# I won tickets to TSO! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832 "2010-04-21T05:07:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832/1 "2010-04-21T05:07:18Z")
I got the 20-minute Trivia question right on KZEP. And the prize: a pair of tickets to Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Beethoven’s Last Night '10”. Very cool. Always had this question in the back of my mind though: what does the group’s name mean. Is it just “a cool name for a band” sort of thing? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832/2 "2010-04-21T05:09:38Z")
Assigned seats, or general admission. And if general admission, is there a procedure where your name is on a list? 'Cause then it would General TSO Check-in. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832/3 "2010-04-21T05:55:08Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Assigned seats, or general admission. And if general admission, is there a procedure where your name is on a list? 'Cause then it would General TSO Check-in. Ow… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832/4 "2010-04-21T07:33:02Z")
TSO just doesn’t do it for me, from the bits of them I’ve seen on commercials. The transparent plastic violins (if that was really the case, it might have just been the lighting) seemed gimmicky to me, and the overall effect and sound too reminiscent of Mannheim Steamroller. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832/5 "2010-04-21T13:53:02Z")
_I_ think it’s cool, **AWB**. Report back and let us know how it goes! I’ve been to a Mannheim Steamroller concert, and was surprisingly meh about it. I still like their music, but the concert just didn’t do anything for me. However, I think a TSO concert would be outstanding. They play pretty frequently in Mpls, but I’ve never been. **Johnny** , ouch. You lose the internets forever. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832/6 "2010-05-01T13:29:48Z")
My wife ended up being very tired Friday night, so I took my daughter to the TSO. It was great! The show was an actual story (dunno whether to call it a musical or a rock opera) about Beethoven’s last night on Earth, where the Devil and Fate visit him regarding the destination of his soul. We took our leave before the potential encores would start. As various artists were being introduced, my daughter and I scooted out. Seeing a few thousand San Antonians there made me realize that traffic would be a nightmare. (Municipal Auditorium is on th edge of downtown, with only narrow street access.) Pictures from the [Trans-Siberean Orchestra in San Antonio](http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063007&l=27000849d7&id=1168490711) concert. It was cool: at the beginning, the artists said it was fine to take pics and video, as long as flashes weren’t used. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832/7 "2010-05-01T22:54:33Z")
> [@AWB](#): > > Always had this question in the back of my mind though: what does the group’s name mean. Is it just “a cool name for a band” sort of thing? The name is in tribute to the Trans-Siberian Railroad (Railway, if you insist). I won’t vouch for [this](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_trans_siberian_orchestra_get_their_name) as the origin of the name, but unless someone can cite the interview it purports to be from, it looks like the best we’re going to get. > [@TSO founder](#): > > “We had just turned in the first album and Atlantic Records was pressuring us for a name,” group co-founder Paul O’Neill says. "I got a phone call from Atlantic saying the album was going to print the following morning and that if we did not come up with a band name they were going to call it Billy and the Boingers and we would have to live with it. > "In the 1980s, I was fortunate enough to have been in Russia. If anyone has ever seen Siberia, it’s incredibly beautiful but > incredibly harsh and unforgiving. And the one thing everybody has in common there is the Trans-Siberian Railroad that moves across it in relative safety. > “Life, too, can be incredibly beautiful but also incredibly harsh > and unforgiving. Music is the one thing we all have in common that moves across it in relative safety. So we decided to call the band Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was a little philosophical but we liked the initials, TSO, and the fact that it was different. And it still sounded good in the morning.” P.S. It appears that they have two touring orchestras, one for each coast. I noted this last year when I won tickets to their Chriatmas show at the Pond in Anaheim, and went to their website to try to learn the face value. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-tickets-to-tso/536832/8 "2010-05-02T07:14:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Assigned seats, or general admission. And if general admission, is there a procedure where your name is on a list? 'Cause then it would General TSO Check-in. Oh boy… :dubious: