know, you
look at a dollars like a dollar's not going to
(04:23):
be much, but if you stayed to the program and
you know, and with longevity and dedication and discipline to that,
it ended up to be a substantial amount of money.
And Paul and his family have made a difference in
the world. And I'm very proud of them and very
proud to be part of an organization that puts community first.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
And let's talk about this year's tour, The Lost Christmas Eve.
It's all new, your biggest to date, one hundred and
ten concerts in sixty six cities and forty eight days.
What can people expect to see and hear this year.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Well, like you said, the Lost Christmas Eve is the
story that we're going to present in its entirety, and
it's the first time we've done it in about a
dozen years. I think it's the third installment of Paul
O'Neill's Christmas Trilogy, and it really the people who love
tso happened to love this story in particular. It's a
very important story and I'm really looking forward to bringing
(05:14):
it back because again, we haven't done it in its
entirety in a long time. And the kick is is
that the technology for our department heads has grown in
the last dozen years what they're able to do production wise,
So this will be the first time in over a
decade that we're going to do it, and but our
crew is able to put together for this is going
to be overwhelmingly beautiful. I can't wait to see what
(05:34):
they got because I heard it's crazy good. You know,
I got to keep it somewhat familiar. You know, you
have the people that I refer to as our repeat offenders,
they come back a year after you, who have made
this part of the holiday tradition. Like you, we just
said you know. So I need the familiarity because I
want them to have that. But at the same time,
I want to keep them back on their heels all
night long, like, oh my god, they did that. Oh
that was such a surprise. Oh they haven't played that
(05:56):
song in twenty years, you know. So I want to
keep growing. I want to keep changing. You know, it
was imperative to Paul for us never to become complacent
and boring or just sit back and go, ah, we
killed it last year. Man, let's escape throw not gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And it's a tradition now multiple generations. You have probably
people who saw you in the nineties and around the
turn of the millennium. Now they're bringing their kids and grandkids.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
You know. It's funny because you know, I look at
the audience that I know a lot of the people
in the audience after all these decades, you know, and
they'll be you know, some some dude that I do
twenty years ago. You know, he's got his granddaughter in
his lap, like awesome, you know. And the fact did
they come to still celebrate the holidays with us. I'm
just so proud of that. I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, now your tour dates in Florida are December twelfth
at seven pm in Jacksonville and the next night, December thirteenth,
they're going to be at the MRN Bank Arena in Sunrise.
And there are two shows in Orlando Saturday the fourteenth
at two thirty and seven thirty, and then to at
Emily Arena here in Tampa Sunday the fifteenth, also two
(06:58):
thirty and seven thirty. And the tickets go on sale
officially Friday the thirteenth, which is tomorrow as we record
this at ten am at trans Siberian dot com And
as we speak, there's also a pre sale on the
website going on Thursday today and the code is on
the website. So plenty of opportunities for people to score
(07:19):
tickets to see this year's tour of Trans Siberian Orchestra.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Absolutely, and I know there's a big pile of tickets
that are going up for sale for forty nine dollars,
you know. And again Paul O'Neil, it always annoyed him
that people go to a sports event or a concert
or whatever. It shouldn't be a mortgage payment to go out,
you know, we want families to come out and celebrate
with us and not worry if it's going to break
the bank at out. So there's a lot of opportunity
and a lot of really good tickets that are affordable,
(07:46):
and there's not a bad seat in any of those
venues you just mentioned. Our production is so massive that
the last row in the back of the building becomes
the front row out of the time, So don't worry
about where you're sitting. Just get there and we'll have
a good time. I promise.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
He's Outfa Trelli. He's lead guitarist and music director and
one of the founders of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, something
that started here in the Tampa Bay area, and they're
going to be back for their tour this year, the
Lost Christmas Eve Tour. It's going to be on December
fifteenth in Tampa and tickets go on sale officially Friday morning.
(08:19):
There's a pre sale going on Thursday as we speak.
An honor to speak with you, sir, and we appreciate
you and all you've done and all your band members
have done over the years. Al Patrelli, thank you very
much for joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Just so welcome. Thanks you time sir, and I'll see
you soon. All my best of your family,
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. Trans Siberian Orchestra
announcing dates for its twenty twenty four tour. They include
Emily Arena in Tampa and three other locations around Florida.
