PLAY! A Video Game Symphony

[chloerin]

I am curious who has gone to this concert. I have heard nothing but good things about this concert as well as VGL. Who is going to the San Jose show on May 26, 2007 during the weekend of FanimeCon? I thouhgt Californians would be interested. We have to support VGM concerts or they cannot survive.

San Jose, USA
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts
Saturday, May 26, 2007, 8 pm

LOST ODYSSEY and THE DARKNESS will be a part of this concert.
Tickets to the PLAY! concert in San Jose, CA will be available to the general public starting Saturday, March 31 at 10 am online at www.ticketmaster.com or at Symphony Silicon Valley, 467 South First St. San Jose, CA 95113 or by calling 408 286-2600.
:grin:

[Arek the Absolute]

too bad the ganimu convention is the same day
god that show will be aweful with all of those otakus there

oh and "We have to support VGM concerts or they cannot survive."
lol ok
nice shil

[anosou]

I visited play when Arnie Roth and friends visited Stockholm, Sweden. It was pretty darn great. Don't miss this. I even saw Nobuo Uematsu and Chris Hülsbeck in the crowd ^^

[Emura]

It's an absolutely awesome show. I was far more impressed by it than by Video Games Live, and VGL was a pretty sweet show itself.

Ticket prices tend to be steep, but it's definitely worth it.

[atmuh]

too bad the ganimu convention is the same day
god that show will be aweful with all of those otakus there

oh and "We have to support VGM concerts or they cannot survive."
lol ok
nice shil

hahaha yup I would imagine that would pretty much ruin it

[kamoh]

Californians don't care. San Joseans don't care.
I'm too busy doing my radio show or going to the beach.
Life's too short to go to a stuffy concert hall instead of the beach.

Maybe if this was part of Free Concerts at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

[RoboPanda]

Go, and buy the expensive special VIP uber tickets. There is nothing more thrilling than meeting the guys whose talent you've enjoyed for so many years. Then again, when I went to the concert in Chicago last summer (SleazyC was there too), basically everyone from the VGM community was there - Uematsu, Kondo, Yamaoka, Mitsuda, Koshiro, and many others, so it was extremely important to get those tickets.

All I can say is Akira Yamaoka in snake-skin pants playing a 7-string guitar. How metal is that

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Go, and buy the expensive special VIP uber tickets. There is nothing more thrilling than meeting the guys whose talent you've enjoyed for so many years. Then again, when I went to the concert in Chicago last summer (SleazyC was there too), basically everyone from the VGM community was there - Uematsu, Kondo, Yamaoka, Mitsuda, Koshiro, and many others, so it was extremely important to get those tickets.

Or you could just happen to run into them in the airport as they're leaving

;P

[chloerin]

That is something...I cannot imagine running into the likes of these people. You must of been like wow this is awesome. I heard for the San Jose show PLAY! has Jeremy Soule attending. I don't know of any other American composer who is better.:)!! In Stockholm they announced that Akira Yamaoka will be at the concert. In SIngapore they announced that Yuzo Koshiro will be on turntables spinning classics, as well as Takenobu Mitsuyoshi. Pretty amazing maybe I will run into these composers some day.

[Hemophiliac]

i'll be going to this and i'll be at Fanime as well.

:D it's gonna be an awesome weekend.

[chloerin]

I do not want this show to get cancelled no matter what. I have been telling everyone that I know to make sure of it. :lol:

[Arek the Absolute]

dude
ganimu convention is the day of
it WONT be cancelled
stop with the shils

[watkinzez]

I actually heard some criticism over at the Gamingforce forums, but didn't read much into it. Something about subpar arrangements and false advertising.

They're in Sydney this June, with no special guests to speak of. Bastards.

[FiremanJoe]

I actually heard some criticism over at the Gamingforce forums, but didn't read much into it. Something about subpar arrangements and false advertising.

