Jeff Plate started one of the most grueling schedules in the concert industry last night.

Before the year is over, the drummer will play about 50 shows in nearly 30 cities as part of one of two Trans-Siberian Orchestra units touring the U.S. during the holiday season.

“Luckily, I inherited some very good genes from my parents,” Plate said last week during a break from TSO rehearsals. “I was designed to withstand this. I’m not a spring chicken anymore. I have to be on top of what I eat, what I do. For the drumming aspect, we’ve started rehearsals and I’m playing harder and bigger. Once we get on stage, the adrenaline kicks in and everything becomes more epic.

“I know what our tour is. I know how I need to pace myself. One aspect that really helps is the story part of the show, and there are a number of slower songs. There’s always a little break here and there for me to catch my breath, but nonetheless, doing eight shows in five days, when I wake up Monday morning after that run, I feel it.”

Trans-Siberian Orchestra returns to Youngstown for the first time since 2019 with two shows on Sunday at the Covelli Centre.

Plate has been a part of TSO since its inception. He first worked with TSO creator Paul O’Neill as a drummer with Savatage. He played drums on the first TSO release, “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” and has been a part of every tour and album that followed.

Now he helps carry on TSO’s legacy following O’Neill’s death in 2017.

“The management team has been with Paul from the very beginning,” Plate said. “They have been right next to Paul as he was putting his vision into play. They know what the show should look like, how he wanted certain songs to look.”

At the same time, O’Neill always prided himself on surrounding the music and the people performing it with the latest and greatest in special effects and pyrotechnics. The current creative team continues to aspire to that goal.

“Every tour has to be different,” Plate said. “This is the way TSO has become such a success. You’re getting a new show every year, regardless of the story.”

The touring ensembles spend a couple of weeks rehearsing before they hit the road. Some of that is to learn the songs and the music, but a big part of the rehearsals involves making sure the singers and the musicians are standing in just the right place at just the right time to both accentuate that perfect lighting cue but also to make sure they’re not too close to the blasts of flame and other potentially dangerous elements.

“Fortunately, I’m in one place the whole show, but everyone else has to be really careful,” the drummer said.

This year’s tour is focusing on TSO’s second album and its “Ghosts of Christmas Eve” story, but the second half of the show includes favorites from the entire catalog. The stories those songs tell have a particular resonance with Plate.

“In 2003 I lost my sister in a car accident,” he said. “This was literally days before we went on tour, touring ‘Christmas Eve and Other Stories.’ As I was doing the show, I realized what that story meant now. That story really connects with me and it made me realize why millions of people love TSO so much. It’s big, it’s bright, it’s a spectacle, but Paul’s stories connect with so many people. That’s when it started going from small theaters to larger theaters to selling out arenas two times a day. I think that part of our story gets overlooked. The stories really do start to hit home with you.”

Another tradition that O’Neill started and TSO continues is donating at least $1 from every ticket sold to charity. More than $16 million has been donated to various organizations around the country.

“Paul was extremely generous, along with his wife and daughter,” Plate said. “We felt it was the right thing from the very beginning. To see that number build every year is something we’re really proud of.”

If you go …

WHAT: Trans-Siberian Orchestra

WHEN: 3 and 8 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Covelli Centre, 229 E. Front St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $53.50 to $103.50 and are available at the Southwoods Health box office and through Ticketmaster.