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00:0094.7 WCSX is the most wonderful Christmas concert ever.
00:04It's the 30th anniversary of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra,
00:08the Ghost of Christmas Eve and Best of TSO and more,
00:12an all-new, brand-new show for you.
00:15And to put it bluntly, the man who has the best seat in the house,
00:21would you please welcome Jeff Plate, drummer for the TSO.
00:25How are you doing, sir?
00:26I'm doing great, man. Thanks for having me.
00:28As you can tell, I have my Lions shirt, and I hear you're a Bills fan.
00:35So I'm here in upstate New York,
00:37and we are avid Bills fans here in this household.
00:41And, hey, it's going to be a great game.
00:43I've been, honestly, I've been rooting for the Lions along the way, too.
00:48But Buffalo, you know, every year they tease us.
00:52It's like we've got to get there at some point.
00:56Well, December 23rd, you're coming before Christmas this year,
00:59which is also an added bonus, two shows at Little Caesars Arena.
01:06How excited are you to play the Motor City again?
01:09Absolutely.
01:10And, I mean, to come in there before Christmas is even more exciting.
01:13We've got to think the show has been, like, the day after
01:18or a couple days after Christmas for the past several years.
01:21So there's always an extra bit of energy in the room
01:25when we're there right before Christmas, and this is going to be awesome.
01:29Well, Jeff, you go back, and I've known you for quite a many years,
01:32back to when you guys played the Fox Theater,
01:35the Detroit Opera House, and a few other venues,
01:38even the Palace of Auburn Hills, which is no longer there now.
01:43And Little Caesars Arena, wonderful venue,
01:46and it's a much larger show now.
01:52Yeah, the show itself is, I mean, it's about as big as it can get.
01:55I know several years ago we kind of hit this threshold
02:00where the show is so big, and it's so brilliant and dynamic,
02:05but we've got to get the show packed up and get to the next city
02:08for a matination the next day.
02:12So we can't really expand too much more on what we have.
02:15But we do run into, roll into town with 20 trucks full of lighting and sound.
02:20There's production from one side of the arena to the next, front to back.
02:23This is the vision of Paul O'Neill, you know,
02:28not only creating the music, the lyrics, the stories,
02:35everything to go on sonically,
02:36but he wanted to visually just really take the audience someplace.
02:41And he developed such a magic show years ago.
02:45We lost Paul back in 2017, unfortunately,
02:49but he had surrounded himself with a really great management team,
02:54a great production team.
02:55Everybody knows the drill.
02:57So we're continuing to carry on his legacy by doing what he would do,
03:03improving the show every year, making it better every year,
03:05and this year will be no different.
03:06Yeah, when you brought up the production trucks and everything,
03:10I had never seen a concert, ever.
03:12For all the years I've went to concerts,
03:15I always check out the back alleyway and stuff where they keep all the
03:19semi-trucks full of production equipment.
03:22And it's just amazing.
03:23Your team has got to be unbelievable.
03:27So many semis and stuff that pick up, tear down, set up.
03:32Your crew is just incredible to do all this.
03:36Yeah.
03:37And as I mentioned, we are doing, you know,
03:41two shows a day, multiple days in a row,
03:43and they're all in a different city day to day.
03:46So as much as the band has its work cut out for us, you know,
03:51and this tour is a grind.
03:53We're doing a lot of shows in a short amount of time.
03:56The crew really are the stars of the show.
03:58I mean, they get that show up in time every day.
04:02There's really never a problem.
04:04There's a million moving parts in our show.
04:06But these men and women, they come back every year.
04:12They know what they're getting into.
04:13They love working together.
04:14They love being a part of this tour and the energy that's around it.
04:18And we couldn't make this happen without them.
04:20Now, being that it's the 30th anniversary,
04:23have you guys ever had a so-called spinal tap moment during your shows?
04:29Oh, God.
04:31Like, hello, Cleveland, and you're in New Jersey.
04:36I remember years ago, we had one singer,
04:39when we played in New England,
04:40he would get the casinos we were playing in mixed up.
04:45So he would always say hello to the wrong place.
04:48And then we'd go to the other place,
04:49and he would say hello to the wrong place.
04:52It was kind of like this inside bet we all had with each other.
04:55Where are we going to be tonight?
04:56What is he going to say this time?
04:58So we've had a couple of those moments,
05:00but really everything really runs pretty smooth.
05:02Here's a setup question for you.
05:04First of all, what is your all-time favorite Christmas song?
05:08It doesn't have to be with the catalog,
05:10but your all-time favorite Christmas song.
05:13Wow.
05:18That's a good question.
05:19I mean, I play a lot of them.
05:22Yeah.
05:22A lot of them have become my career and my life.
05:26Man, I don't know.
05:28You know, people always ask me, do I have a Christmas tradition?
05:30I love Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
05:32I mean, I grew up with that.
05:35That kind of brings me back to when I was a kid.
05:38Upstate New York, we had Feet of Snow.
05:40It was really kind of just a postcard scenario up here during the holidays.
05:46But, hey, man, there's a lot of them.
