Typin' this from a hotel in Fort Worth to see some friends tonight. I'm quite excited.
I'll tell you guys how it went in about 7 hours...
AFTER THE CONCERT UPDATE, WITH INTERVIEW
<short version>
hey guys it was great, best concert EVER holy crap
</short version>
<long version>
The concert, from the moment I arrived at the Hall, I knew was going to be a strange mixture for me: I've been in orchestras for 7 years, and I've been playing video games since I was about 4. To see them actually collide like this, with hundreds of people attending was an extremely strange and at times awkward situation. Yet, in all, it was a really good experience.
There was a massive line for merchandise. I ended up buying a shirt, a program, and a poster. Yes. I'm a consumer whore. It's not long before I notice (unsurprised) that at least 1/4 of the attendants are going casual in jeans and shirts. Some people go to the lengths of wearing gigantic ****ing boots and ****ing trenchcoats in a pathetic rebellious cry as if to say, "I'm too ****ing cool for the symphony what with their tuxedos and suits, but I'll make an exception this one time 'cuz I'm so freakin' hoss and I luv teh finlall fatnatnasy." But I digress.
The entire place was full, every seat filled. It was probably the youngest audience they had ever had. There were plenty of nerdmen taking their nerdgirls out on dates. I was lucky enough to get orchestra seats, I thought, when I noticed the lights dim. Miguel, the conductor, marched out on stage to a barrage of applause. As soon as he got on the podium(and conducted the national anthem), he lifted his baton and immediately launched into Liberi Fatali.
What an awesome moment that was. One of two songs in all of Final Fantasy requiring a choir; one of the best songs in all of the series, in my opinion. To my delight, the orchestra was intense: cellos and basses soft, yet powerful. The brass was strong and booming. The choir was chilling. To me, at least, it seemed that they were trying to take this music seriously. I had seen this orchestra perform Dvorak 9; while the subject matter is much less highly regarded, they at least looked like they were applying the same focus to this piece as they did the New World symphony. I looked above me at the 3 screens. It was at this time I think the full impact of this experience hit me, as I was watching the intro FMV from FFVIII. It was awesome. I was still feeling a bit uncertain as to how the rest of the concert would go, though.
They finished. Thunderous applause. The conductor took the job of introducing the subject matter well; not going into excruciating detail about the games, while letting the fans feel invited. A short message from Uematsu (looking as goofy as ever in some sort of mutilated turtleneck) was played. After this, To Zanarkand.
I don't hate this song, but I don't have much going for it, either. It seems bland. The orchestra at least played it expressively. At this point my mind started to wander about how the orchestra had reacted to the idea of playing this music; were they disgusted with this "disposable medium," as they might be to the idea of playing the themes from commercials? Did they enjoy it at all? This actually worried me. Watching Yuna dance about on the screens was a bit soothing.
After this, Terra's theme. This was a low point in the concert, for me, because I had such great hopes for this song, and yet the version they played was so crappily arranged. It sounded like it came straight out of the game, and considering the restraints of the SNES, that wasn't a good thing. The Jeremy Seoule version on OCR is much better. I thought some more about if the orchestra was enjoying this simplistic music or not. Throughout the concert, on the screens they showed a few scenes from the FMVs of the games, after which they would show a few minutes of very seeeeeerious looking orchestra members. "Locke Shadow Kefka Terra Terra Terra Ter- tuba???"
Theme of Love redeemed the concert once more for me. I started to remember Uematsu's great American influence, including friends.
Dear Friends was the first of two songs featuring a classical guitarist. At this point I started to get a little disappointed, as the guitarist they had was not perfect. He sometimes had fret buzz, and even worse he sometimes wasn't even with the orchestra. When he played well, it sounded good, though.
The worst song of the entire evening was Vamo'alla Flemenco. The guitarist had obviously not practiced this enough. He was off from the orchestra at least 1/3 of the time. Many people giggled when they saw Vivi on screen though. He's so damn cute.
Love Grows nice blah blah blah pretty blah blah tuba.
At intermission I tried to look for the conductor to maybe talk to him about the show, but I did not find him.
After the lights dimmed and the condoctur came out on stage, he talked to the audience a bit. He asked how many people had been in Bass performance hall for the first time, and probably everybody but me raised their hand. After some joking, he asked how many people had played the games, which was promptly responded to by screaming and applause. At this time the audience loosened up. When he mentioned the next song would be Aeris's Theme, the audience went nuts. The performance itself was really awesome, the pianist being extremely good.
You're Not Alone was very nice... I had already noticed at this time each "era" of Uematsu (NES, SNES, PS1 and 2) had a different feeling, for various reasons. As the system grew more powerful, some of the music grew more complex. I feel like his most noted soundtracks were FFVII and VIII, but his inspired work continued into FFIX. However, though I've never heard too much of the soundtrack, I've always felt he grew a little less inspired for FFX.
