Sweet Emotions

Each holiday season for the past decade the musical juggernaut known as The Trans Siberian Orchestra has performed their orchestral heavy holiday rock music to audiences around the country. This past weekend the group made stops at New York's Nassau Coliseum and New Jersey's Izod Arena (formerly known as The Meadowlands and now affectionately called "The Metal Lands") where they played three sold-out shows. Historically, guest musicians have made surprise appearances at these particular arenas, which have included Joan Jett, Jon Anderson (Yes) and Roger Daltrey (The Who), and this weekend was no exception when the legendary Steven Tyler of Aerosmith took the stage to close out all three shows. It was a perfect holiday treat to hear the classic songs "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion" to end the three hour, over-the-top spectacle from this entertaining group of musicians.

I was sitting in the 6th row and ran up when Steven Tyler came out and was able to take these really close shots.

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Guitar Euphoria at Roseland Tonight

Rodrigo y Gabriela are back in New York City. The guitar duo has been making waves this year with their debut instrumental album and tonight’s show at Roseland Ballroom marks their third appearance in The Big Apple. This show is particularly special because it’s one out of only four dates that they will be joined by the Alex Skolnick Trio.
 
Though you couldn’t tell by listening to their music, (they describe their style as “fusion music” with Latin harmonies and rhythms) Rodrigo y Gabriela are great lovers of thrash and metal. They played together in their own metal band before breaking off into the style that they are now well known for. In a series of spots that aired on MTV in August, the duo discuss how influential Alex Skolnick’s guitar playing has been to them, so they asked him to join them for these very special appearances.

Alex Skolnick is best known as the lead guitarist for the thrash-metal band Testament and is considered by many to be one of the best guitarists in this genre. Among his many musical projects, he fronts The Alex Skolnick Trio, who have made quite a mark in the jazz world by putting jazz arrangements to hard-rock classics. Tonight they’ll be playing songs from their three albums including the latest Last Day in Paradise.
 
Tickets for tonight’s show cost $30/$35 at the door. There's still a few tickets left at press time, but last night's show in Boston sold out.