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[SonofdonCD]

There is a Video Games Live show coming up right after Christmas (12/27) in New Jersey. It's at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center I believer there are two show: one at 2pm and the other at 8pm.

I'm so glad I can finally confirm that I'm going to be performing with them! I will be singing in the choir for both shows. I have seen some of the music, and it's very exciting! I can't freakin' wait till we start rehearsals. We don't know what pieces they have decided to do for the shows just yet, I just hope the Halo suite is there.

As we get closer to the show, I can tell you guys how things work backstage. I can't wait!

 

[Firestorm]

Congratulations. I've been meaning to look into the show in Vancouver. Although I think it's this month so it's probably too late =( Was hard finding friends to convince to go at whatever the ticket prices were for decent seats.

 

[faceless007]

The Sonic the Hedgehog suite begins with the choir chanting "SEGA" just like the old Genesis intro. Hope you get to do that.

 

[terrene]

That's so cool, congrats! I'm mulling going to the Seattle concert. Anyone with thoughts? GAF carpool?

 

[Death_Born]

You could do a live feed, like that guy from TGS.

 

[sykoex]

Behind the scenes of Video Games Live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viehJR9BOYk

 

[Rewrite]

Dude, that's kickass. Congrats and make sure you enjoy the event!

I went to the first Video Games Live @ the Hollywood Bowl and it was amazing. Have they added new songs for the performances now?

 

[adversesolutions]

will tune in

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Awesome!

I just ordered my tickets for the Seattle show today.

 

[SonofdonCD]

I finally got the music!!!

I'm so excited, if you couldn't tell! I'm not too sure how much I can reveal, but we're doing most of the real popular game series music. There's also a solo opportunity that I'm gonna try out for. No one else in the choir is as Video Game savvy as I am, and the choir director knows it, so I might have a leg-up on that one!

I'll let you guys know how the first rehearsal goes, and if there's any extra info I can share later tonight.

 

[Llyranor]

You probably shouldn't tell us the specifics of which songs will be played.

I missed the concert in Montreal earlier in the year

Luckily, it sold well enough that there's another one in 2009 TBD.

 

[OnPoint]

To anybody on the fence about going:

The show is fantastically put together. Even though I was let down by the song selection in some places (where was the Castlevania arrangement, instead we had like 3 Final Fantasy pieces), it's all wonderfully put together and well performed. Not to mention the in-between song stuff is amusing.

Just pony up and go. You won't regret it.

 

[LiK]

very cool, congrats OP

 

[Ranger X]

Nice! But they need to play some Castlevania in Montreal next time. That was cruely missing.

 

[Warm Machine]

Nice! Its a great show being in the audience and performing would be pretty excellent if you love games.

The setlist (not in order) for the Vancouver show was...

80s Games Medley
Metal Gear Solid
Super Mario Medley
Space Invaders - Live game on stage.
Civilization - (solo op)
God of War - (solo op)
World of Warcraft
Starcraft 2
Need For Speed Undercover
SSX Tricky EA DJ mix
Final Fantasy Piano Medley
Super Mario piano Medley
Legend of Zelda Medley
Metroid (fan pick)
Guitar Hero - Live game on stage to Aerosmith.
Halo series
Final Fantasy VII (encore)
Castlevania (encore)

Perhaps more but I can't remember.

Only thing I wish the show was better at would be compressing down the time between the music. There is a lot of extra space in there they could kill (without removing the fun stuff)

 

[Wii Will Rock U]

My good friend's band, the Spoony Bards, actually just performed Still Alive two weekends ago at the Chicago performance.

 

[Masked Man]

That's so awesome, OP! Congratulations! I'm glad that you have such a great opportunity. I only wish I could play in one of those kinds of concerts, but I don't think I have an orchestral "in" with any of the ensembles...

 

[Firewire]

If you see Tommy tell him he needs to get back to the Electric Playground!

 

[DarkWish]

Wow, that's awesome! I saw Video Games Live in DC (two years ago?) and I plan on seeing it again this April in Richmond, VA. It's such an amazing experience, so I can understand how excited you are to be a part of it. I mean, to watch it is one thing, but to actually be in it is completely amazing. Have fun!

 

[Davidion]

Well congratulations on your gig.

 

[RobertM]

I might check it out.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

I finally got the music!!!

I'm so excited, if you couldn't tell! I'm not too sure how much I can reveal, but we're doing most of the real popular game series music. There's also a solo opportunity that I'm gonna try out for. No one else in the choir is as Video Game savvy as I am, and the choir director knows it, so I might have a leg-up on that one!

I'll let you guys know how the first rehearsal goes, and if there's any extra info I can share later tonight.

Keep us in the loop

Oh, and if there is any video from your show, and of your solo if you get it, then be sure to post it afterwards!