They're in Sydney this June, with no special guests to speak of. Bastards.

Are we going? Meetup thing perhaps?

[watkinzez]

Planning to go, but haven't bought tickets yet. Probably the Saturday matinee.
After the previous attempts at a sequel meetup, I'm thinking more "I'll see ya if I see ya".

[Dunnowhathuh]

Caught word of the Sydney one a while back. Don't think I'm good to go though. Speaking of special guests, I kinda went to this (http://www.eminenceonline.com/2006/) concert (first post on page) and forgot to tell you guys about it....Well actually, I mentioned it at the end of last year but forgot to bring it up again. I'm still kicking myself for not getting autographs.

[StarZander]

I am going this year, here in Stockholm. Going to go see Akira Yamaoka rock with the philharmonics. Woo!

[anosou]

I am going this year, here in Stockholm. Going to go see Akira Yamaoka rock with the philharmonics. Woo!

Me too, just have to get those friggin' tickets.. are you going on the first or the second?

[StarZander]

Me too, just have to get those friggin' tickets.. are you going on the first or the second?

The second show. I bought my tickets in december, so my seats are in the third row from the stage, in the middle. Not many tickets left for that show though.

[anosou]

Yeah I saw that.. If I can get my hands on some maybe we could say hi or something? I don't know many swedish ocremix freaks :)

[ifirit]

I am going this year, here in Stockholm. Going to go see Akira Yamaoka rock with the philharmonics. Woo!
Pix, please! Better yet, video.

Also having attended the concert in Chicago last year, I can only say that the performances were wonderful. Though I do admit that the Nobuo Uematsu pieces were performed verbatim to the arrangements from the Potion/Vocal/Piano/ect. collections (Zelda Medley as well, from the OoT Hyrule Symphony CD), all of the other arrangements were incredibly well excuted.

The Chrono Trigger/Cross medley was marvilous with the addition of the bongo percussion. Kingdom Hearts 2's "Passion (Orchestral Version)" was nothing less than stellar. And, Angela Aki's performances of "Kiss Me Goodbye" (FFXII) and "Eyes on Me" (FFVIII) were so touching that not a single person wasn't moved in the audience.

The most pleasant surprises of the night were the Shenmue opening theme, the Battlefield 1942 medley and, of course, Akira Yamaoka's performance of Silent Hill 2's "Theme of Laura." There were not surprising due to their appearance in the concert but because of their arrangement/performance. Keep in mind that PLAY! is an orchestral concert, so every aspect of the music comes from using the live orchestra and the capabilities that it has. Therefore, when it comes to saying that something was pleasantly surprising, I refer to the flexibility in the musical genre that it is performed as, such as including ethnic, electronic and rock/metal elements in these performances.

The show does not lack in dynamics and the overall energy there is electric. Expect to see pieces change from grandiose to intimate and back again within a few movements. And, above all else, expect to see a really great show. I know I'll never forget it.

Yeah I saw that.. If I can get my hands on some maybe we could say hi or something? I don't know many swedish ocremix freaks :)
Gecko Yamori (http://www.ocremix.org/remixer/geckoyamori/)?

[mDuo13]

I'll be there at the San Jose concert (and Fanime too), though I haven't bought tickets yet... still trying to organize my friends so we can get seats together.

Really, really hoping they don't sell out before I get mine.

[anosou]

oh yeah Gecko, gotta talk to him sometime ^^

[Hale-Bopp]

I was at the Chicago show last year and was blown away by everyone's performance. Any chance you guys get, I highly recommend catching this show.

[Czar Diego]

I went to the concert in Vienna, VA last summer. It was... kinda lackluster, to be honest. I really liked the new arrangements, but I guess the orchestra didn't live up to my expectations. It was still well worth the money, though.
I really wish there was a CD coming out for this show, though.

[Penfold]

Well, all I have to say is screw this concert. If they don't perform in the Seattle area, they don't deserve my money lol.