A surprise for me was that they played a song from FFXI, "Ronfaure." It was pretty good, but not spectacular. Enjoyable. I thought of all the people here that play it when I saw the FMVs.
They dove into an FF I - III medley, including the prelude. It was quite haunting to hear the harp play it. Matouya's Cave was beautifully arranged. It took the original and made it all crazified. EVERYBODY laughed and cheered when they started playing the Chocobo theme. It was so cool.
They performed "Cloud Smiles," which apparently was FFVII, but I don't remember it at all. Weird.
The final piece on the program was the ending theme from Final Fantasy. It's pretty crazy to hear a full symphony orchestra live play a song composed on a soundchip with only 5 channels. They finished, and I was like, "Hmm. It's over. Um, ok."
But of course, there was an encore, and of the best kind. There's only two songs that require a choir to perform in FF, and they already played one of them. So when the choir marched up again for an encore, I was all "**** YEAH." The conductor talked to the audience, while they SCREAMED at him "ONE WINGED ANGEL." Awkward...
Holy crap was One Winged awesome. They played the version from the FFVII Reunion Tracks, which is extremely well arranged. The orchestra was so intense playing this song; at this point I thought that hopefully they were enjoying it. I could tell everybody was crapping their pants it was so good.
After they finished, there was another standing ovation. The conductor came back, and the orchestra sat down again, and they, um, played it again? Yeah, they played One Winged Angel twice in a row. Who came up with that idea? "OK guys, we're gonna play it. But then I'm going to come back and we're going play it. Again. HARDER." It was still pretty good though.
I had thought about running up to the stage right after the performance and doing a "mini-interview" with the Concertmaster, Michael Shih (first chair, first violinist.) So I did that. Yeah, I asked him questions. He said he had to go to a meeting, so I only asked him 3 questions. Here's the what it was, a bit paraphrased:
Trans: "What did you first think when you first heard that you would be playing video game music?"
Shih: "Oh wow, great!"
T: "Really?"
S: "Yeah. I really think it bridges the gap between popular culture and classical music. We got to play for so many people tonight, it was wonderful."
T: "Did the rest of the orchestra seem to enjoy playing the music?"
S: "Oh yeah." *looks at another violinist* "Didn't the rest of the orchestra like it? Yeah, we really did."
T: "What was your favorite song?"
S: "Oh, that last one we played. One-Winged Angel!"
Then he had to go.
Though it was really weird to see these two worlds collide in person, I know it was rewarding for the fans. I think it was enjoyable for the orchestra. Definitely, I won't forget it.
</long version></nerd>
I'll tell you guys how it went in about 7 hours...
AFTER THE CONCERT UPDATE, WITH INTERVIEW
<short version>
hey guys it was great, best concert EVER holy crap
</short version>
<long version>
The concert, from the moment I arrived at the Hall, I knew was going to be a strange mixture for me: I've been in orchestras for 7 years, and I've been playing video games since I was about 4. To see them actually collide like this, with hundreds of people attending was an extremely strange and at times awkward situation. Yet, in all, it was a really good experience.
There was a massive line for merchandise. I ended up buying a shirt, a program, and a poster. Yes. I'm a consumer whore. It's not long before I notice (unsurprised) that at least 1/4 of the attendants are going casual in jeans and shirts. Some people go to the lengths of wearing gigantic ****ing boots and ****ing trenchcoats in a pathetic rebellious cry as if to say, "I'm too ****ing cool for the symphony what with their tuxedos and suits, but I'll make an exception this one time 'cuz I'm so freakin' hoss and I luv teh finlall fatnatnasy." But I digress.
The entire place was full, every seat filled. It was probably the youngest audience they had ever had. There were plenty of nerdmen taking their nerdgirls out on dates. I was lucky enough to get orchestra seats, I thought, when I noticed the lights dim. Miguel, the conductor, marched out on stage to a barrage of applause. As soon as he got on the podium(and conducted the national anthem), he lifted his baton and immediately launched into Liberi Fatali.
What an awesome moment that was. One of two songs in all of Final Fantasy requiring a choir; one of the best songs in all of the series, in my opinion. To my delight, the orchestra was intense: cellos and basses soft, yet powerful. The brass was strong and booming. The choir was chilling. To me, at least, it seemed that they were trying to take this music seriously. I had seen this orchestra perform Dvorak 9; while the subject matter is much less highly regarded, they at least looked like they were applying the same focus to this piece as they did the New World symphony. I looked above me at the 3 screens. It was at this time I think the full impact of this experience hit me, as I was watching the intro FMV from FFVIII. It was awesome. I was still feeling a bit uncertain as to how the rest of the concert would go, though.
They finished. Thunderous applause. The conductor took the job of introducing the subject matter well; not going into excruciating detail about the games, while letting the fans feel invited. A short message from Uematsu (looking as goofy as ever in some sort of mutilated turtleneck) was played. After this, To Zanarkand.