05:48There are so many amazing traditional Christmas songs that just, you know,
05:54they take you back in time for the most part.
05:57But that show in particular, that one really always kind of tugs at my heart every year.
06:01Now, looking forward to the shows coming to Little Caesars Arena.
06:0630 years, you've developed quite a catalog.
06:09How do you pick all those songs to put together for a show?
06:15So, every year we present a story.
06:19You know, this year is the Ghost of Christmas Eve.
06:22The song list is set for that segment of the show because that's what the story is.
06:29The beginning of the show, the intro, and then the back half of the show is where we can take
06:34some liberties
06:35and mix things up a little bit.
06:37But choosing what to do, I mean, that's kind of like a year-long process,
06:42just thinking about we want to do something different than last year.
06:46We have all of these songs to choose from.
06:49What is going to be great to open the show with?
06:53What is going to be great to play in the back half that can be a huge production number?
06:58What is a song that we haven't done in years that the audience has been asking for?
07:01You know, there's a lot of that.
07:04There's a lot of that that goes on.
07:06But we've got to keep this within a certain time frame.
07:11And you're never going to make everybody happy.
07:13But there is certainly a lot to choose from.
07:15I mean, not just the holiday-themed music, but some of the non-holiday stuff, too, that we have.
07:22Now, speaking of songs, one that brings me all the way back to when you guys played the Opera House
07:29was the song Old City Bar.
07:32Any chance of that coming back?
07:34There's always a chance.
07:36Yeah.
07:37There's always a chance.
07:38There is.
07:39That song is not a part of this particular story.
07:43But there is conversation on how to maybe condense the song and tighten it up a little bit so we
07:51can use it in the show.
07:52It's a long song, you know.
07:54It takes up a lot of space.
07:56But that is a song that a lot of people ask about.
08:00So we're putting some thought into that.
08:02Now, with your show coming to the Motor City, who is your narrator this year?
08:09That would be Brian Hicks.
08:11Brian Hicks has been with us for, God, he's been with us for close to 20 years, maybe over 20
08:18years now.
08:19And what a set of pipes, eh?
08:21Oh, my God.
08:22You know, that's what blows me away sometimes about the show.
08:27You know, we talk about how dynamic it is and how big it is and how bright it is.
08:33When Brian is talking, there is not a sound in that room.
08:38You know, there's 10,000 people out there and nobody's saying anything.
08:42Everybody is laser focused on that man.
08:44But he does a fantastic job.
08:46And, I mean, he really narrates these stories and delivers it with such passion.
08:51And that's why, hey, you know, that's a big part of what we do.
08:54It's not just the music and the bombastic part of the show or the production.
08:59But the story is really something that people have gravitated to over the years.
09:05And it really, that's the glue that holds the whole thing together.
09:08Now, with you playing drums for so many years, one question I have to ask you and stuff with the
09:14immense show, the fire, the pyrotechnics, the explosions, the fogs, the laser beams, the snow.
09:21Now, how can you play during all this going on, especially with the fire?
09:26I watch some of the pyrotechnics go off and things like, geez, is Jeff, is the hair in your arms
09:34curling up and burning it all?
09:36Or how do they protect you from all that stuff?
09:39So that is a big part of our rehearsals is all of that.
09:46Obviously, the pyro, there's nothing to take lightly.
09:50It can be very dangerous.
09:52We have a very professional team that sets up the pyro, that runs the pyro.
09:57We have spotters on each side of the stage at all times.
10:00When we're in rehearsals, trust me, I mean, you know, we do these pyro hits and across the board, everybody
10:07is asked the question, how does that feel?
10:09Is it too hot?
10:10Is it too close?
10:11Is it because obviously I have a job to do, and if I'm up there scared to death, I'm going
10:17to get burned up every time.
10:19That's not going to work very well.
10:20But we've really never had an incident.
10:24Like I said, we have some great people that operate this stuff and keep an eye on things.
10:28But to answer your first part of the question, where I sit, so much of the production is above me
10:36and behind me.
10:37I don't see a lot of it.
10:39Okay.
10:40I know it's happening, but trust me, there are some times when the lasers are going off and the lights
10:47are flashing, I literally almost have to just close my eyes because it is overwhelming at times.
10:54It's really cool.
10:55And here again, this is something that you mentioned I have the best seat in the house, watching the audience.
11:01You know, some of these production hits, just the look on their faces, the expression, the, you know, and just
11:10the sheer joy that a lot of people have when they're watching what we're doing.
11:12It makes it all worthwhile for me.
11:14And also, since it's 2026 and not the 80s, you don't have to worry about your hair primping with Aquanet
11:21Concrete No. 4 and being flammable right on stage.
11:28We have to worry about our hair for other reasons at this age.
11:31So that's a whole other thing.
11:33Well, one big part of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra that many people know, for those of you who don't know,
11:40is the charitable side.
11:41And with that, at least $1 of every ticket benefits a local charity.
11:47You guys have raised over $20 million all across cities in North America.
11:54That's got to make you feel great.
11:56Yeah, it's awesome.
11:57It's awesome.
