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Raleigh show notes
I wasn't in Raleigh but saw them in Lexington KY instead. Here are my impressions... (Keep in mind - I was in the middle of one helluva systemic allergic reaction during the show & didn't realize how close I was to anaphylaxis until the lights came up afterwards and my husband glanced over at me & basically screamed HOLY SH** because I was completely covered in big red hives from head to toe & my lips and eyes looked like balloons. Needless to say, we didn't stay for the meet & greet - we headed for the nearest ER instead. Mother Nature has a sick sense of humor to wait until I'm 54 years old and already taken 10 days of amoxicillin and THEN give me an allergy to it!!!!)

Anyway....  (Or as Rob Evan used to put "Oh yes... Where was I???")

Angel Came Down and This Christmas Day were weak. (And I normally really like Dustin B - he's a helluva performer, he's just not a good fit for those songs.)

Prince of Peace was awful - Erika has pipes but she completely mangled Prince of Peace. It was bad... Please come back, Jay Pierce!!!!!!!!! I remember when folks would give him a standing ovation in the middle of the song when he cut loose. EJ didn't even get cheers during OR afterwards...

Opening number was a strange lead into the story. It just does NOT fit.

The tesla coil-whatever-thingamajig was weird & added nothing ot the show.

Chris C wasn't as manic as in previous years. Nowhere near as much hair flinging or running from one side of the stage to the other. My husband & I both wondered if he'd been sick or maybe injured his neck or back. It was THAT noticeable to those of us who've seen TSO repeatedly.

And no one could understand was Kayla was even singing. Don't know if the mix was bad or if she was having a bad night or what but it was impossible to understand a single word. Jeff Plate kept trying to get people to light up their phones & wave but it never happened.... Folks were getting up, leaving, going to the bathroom, etc.

Overall, there just wasn't the ENERGY we've seen in previous years - from either the performers or the crowd. The crowd was DEAD - I've never seen it that way before.

A lot of folks left at half, like others have described. (I mean, there are always a few who had no frickin' clue what they were coming to but this was more than usual.)

Check was somewhere around $7500. Rupp Arena holds 23500 although a large section at the back of the arena was closed off due the lightning bolt shooting thing. I checked Ticketmaster beforehand & only a few single seats were showing available in lower arena with probably 3/4 of upper arena was full as well. However, the 2 seats next to me sat empty the entire show & I could see several empties below us on the floor as well.


We were pessimistic due to Russell Allen being absent but Robin B did a heckuva job on his songs. RB doesn't have the stage presence that RA does but he can easily handle the vocals! And when he sang Believe, he was clearly channeling Jon Oliva... his performance was sooooo much better than what we've seen on previous tours.

Caleb Johnson was a pleasant surprise - he was sick last year & missed the Lex performance so this was the 1st time we'd gotten to see/hear him. Good King Joy had us dancing in our seats (because NO ONE was standing) and grooving along to the music.

Georgia Napolitano was amazing on Promises to Keep - probably the best I've ever seen it done. (If we can't have Jay Pierce back again, I'd like to hear what she'd do on Prince of Peace.)

LOVED Zak's performance on Handful of Rain and even Old City Bar. Best tempo I've ever seen on OCB - it's normally like pulling hen's teeth but he kept it moving & entertaining.

Overall, it wasn't a BAD show. It just wasn't one of the better ones I've seen over the years but there were shining moments & hey, IT'S NOT CHRISTMAS WITHOUT TSO!!!! So I won't complain. And I'll be back next year (God willing & no more amoxicillin) and the year after that and... And definitely in spring if they ever do another BLN run or (better yet) a combined BLN/NC!!!!! 

p.s. Forgot to mention the yelling match that took place at the souvenir stand before the show. Apparently several folks had ordered t-shirts when they ordered their tickets & the shirts had not yet arrived. They claimed SOMEONE had told them to pick them up at the show. That was news to the souvenir folks (which reflects what I've seen on other TSO boards) and these people were LIVID!!! Ranting, yelling, shoving their cell phones in the worker's faces, demanding their shirts  no matter how many times the workers explained that they couldn't do that... I'm not sure how it finally resolved because they were still arguing when I bought my shirt & basically ran. Bad marketing, folks!!! And even worse customer service if that's truly what they were told without the same being conveyed to the folks running the stands.
So my thoughts on the TSO 2019 winter tour....I saw their gig at Nassau Colisuem in the 10th row and it was a great show. I felt that with the smaller screens as opposed to the ginormous jumbotron they've had in years past, I kinda got that pre-2013 TSO like when I saw them for the first time in 2012. Also I can finally say I saw all four of the alternating stories with this being the return of CEAOS. 

As much as I liked this tour, there was some caveats. Jeff Plate called this the "largest production TSO has EVER put on", lets be honest, it really wasn't. The light and laser package I will say, was very impressive and there were more flamethrower cues this time around. The icicle lights were definitley a nice touch, and the singing Tesla coil in the back was definitely a very impressive sight to behold.  however despite the very impressive light package and musical bug zappers, you can definitely tell that the production was missing something, the lack of catwalks, risers, or any sort of lifting device other than the drum riser did affect the visual aspect of the show, imho. 

In terms of setlist, we had a pretty solid setlist. Who I Am is a great opening song, but I was a bit dissapointed that they didn't do Winter Palace afterwards. CEAOS has a lot of the TSO classics we love like Mad Russian's Christmas, Sarajevo 12/24, OCAYF/OHN, and Good King Joy. However a lot of people did make the comment that CEAOS was a bit "too similar" to TGOCE, and I do agree as a lot of songs that were featured in the TGOCE story were a part of CEAOS. In terms of the second set, it was a good variety but one of the thing that annoyed me was the half songs. Doing half of The Storm, 3/4s of The Mountain, and then doing half of Wish Lizst before the RTF/Sarajevo finale. 

But all in all I think it was a great show, I hope they do CEAOS for 2020 and maybe bring back some of the missing stage stunts or change up the setlist a bit.

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