Video Games Live

Originally Posted by Hydelloon

Is there a date for VGL Boston?

We are trying to decide which the best venue is for the performance. We have a few different options but lots of places are already booked this year.

What do you think would be a good choice?


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by el jacko

My apologies if this has been asked already.

Just out of curiosity, excluding licensing rights, what makes you determine what game soundtracks are chosen to be performed in concert? For example, you perform music from Beyond Good & Evil, a choice that I applaud you for but cannot understand (considering the flop the game was). There are many other games that are more popular and have great music (such as Metroid Prime, a game you mention in your press release but choose not to play in concert). How do you decide what music to perform in concert (ignoring licensing issues)?

For the most part the games in our show are AAA titles or franchises... Halo, Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Warcraft, Medal Gear Solid, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, Myst, etc...

But we also wanted to throw in a few surprises as well. When picking a few of these "surprises" we wanted to focus on some amazing games that had incredible visuals, music, storyline, etc. They may have not sold incredibly well but TONS of people come up to us after the show and say... "Wow!! I wanna go and play that Beyond Good & Evil game now! I'm gonna go pick it up! It looks and sounds amazing!"

I love being able to shine some light on a few of the lesser known games that deserve to be loved... especially for thier music.

The reason Metroid Prime is in our press release is because I worked on the game and it is one of the titles that is listed under projects I've worked on. Although I too love Metroid Prime... I feel that the music for Beyond Good & Evil plays much better to a live audience.

Another consideration we have is that we're not really trying to just focus on hardcore gamers as our audience. We get a lot of parents, grandparents, girlfriends, non-gamers, etc. They are the ones who are most blown away by the show because they had no idea how great video game music is and has become. Our whole concept from the start was to show the WORLD how incredible video game music has become... not just the hardcore gamers who already know and appreciate how wonderful it is.

Thanks for the question.


Tommy

I went to Video Games Live in Chicago last night and it was a really great show!

Even though I wasn't familar with some of the music and cinematics, I enjoyed every bit of the entire presentation. It was awesome to hear live, orchestrated music to what was happening on screen!

For what I was familar with, I was blown away. The Mario & Zelda segments were amazing with their orchestrated main themes. The Beyond Good & Evil segment was great! The Sonic segment was the best of what I knew. All zone music from Sonic 1 was played, Dr. Robotnik's theme too! It was cool hearing the old 16-bit music I've known since I was a kid played in full orchestra. The chorus's "SEGA" at the start was a nice touch as well.

Having the orchestra play on the fly to people playing Space Invaders and Frogger was not only cool, but impressive!

"Meet and Greet" was also a nice part of the event. Meeting a few of the 'industry insiders' was a treat!

I have some pictures I took of costumes and the concert, but I'm on a dial-up connection that refuses to upload photos to Imageshack.us, so when I get back on a broadband for a awhile tomorrow, I'll post them.

I had a really good time and I'd like to come to another concert! It was worth the five hour drive from northwest Missouri to Chicago! I know about the one in Indianapolis on the 11th and 12th, but I'll have to get ready to go to college since I go back the week after, so it looks like I won't be making that trip.

I'm sure people have mentioned this before, but it would be great if some CDs or even DVDs of Video Games Live were produced! I'd love to listen to the orchestrations, or even better - watch the show again! And those crappy bootleg videos on Youtube.com don't even come close. :/ (Which reminds me - I looked up into the audience a couple of times and there was this red light in the upper part of the auditorium.... Makes me wonder if parts of the Chicago show will show up on Youtube or Google Video or something similar.) At least I got a T-shirt; better than nothing.

You and Jack Wall have done a nice job, Tommy. Keep up the good work! :biggrin:

Double Post:
Picture time!

Picture of Cloud before the show:



Picture of, I think, Kevin Ryman:



Link:



Mario & Luigi:



The costume contest winners, Aeris & Cloud (a bit out of focus):



Some of the costumes on stage:



Some more:



Picture of the 8-bit segment:



After this picture, I turned my flash off because I didn't want to blind the orchestra players looking my direction.

