Mario Murderer
06-22-2007, 08:05 AM
On Wednesday two days ago, I went to PLAY! ~ A Video Games Symphony at the Sydney Opera House! Here is my review of the concert.
Me, my mum and dad booked the tickets for only us, my sister couldn't make it since she was on a school camp.
We left the house at 5.30 and got to the city at 10 past 6. We were actually a little early, because the concert started at 8. So we went down to a cafe and had dinner and then went back up at 8 when the show started.
The crowd was very well behaved - and I was very surprised - and I felt kind of silly - because this was actually (trivia!) my very first orchestral concert. Anyway, the crowd was very behaved - as soon as the lights faded into darkness people went quiet instantly. When Arnie came on we all applauded and then they played a fanfare. He made an announcement of what will happen through the evening. (We also had very good seats, btw)
The show kicked off with the classic Super Mario Bros Suite, playing music from Super Mario Bros, Super Mario World and - Super Mario 64. Then they played Some music from Shenmue. I can't remember the EXACT set list - sorry
The first 3 songs were a bit soft but during the 4th and over songs everything seemed to get louder.
Anyway, the fourth song that they played was the Sonic The Hedgehog suite. and then a few others from new games that were not released in Australia as of yet - and then they played some Actraiser, Oblivion, and Kingdom Hearts. After about 12 more songs they played their first Final Fantasy song of the evening - "Dancing Mad". They even had the giant pipe organ playing and they played the organ solo VERY well indeed.
After the 7 minute song (+ 4 minute or so solo) there was an intermission,
After the 20 minute intermission the orchestra, chior people and Arnie came back on. They played a few more songs from such games like Black, Metal Gear Solid (with an announcement from Kazuki Muraoka (I think D:) followed up by some World of Warcraft and Apidya. Then some Blue Dragon, Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger.
Things really started to get rocked up as the the lights faded in as Arnie Roth announced that there was a special guest in the house - which was none other than the amazing Akira Yamoka! He played an AWESOME performance with his guitar (and the orchestra in the background) as he preformed "the Theme of Laura" from Silent Hill 2. It was absolutely amazing! He seemed really happy to be on stage too xD
When he left, everybody played some Castlevania - and of course - Halo, as things went close to the finale of the night. Then they played the Zelda suite, and afterwards there were two encores - another final fantasy song (I think - actually I can't remember the first encore - or if there was one! D:) and then, to close the show, they did the one and only
One-Winged Angel.
When the orchestra and choir finished the last song, they and Arnie waved goodbye and then walked off. Everyone was now willing to get home and to get away from the cold atmosphere of the harbor. Me, mum and dad eventually got home at a quarter to twelve.
It was surely an amazing night. The guy from IGN.com was there and he gave me bumper stickers before the show (lawl). He said he heard it was an amazing electrifying experience. He didn't lie.
Me, my mum and dad booked the tickets for only us, my sister couldn't make it since she was on a school camp.
We left the house at 5.30 and got to the city at 10 past 6. We were actually a little early, because the concert started at 8. So we went down to a cafe and had dinner and then went back up at 8 when the show started.
The crowd was very well behaved - and I was very surprised - and I felt kind of silly - because this was actually (trivia!) my very first orchestral concert. Anyway, the crowd was very behaved - as soon as the lights faded into darkness people went quiet instantly. When Arnie came on we all applauded and then they played a fanfare. He made an announcement of what will happen through the evening. (We also had very good seats, btw)
The show kicked off with the classic Super Mario Bros Suite, playing music from Super Mario Bros, Super Mario World and - Super Mario 64. Then they played Some music from Shenmue. I can't remember the EXACT set list - sorry
The first 3 songs were a bit soft but during the 4th and over songs everything seemed to get louder.
Anyway, the fourth song that they played was the Sonic The Hedgehog suite. and then a few others from new games that were not released in Australia as of yet - and then they played some Actraiser, Oblivion, and Kingdom Hearts. After about 12 more songs they played their first Final Fantasy song of the evening - "Dancing Mad". They even had the giant pipe organ playing and they played the organ solo VERY well indeed.
After the 7 minute song (+ 4 minute or so solo) there was an intermission,
After the 20 minute intermission the orchestra, chior people and Arnie came back on. They played a few more songs from such games like Black, Metal Gear Solid (with an announcement from Kazuki Muraoka (I think D:) followed up by some World of Warcraft and Apidya. Then some Blue Dragon, Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger.
Things really started to get rocked up as the the lights faded in as Arnie Roth announced that there was a special guest in the house - which was none other than the amazing Akira Yamoka! He played an AWESOME performance with his guitar (and the orchestra in the background) as he preformed "the Theme of Laura" from Silent Hill 2. It was absolutely amazing! He seemed really happy to be on stage too xD
When he left, everybody played some Castlevania - and of course - Halo, as things went close to the finale of the night. Then they played the Zelda suite, and afterwards there were two encores - another final fantasy song (I think - actually I can't remember the first encore - or if there was one! D:) and then, to close the show, they did the one and only
One-Winged Angel.
When the orchestra and choir finished the last song, they and Arnie waved goodbye and then walked off. Everyone was now willing to get home and to get away from the cold atmosphere of the harbor. Me, mum and dad eventually got home at a quarter to twelve.
It was surely an amazing night. The guy from IGN.com was there and he gave me bumper stickers before the show (lawl). He said he heard it was an amazing electrifying experience. He didn't lie.