I don't hate this song, but I don't have much going for it, either. It seems bland. The orchestra at least played it expressively. At this point my mind started to wander about how the orchestra had reacted to the idea of playing this music; were they disgusted with this "disposable medium," as they might be to the idea of playing the themes from commercials? Did they enjoy it at all? This actually worried me. Watching Yuna dance about on the screens was a bit soothing.
After this, Terra's theme. This was a low point in the concert, for me, because I had such great hopes for this song, and yet the version they played was so crappily arranged. It sounded like it came straight out of the game, and considering the restraints of the SNES, that wasn't a good thing. The Jeremy Seoule version on OCR is much better. I thought some more about if the orchestra was enjoying this simplistic music or not. Throughout the concert, on the screens they showed a few scenes from the FMVs of the games, after which they would show a few minutes of very seeeeeerious looking orchestra members. "Locke Shadow Kefka Terra Terra Terra Ter- tuba???"
Theme of Love redeemed the concert once more for me. I started to remember Uematsu's great American influence, including friends.
Dear Friends was the first of two songs featuring a classical guitarist. At this point I started to get a little disappointed, as the guitarist they had was not perfect. He sometimes had fret buzz, and even worse he sometimes wasn't even with the orchestra. When he played well, it sounded good, though.
The worst song of the entire evening was Vamo'alla Flemenco. The guitarist had obviously not practiced this enough. He was off from the orchestra at least 1/3 of the time. Many people giggled when they saw Vivi on screen though. He's so damn cute.
Love Grows nice blah blah blah pretty blah blah tuba.
At intermission I tried to look for the conductor to maybe talk to him about the show, but I did not find him.
After the lights dimmed and the condoctur came out on stage, he talked to the audience a bit. He asked how many people had been in Bass performance hall for the first time, and probably everybody but me raised their hand. After some joking, he asked how many people had played the games, which was promptly responded to by screaming and applause. At this time the audience loosened up. When he mentioned the next song would be Aeris's Theme, the audience went nuts. The performance itself was really awesome, the pianist being extremely good.
You're Not Alone was very nice... I had already noticed at this time each "era" of Uematsu (NES, SNES, PS1 and 2) had a different feeling, for various reasons. As the system grew more powerful, some of the music grew more complex. I feel like his most noted soundtracks were FFVII and VIII, but his inspired work continued into FFIX. However, though I've never heard too much of the soundtrack, I've always felt he grew a little less inspired for FFX.
A surprise for me was that they played a song from FFXI, "Ronfaure." It was pretty good, but not spectacular. Enjoyable. I thought of all the people here that play it when I saw the FMVs.
They dove into an FF I - III medley, including the prelude. It was quite haunting to hear the harp play it. Matouya's Cave was beautifully arranged. It took the original and made it all crazified. EVERYBODY laughed and cheered when they started playing the Chocobo theme. It was so cool.
They performed "Cloud Smiles," which apparently was FFVII, but I don't remember it at all. Weird.
The final piece on the program was the ending theme from Final Fantasy. It's pretty crazy to hear a full symphony orchestra live play a song composed on a soundchip with only 5 channels. They finished, and I was like, "Hmm. It's over. Um, ok."
But of course, there was an encore, and of the best kind. There's only two songs that require a choir to perform in FF, and they already played one of them. So when the choir marched up again for an encore, I was all "**** YEAH." The conductor talked to the audience, while they SCREAMED at him "ONE WINGED ANGEL." Awkward...
Holy crap was One Winged awesome. They played the version from the FFVII Reunion Tracks, which is extremely well arranged. The orchestra was so intense playing this song; at this point I thought that hopefully they were enjoying it. I could tell everybody was crapping their pants it was so good.
After they finished, there was another standing ovation. The conductor came back, and the orchestra sat down again, and they, um, played it again? Yeah, they played One Winged Angel twice in a row. Who came up with that idea? "OK guys, we're gonna play it. But then I'm going to come back and we're going play it. Again. HARDER." It was still pretty good though.
I had thought about running up to the stage right after the performance and doing a "mini-interview" with the Concertmaster, Michael Shih (first chair, first violinist.) So I did that. Yeah, I asked him questions. He said he had to go to a meeting, so I only asked him 3 questions. Here's the what it was, a bit paraphrased:
Trans: "What did you first think when you first heard that you would be playing video game music?"
Shih: "Oh wow, great!"
T: "Really?"
S: "Yeah. I really think it bridges the gap between popular culture and classical music. We got to play for so many people tonight, it was wonderful."
T: "Did the rest of the orchestra seem to enjoy playing the music?"
S: "Oh yeah." *looks at another violinist* "Didn't the rest of the orchestra like it? Yeah, we really did."
T: "What was your favorite song?"
S: "Oh, that last one we played. One-Winged Angel!"
Then he had to go.
Though it was really weird to see these two worlds collide in person, I know it was rewarding for the fans. I think it was enjoyable for the orchestra. Definitely, I won't forget it.
</long version></nerd>
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