11:58Paul O'Neill instituted this from the very first ticket that we sold in 1999.
12:04And, you know, for him, it was just a way for us to say thank you to the towns and
12:09communities that we were playing in for allowing us to do what we do.
12:13But also, too, to help out some people during this time of year that really need some help.
12:17And the cool part of it, too, is everybody in the audience is involved in this.
12:22Everybody in the audience is helping somebody in their community.
12:24So, yeah, it started out at $1, and now it's built to over $20 million.
12:30And you think about all the people we've helped, all the charities that we've helped along the way.
12:36It's something that we're very, very proud of.
12:38And that number just keeps growing every year.
12:40And, hey, you know, like I said, it was a simple gesture at first, but now it's really going into
12:45something that's really important.
12:46And, you know, we're very, very proud of it.
12:49I know personally, I believe Gilda's Club here in Michigan, as well as our own Salvation Army and many other
12:55charities.
12:55So we thank you from all of us here in the Motor City.
12:59Now, one thing, how did TSO ever become TSO?
13:05Because I remember your days in Sabotage.
13:07I used to see you at the Royal Oak Music Theater back in the day, going way back when you
13:13joined the band.
13:14But how did TSO, was it just an idea?
13:17You guys were sitting around the holidays and all sort of, hey, I got this great idea.
13:22How did it start?
13:24So this is really the vision of Paul O'Neill.
13:28So Paul O'Neill began working with Sabotage in 1986.
13:33He became, you know, he started out as the producer, but then basically became the songwriting partner with John and
13:40Chris Oliva.
13:41The manager, so to speak, he became the lyricist.
13:45You can hear hints of TSO on those records.
13:51Yeah.
13:51The ballet, Streets, Edge of Norwich.
13:53You hear, Handful of Rain is when I joined the band in 1994.
13:58Correct.
13:58You hear hints of TSO throughout all that music.
14:03Christmas Eve's Sarajevo 1224 was a song that Paul had had in his mind for years.
14:10And he found a place for it on the Dead, Winner, Dead record that he did.
14:15That was about the war that was going on in Bosnia at the time.
14:18Correct.
14:19The Trans-Siberian Orchestra idea was in Paul's mind for years prior as he wanted to create this supergroup.
14:28Multi-instrumentalists, multi-vocalists, multiple characters, a story, a production, all of the above.
14:35That song took off in a completely different direction than Sabotage when that album was released.
14:42And that song became the vehicle for Paul to create the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
14:47So, when we went into the studio, and thankfully, Paul took all of us Sabotage guys and said,
14:55Hey, we're going to go in the studio and we're going to do this Christmas record.
14:59It's going to be called the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
15:01And, you know, at the time, we were all kind of scratching our heads as to, you know, the direction
15:07this was going.
15:08And it wasn't Sabotage.
15:09It was something different.
15:10But we were all still involved in there.
15:12A lot of the similar, a lot of the same people were involved in the writing and everything.
15:17So, Paul, you know, he wrote Christmas Eve and other stories.
15:21That also became a hit right out of the gate.
15:24So, 1996 was the birth of TSO, the release of our first record.
15:31And it really established the group as a success right out of the gate.
15:35And here again is the vision of Paul.
15:38You know, his stories, his music, his lyrics, his energy made this all happen.
15:45And myself and a couple others included have been here from the very beginning.
15:52And there was more questions than answers when we first started doing this.
15:56Trust me.
15:56We didn't really know where this was going to go.
15:58But we knew after the second album, after The Christmas Attic was released, that there was something musically that Paul
16:05was really on to here.
16:06I mean, people were loving this.
16:08And it became this holiday sensation.
16:12And once we got on the road in 1999 and put this in front of people live, that's where the
16:17whole thing really took off.
16:18So, it's just, I reflect back, I mean, 30 years ago, standing in the studio going, wow, this is great,
16:25but what are we doing?
16:27You know, it's kind of strange to where we are now.
16:30And I know exactly what Paul was doing.
16:33He was doing what he believed in.
16:35He had this music, these stories, these songs in his mind.
16:41He was able to record them.
16:43And it's just become a holiday tradition across North America.
16:46So, we're all very, very fortunate to be involved in this.
16:50But, like I said, a few of us, like myself, have been here from the very, very beginning.
16:54And it's been a great ride.
16:56It's been awesome.
16:57Well, I heard a bell in the background.
16:59That probably means my time is up or your French fries are up in your kitchen.
17:07December 23rd.
17:08I think it's the fries.
17:08I've got to check on it before they burn it.
17:10Two shows at Little Caesars Arena, December 23rd.
17:13Jeff, I look forward to seeing you live in concert.
17:16You get 97 concerts, 56 cities in just 42 days.
17:21That is amazing.
17:23And don't forget, you folks out there can win the tickets on WCSX.com live,
17:29as well as our website at WCSX.com.
17:31Get your tickets, TSOTickets.com, TransSiberian.com.
17:36Jeff Plait, thank you so much.
17:38And we look forward to seeing you on tour.
17:41Thanks for having me.
17:42Good talking to you.
17:42Good talking to you.
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