 

[Nose Master]

Awesome, interested in reading about it.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

nice! I went to the last show in NYC.
Do me a favor and tell Tallarico to do Camel Jazz from Aladdin

 

[DDayton]

The show is fantastically put together. Even though I was let down by the song selection in some places (where was the Castlevania arrangement, instead we had like 3 Final Fantasy pieces), it's all wonderfully put together and well performed. Not to mention the in-between song stuff is amusing.

Just pony up and go. You won't regret it.

Okay, I hate doing this, but I have to be honest...

I went to a VGL, and the show got on my nerves. The music itself was performed well, but everything ELSE was annoying. It just felt "cheesy", amateur, and annoyingly over-the-top. It could just be me, but seeing a guy run around a stage in a Snake outfit, then having little cardboard exclamation points popping up over someone's head while the orchestra plays got.... tiring. The video montages seemed less than impressive at times, too.

The music is fine, but I think I would have been much happier without all the other stuff going on. Again, that's just me, and the music is generally well done, and the "history of video games" sequence is nice, but I found myself irritated during most of the rest of the show.

 

[Torquill]

but seeing a guy run around a stage in a Snake outfit, then having little cardboard exclamation points popping up over someone's head while the orchestra plays got.... tiring.

That sounds, amateurish and cheesy. I figured it was just the music. Why do they have to put cheesy stage shows on too?

Congrats to SonfodonCD on getting to contribute to the part that matters, the music!

 

[John Harker]

To anybody on the fence about going:

The show is fantastically put together. Even though I was let down by the song selection in some places (where was the Castlevania arrangement, instead we had like 3 Final Fantasy pieces), it's all wonderfully put together and well performed. Not to mention the in-between song stuff is amusing.

Just pony up and go. You won't regret it.

Where do I get tickets to this show?

edit:

Now I'm considering going. Can anyone speak to it, is there more to it than a live orchestra?

 

[Semantic Continuum]

VGL is the 12/18 here. Can't wait !

 

[Ermac]

Where do I get tickets to this show?

edit:

Now I'm considering going. Can anyone speak to it, is there more to it than a live orchestra?

Bring your DS.

 

[Backflip]

I hope to be able to get press credentials for the show in Paris next month. I'm sad that Shenmue didn't make the set list though. I don't think Mario made it either.

 

[SonofdonCD]

Well, we had our first rehearsal last night.

It went well, or about as well as can be expected considering yesterday was even the choir director's first time looking at the music. Before Monday we had no idea which songs were gonna be performed. I'll just say that we are doing a set of almost universally known games, so you shouldn't be disappointed if you come. There are three PC series that many console gamers might not know the music to (myself included), but they are extremely well known games in their own right.

Since most in my choir aren't gamers, the choir director asked me to write up something for each piece, you know, to give the choir their "motivation". I did so, and got a few emails of thanks from those who see it as helpful. I explained what Strategy, RPG, MMORPG, FPS and Platform games are (Btw, it is so hard to explain something that you just know and learned over two decades of repetition, when you never had to explain it before!), so they won't be caught not knowing when those phrases are used.
And gave them a little bit of story for each game, and also a bit of history on certain games that called for it.

We won't rehearse again until early next month. And then there will be two dress rehearsals, I think. One where the conductor comes to us to give us some last-minute direction, and the other the day before the big show with the orchestra.

I'll let you guys know more when I do.

 

[Warm Machine]

Okay, I hate doing this, but I have to be honest...

I agree, but on the other hand that we can get a live orchestra to perform video game music for a sold out audience is pretty incredible. I'll take what I can get and thankfully what I can get is pretty good on its own.

 

[HeadsUpSevenUp]

Will you copypasta the email you wrote please?

 

[SonofdonCD]

Will you copypasta the email you wrote please?

You're just trying to get me to tell the set list, aren't you!?

I'm not about to do that; partially as a surprise to anyone who will perhaps go see the show, and since I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to tell in advance of the show.

Just suffice it to say that the email would read as boring and possibly condescending to those here at GAF. This was for those who AREN'T in the know; not even casual gamers, but non-gamers. Maybe I'll post it up here closer to the show, or after, though. Besides that, if you go to the VGL website, you can almost guess what the set list is just by the clues I gave you all in my last post.

Uh Oh, I think I gave too much away!!!

Originally Posted by DavidDayton:
Okay, I hate doing this, but I have to be honest...

I agree, but on the other hand that we can get a live orchestra to perform video game music for a sold out audience is pretty incredible. I'll take what I can get and thankfully what I can get is pretty good on its own.

I totally agree with this point.

