My father-in-law and I went to another great Trans Siberian Orchestra concert on November 17, 2007. This was our second TSO concert and it was just as awesome as the first one.

I see a lot of people hitting my blog in search for “How long is a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert”, so I’ve decided to break it down here for you as to how long the concert actually is, and what happens during this time.

I don’t remember how long the first concert was because I was in awe the whole time. However, since the second concert is still fresh in my mind, I’ll describe it here. Click on the image to the left to see the seating chart and the location where we sat. You’ll see a red dot on section 23 that depicts where we sat.

The show started off with the same theme as the concert we had seen back in 2005, The Lost Christmas Eve. I was pleased with this because I really wanted to see this again. This part lasted about one hour and fifteen minutes. This part of the concert is more of a production, like a hard-rock musical without anybody playing parts. They have a narrator who sets the mood for the songs they sing and then different singers come out and sing songs throughout the concert. Sort of hard to describe but that’s about as good as I can get. One really neat part was that they had snow machines that blew out “snow” on everybody.

The second part of the show lasted about one hour and ten minutes. This was more of a jam-like part of the show. Despite where we were sitting, we had the opportunity to see some of the band members up close. In the back of the arena, behind the sound booth, they sat up a platform where Jennifer Cella and Danielle Landherr came to sing part of a song. We were sitting right in front of them which was pretty neat. Later, Chris Caffery and another guitarist (can’t remember his name, and I don’t see him on the website) came back to the same area and got on a riser that lifted them up while they played. This platform also had some pyro on it that shot some pretty big flames that we could feel the heat from. It’s worth noting that the second part of the show seemed to be quite a bit louder than the first part. My father-in-law and I both agreed on that.

Overall the concert lasted for about 2 hours and 25 minutes. The band and all the singers made themselves available after the show for a meet and greet session (for free). My father-in-law and I went to the floor immediately after the show and talked to one of the sound guys who was nice enough to tells about the desk (or board) and the in-ear monitors they use. The guy got pretty technical on us, but we knew enough to understand that he was talking about some heavyweight equipment. My father-in-law and I went to the meet/greet area and saw a super-long line so we decided to just stand there and check the band out as they got off the elevator (we were standing about 15 feet from the elevator). The band members seemed nice and they signed items and talked to people as the moved through the line. I took some pics with my cell phone but they’re terrible, so I doubt I’ll post them.

Anyway, the show was well worth the $42.50. If you’re considering seeing a TSO concert, do it! You’ll go back to see them every year after that.

I have bad self esteem when it comes to my walk with Jesus because I feel so unworthy of Him. I’ve been trying to listen more intently when God speaks to me, but I’m really bad about shrugging things off because I usually think “well, God wouldn’t ask ‘me’ to do something like that. I’m a terrible Christian, so He should probably get somebody more spiritually mature to do that.” I usually end up listening to this logic, and end up doing NOTHING for God. This cycle of faulty logic finally came to an end on Christmas Eve 2006. So here’s the story…

Jessica has been getting on me lately about singing in church. I’ve always promised her that I’d do it sometime, but I never got around to it. That all changed when she found a song called “While You Were Sleeping” by Casting Crowns. I loved the song the first time I heard it, and so I learned it (which turned out to be my undoing as far as singing in church goes). Jessica insisted that I sing it on Christmas Eve at the candlelight service. I half-heartedly told her I would do it, but I figured I could find some way out of it. But I didn’t…

I was extremely nervous, and everybody kept telling me to just sing it for God, and not to worry about the people there, which is good advice, but easier said than done. However, our worship leader, Jim Farmer, gave me some sound advice about imagining everybody in their underwear, and that lightened things up for me. When my time came, I got up there (while a video was playing) and said a quick private prayer (one of many I prayed that day) and asked God to please not let the attention be on me, but let all the attention be on Him. I was fortunate to have Elaine Hutchison, an absolutely wonderful musician and person, up there with me and she did an awesome job accompanying me on the keyboard. The time came, and I sang the song. I’ve never felt such relief as I did after that song was over. I felt like God might have been pleased with me for obeying Him, and that’s a rare feeling for me.