Tickets are going on sale Friday morning, September thirteenth, at
ten am. Lead guitarist and music director Al Petrelli has
been with Trans Siberian Orchestra since the beginning, and we're
(00:20):
honored to speak with him here on Beyond the News.
Al Petrelli, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you so much, my friend. How are you today
doing well?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
First of all, you know, we have a lot of
people who are new moving to Florida, but those of
us who have been here a while know the roots
and know the history of TSO and Sabotage and your
work with the other founders, John Oliva and the late
Paul O'Neil, and we appreciate that something special started here
in the Tampa Bay area and we hope you feel
the respect every year when you come back to play.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Absolutely, it's hometown show for us. You know, you had
said John Oleaver and Sabotage, you know that's where they're from.
Paul O'Neil and his wife and his daughter made their
home there, their family lives there, so you know, coming
back to you know, we have our recording studio down
in Tampa, our production facilities down that way. You know,
it's a hometown show that you know, every tso show
(01:11):
is awesome. And the fact that we celebrate Christmas, you know,
once or twice a day and the Arenas is spectacular.
But playing at the Emily and all the shows in
the great state of part of but of course the
Emily in particular, it's a hometown venue for us. There's
that extra energy, that extra element of excitement that just
it's such a great show and I love doing it,
(01:31):
you know, I can't wait to get there. But at
the same time, I'm trying not to rush through the
entire talk because I enjoy all the shows.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
One of the things, of course, you know, you have
such a unique niche and you know, Christmas is forever
once you've established yourself as a holiday things. It's really
something that goes on and transcends generations, and it must
be a very special feeling to perform with Trans Siberian,
you know, something that transcends you know, even all the
years that you've been in various bands over the years.
(01:59):
This is to be something special.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, it is because I was there, you know, when
it first opened its eyes almost thirty years ago. You know.
It was an early winter of nineteen ninety five when
Paul I was going to come in the studio with
him and work on this track that he had and
I remember looking at him, going, dude, let's up with
the Christmas song, you know, and he smiled and he laughed,
and he explained to me that it's actually an underscoring
for events that took place during the war in Bosnia.
(02:23):
I said, you got my attention, Now let's go. And
I remember finishing those sessions and listening to this piece
and I'm like, this is one of the most powerful
pieces of music I've ever heard. And I get it
as a soundtrack, I said, oh, you know, and he goes, listen.
I just want to make great art, you know, and
if it's a commercial success, wonderful. If doesn't matter to me,
you know, I just want the art form to speak
for itself. And I think it did and when the
(02:45):
world heard it, it changed everything in that moment. So
very very proud to be part of this, you know,
he made this was my full time job with him
from the jump. You know, everything in my career prior
to that Unbows at the time was leading me up
to the training and the education, and I needed to
be his right hand musically and his musical director. So
(03:06):
I'm very grateful to Paul O'Neil and his artistry and
his brotherhood and everything about him was awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And that's of course you're referencing Christmas Eve in Sarajevo
twelve twenty four, which is one of the one of
the tracks that is so associated with with your group.
And you what you do in terms of the size.
I mean, you've sold You're going to sell your twenty
million ticket this year and a portion of those tickets
(03:33):
goes to charity, and you're going to be hitting in
the twenty million dollar figure this year as well.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, listen again, I'm always going to go back to Paul.
You know, that's who he is or was as a man,
you know, very generous his family as well. I remember
we did our first show in nineteen ninety nine at
the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, and he was so excited
that we had sold it out, you know, and it
sold out in like minutes. It was crazy, and I
remember him saying that we're going to donate one dollar
(04:02):
from every ticket sold at that venue, which I don't know,
maybe it was three thousand people to cap on that building.
I don't recall, but I was like, dude, that's that's
just lovely. He goes, well, listen, man, it's the holidays,
and let's give back a little bit. Let's do something.
