Trans-Siberian Orchestra will be playing New Jersey

It’s a holiday tradition: the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s tour. This year it will be stopping in New Jersey on Dec. 22 for two shows at the Prudential Center in Newark.

The group burst on the scene in 1996 with their album, “Christmas Eve and Other Stories,” and this year’s tour celebrates that landmark album’s 25th anniversary.

I saw the Orchestra several years ago and it was one of the most memorable concerts I’ve ever attended. It’s a true spectacle of not only compelling music but of amazing sights, as well. Their stage show is so wonderfully choreographed with the lights and sounds that it really transports you in a way that not a lot of shows do. The light show and pyrotechnics are amazing and are perfectly synced with the music.

With moving risers and lasers complementing the virtuoso solos, it really is a sensory feast.

If you can’t make the Newark shows, they will also be playing Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 17, also for two shows.

Tickets for the Prudential Center shows (3 and 8 p.m.) are available here. You might notice that the Orchestra plays multiple cities on a given day; there are several touring companies criss-crossing the country simultaneously.

The 25th Anniversary Tour starts later this month in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and concludes on Dec. 30 in St. Louis, Missouri.

In conjunction with the tour, the group has re-released “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” as a vinyl double album, available here.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.