It appears that in order to make groundbreaking sales, one should have a clone, or double according to “holiday” rockers Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO). We’re not stating this is a bad thing either, just a smart business transaction. For those that barely listen to TSO aside from the holiday season, they are a project founded by producer/composer/lyricist Paul O’Neill back in the mid-nineties from the skeleton of Savatage. Twenty years later, they have become one of the most popular, multi-platinum progressive groups out there and recently brought the 2001 video, The Ghosts of Christmas Eve to life on stage for another round in 2016. Just before hitting the road, TSO released The Ghosts of Christmas Eve on CD, vinyl and what-have-you digital platform, which reached Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart at #6. Yes, a holiday album made it to the top of the charts for rock music.
TSO’s winter tour spanned 45 days that kicked off on November 17 and concluded after 105 shows on December 31. The holidays are known to be magical, and TSO’s trick was to create two separate touring units that resulted in making ground breaking sales. By the end of the tour, TSO sold the most tickets in their twenty plus year career with 927,000 tickets, grossing over $56.9 million. You can buy three of Kirk Hammett’s houses with this change and have plenty left over. The tour ranked to #11 on Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 100 Tours chart and #16 on the Top 200 North American Tours chart. That’d be impressive even if they’d been touring for a full year, but to make all that money in a month and a half is very impressive.
Over the span of TSO’s career, they performed over 1,800 shows and grossed over $625 million. Back in 2009, Billboard placed them at #25 on their Top Touring Artists of the Decade chart. I’m sure they will be at the single digits on their next list. While succeeding to pull off two full bands with a handful of lead singers, who knows how many TSO “bands” will be part of their next tour and making 30 or even 15 day intervals.
[Via Metal Sucks]
