My brother and I took off from home quite early. We wanted to be at the concert hall as early as possible. I checked my handbag for the tickets constantly; I was afraid they would just magically disappear. We got there around 5.30 PM though the show wouldn’t start until 8. The first thing I noticed was the big banner above the entrance with the faces of Sonic, Mario, Solid Snake, etc. Many people took pictures of it and I took one with my mobile camera. There were already some people there when we arrived and as time went by a big crowd gathered in front of the building.
So, what kind of people went to see this concert? Well, there were mostly young guys there. No surprise actually as this has always been seen as “their” territory. I was hoping to see more female fans, and there were some of course, but not enough. A few journalists came and there were actually some parents with children attending. Makes you wonder if the kids wanted to go so badly that the parents had to tag along or if the parents are old gamers from back when it all started. But there weren’t many people over 30, that’s for sure.
At 7 PM they opened the gates and a big surprise waited inside. There, in the foyer, was the Swedish band Powerplay who play music from classic games with real instruments. They played a hefty 45 minutes, and hearing for example Dr. Wily from Mega Man 2, the theme from Legend of Zelda and tunes from Super Mario Bros was totally exciting. You could also buy lots of merchandise. I purchased a PLAY! T-shirt, a CD (More Friends – music from Final Fantasy) and a program covering the show. Unfortunately there was quite a big error in the program. They had written that One Winged Angel was from Final Fantasy VIII and everyone in their right mind and with game-loving hearts knows that it’s Final Fantasy VII. Come on people, I know game fanatics didn’t put together that program, but that’s who you’re selling it to, so you could have at least make it right, damn it!
Then it was time to take our seats. I had butterflies in my stomach as I entered the concert hall. My brother and I had seats on the sixth row, which was excellent. There were three huge monitors above the orchestra and two smaller ones on either side of the stage. As more and more people entered the hall you could have cut the tension with a knife. What was it going to be like?
So entered Arnie Roth, the brilliant conductor. He said a few words, but suddenly there was this murmur, whispering – what was happening? Then a spotlight came on and the whole audience started cheering like mad. It was none other than Nubuo Uematsu, a special guest for the concert in Stockholm, walking to his seat. (Yes, he sat with the rest of the audience!) I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. I waved, he waved – it was euphoria, I tell you. I almost wept; it was so emotional for me. To see a man who’s touched me through his music, someone I’ve idolized for years – there is no better feeling. Unfortunately I did not get an autograph, but he did walk past me and my brother during the intermission.
And so, when Uematsu-san had taken his seat, the show could start for real, taking off with an especially composed piece just for the PLAY! symphony itself. But then it got serious and the hall almost exploded as the Royal Philharmonics and its choir took on Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy VIII. After that the program went as follows:
- Super Mario Bros – suite (or medley if you like)
- Shenmue and Shenmue II – Sedge Tree
- Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2 – suite
- Final Fantasy VII – Aeris’ Theme
- Sonic the Hedgehog – suite
- Metal Gear Solid – Main Theme
- Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II – suite
- Intermission
- The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind – suite
- Final Fantasy series – Swing the Chocobo (actually the Chocobo tune from FFX)
- Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross – suite
- World of Warcraft – suite
- Silent Hill 2 – Laura’s Theme
- Halo and Halo 2 – suite
- The Legend of Zelda – suite
- Final Fantasy VII – One Winged Angel
I must say that the quality of the pieces played was extremely good. Some tunes I had never heard myself as I’m mostly a console RPGamer. But the music from WoW, Silent Hill, Halo, Elder Scrolls and Battlefield was really breathtaking – in a way profound. There was also a special appearance, or what have you, with music from the Chronicles of Riddick, that a Swedish composer has made. Actually, the score to Battlefield was also made by Swedes, and those composers had been invited to the show as well.