[Moogle!]

Well, all I have to say is screw this concert. If they don't perform in the Seattle area, they don't deserve my money lol.

Look at it this way, you're alot closer than me, who lives in Bumfuck Nowhere, Tennessee.

[chloerin]

PLAY! and Blizzard Entertainment® to Give Away Free World of Warcraft® Trial DVDs at the California Premiere on Saturday, May 26, 2007 in San Jose, CA
:-D
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March May 8, 2007- Today, Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc. has announced that the upcoming PLAY! concerts will kickoff on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 8PM in San Jose, CA at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. The concert will take place in conjunction with the Fanime Convention www.fanime.com.

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a symphony concert world tour, featuring live music performed by full orchestra and choir. Outstanding graphics on large screens above the orchestra accompany the scores, highlighting memorable moments from a catalogue of blockbuster video games.

Audiences will be thrilled by orchestral arrangements of their favorite video game soundtracks, including the score to World of Warcraftâ, Blizzard Entertainmentâ's award-winning massively multiplayer online game. As an added bonus, attendees to PLAY! Concerts will receive a free trial disc of World of Warcraft on DVD-ROM, which includes 14 days of free game time, while supplies last.

"Thanks to the generosity of Blizzard Entertainment, our concert goers will have a memento by which to remember their special evening at the PLAY! concert," says Jason Michael Paul, producer of PLAY!.

Additional tour dates including ticket information are available at the official PLAY! website at www.play-symphony.com/tickets.php <http://www.play-symphony.com/tickets.php> . So far, upcoming PLAY! concerts have been announced for Stockholm, Singapore, Sydney and Ft. Worth, TX.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com <http://www.blizzard.com/> ), a division of Vivendi Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard’s track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s free Internet gaming service, Battle.net®, reigns as the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

[StarZander]

Yeah I saw that.. If I can get my hands on some maybe we could say hi or something? I don't know many swedish ocremix freaks :)

Yeah, we could do that. I know there are several Swedish OCR-people, but I don't really know any of them. I just added you to my msn.

Pix, please! Better yet, video.

I'll try!

[the m gestalt]

I would love to go to this...if it wasn't on the other side of the country from me.

[po!]

i'm in the san jose area, but have no interest in going. orchestral video game music just isn't that appealing to me..

[Arek the Absolute]

wanna hang out?

[ILLiterate]

For real, I'd like to get a mini meet up going. I'd like to hit up Milpitas/San Jose Golf Land for some 2D fighting and arcade craziness

Not real interested in the concert though

[Hemophiliac]

i'd be down for a meetup, it just depends on when and where...and who's picking me up, because i'll have no transportation when i'm up there.

[po!]

if somebody wants to organize a Bay Area meetup i'd be down to go. how many bay area peeps are there here anyways?.. doesn't seem like that many

[chloerin]

Are you serious you still want to go even with all of this? There is also more to be announced up until the show. Support VGM!

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony Lands in San Jose on May 26, 2007

-Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc. the creative team that brought you the first Video Game Music concert in the US with Dear Friends- Music from FINAL FANTASY and More Friends- Music from FINAL FANTASY has announced that the next confirmed stop on the world tour of his new show PLAY! A Video Game Symphony will be presented in association with Fanime at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 8 pm. PLAY! is a new concert concept that draws its scores from a catalogue of blockbuster video games.

Brought to vibrant life by Symphony Silicon Valley and Chorale, the PLAY! concert features award-winning orchestral music from popular video game titles including Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, The Legend Of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., World Of Warcraft, Sonic The Hedgehog, Shenmue. Outstanding graphics on large screens above the orchestra will accompany the scores to highlight memorable moments from the games.

-Video game composer Jeremy Soule is going to attend PLAY! in San Jose. He is known for his work on games including The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Guild Wars: Factions/Nightfall, Prey and Company of Heroes.

