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Video Games Live - Press Start (or Clap) to Continue
Shadowfire
Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
I just went to see this last night, and it was excellent. I searched, couldn't find a thread, so I thought one needed to be started.
What is Video Games Live?
Music from different video games played by a live orchestra, with videos and a lightshow as backup, and plenty of audience participation. Music making an appearance includes everything from Metroid to Mario, Zelda to Final Fantasy, Halo, Advent Rising, Castlevania... the list is pretty huge. Instead of bringing a wohle orchestra along, however, they organize with more local orchestras (last night's show was played by the Vermont Youth Orchestra, who did a fantastic job).
The whole thing is put together by Tommy Tallarico, and Jack Wall, with a good bit of assistance from Martin Leung. Who are they?
Tommy Tallarico
From VGL's site:
Tommy Tallarico is a veritable video game industry icon. As one of the most successful video game composers in history, he has helped revolutionize the gaming world, creating unique audio landscapes that enhance the video gaming experience. He is considered the person most instrumental in changing the game industry from bleeps & bloops to real music now appreciated worldwide by millions of fans. Tommy hosts, writes and co-produces the television shows Reviews on the Run and the Telly Award winning, Electric Playground. He is the founder and Chairman of G.A.N.G. (Game Audio Network Guild), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting excellence in interactive audio (www.audiogang.org). An accomplished musician, Tallarico has been writing music for video games for more than 18 years. Tallarico was the first musician to release a video game soundtrack worldwide (Tommy Tallarico’s Greatest Hits Vol. 1 – Capitol Records). Tommy was the first person to ever use live guitar and 3-D audio in a video game (The Terminator), and was instrumental in bringing true digital interactive 5.1 surround to the gaming world. He has won over 35 industry awards for best video game audio and has worked on more than 300 game titles. His score for Advent Rising has been noted as "one of the greatest musical scores of all time" by websites such as Yahoo, Gamespot and others. In 2008, he was enshrined in the Guinness Book of World Records with a two page feature article and interview.
Jack Wall
Jack Wall is one of the industry’s top award winning composers of music in video games since 1996. With over 30 game scores to his credit, he has built a track record and an international reputation as an A-List composer and music producer in the interactive entertainment sector. His composing credits include Myst III: Exile, Myst IV: Revelation, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Dungeon Siege II, Rise of the Kasai and Wrath Unleashed among others. Previous to 1996, Jack was engineer and producer for such artists as John Cale, David Byrne and Patti Smith among others. Jack is Vice President and Co-Founder of the Game Audio Network Guild. Visit www.jackwall.net for more info.
Martin Leung
The Video Game Pianist aka Martin Leung is an award-winning, globally-recognized pianist and musical pioneer for the 21st century. Trained classically, he performs standard repertoire and also the emergent music of video games, a successful specialization that has established him early as a soloist trailblazer in the industry. A 2002 Oberlin International Piano Competition prizewinner, he later soloed at 16 at Carnegie Hall's New York Youth Orchestra Festival and with the Pittsburgh Symphony on From the Top. He has performed at Electronic Entertainment Expo, Game Developers Conference, and Penny Arcade Expo, among others. In 2004, a video of Video Game Pianist playing Super Mario songs was premiered on Ebaum's World, a popular joke and humor internet site. Around 40 million people worldwide saw the video. The video caught the attention of Tommy Tallarico, who then invited him to be part of the Video Games Live world tour.
