Not quite sure if this belongs in video games or music, but I'll stick it here.

So last night, a friend and I got to attend the touring show Video Games: Live which was part of the SD: Symphony Summer Pops concert series, and was timed to coincide with the first day of Comic-Con. I couldn't afford CC this year, but fortunately dad used to work for the symphony, and one of his old friends I still know hooked me and my buddy up with free tickets. Free, I can do. (Then of course we had to pay twenty bucks for parking because it was downtown during fucking Comic Con, but oh well.)

Anyway, the show was awesome. The FF arrangements they did were beautiful of course, and the Halo and Metal Gear: Solid bits were okay (a bit generically "action" though, even played by a full orchestra, or maybe they just don't translate well into full scale performance.) Naturally they also did Zelda which was very good, and Super Mario, also good. They had some special guests too, like Martin Leung (the blind video game pianist) who naturally did more Mario, and a beautiful solo piano FF medley. Flute Link (and sadly Navi) were there too.

They also, and this made my night, played a Mega Man medley (AWESOME orchestrated arrangement; the title song from MM II was absolutely epic), and...they also played music from Chrono Trigger. I cannot tell you how happy that made me. That title screen theme was *amazing.*

The sleeper hit of the night for me was the music of Civilization IV. It was absolutely beautiful, and they had the original vocalist who did the song for the game sing it. Not only was the music breathtaking, the visuals they picked from the game were wonderful as well.

Anyway, awesome night overall, if you get a chance to see this show this year, definitely check it out.

Well, here's the thing about Comic-Con (at least for locals. Or at least for me.) Most of the tickets get sold the year before, at the previous CC. Not all of them of course, but a damn good amount. By the time I realize tickets have gone on sale, they're either sold out or too damned expensive.

Frankly, as cool as it is too, the SD Convention Center is just too small for the crowds that CC draws now. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets a new home after 2012. (Frankly, unless something really, really good happens between now and then--and it might--SD is gonna loose the Con altogether. I wouldn't be surprised if they take it out of CA, and somewhere where the cost of business is a little more reasonable.)

I don't actually know how much tickets were this year, but I vaguely remember a 4-day pass being somewhere in the $150-200 range when my friend bought one last year. Now, I don't know if that's the official price or if he bought a scalped pass, but frankly even if its only 30-40 bucks a day...that adds up, especially when you consider the cost of food, parking, merchandise and the little piece of your soul that dies every time you see this person:



I'll also add that the Convention Center inevitably looses its AC on the most crowded day, which is usually 90-100+ this time of year in SD. So if you can imagine the overcrowding, unwashed con-goers, close proximity, and no AC... *shudder*

The really good thing about CC is the events surrounding it that are there for everyone, like VGL. Since VGL is part of the symphony package that season ticket holders get, it actually does a ton to spread the word of video games and their music to other demographics. I remember last year I went to the all-Final Fantasy concert Dear Friends, and had to smile at all of the (quote old) symphony goers there only because it came with their season tickets. By the end, the old guy behind me (we had talked before the show) leaned forward and said, "this was totally not what I was expecting. That was beautiful."

Prejudice: 0

Nobuo Uematsu: 1

Ghandi wrote:

I saw Video Games Live at GenCon one year and they were amazing. I asked some friends to go with me but they ended up all being busy then, since I had bought a ticket already I went alone. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had. YouTube videos do it no justice, you've got to be there with the full sound of the orchestra.

Totally agree. My only disappointment was their rendition of One Winged Angel. Yeah it was cool, but it TOTALLY lacked the punch of the version they played at Dear Friends. Of course, maybe it was just the situation that made that one so cool...

*WARNING: LONG SIDE ANECDOTE ALERT!*

So I'm at Dear Friends, and the whole thing is awesome--all the best music from all 11 FFs+, played masterfully by a full orchestra. Except then the end of the concert comes, everyone takes bows...and I am befuddled. No One Winged Angel?! HOW COULD THEY NOT PLAY THAT?! But wait...wait, the conductor is coming back...AND HE HAS THE CHOIR WITH HIM!

Crowd: *Explodes in applause as the choir takes the stage*

Conductor: *huge shit-eating grin on his face* You know what's coming next don't you?!

Crowd: YES!!!!

Then they bust into the loudest, best version of the song I have ever heard IN MY LIFE, accompanied by amazing gameplay footage (unlike the shitty cosplay pictures of idiots DRESSED like Septh they had at VGL.) After this nearly-orgasmic event has finished, the crowd is so pumped we don't stop screaming for a good five or ten minutes. Finally its quiet enough for the conductor to speak again.

Conductor: You guys want an encore?!

Crowd: HELL YES!

Conductor: Well, we don't have another song planned...BUT WE CAN PLAY THAT ONE AGAIN!

Crowd: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So they played the whole song over again. Best. Concert. Experience. EVER.

^ Yep, they did the whole arcade medley/Space Invaders thing too, except there was a GH competition instead of the Frogger thing.

Oh my god I almost forgot...the ABSOLUTE highlight of the night was when they brought out a voice actor by the name of Dee Baker. Apparently he does a lot of voiceovers for cartoons and games (he's especially good at doing monster grunts; he was the "voice" of all the Halo aliens for example.) I was only mildly impressed, not being a huge fan of any of the games or shows they listed...when all of a sudden, it happened. He looks at the audience and goes, "Of course, I was also in that Nickelodeon kid's show, LEGENDS OF THE HIDDEN TEMPLE, with the famous SHRIIIINE OF THE SILVER MONKEY!"

And it came out in Olmec's voice. This guy was the fucking voice of Olmec in Legends of the Hidden Temple. And I totally got to meet him after the show (they had a meet and greet thing set up.) Fucking awesome.

I've never heard of Play!, though SS. I'm gonna go see what I can find about it right now.