-PLAY! Concert Kicks Off on Saturday, May 26, 2007 in San Jose, CA
PLAY! and Blizzard Entertainment® to Give Away Free World of Warcraft® Trial DVDs at the California Premiere. Audiences will be thrilled by orchestral arrangements of their favorite video game soundtracks, including the score to World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment's award-winning massively multiplayer online game. As an added bonus, attendees to PLAY! Concerts will receive a free trial disc of World of Warcraft on DVD-ROM, which includes 14 days of free game time, while supplies last.

- PLAY! to feature music from The Darkness
Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc. and 2K Games announced that PLAY! will feature music from The Darkness by composer Gustaf Grefberg when the tour performs in San Jose, CA and Stockholm, Sweden.

Developed by Starbreeze Studio, developer of the award-winning The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, The Darkness is a next-generation, first-person action game that features an immersive and gritty storyline written in collaboration with famed comic-book writer, Paul Jenkins (Civil War: Frontline). Set in the dark and seedy underbelly of New York City, players experience the role of mafia hitman Jackie Estacado who is the heir to "The Darkness", an ancient power that awakens within him on his 21st birthday. Jackie must use traditional weapons as well as learn to command his terrible new powers to seek revenge on his own crime family. The Darkness is based on the popular comic of the same name published by Top Cow Publishing.

The Darkness ships for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the Spring of 2007.

- PLAY! to feature music from Lost Odyssey
Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc. announced today that Nobuo Uematsu's music from Lost Odyssey will be a permanent part of the regular PLAY! A Video Game Symphony-series concert programm. The video game is designed by Final Fantasy series originator Hironobu Sakaguchi. PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a highly acclaimed symphony concert world-tour featuring music from a catalogue of blockbuster video game titles.

Lost Odyssey's storyline takes the player through Kaim's life, a man who has been sentenced to live for 1,000 years. He lives through multiple generations, becomes a part of many families, falls in and out of love and gets into conflicts. All this is set in a world that is on the verge of a mystical industrial revolution, where mankind has attained dark powers.

Tour dates including ticket information are available at the official PLAY! website at www.play-symphony.com/tickets.php. So far, PLAY! concerts have been announced for Hartford and Stockholm with many more to be announced shortly.

© 2006 MISTWALKER, INC. / I.T. PLANNING, INC. All rights reserved.
© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

- Free give-away for San Jose concert announced
Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc. announced today that the first 1,000 attendees to the PLAY! concert in San Jose will receive free exclusive Dear Friends - Music from FINAL FANTASY programs and posters. PLAY! San Jose will be presented in association with Fanime at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 8 pm.

- The two-hour concert performed by the Symphony Silicon Valley and Chorale will be conducted by Grammy Award-winning artist Arnie Roth. "It's no secret among game lovers and connoisseurs of orchestral music that some of today's most thrilling scores are coming out of the video game genre," says Roth. "This spectacular concert series speaks to the growing popularity and artistic sophistication of this form of entertainment and will attract people of all generations to some of the world's greatest concert halls."

This presentation is the second successful collaboration between the Symphony and Jason Michael Paul Productions, having presented a sold-out video game music concert in 2005.

- Tickets to the PLAY! concert in San Jose, CA are available to the general public online at www.ticketmaster.com or at Symphony Silicon Valley, 467 South First St. San Jose, CA 95113 or by calling 408 286-2600.

Ticket prices for this concert range from $36 - $72 a seat with a select group of the best seats selling for $100 including a PLAY! Package of gifts.

- Also, please mention that this is in association with FanimeCon www.fanime.com. Also, those who register for Fanime can receive a discount on PLAY! concert tickets by entering "fanime" in the promotional section of the point of purchase at the ticketmaster website.

Welcome to FanimeCon -
The Bay Area's Largest Anime Convention!