If you don't know what they're talking about with the Super Mario songs, see this:
Mario Blindfolded
(obviously there are more people involved in this show... those are just the visible ones)
Upcoming tour dates (again from the site):
January 17, 2009 Burlington, VT Flynn Center Perf. Arts 8 PM
January 24, 2009 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre 8 PM
February 20, 2009 Taipei, Taiwan Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial 7:30PM
February 28, 2009 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre 8 PM
March 13, 2009 Kitchener, ON Centre in the Square 8 PM
March 14, 2009 Kitchener, ON Centre in the Square 8 PM
March 20, 2009 Kalamazoo, MI Miller Auditorium 8 PM
March 28, 2009 Austin, TX Long Center 8 PM
April 25, 2009 Richmond, VA Landmark Theatre 8 PM
May 10, 2009 Saskatoon, SK, CND TCU Place 7:30 PM
May 11, 2009 Regina, SK, Canada Conexus Arts Centre 8 PM
May 15, 2009 Calgary, AB, Canada Jack Singer Concert Hall 8 PM
May 16, 2009 Calgary, AB, Canada Jack Singer Concert Hall 2 PM
May 18, 2009 Edmonton, Canada Alberta Jubilee Audit. 8 PM
May 20, 2009 Kelowna, BC, Canada Prospera Place 8 PM
May 21, 2009 Victoria, BC, Canada Royal Theatre 8 PM
May 24, 2009 Prince George, BC CN Centre 8 PM
June 4, 2009 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre TBA
June 19, 2009 Singapore Singapore Indoor Stadium 8:30 PM
July 11, 2009 Lewiston, NY Artpark 8 PM
July 23, 2009 San Diego, CA Embarcadero Marina Park TBA
November 7, 2009 Portland, OR Schnitzer Concert Hall 3 PM
November 8, 2009 Portland, OR Schnitzer Concert Hall 7:30 PM
January 24, 2009 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre 8 PM
February 20, 2009 Taipei, Taiwan Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial 7:30PM
February 28, 2009 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre 8 PM
March 13, 2009 Kitchener, ON Centre in the Square 8 PM
March 14, 2009 Kitchener, ON Centre in the Square 8 PM
March 20, 2009 Kalamazoo, MI Miller Auditorium 8 PM
March 28, 2009 Austin, TX Long Center 8 PM
April 25, 2009 Richmond, VA Landmark Theatre 8 PM
May 10, 2009 Saskatoon, SK, CND TCU Place 7:30 PM
May 11, 2009 Regina, SK, Canada Conexus Arts Centre 8 PM
May 15, 2009 Calgary, AB, Canada Jack Singer Concert Hall 8 PM
May 16, 2009 Calgary, AB, Canada Jack Singer Concert Hall 2 PM
May 18, 2009 Edmonton, Canada Alberta Jubilee Audit. 8 PM
May 20, 2009 Kelowna, BC, Canada Prospera Place 8 PM
May 21, 2009 Victoria, BC, Canada Royal Theatre 8 PM
May 24, 2009 Prince George, BC CN Centre 8 PM
June 4, 2009 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre TBA
June 19, 2009 Singapore Singapore Indoor Stadium 8:30 PM
July 11, 2009 Lewiston, NY Artpark 8 PM
July 23, 2009 San Diego, CA Embarcadero Marina Park TBA
November 7, 2009 Portland, OR Schnitzer Concert Hall 3 PM
November 8, 2009 Portland, OR Schnitzer Concert Hall 7:30 PM
Couple images from previous shows:
Some of their promotional videos and concert tapings can be found here. Also, they actively encourage audience members to record the show and put videos on Youtube, so there are plenty of videos to see.
The three stayed after to do a meet & greet, as well, which was nice. All three were very friendly, and provided autographs (they all signed the copy of Video Games Live vol.1 my wife and I bought at the show). They also asked for song suggestions they should remix for orchestras - we threw Dr. Mario out there, and I suggested the Kirby theme from SSBM. Tommy asked me to hum it, but my wife got Dr. Mario stuck in my head, so I couldn't.
Overall, the show was great, and it got audience members talking. A good portion of the audience at our show were non-gamers. Because it was being played by the Vermont Youth Orchestra, a good chunk of the audience were the parents of the orchestra members. Some of the "wow, I never knew games sounded like this" from the audience brought a little tear to my eye (validation from parents of my hobby, I suppose).
Seriously, if there's going to be a venue near you showing this, go see it. If you already have, share your experiences. I want to get the word out, for people who haven't been - you need to go see this show.
PSN: Bradcopter | Steam: Shadowfire
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
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But for some reason these things never seem to come to NYC, for some reason I can't possibly fathom.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Caught the show when it was in Toronto in February 2008. A TON of fun. I'd go again this year, but I'm surprised the tour hasn't announced another Toronto date yet. If Kitchener wasn't 90 minutes away...
What's funny is I'd actually consider going to Ottawa when they announce the date (currently TBA) because I can at least stay with friends over night.
Tommy Tallarico had a complete nerdgasm in this show when I saw it last year.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
If you ever saw him on Electric Playground he acted like a total douchebag with bad taste. I imagine he's still the same way but even if he isn't, that's the impression that sticks with me. Is Advent Rising still on the list of songs? I always thought him putting his own music on the list of things to play for more than just one concert was kind of arrogant. It really needs to be rotated out for some other stuff that deserves to be heard.
Advent Rising was not on the list when I saw it last year. I wish they'd done some Megaman music. From 2 and 3. And Storm Eagle from Mega Man X. That shit would rock.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
They actually take suggestions on what to play for each show on their website, and I didn't hear a lot of Tommy's own music at the show. Mass Effect was played (Jack Wall composed at least part of the score), but most if it was more popular stuff.
Their "encore" was One Winged Angel, but then they followed it up with the true encore: a Castlevania medley. Awesome.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
I think that depends on your venue. Does it have balcony seating? Good acoustics? You'll be able to see all the action hopefully as most venues have a large screen to display for people in nosebleed sections - VGL makes use of those screens mostly to display game footage while the orchestra/band plays.
Since 75% of the experience is aural, I'd say good seats may be worth it, but again, it all really depends on how well you know the venue.
Steam: TheArcadeBear