Here's another picture of the 8-bit segment with the flash off. I'm sorry that Jack Wall's arm is blurred. No flash = slower shutter speeds = blurred movement:



About this time, my camera batteries died. Though, if I take the batteries out rearrange them and then wait for awhile, I can take one more picture before having to do it again.

Sonic segment:



Mario segment:



I forgot to turn the flash off on this one! I really hope I didn't bother any of the players.... >_>

And that's all I was able to squeeze out of my dead batteries. I was doing OK, but the flash finished them off.

Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

We are trying to decide which the best venue is for the performance. We have a few different options but lots of places are already booked this year.

What do you think would be a good choice?


Tommy

Sorry, I woulnt really know of any. Boston is a huge city with a lot of venues. I was hoping VGL would happen during my Fall Break from college so that my girlfriend and I could attend.

I'm uncertain if this question was already asked, but are CDs of the concert available for purchase?

I'll be at the Dress Rehearsal in Indy in about... 10 hours. Look forward to meeting you, Tommy!

Purchased 3 tickets to the LA concert, me, my boyrfriend and a friend of ours will be there!

Can't wait!

Originally Posted by Hydelloon

Sorry, I woulnt really know of any. Boston is a huge city with a lot of venues. I was hoping VGL would happen during my Fall Break from college so that my girlfriend and I could attend.

I'm uncertain if this question was already asked, but are CDs of the concert available for purchase?

I read on the videogameslive.com FAQ that they're discussing it with publishers or something. BTW Tommy, I was at the Indy show on Saturday. I really enjoyed it, and as most others got a huge kick out of the Frogger event.

This weekend, I was at the Saturday (Gen-Con) showing of VGL in Indianapolis. Warning: wall of text. This will appear in my journal as well, along with a write-up covering the rest of the weekend......

Video Games Live

Performers: Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir

MC: Tommy Tallarico, producer for VGL and composer for a ton of US games. (Of course, the one that's most familiar to me is the Unreal expansion pack.) He was also born 8 days after me. =p

Conductor: Jack Wall, who scored Myst IV.

Setup: The concert was divided into sections, roughly for each game or series. The music for the older games tended to be medleys, while some of the newer ones concentrated on the main theme. Above the orchestra, there was a big screen, where they showed video clips of each game. Some of the music had vocals, so there was also a choir, but I couldn't see them from where I was sitting, since they were blocked by the screen. Finally, there was a laser/light show, which added to the experience.

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First Act
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Arcade Medley: After the costume contest, the show opened with ... Pong. But wait, Pong had no music. Well, the orchestra played tones, choreographed to the ball hitting a paddle or the walls. Next, were some fan favorites ... Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Xevious, slowly moving onto some of the early games that had what we consider music. We even got to hear some music from the VCD games Dragon Lair, and its ilk. Oh, and Tetris too.

Metal Gear Solid: A pretty good selection of music. I never played the game, but recognize it from the Best Song contest. I think we got the first choral work here, too.

Castlevania: This one was awesome, a medley containing many pieces that I love from the series.

Beyond Good and Evil: This got quite a cheer when Tommy announced it. I see why so many liked the music from this game. The beginning of the medley especially intrigued me.

Legend of Zelda: Before this next section, they played a segment recorded by Koji Kondo, where he introduced the game and its music. The Zelda series had some great music, and a nice selection of familiar tunes were represented in this medley. Most would tell you that this was their favorite in the first half.

God of War: Of everything in the concert, this is the only one I flat out didn't know. I checked it out after I got back, and I'm pretty sure The Vengeful Spartan was part of the medley.

Audience Participation 1 - Space Invaders: Tommy selected a member of the audience to come play Space Invaders on the stage, except there was no joystick - he controlled the turret's position by walking along the stage. The orchestra played music in real-time, and got faster when he invariably left a couple of ships on the ends. He didn't win the big prize.