Memorial Day Weekend
Friday, May 25th, 2007 – Monday, May 28th, 2007
May Twenty-Fifth through May Twenty-Eighth
FanimeCon 2007 is fast approaching and promises to be the biggest FanimeCon ever. We've got more stuff to see, do, hear, and buy than any other anime convention around! Don't miss the action - register online now, and not only will you be one of the first members of FanimeCon, you'll save a ton of money!

[chloerin]

What better place then to organize a meet up on the biggest video game event in California.

[Arek the Absolute]

kicking it would totally be awesome
we should definitely hit up milpitas golf land while hemo is down so we can get in some 2d fighter action

[Hemophiliac]

kicking it would totally be awesome
we should definitely hit up milpitas golf land while hemo is down so we can get in some 2d fighter action

more like while hemo is up.

[Hemophiliac]

well i just purchased my registration for Fanime as well as Play!

is there still a meetup gonna happen?

[Sgt. Fuzzy]

Argh. I was trying to get tickets for the Singapore concert but by the time I found out about it they were already sold out. Gah! I'd never have imagined that it would be so popular...

[anosou]

Just came back from the first PLAY! in sthlm. It was good but the sound engineer deserves a shot to the head.. He messed up Dancing Mad! 12 minutes with organ, choir, rock band and orchestra and he messed it up :(

Otherwise, it was great. Enjoyed the c64 medley and the Metal Gear Solid parts, and I was pleasantly surprised by swedish Gustaf Grefberg's soundtrack to Darkness. Amazing. :O

got Akira Yamaoka, Grefberg, Arnie Roth and Machinae Supremacy to sign my shirt btw, all in all HAPPY TIMES :)

[StarZander]

Yes, Dancing Mad was a huge disappointment, and the Amiga and C64 medleys were so-so, maybe because I hadn't played most of those games. Akira Yamaoka was great though, and I managed to record his performance, since I had pretty good seats. The picture is a bit streched, since I had to rotate the video, but it's still pretty okay. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W15eNv5VbHs

[anosou]

Ooh Bonus :D Checking it out now

[AkumuHau]

Hey i was at PLAY yesterday too, drove from Norway to see it, I thought the Amiga and C64 medleys were GREAT, Dancing Mad was not that great though, some sound issues throughout that one, Arnie Roth recognized me from last year and had a chat, i thought that was really nice of him

[anosou]

Indeed that was nice of Arnie :D
I chatted som with Gustaf Grefberg, he was interested in my music :O That felt great!

I loved the C64 medley, Last Ninja (or whatever, I don't remember the name of the game) was pure enjoyment :)

[djarikraz]

Oh man, PLAY! isn't going to be in Texas till January. That is insane. Oh well, gives me time to save up for my tickets.

[AkumuHau]

Who were you guys from Sweden? Maybe i can remember if you wore anything special, I wore a Year200x shirt, maybe you saw me

[anosou]

Hmm.. can't really recall. I had a PLAY last year shirt and went with my little sister. I went to the first concert. Messy brown hair, beard and tall like hell :)

[AkumuHau]

hmm, well next year if PLAY comes around again, let's both go just wearing thongs and nothing else so we can easily spot eachother, deal?

[anosou]

Sure, but don't you think we'll get arrested for exposing ourselves? I mean ONLY a PLAY shirt, THINK OF THE CHILDREN :D

[AeroZ]

Yeah.. I was there too. The mood was very nice at the place. Everybody had the same intrest.. really cool. We should have made a sign that said: OCremix or something, to discuss and make some contacts :P But we might be able to organize it next year.

The Dancing Mad was cool.. but as you say, the soundtechnican did badly. The choir was also gone in the start of the concert.
But the Darkness soundtrack n Oblivion was wonderful. Also the zelda tunes..

Well it was a nice experience.

[Forty-second]

I vaguely remember the Chicago concert I went to awhile ago had a sound technician who did some stuff wrong too... I felt like it needed some sort of equalizer on it, the levels were all wrong =P

Also, there needs to be a PLAY! CD. I'd buy it.

