Have you ever wanted to take the best parts of Christmas, heavy metal, and Dungeons & Dragons and place them in a blender?

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra not only manages to make this unlikely combination work, but their yearly Christmas themed rock opera is an awesome can’t miss experience that has been delighting audiences for nearly twenty years.

The group has a little over a dozen of their own performers at each show consisting of multiple guitarists, singers and dancers. Also included is the string orchestra which is local to each city TSO plays in.

This year the seasonal touring juggernaut made its triumphant return to Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena with “The Ghosts of Christmas Past,” which was dedicated to the group’s founder, Paul O’Neil who passed away earlier this year.

TSO is a group who truly loves to perform; giving it everything they have, it was hard to believe that this was already their second performance for the evening. The show starts out with a narrative about a young girl who coming home for Christmas. While the story itself was hard to follow, the music was not. The incredible musicianship of the guitarists make it difficult to follow anything else.

If that isn’t enough, let’s take a moment to talk about the amazing visuals. The colorful light and laser show itself is enough to give Pink Floyd a run for their money. This topped with plenty of powerful pyrotechnics and walkways that reached to the very top of the arena, you have everything you could possibly want in a rock show. What more could one expect from a band put together by some of the 80’s best hair bands?

With a nearly sold out arena and stand out performance by Kayla Reeves, who proves that women can shred a guitar just as well (or better) than any man, this is one holiday tradition that I look forward to every year.