I look at it another way: many kids our age and younger don't have any appreciation for not only live music, but music of a classical vein. This is one way that perhaps a little ten year old gamer might get interested in learning an instrument, and through that gain an appreciation for Bach or Mozart. If they have to do the interactive show bits to get butts in the seats, then so be it. It's a necessary evil at that point.

Besides, let's not take ourselves too seriously. Gaming music, while leaps and bounds better than the blips and blops of yesteryear, aren't close to as serious a genre of music as Classical. So let's not pretend that we can't have fun with it at the same time. It's not like it's so cerebral that you have to sit down and really think and analyze the music as it's going on; this stuff is a lot more popularized than that.

 

[Zoso]

Nice! I saw Video Games Live last earlier this year and it was a great show : )

 

[DDayton]

Besides, let's not take ourselves too seriously. Gaming music, while leaps and bounds better than the blips and blops of yesteryear, aren't close to as serious a genre of music as Classical. So let's not pretend that we can't have fun with it at the same time. It's not like it's so cerebral that you have to sit down and really think and analyze the music as it's going on; this stuff is a lot more popularized than that.

See, my point was that I wasn't having fun.

It is a good start, though, and I will have to get to another one some time and see whether it was just a particularly odd night. I have my doubts, though...

One other minor quibble... some of the orchestrations are reused from other, non-VGL events. It's a really minor quibble, but, well, it slightly bugged me.

 

[Bluemercury]

They're coming here in Lisbon on 5 and 6 of December, ill be there.....

 

[John Harker]

Can you speak to the venue?

Should I bother with near-back row Orchestra seating or just get Grand Tier?

 

[Mr.Potato Head]

Thats really kick ass man... congrats bro and have a good time, sounds like some good times...i would love to go myself although im down here in Chicago

 

[SonofdonCD]

So we had our first (and only, unfortunately) full rehearsal with the music. We had a very busy concert schedule this month, so we literally had no time to devote an entire rehearsal to it before Monday. It went well, as well as it can considering we don't have a full score and had to sing along with the tracks they provided. I think they are getting it, especially the choir director, who is really digging some of the music. We've made at least one convert, guys!

At least for our sakes, there are only perhaps 4 or 5 suites that have any real difficulty, and it's not so much the notes but the timing of it all. There might be click tracks or not to help us, but we don't know. All the music has to match up with the video so the timing has to be pretty exact. Hopefully the rehearsal this Friday clears up everything. The choir is good; very professional. So we should be able to adapt.

I am so looking forward to doing this thing! I can't wait!

 

[John Harker]

I bought 3 tickets, so I'll be there Saturday at 2

 

[Zoso]

Good Luck SonfodonCD. Videogames Live is a very fun concert : )

 

[RurouniZel]

Congrats!! I'm so envious, I'd love to perform in a videogame concert! ^_^

 

[SpacLock]

Good luck man.

 

[Pachinko]

It's in edmonton a couple months from now but more suprising is that Play! decided to make a stop here in only 2 weeks. Anyone been to both ? which is better ? I know that play actually has permission from EA and Square to use footage and going by youtube clips it seems they do away with the skit things on the stage. Anyway, congrats to the op.

 

[SonofdonCD]

Hey guys,

I was too tired to post last night after the dress rehearsal, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm off to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center right now to get ready for the first performance. I had a lot of fun (not without some caveats, however) and am looking forward to the event!

Wish me luck, and I'll be back late tonight with details (and maybe some photos, If I can remember)!

 

[dgenx]

Good luck! I'm sure you will do it fine!

 

[Yottamole]

Good luck! Even though I live in New Jersey, I don't think I'll be able to attend the concert So be sure to take lots of pictures!

 

[2DMention]

I wish this would come to Mpls.

 

[faceless007]

It's in edmonton a couple months from now but more suprising is that Play! decided to make a stop here in only 2 weeks. Anyone been to both ? which is better ? I know that play actually has permission from EA and Square to use footage and going by youtube clips it seems they do away with the skit things on the stage. Anyway, congrats to the op.

I've been to both (VGL twice). Play is somewhat more "upscale"--no fancy lighting shows, the video screens show the orchestra and occasionally videos from the games, so it's really just the orchestra and the audience.

VGL is much more a gamer's event--lights, effects, audience participation, music video-like montages for each piece, and yes, some "skits," although they really dialed it down from the first show they did, which had a stuntman playing Solid Snake, and the guy from Advent Rising, and the guy from Tron "beating" the A.I. boss, etc. It was pretty stupid, so when I saw VGL again a year later they had gotten rid of most of that.

As for footage, both shows have in-game footage for almost every game but VGL's are carefully edited music videos to go along with the music. Also they don't have the rights from Square (but Play does) so they just don't show video from FF. I think for Kingdom Hearts they instead did a montage from Disney animated movies.