TRON: This was my favorite section of the first half, and a complete surprise -- orchestral music from the movie TRON. (That might sound blasphemous, coming from me, but remember that there was also a TRON video game released at the same time as the movie. Also, the music used in the motion picture was mostly electronic, and shares some similarity with game music.)

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Intermission
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During the intermission, I watched some people play in a Space Invaders tournament, and I'm convinced that no one knows how to play it anymore. You have to take them out by columns or they'll pounce you.

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Second Act
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Audience Participation 1 - Frogger: Two audience members were selected for this one - a game of Frogger on the big screen with real-time orchestral accompianment. A girl from Wisconsin beat an older gentleman to win a Ferrari ... AMD64 Laptop. (I bet you thought it was a car.)

Medal of Honor Series: This was one of the most moving segments of the evening, with some of composer Michael Giacchino's music set to scenes from the second world war. Tommy also shared that during production of the game, Steven Speilburg was so impressed with Giacchino's talent, that he shopped him around in Hollywood, which is how this game music composer ended up writing the scores to popular shows like Lost and Alias.

EverQuest 2: Ah, music from an MMORPG. Pretty good. Maybe someday they'll feature Maple Story. Strangely, some of the in-game scenes made it look like EQ has a plot.

Kingdom Hearts: This was an orchestration of Hikari, but instead of KH scenes, we were treated to scenes from various Disney movies. You know, Peter Pan looks an awful lot like one of the incarnations of Zelda.

The Myst Series: The conductor spoke a little before this set, which is fitting because he composed the music for one of the Myst games. Heh, they showed some scenes from Myst I, which reminded me of the half-day I spent on that game before giving up and returning the CD to my roommate.

Advent Rising: The music from this game is one of Tommy Tallarico's own compositions. It was good, even though the game admitedly didn't sell well.

Sonic the Hedgehog: Ah, hearing an orchestration of Green Hill Zone brought pleasure to my ears. I can't remember if there's ever been any symphonic Sonic music. This was also a medley.

World of Warcraft: By their reaction, I think most of the audience is addicted to this game, so it was fitting. Socks tells me that some of the scenes they showed were from Warcraft 3, as well.

Special Guest - Martin Leung: This was a total shock; I had no idea this was coming. Martin Leung is the infamous Blindfolded Mario Pianist, who made a video and posted it online last year. He performed a piano medley of Final Fantasy music (even a bit of one-winged angel in there). The performance was impressive as always, and the arrangement was solid and a bit unusual. Without a doubt, this was the audience's favorite part of the concert, and the young man got the first Standing Ovation.

Mario: The concert was concluded with a nice medley containing music from Mario. There are so many Mario games, I didn't recognize half of the scenes they showed.

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Encore
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Halo: Tommy had one more surprise for us - a special guest appearance by Halo composer Marty O'Donnell, who introduced music from Halo, mostly the track called Halo. An interesting tidbit - the chanting is done by 5 jingle artists from Chicago.

Encore Encore: Martin Leung came out one more time, to the delight of the audience, and played a medley of Mario music.

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Summary
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The whole evening was quite an experience, and while the main emphasis was on game music, the overall theme of the show was the fun of gaming. Don't miss the opportunity to see it, if the show comes to a venue near you.

My only regret was that I missed the meet-and-greet because I had something else to attend afterwards. Hopefully next time.

I haven't been on this forum in a long time, and when I came back, my previous account was deleted. So post count back to zero! boo.

In any case, coming back, I saw this VGL thread. and, like, omg! I've already got tickets to go see it in Hollywood Bowl! I almost died watching the trailer when I stumbled across the VGL site a while back. Bought the tickets months ago. That's how excited I am. ^_^

So basically what I'm saying is that I can't wait!

And, just one question to Tommy. Have you ever thought about doing anime music concerts?

