A Trans-Siberian circus at Covelli

The back lot of Covelli Centre looked like a truck depot Wednesday morning.

That’s because a convoy of tractor-trailers hauling the Trans-Siberian Orchestra tour rolled in and jockeyed for position.

A crew of stagehands was deployed to unload the trucks and set the stage for today’s shows, which are at 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

There are over-the-top stage shows – think KISS and Carrie Underwood, just to name two who played Covelli this year – and then there is Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The rocking Christmas orchestra, as a rule, goes bonkers with lasers, flames, lifts and other mechanical special effects.

I’m not sure what marvelous spectacle is in this year’s show, but whatever it is, it took 16 tractor-trailers to hold it.

Friday will be another whirlwind of activity at the downtown arena. After T-SO tears down and loads out after tonight’s show, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will load in. The circus largely travels by train and sets up a tent city in the Covelli back lot. It’s like a temporary zoo.

There will be a total of six circus performances: three each on Friday and Saturday (11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. both days). Go to ticketmaster.com.

Hosting Trans-Siberian and the circus with only a one-day buffer is no routine occurrence, but Covelli Centre definitely has had its share of massive turnarounds.

Kelsey Klim, marketing director, mentioned the time in the summer of 2013, when the arena hosted Panerathon in the morning, and then loaded in American Idol Live! for a show that night.

LAURELIVE ROCK FESTIVAL WILL ANNOUNCE LINEUP

LaureLive rock festival must be eager for next year. It debuted in June, at the Laurel School grounds in Geauga County, and featured two full days of music, with headliners O.A.R., Grace Potter and Michael Franti.

The festival will return June 10 and 11 and already has put early-bird tickets on sale ($50 for one day, $90 for both) at LaureLive.com.

Festivals usually start to reveal their band lineups in January, with a few coming out in December. But LaureLive might just be the first for the 2017 season. It will announce its lineup by the end of November.

SOUNDOCTRINE RETURNS TO NIGHTTOWN JAZZ CLUB

Youngstown-based jazz- fusion act SounDoctrine will be back at Nighttown, the Cleveland hot spot for jazz, at 7 p.m. Sunday.

The band will appear on FOX 8 in Cleveland on Friday morning, and will be on radio station The Wave-107.3 FM at 2 p.m. that day.