The suite I enjoyed the most, was the one for the Chrono games. Not only was it magnificently put together, but Yasunori Mitsuda’s music has a very special place in my heart. On the downside, they totally slaughtered the suite for Kingdom Hearts. All they played were parts of the intro and ending of both games, and although the music was fab, I wish they could have offered us some more. That was also the case with the Sonic suite; there was only music from the first game and from the Dreamcast games. My brother had really been looking forward to hearing the music from Chemical Plant Zone, for example. I would have liked to hear the chilly and mysterious tunes of Ice Cap Zone from Sonic 3. The one song that felt a little bit unnecessary was of course the Chocobo theme. I have nothing against chocobos, but there is so much better music that could’ve been performed instead.
Also attending the concert was percussionist Rony Barrack who played on the Chrono and Battlefield suites. That man must have magic fingers; I never knew the rhythms of a drum could sound like that.
What’s supposedly special about the PLAY! concert are the big screens that show lots of game footage as the music plays, to heighten the experience. I don’t know if this will be the case on all concerts but there weren’t a lot of videos showing in Stockholm. When Liberi Fatali was performed, you naturally would expect the opening sequence from FFVIII playing on screen, seeing as they are made for each other. But nothing, nada, zip, squat. Only close-ups of the orchestra were to be seen. That was cheap. No videos played for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross either. I almost felt offended. The same happened with both FFVII tracks and the Kingdom Hearts suite. So the pictures that were to be seen in the program, showing Sephiroth walking through fire, and Rinoa smiling on screen – there was none of that. Sort of a rip-off when you think about it. All the other games had some footage, but the ones that got the most (for some reason…) were WoW, Halo, Chronicles of Riddick and The Elder Scrolls. But I managed – after all, I came for the music first and foremost.
Something that I thought was quite amusing was the orchestra’s reaction to our, the audience’s, reactions. There was one female violinist who really had this shocked/surprised look on her face every time we cheered, applauded a bit extra and so on. But she really couldn’t keep from laughing when Arnie Roth said “It’s Zelda time!” and the whole pack of people just roared with excitement, myself included of course. She turned to her co-workers looking at them as if to say “What is this? Who are these people?!” The sensation of sitting at a sold out concert with people loving game music just as much as I, and one of the biggest composers of all time, is probably impossible to explain. Everyone was just so happy and thrilled. I don’t care if you’re not supposed to applaud after every piece, but this was not a normal concert with scores by Mozart. Hell no. We probably gave those philharmonics an experience to remember.
At the end of the show there was an extra installment from the upcoming game Blue Dragon, but we wanted more. So Arnie got out on stage again and they performed One Winged Angel one more time. The audience gave standing ovations three times in a row as the show was coming to an end and I read the lips of two men in the orchestra saying something like “I’ve never seen anything like this”. I bet you haven’t dear sirs, as you’ve never played this kind of music in front of this kind of audience before. I just hope that game music concerts will come to Sweden many more times, seeing as this particular show sold out in two weeks. That’s really fast for a tiny country in the north.
Of course there are always things that can be improved until next time. I would really have liked to hear music from Motoi Sakuraba, hell, even Tetris would do. And why not include music from beat’em up games as well? Not to mention Suikoden, Baten Kaitos, Shadow of the Colossus, Ecco, Mega Man, Metroid, Castlevania, The Sims and this list could go on and on forever. And perhaps I had liked it even more if there had been less obvious songs performed. Aeris’ Theme is of course great, but there are so many other fantastic songs that deserve their time in the spotlight as well. But still, I think everyone got their share of music that they liked.
To sum up, I had a super-amazing time. The show started at 8 and ended at 10.45, intermission included. Two and a half hours of spine-chilling music, music that means so much more to me than any random mainstream tune ever could. I wish that everyone who wants to could go see this fantastic concert. If you have a chance to attend, don’t hesitate! You wouldn’t want to miss this for the world.
Related links:
Play! A videogame symphony
Powerplay’s interactive website