[Dafydd]

I was going to go to the one in Stockholm this Saturday but I ended up selling my ticket because I'd promised to go with the choir I sing with to be Antony and the Johnson's warm-up band before their concert. So I ended up not going. But there'll be another concert this time next year, so I guess I'll go see that instead.

[anosou]

Yeah.. I was there too. The mood was very nice at the place. Everybody had the same intrest.. really cool. We should have made a sign that said: OCremix or something, to discuss and make some contacts :P But we might be able to organize it next year.

The Dancing Mad was cool.. but as you say, the soundtechnican did badly. The choir was also gone in the start of the concert.
But the Darkness soundtrack n Oblivion was wonderful. Also the zelda tunes..

Well it was a nice experience.

Yeah Darkness was a real surprise, Gustaf Grefberg really did well. Sounded kinda Elfman. :)

Yeah.. Next year it's OCR shirts ftw! We should really have a sweden meet-up anyway? Grab some beers and see who actually lives here!

[watkinzez]

For any Aussies concerned, I just bought tickets for the weekend Sydney showing. At least Yamaoka is set to be there.

[siven7]

The Dancing Mad was cool.. but as you say, the soundtechnican did badly. The choir was also gone in the start of the concert.
But the Darkness soundtrack n Oblivion was wonderful. Also the zelda tunes..

Well it was a nice experience.

They did Dancing Mad at Play? That's awesome! I went to it in Toronto (a 10-12 hour drive from where I live in Winnipeg) and it was amazing - there weren't a lot of sound tech problems at all, maybe just where I was sitting.

I wish I could've gone to the Sydney one because I was there last month. The Eminence Orchestra concert was two days before I arrived and Play! would be a month after I left... dang.

[Sgt. Fuzzy]

I don't know if the program differs from region to region, but here was the one I went for last night (managed to get the last two tickets, phew):

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony - Fanfare
Super Mario Bros. - Suite
Shenmue & Shenmue II - Sedge Tree
Lost Odyssey - Main Theme
Sonic the Hedgehog - Suite
Metal Gear Solid - Main Theme
Blue Dragon - Main Theme
Kingdom Hearts - Suite
Final Fantasy VI - Dancing Mad

Intermission

Daytona USA - Main Theme on piano by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Suite
Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross - Suite
World of Warcraft - Suite
Halo - Suite
Castlevania - Suite
The Legend of Zelda - Suite
Final Fantasy VII - One Winged Angel
Shinobi - Suite

The whole thing was worth going for simply because of To Far Away Times (Chrono Trigger). A tear actually rolled down my cheek when the final notes died away. Also notable were Super Mario Bros (though far too short in my opinion), Oblivion, Kingdom Hearts, Daytona USA (more on this later), WoW and One Winged Angel.

Now about Daytona: The piece in itself was good, but what made the performance was the attitude of Mitsuyoshi-san; he sauntered in waving a Sonic plushie, placing it on the piano amid cheers, then a few words, ending with "This piece is titled Let's Go Away, so enjoy, but please... Don't Go Away." The audience roared with laughter.

We were cheering throughout the entire song, even though at times his voice broke and he couldn't hold the notes, and even more so when he stood up, took a bow, and hurled the plushie into the audience. Great stuff.

After the show I bought a shirt (the white one) for $30 (about US$16) and made a promise with my friend to go again if it ever came back.

[watkinzez]

That was pretty good damn good, especially the organ solo in Dancing Mad- pretty damn big organ to play it on too.
And Sonic doesn't really work with an orchestra.

[heirware]

I went to the Sydney Saturday one. It was awesome. Dancing Mad was great, I couldn't believe the amount of pressure that player must have had, playing such a long solo on the largest organ in the world in front of a full house @_@. Chrono Trigger was surprisingly underwhelming, but Zelda was so loud and great.