Thank you Joe Wiewel & Secret Squirrel for your kind words. I'm so glad you enjoyed the shows and had a great time! Please keep spreading the word. It's our best means of getting the word out there.

Yo Hydelloon, CD's & DVD's will be coming soon. Maybe by the end of the year. Please sign up on our mailing list on the front page of www.videogameslive.com so you'll get all the info first.

Yo Diversion, It was great meeting you! Please let us know what you thought of the concert! You were there on Friday night correct?

Hi Kairi Li! Thanks for the support!! Can't wait for you and your friends to see the Hollywood Bowl show!!! There's going to be a lot of new & unique stuff and a BUNCH of crazy surprises!! I'm even getting the GoodYear Blimp involved!! (I swear to God!)

Yo neothe0ne! Thanks!! Glad you liked the Frogger segment!! I love doing that!! Especially giving away a $2,500 laptop every night!!!


Yo Stazarine, Looking forward to putting on a great show for you at the Bowl! Thanks so much for supporting video game music!!! I'm not too familiar with Anime Music so I wouldn't feel comfortable putting on such a show. Video Games are my passion and my career so I'll be sticking with that. I do however know about a concert in Australia that combines video game & anime music together in a symphony. Here is the website: http://www.eminenceonline.com/anif/

See ya in September!!!!!


Tommy

I'll be darn, There are already bootlegged videos of the Chicago performance! I guess that red light I noticed in the audience turned out to be on the camera that recorded them.

If you haven't been to Video Games Live, I'd check out those videos. The audio quality is much better than the Philadelphia bootlegs.

Double Post:

Darn, I just missed you!

Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

Thank you Joe Wiewel & Secret Squirrel for your kind words. I'm so glad you enjoyed the shows and had a great time! Please keep spreading the word. It's our best means of getting the word out there.

Yo Hydelloon, CD's & DVD's will be coming soon. Maybe by the end of the year. Please sign up on our mailing list on the front page of www.videogameslive.com so you'll get all the info first.

No problem! I had an awesome time, so all I have to do is tell the truth whenever I talk about it with somebody...... You know, it was kind of interesting. During the show, I met some parents who had brought thier kids to the event and really didn't know what to expect. During the break, after the show and even while waiting in line for Meet and Greet, we chatted and they said that even though they really didn't know anything about video games or what was going on on the screen, they still had a good time and enjoyed the show. So, it just goes to show that 1) even non-gamers can enjoy video game music and 2) you guys have done an awesome job!

As far as spreading the word goes, I plan on wearing the Video Games Live shirt I bought around my college campus. I may get some weird looks from non-gamers, but I bet it will draw the gamers out of the crowd to ask me what my shirt's about. :biggrin:

Looking forward to the release of the CDs/DVDs! I've been on the mailing list a long time so I am highly anticipating the e-mail announcing that they're ready to order!

Originally Posted by Joe Wiewel

I plan on wearing the Video Games Live shirt I bought around my college campus. I may get some weird looks from non-gamers, but I bet it will draw the gamers out of the crowd to ask me what my shirt's about.

Haha, be prepared. I've donned my shirt around non-gamers, and I've had many weird looks and questions.

That's cool. I'm looking for people around where I live to start playin' some anime music really. And thanks for the link. I might check that out next time I'm there in Aussie.

Also, there's another website/forum that you might want to check out if you don't know the place (or the creator) already. It's pianosquall.com. I think he was at E3.


And regarding the shirts, I'm planning on getting one, so I'll be another statistic in getting weird looks

Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

Yo Diversion, It was great meeting you! Please let us know what you thought of the concert! You were there on Friday night correct?

Tommy

I just got home last night. Unfortunately my car had broken down on the drive back, and I had a bit of a misadventure getting home.