I don’t feel like I did a great job on the song (I’m not a singer, I’m a guitar player), but I feel like this was something God has been wanting me to do for Him for a long time. I want to do whatever God wants me to do. I don’t want to deny Him of anything I can do for Him. Even if it seems strange to me that He would want me to do something that seems out of character for me, I should do it anyway, and without even thinking twice about it. I pray that I’ll reach that point in my walk with Jesus where I’ll just do things for Him without even thinking about it.

I wish my mom could have been there to see me sing. She always wanted me to sing, but I usually shrugged her requests off, too. It’s times like this where I wish I could go back in time and sing for her every time she asked me to, but it’s impossible now. However, when I look back, there is something to be learned from denying my mother’s requests… That is, I should strive to never reach a point in my life where I’ll wish I could go back and do the things God asked me to do throughout my life.

Psalms 104:33 - I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

I’ve been torturing myself about musical equipment lately. There are soooo many things I want to get, but I have to save in order to get things (I refuse to go in debt for musical equipment, or anything else for that matter). So I’ve been thinking about getting a part-time job in order to get this stuff. In the meantime, I thought I’d post the list of items I want right now. This list is order of how badly I want them.

Ibanez Jem (Bad Horsie). I’ve wanted a Jem for about 16-17 years now, but I settled for an RG550 back in 1990. I was fresh out of high-school, so I couldn’t really afford to buy a nearly $2000 guitar back then. However, it’s been on my mind since then. I think my RG plays better than any guitar I’ve ever played, but I still want the Jem. I can’t really describe to anyone how much I want this guitar. I’ve been tempted to just go get some EVO pickups and put them in my RG, but that’s just not the same. I have had the honor of playing a Jem recently as a friend of mine has a Jem (the white one, like Vai actually plays) and I just haven’t been able to get the guitar out of my mind. I think playing Terry’s Jem has made me want one even more than ever before. Price: $2,329.95

I seem to be saying this way too much these days, but I’m not really a true bass player. I’m a lead guitarist that happens to be playing bass for a band in need. However, I still want to play through top-notch equipment when I’m playing. I’m currently playing through a small Peavey Minx 110 at home (for practice) and through a Hartke 4×10 cabinet with a Behringer head. Actually, I haven’t tried the Behringer head, yet, but I will soon. This Ampeg bass rig seems awfully nice to me. The only thing I see that looks better to me than this is the Ampeg SVT series. I don’t need anything that nice, but this rig (pictured) is the B2RE head, with the B410HLF 4×10 cabinet. I’ve been drawn to it since I saw it in my Musician’s Friend catalog. Price: $1,079.99.

The Korg Triton has left an impression on me since the first time I’ve played one. I personally like weighted keys, so I insist on having them. I was very close to getting a Triton for Christmas a few years ago, but some things fell through and it didn’t happen. I still get an overwhelming feeliing of disappointment whenever I think about how close I was to getting this awesome keyboard. Anyone who hasn’t heard one of these machines should just pay attention to nearly every band they see playing anywhere. I’ve seen them everywhere. The keyboardist in our band (27 South) has one, and it’s so nice. I played it again when Gerald brought his to one of our gigs, and I’ve been wanting one again ever since. Price: $2299.99.

The Taylor T5 is the most incredible guitar I’ve ever played. My father-in-law decided to get one of these guitars a few months ago, and I thought he was making a big mistake. But I soon changed my mind after I played it. This guitar can do any style of music. It can sound like any guitar you want it to be. I first played it through an acoustic amp, and it sounded awesome. The action on the neck was so fast that I was able to shred on it while it was plugged into the acoustic amp. Then the guy said, you should hear it in with distortion. I thought the guy was crazy, but then we plugged it into an amp with distortion and this thing wailed. This guitar is so incredible that I’ve actually had dreams about it. (Well, I’ve had dreams about the Jem, too, but anyway…). Anyone interested in getting a versatile guitar that could easily replace many other guitars, check out the T5. Price: $2899.99.

