The Trans-Siberian Orchestra will return to Wheeling tonight to perform its world-renowned Beethoven's Last Night concert.

This is the second year in a row the orchestra has performed in Wheeling. Prior to last year's show, the TSO had last performed in the Friendly City back in 2003.

"When Barry Gabel and the folks at Live Nation said, 'Hey, you know, we want you guys to come back.' We said, 'Awesome, great, we would love to come back.' That means you all had a good time last year," said Al Pitrelli, TSO music director.

On Friday afternoon, NEWS9 got a look behind the scenes. After driving last night from Youngstown and only getting a few hours of sleep, the technical crew for the orchestra was setting the stage and lights.

"Between the pyro, the lasers, the video screens, the truss movement, all that stuff, it will probably be the biggest rock show in America and certainly tonight," Pitrelli said.

He said he might conduct the orchestra, but there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes that the audience knows.

"I love my job. I get to go on stage for 2½ hours every day but that's the easy part of the day's work. … The crew, they load in here about 8 a.m. The tractor trailers unload. The caterers are cooking breakfast for everybody," he said.

Pitrelli has played with musical legends like Alice Cooper and in bands like Megadeth and Asia, but he left those roles to create the TSO.

"It started out as seven or eight shows back in 1999 and here we are about 13 years later and about 200 shows a year now," he said.

As of 4:30 p.m., about 3,500 tickets had been sold for the concert. The 2 hour, 10 minute show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are still available. A portion of the proceeds from tonight's concert will benefit WTOV9's Coats For Kids campaign.