Quote:

The Video Games Live Experience

There is simply no other way I could put this other than an experience. I had tickets to the original tour in the second row in the Detroit show, and it would still be another year after that when I finally get a chance to live this experience. Picked up Dress Circle tickets to the first night of VGL and got ready for a long drive to Indianapolis. 6 hours and a few breakdowns later, I was in Indy and headed over to pick up my tickets. As luck would have it, Becky Young had sent out an email for several people to get to go in during the dress rehearsal and get a little preview. Being a musician myself, naturally this was an awesome bonus to the show. First song I heard while in there was the Mario segment, and it was an absolute delight to hear Jack explaining the song. After we saw the preview for Space Invaders, and I didn't actually catch on right away WHY Tommy was leaping across the stage while playing the game.

After a few hour break recovering some sleep from the drive, it was showtime. Many of the costumes were simply fabulous, and it was so much fun being surrounded by others that share a passion similar to mine. The building was just full of so much energy that night, and the show hadn't even begun yet! After little Zelda won the costume contest, it was finally time! (Note: I'm using SS's template for the order, since I don't remember the actual order of the songs)

Act I
8-Bit Medley - I have IGN Insider, so I've already seen this segment and knew what would be coming, so I immersed myself in the experience and also had a lot of fun listening to the audience react to various sections. There's nothing like hearing those every day themes played by an orchestra... it's simply phenomenal!

Metal Gear Solid - Again, I have seen this piece done on IGN Insider. I never played much from the Metal Gear Solid series, however, the themes aren't unfamiliar to me. Personally, what made this segment really stick out more was the use of a live person on stage and the "!" that appeared overhead as the music deepened: a small effect, but left a lasting value!

Castlevania - This one was also played during the rehearsal, and I absolutely love the music in this series! Castlevania has a distinct style of music that is immediately recognizable if I ever heard it being randomly played anywhere, and the visual cues were also fun to follow during it. This segment impacted me more in the sheer orchestration and just listening to the musical beauty of it. This segment had a strong impact on me, even if it was the third time I heard it that day!

Beyond Good and Evil - During the Friday show it received quite a cheer when it was announced: myself, I have never played the series nor am I familiar with the music. I used the time to expand my experiences and enjoy the music, and it was a great new segment for me to hear!

Legend of Zelda - I've been playing Zelda music on the piano like crazy over the last 2 years, and I may have driven myself to the point where I can't stand the music on certain days, yet despite all of that, the segment still had a fresh feel to it! The section that really hooked me was towards the end of the song, the themes were downplayed in a reflective style, and its tranquility just pulled me right in. There isn't enough respect I can show towards Kondo for writing this original theme: the Zelda series always holds a special place in my heart.

God of War - As others have said, this is a part of the show I had no familiarity in whatsoever. I had never played the game, nor have I ever listened to the music. Again, I let myself get pulled into the music and enjoy the symphonic sound.

Space Invaders - This was fun to watch during the rehearsals. The music was very simply, but the orchestra gave it a great deal of depth that really got your adrenaline going as the invaders got closer to the turret. This was a very unique experience that no other show had ever attempted, because the music was being played TO the game on the screen in real time. Unfortunately the player didn't destroy the ships and win the prize, however, it was still a lot of fun to watch and he still got some very nice speakers!

TRON - What a guilty pleasure for everyone in that room to listen to this! Unfortunately, the themes I was never as strongly familiar with, so I was lost in the visuals. I remember seeing a Tron video where the actual racers were moving around the stage, and was a bit disheartened that it couldn't be done here. It did give me a chance to focus more on the music, and it was quite wonderful.

Intermission - There was a good "lol" factor when the "Loading Act II" screen came up. A good chance to stretch the legs and wander around the lobby.

Frogger - I remember back around 5 years ago I was at a leadership convention in Austin, Texas. At one point, a group had gone to the regional AMD headquarters, and while there, I had the opportunity to play Jedi Knight 2 on a large screen like this before, and it was amazing because everyone in the room is watching you and cheering you on. This segment was like this, only much better because of the orchestra playing, again, real-time to the player on the screen. If you're familiar with Frogger, you'll know that there's a lot of fast adjustments the orchestra had to do after deaths or successful trips. Both players did good and there were a lot of "oohs" on some close calls, and in the end, a girl won a nice $2500 laptop!