So as you can see, my taste isn’t cheap. I definitely need a part-time job in order to get all this stuff. Maybe I’ll start in on it when the Super Wal-Mart opens here in town. Until then, I can dream…

Richard Burmer, one of my favorite musicians of all time, has passed away. I’m late in posting this information, but it’s really taken me a while to actually decide what I want to say about this incredible musician, and what his music means to me. I’m still in a little shock over this, kind of like I was a few years ago when I heard Michael Hedges had died in a car wreck. The deaths of both Richard Burmer, and Michael Hedges have stunned me, even though I never knew either of them personally.

I first heard Richard Burmer’s music on “Musical Starstreams” back in the late 80’s. I remember being immediately drawn to his music as though the songs spoke to me with no words necessary. I didn’t buy any of his music until a few years later. I was looking for “On The Third Extreme”, but I could only find “Invention”, so I bought “Invention” while feeling a little disappointment in not getting what I had been looking for. Wow, was I surprised!

The songs on “Invention” became a sort of soundtrack to my life. I remember reading the liner notes for each song, and just being amazed at how Richard was looking at the world and perhaps putting some sort of “soundtrack” to it as he went along. I can still remember the first time I heard “This Picture Will Never Fade”. I heard that piano at the end playing a simple little melody over a couple of chords. It was so simple, yet it spoke to me. I remember thinking it was one of the most beautiful songs I’d ever heard, instrumental or otherwise. I also memorized the liner notes for each song so I could put myself in the mindset that Richard was describing while I was listening to his music. (Yes, I was a BIG fan).

I ended up buying all of Richard’s music on tape, and then eventually tried to buy all of them on CD. I special-ordered the tapes, but I’ve yet to get all of them on CD. I don’t even have a tape player anymore, so I can’t really listen to some of the older stuff I have. I currently have “Mosaic”, “On The Third Extreme”, “Invention”, and “Treasures Of The Saints” on CD. I’ll have to look around on the web to see if I can find the ones I don’t have.

I guess what I really would like to say about Richard Burmer is that I would have loved to have talked to him to tell him how much I enjoyed his music. I did sign his guestbook months before his death, but I have no idea if he would have read that or not. I wish the best for his family, and for the other Burmer fans out there who will miss his musicianship as much as I will.

If this is real, he has the most awesome Christmas lights I’ve ever seen (well, on video anyway). He actually synched up his lights to the TSO song “Wizards in Winter”. Check out this page and be amazed. The guy even posted instructions on how to do this amazing light show. (However, at $10k, I think I’ll pass).

I just realized that this guy supposedly only lives 110 miles from me, so maybe I’ll take a trip to see if this is actually real. I’ve watched this several times and I’m beginning to believe that it’s a series of still photos put together to make it look like video. The streetlight kinda looks suspect, and the ground seems to jump around a little. Also, the camera is apparently on a tripod, so how did they get such great sound-quality from outside like that?

I’ve been playing guitar for 21 years now, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to be: a guitar player. I mean, I spent an incredible amount of time learning how to play like Ace Frehley, Joe Satriani, Vinnie Moore, Vai, Petrucci, and others. When I was in high school I used to get up and practice before I went to school in the mornings, and then I’d practice when I got home from work at night. I was obsessed, to say the least. So how did I ever end up playing bass in a standard rock ‘n roll band after all these years of playing metal lead guitar?

It’s simple…I just want to have fun and not stress out about playing a solo note-for-note. That doesn’t mean that I’m a slacker when it comes to playing bass, it just means that I want to play music without being “in the spotlight”. I’m taking this very seriously as far as my playing, but the most important thing to me is having fun. We have a couple of great guitarists, an awesome singer, an extremely talented keyboard/backup singer, and a drummer who blows me away with his talent. I’m having all kinds of fun playing music that I normally would have never played.