And I'm like, well, of course, why wouldn't we, you know,
it just seemed like a no brainer. Well, that was
twenty million tickets ago. And if you you know, you
look at a dollars like a dollar's not going to
(04:23):
be much, but if you stayed to the program and
you know, and with longevity and dedication and discipline to that,
it ended up to be a substantial amount of money.
And Paul and his family have made a difference in
the world. And I'm very proud of them and very
proud to be part of an organization that puts community first.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
And let's talk about this year's tour, The Lost Christmas Eve.
It's all new, your biggest to date, one hundred and
ten concerts in sixty six cities and forty eight days.
What can people expect to see and hear this year.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Well, like you said, the Lost Christmas Eve is the
story that we're going to present in its entirety, and
it's the first time we've done it in about a
dozen years. I think it's the third installment of Paul
O'Neill's Christmas Trilogy, and it really the people who love
tso happened to love this story in particular. It's a
very important story and I'm really looking forward to bringing
(05:14):
it back because again, we haven't done it in its
entirety in a long time. And the kick is is
that the technology for our department heads has grown in
the last dozen years what they're able to do production wise,
So this will be the first time in over a
decade that we're going to do it, and but our
crew is able to put together for this is going
to be overwhelmingly beautiful. I can't wait to see what
(05:34):
they got because I heard it's crazy good. You know,
I got to keep it somewhat familiar. You know, you
have the people that I refer to as our repeat offenders,
they come back a year after you, who have made
this part of the holiday tradition. Like you, we just
said you know. So I need the familiarity because I
want them to have that. But at the same time,
I want to keep them back on their heels all
night long, like, oh my god, they did that. Oh
that was such a surprise. Oh they haven't played that
(05:56):
song in twenty years, you know. So I want to
keep growing. I want to keep changing. You know, it
was imperative to Paul for us never to become complacent
and boring or just sit back and go, ah, we
killed it last year. Man, let's escape throw not gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And it's a tradition now multiple generations. You have probably
people who saw you in the nineties and around the
turn of the millennium. Now they're bringing their kids and grandkids.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
You know. It's funny because you know, I look at
the audience that I know a lot of the people
in the audience after all these decades, you know, and
they'll be you know, some some dude that I do
twenty years ago. You know, he's got his granddaughter in
his lap, like awesome, you know. And the fact did
they come to still celebrate the holidays with us. I'm
just so proud of that. I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, now your tour dates in Florida are December twelfth
at seven pm in Jacksonville and the next night, December thirteenth,
they're going to be at the MRN Bank Arena in Sunrise.
And there are two shows in Orlando Saturday the fourteenth
at two thirty and seven thirty, and then to at
Emily Arena here in Tampa Sunday the fifteenth, also two
(06:58):
thirty and seven thirty. And the tickets go on sale
officially Friday the thirteenth, which is tomorrow as we record
this at ten am at trans Siberian dot com And
as we speak, there's also a pre sale on the
website going on Thursday today and the code is on
the website. So plenty of opportunities for people to score
(07:19):
tickets to see this year's tour of Trans Siberian Orchestra.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Absolutely, and I know there's a big pile of tickets
that are going up for sale for forty nine dollars,
you know. And again Paul O'Neil, it always annoyed him
that people go to a sports event or a concert
or whatever. It shouldn't be a mortgage payment to go out,
you know, we want families to come out and celebrate
with us and not worry if it's going to break
the bank at out. So there's a lot of opportunity
and a lot of really good tickets that are affordable,
(07:46):
and there's not a bad seat in any of those
venues you just mentioned. Our production is so massive that
the last row in the back of the building becomes
the front row out of the time, So don't worry
about where you're sitting. Just get there and we'll have
a good time. I promise.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
He's Outfa Trelli. He's lead guitarist and music director and
one of the founders of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, something
that started here in the Tampa Bay area, and they're
going to be back for their tour this year, the
Lost Christmas Eve Tour. It's going to be on December
fifteenth in Tampa and tickets go on sale officially Friday morning.
(08:19):
There's a pre sale going on Thursday as we speak.
An honor to speak with you, sir, and we appreciate
you and all you've done and all your band members
have done over the years. Al Patrelli, thank you very
much for joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Just so welcome. Thanks you time sir, and I'll see
you soon. All my best of your family,
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