When I first heard of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, I thought to myself - I really need to see this live.  When I heard that they were coming to Winnipeg on Emily's birthday I knew what her present would be.

After a quick dinner Emily and I set off for the concert. One of the nice things about where we live is that most of downtown is in walking distance. It would take almost as long to drive and find parking than to simply walk straight there. On our way to our seats in we saw Mark and Joey, who were literally sitting front and centre, and Jon and Heidi.

The concert was really good.  We had fourth row seats which were nice and close to the stage so we saw almost everything. Since we were so close the sound quality wasn't as good as it could be, but it was still very good.  We were also too close to see some of the lighting effects but that was okay since they had so many lights that it verged on being a bit tacky.

Their set was simply great.  From what I've read it has not changed much lately, but it has all their hits and Emily's favourite songs so it was wonderful.  They played through 'Christmas Eve and Other Stories' nearly in its entirety, followed by some selections from 'Beethoven's Last Night' and some other classical songs, finishing with a reprise of Sarajevo 12/24.  Apparently they are working on a new album but no one knows when it is to be expected.  I certainly hope they play Winnipeg again after recording their next album since I would love to go again and hear some new material.

Emily and I stayed after the concert, got autographs and then headed home for cake and homework. I ended up making a chocolate orange cake the day before with the help of Mikael (and Emily who sampled batter). I have to admit that icing the cake was a little vexing, but it was nothing that an additional batch of icing couldn't fix.