As for my bass-playing skills, I refuse to be a bassist that keeps thumping the root note for every chord. That bores me. I listen to every song and try to play the bass line as closely as possible to the original (which usually isn’t very hard with the music we’re playing) and if the song has a boring bass line, I try to come up with something better. I haven’t had any complaints so far. =)

Now the backup singing is pretty interesting. I’ve never been a singer of any kind in any band before, and I’ve always thought it was something I’d never do. However, it’s been fun singing harmony, and I’m glad they talked me into it. Lately I’ve been asked to sing lead on some songs to give the singer a break, and I’m not sure how that’ll go, but we’ll see. I’m not opposed to doing it, it’s just that I don’t consider myself a singer (I’m a guitarist, remember?).

So I must say, it has been very rewarding to play bass for this band. Although it felt strange at first, I’m very comfortable with it now. There are times when we’re finished practicing where I’ve been watching them play guitar the whole time, and I can’t stand it any longer and I end up picking up one of their guitars and start playing. I really enjoy playing bass, it’s fun! But sometimes I miss executing those guitar solo’s.

My father-in-law (Rick) called me up on Friday and asked me if I wanted to go see the Trans Siberian Orchestra in Rupp Arena. I had never heard of any such group, and was kind of thrown by the name, but I decided to go with him anyway. I thought it would be some New Age type concert (I like New Age music, but I can’t imagine going to a New Age concert) so I wasn’t expecting much.

I was extremely surpised by their sound. It was like listening to Metal mixed in with some neo-classical sounds. The two guitarists, Chris Caffery, and Alex Skolnick, were freakin’ awesome! I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had heard these two play before in their other bands (Chris with Savatage, and Alex with Testament). These guys can shred!

Chris played a Jackson RR1 USA Randy Rhoads Guitar quite a bit, but he and Alex both played Les Pauls. I’ve been wanting a Les Paul for a year or so now, but I have never wanted one as badly as when I left that concert. Man, those guitars have some heavy rhythm tones, and an unbelievable lead tone. I had a Les Paul Studio model back when I first started playing guitar, but I got rid of it and bought the Ibanez RG550. Some people would think I’m crazy for doing that, but I’m not sorry that I did it. I still say the Ibanez is the best guitar I’ve ever played, and I feel honored to own it. Anyway, that Les Paul tone just captivated me.

I ran upon an old cassette that a friend of mine had made back in the 4-track days, and he played his Les Paul Standard on every song. It sounds soooo heavy on there. Then you have me and my Ibanez playing a solo on top of it, and it came together rather well. The bottom line is…I want a Les Paul again. I don’t know how I’ll ever manage to get one, but somehow I MUST HAVE A LES PAUL!

Now that I’ve rambled on about the Paul for a while, I’ll get back to my original subject, the Trans Siberian Orchestra. If you ever get a chance to see them play, definitely go see them. It was absolutely awesome. I’m definitely going to see them again next year. It got me so fired up that I had to come home and do some shredding of my own. But those Les Pauls…..*sigh*

After 15 years of playing my Ibanez RG550 (the best guitar I’ve ever played), I’ve decided to buy a guitar that’s more suitable for styles other than Metal. I played this Epiphone Dot Archtop at Willis Music Co. on Monday and had to have it. It plays very similar to my father-in-law’s Schecter, which I’ve played several times. As a matter of fact, it’s his Schecter that made me realize that I needed a guitar like that.

As I’ve said before, the Ibanez is awesome. However, when you try to get a more subtle tone out of it, it sounds too thin. I guess what I’m trying to say is the Ibanez suffers with clean tones and open chords. I’ve been playing at church lately, and my father-in-law let me play his Schecter on those occasions and it definitely has a better clean sound. The Schecter is also a semi-hollow-body guitar, which would account for the similar sound of the Epiphone Dot.

I’ve posted this pic over to the left of this blog post to show what it looks like. It should be here by this weekend (I hope).