Medal of Honor - I absolutely loved the angle taken here: instead of using in-game footage, real footage from World War 2 was used in its stead, and it was a very heartfelt segment where the music was second to the scenes of the war on the screen, and Giacchino's music truly complemented what anyone would feel while watching war scenes. SS put it well when he said it was one of the most moving segments of the night, because I felt a similar feeling Friday night.

EverQuest 2 - I had a funny feeling during this one, mainly from the visuals, because in my MMO experiences, I have never really had that sort of epic party feeling while playing any MMO. It was certainly a nice touch and a fun segment.

Kingdom Hearts - The second Tommy said Disney the room simply erupted... so many people love these games: they encompass so many childhood memories in an original concept, and in the end, the delivery of the music and visuals really played off of the nostalgia of classic Disney movies.

Myst - "Yes, I talk, too"... Jack's first words of the night! Admittedly I only played the first Myst game, and it was so long ago that I don't remember the music, but given what I heard and saw, I think I need to make a return to the series and give myself the chance to get that experience again!

Advent Rising - I absolutely adore the song "Greater Lights", and I remember listening to it on Tommy's myspace and thinking to myself what I would be listening to if I never had this exposure. It makes me want to take on Tommy's challenge to bring this music to more people. I had 6 years being a church musician a couple years back, and I threw in so many VG songs for instrumentals because they were so gorgeous to listen to. I very much enjoyed this segment: the music was beautiful!

Sonic the Hedgehog - Everything from here to the end of the show was the most amazing experience for me. I absolutely LOVED listening to the Sonic themes performed by the orchestra: I didn't even watch the visuals on the screen here, simply immersed myself in what I was listening to. I look forward to the CD coming out just to relive this experience alone!

World of Warcraft - I'm an addict... so was half the audience when the song was announced. Seasons of War is such a great intro song for World of Warcraft and it gave me chills listening to the music while watching some of the most memorable scenes from the Warcraft series (in particular, Arthas' return to murder his father).

Martin Leung performs FF Music - I've played piano for nearly 16 years now, and even with the experience that I have, I was still completely blown away by this arrangement. The beginning was simple with more reflective themes from the series, but as it progressed in length, it also did in intensity and difficulty. Leung is an extremely accomplished musician and his performance was absolutely breathtaking to listen and watch (those hands!).

Mario - This was a nice melody, but in my opinion, was one of the lower points of the Act, but that may very well be my fault again because I surround myself in the music. It was still a very pleasant piece to listen to, and it was a nice end of the show.

Encore - Michael Salvatori was there for the show, and we were treated to a great Halo medley that I enjoyed immensely. I never played as much Xbox as I did other systems, and as such, never played much Halo, but I still listened to a bunch of the music anyhow. After the Halo segment, Martin came back out to do his familiar bit that so many on the Internet have seen, and it was a nice closing to the show

Afterwards I went out for the meet and greet. It was nice to meet many leaders in the industry, but I was really looking forward to meeting Tommy and Jack. Seriously: you guys have created an amazing show and experience here... I have never been to a show that impacted me so much as this one. I'll get moving on that Rhapsody in Blue arrangement and send it in to ya, and hopefully someday I'll be able to participate in the Video Games Live experience more actively. Thank you for a great evening!

Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

Yo Stazarine, Looking forward to putting on a great show for you at the Bowl! Thanks so much for supporting video game music!!! I'm not too familiar with Anime Music so I wouldn't feel comfortable putting on such a show. Video Games are my passion and my career so I'll be sticking with that. I do however know about a concert in Australia that combines video game & anime music together in a symphony. Here is the website: eminenceonline.com/anif/

See ya in September!!!!!


Tommy

Hello, I was just notified by my staff that someone has been talking about us and decided to put a post. I didn't think anybod