Video Game Music....LIVE!

I'm old...let's just say the odds are that I'm older than you and leave it at that.  Thing is I was raised in the video game generation and played a lot of them in my young adult life and still occasionally do.  I also love music, so when I first got invited to go to a"Video Game Live" concert I hastily said yes.  As the date got closer I had a chance to think about it and I wondered if it was going to be full of "kids" and I would be totally out of place.  I almost backed out, but was talked into going...I still was a little hesitant since the group I was going with was all much younger than me.

I shouldn't have worried.  I was pleasantly surprised at the diversity of the crowd.  Yea, there was the "kids," but there was also couples of every age group, even a few I would peg as senior citizens.  Anyway, this link is to a youtube video of a Video Games Live concert.  The Classic Arcade Medley was the same piece they opened the show with that I went to see tonight.  Great stuff and brought back quite a few memories...stuff my son and I played when he was little.  While the youtube vid had several performances I saw tonight, I saw several others that aren't in the video.  At one point in the concert, the host mentioned they had about 120 pieces, but play only about 19-20 during a given performance.

I highly recommend going to see it even if you don't play video games...the performances are amazing and the music incredible.  Also a great way to introduce your kids to the symphony. 

You may have seen videos by a girl with the handle of "Flute Link" on youtube.  Her real name is Laura Intravia and she performed during the show I saw.  She's an amazingly talented girl.  She sang a Russian opera that was composed for Tetris (insane high notes), rocked out on the flute to a Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross montage, and also played an "electric" flute to Donkey Kong Country, which she said was her favorite video game.  Most of the videos of her I've seen on youtube she is dressed like Link from Zelda, but at the concert tonight she wasn't (you can see her in the Chrono Cross number in the link to the youtube vid).   

The orchestra and choir were actually local talent, but the Conductor was James Horner, who, along with video games, has been involved in several movies, most recently the new "Amazing Spiderman."  As in every Video Game Live performance, it was hosted by Tommy Tallarico, who along with making a living as a video game music composer is a talented guitar player in his own right.  He played electric guitar along with the orchestra on several pieces and displays a lot of energy and passion, which is a big plus in a live performance.  The Street Fighter montage he did was excellent.  One of the highlights of the night was Tallarico playing a guitar duet with the winner of the Guitar Hero contest they had before the concert...Tallarico playing his electric guitar while the contest winner played the video game. 

The surprise of the night was when they brought on stage a guy that is semi-famous on youtube.  Seems he kept showing up at their concerts and telling them that his dream was to play with them.  Well I got to see Viking Jesus play live with the orchestra when they played the music from Star Fox 64.  They also brought him back for a duet with Tallarico performing the music from Final Fantasy VII.  VJ is the second youtube star I've seen in person...the first was Toronto Batman when I visited Canada last year.  We where just walking around downtown Toronto and there he was standing on the sidewalk.

So if you get a chance to see a Video Game Live performance, do it...you won't regret it.
www.videogameslive.com