Smiles and Tears.

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Hey Tommy, went to the final show of 2008 in New Jersey. Great, great show.

It seems like your taking requests or something, so I will just spout some things I would love.

Mega Man 9 including Concrete Jungle, Plug Electric, Hornet Dance, and Galaxy Fantasy.

Gears of War 2, especially Hold Them Off.

F-Zero! I cannot stress this one enough. Listen to Big Blue carefully a couple of times and tell me that solo is not one of the rippingest (not a word, but in this case it is applicable) solo's of all time. All the tracks are ridiculously hot though.

And definitely some more Yoko Shimomura. You could just get the arrangements from her drammatica album maybe? Although you'd probably need a full orchestra for it unless you drastically reduced a lot of it. Or just used recordings like you already do.

Thanks for the good work, love the shows!

Cool. Thanks for the info. I'll check them out for sure. Currently working on a MegaMan & Gears II segment (among others).

Glad you enjoyed the show!!


Tommy

Tommy, saw the concert way back in Indianapolis the first time around, and moved to Orlando just missing when it came through here. Any chance the tour will be hitting a venue down here again?? :)

Volume 1 is fantastic, by the way. I have it playing in my car a lot going to work!

Yo!,

Thanks for the kind words about the album and glad ya liked the show!

We're looking at Orlando, Tampa & Miami right now. Nothing definite just yet.

Thanks again.


Tommy

1 vote for Tampa right here !!

I have a question about the segment of Halo 3. What is the name of that track played before the "Finish the Fight" (00:00 to 2:36)? Is this music a part of Original Soundtrack or an arrangement made especially for the show?
YouTube - Halo 3 - VGL London 2008

That is a special arrangement that me, Marty O'Donnell & Jack Wall all put together which combines 3 different tunes from Halo 3 and then I added the guitar parts on top of it. I'm not sure what any of the names of the tunes are. Sorry.


Tommy

And let me say to Tommy as well: I would go with Ace Combat 4, for one reason. It's song Megalith -Agnus Dei- has equal the epic power of One-Winged Angel. And it could easily serve as replacement for OWA, alleviating your weariness of the song, Kaleb. ;)

Tommy, you can get a quick listen to the song here: YouTube - Ace Combat 4 Shattered Skies: Megalith -Agnus Dei-
(Warning: Turn down your speakers at first, it blasts in LOUD ;))

Glad to hear that Mega Man is in the pipelines. :) Keep up the good work!

I still prefer my Ace Combat choices over "Megalith".

Also, I understand why OWA is included so often, but I just wanted to say my part.

The Ace Combat series has had some different styles in each game. There are rock, electronic, and orchestral influences throughout the series. Here's a brief rundown:

Ace Combat 1 (Air Combat): rock/synth
Ace Combat 2: rock, techno
Ace Combat 3: ambient electronic
Ace Combat 4: orchestral, electronic
Ace Combat 5: orchestral, rock, electronic
Ace Combat Zero: latin rock, orchestral, etc.
Ace Combat 6: orchestral, ambient, etc.
Ace Combat X: techno

Thanks for clarifying! :D

I just checked the G4TV website. They've put out 45 more release dates. A lot more Canadian shows this time around . Hey Tommy, come on. You got to come out to the East Coast. I'm sure there are a lot of people in Atlantic Canada would like to see this concert. I'm only kidding; I know you guys have been real busy with the success of the show but I wish nothing but the best for the 2009 year for yourself.

Source

Tommy one other question if you don't mind. Do you still do any work with the electric playground since you've been doing the video games live show since it started. The reason why I was wondering is have you guys ever thought of putting any of your older shows during the playstation or N64 days back, kind of like a retro segment on the web or show.

It probably wouldn't be feasible. I just remember you guys doing a show and you talked about xenogears and I missed it. I never ever had a chance to see it.

Whoops never mind. I just checked the official website and I see Newfoundland representing on the TBA page. Even if it doesn't come to Newfoundland if it comes to any other Atlantic province I'll definitely go see it for sure. Thanks Tommy.

Kaleb: Honestly, after viewing the Taiwan International Music Festival performance video... there really can be no substitute for One-Winged Angel, socially-speaking. I mean... just listen to everyone screaming for it as he announces the company... the name of the game... the number of the game... then finally the song name.

Musically-speaking, there's probably plenty other pieces to play, like our Ace Combat suggestions. But to be honest, none are going to have quite the same impact, I think.

Hardly anyone outside of game music and Ace Combat fans have even heard of the Ace Combat series, let alone know it's music. Although I personally would prefer some nice Megalith over OWA, I'd hazard a guess that more than 90% of VGL attendees wouldn't recognize it. Which means it would be ludicrous to replace OWA with it, or any Ace Combat track. For many, a large part of the attraction is the nostalgia., the memories, and the power that game music has to evoke the same feelings as the game.

Not to say that OWA shouldn't be replaced, of course. It should. When I go to my third show, I really hope that I don't get the same exact OWA track to top it off at the end. But... I'd understand the reasoning if I did.

Just snatched the tickets for me and a handful of friends at the Regina and Saskatoon shows. Looking forward to it.

Tommy, just wanted to stop in and congratulate you on the Ambassadorial Award you won at the GDC awards. You deserved it. And I also wanted to say that your speech after wards was phenomenal. I don't know that it would work as well for someone watching it in a recording on youtube or whatever, but for those of us who were there it was definitely the strongest speech of the night.

Yo! We'll be announcing 7 or 8 Eastern Canada dates within the next few weeks. Stay tuned and make sure to sign up to our mailing list to get pre-sale info.

Thanks!


Tommy


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Yeah... I gotta say.. OWA is one of the most highly requested songs at every show. It would be like Led Zepplin not playing Stairway to Heaven at one of their concerts. Some might be totally sick of it... but others would be crushed if they didn't play it.

The other thing to keep in mind is that 40% - 50% of our audiences (in certain places) don't even play video games... so they're hearing OWA for the very first time.

That being said, we've always tried adding some of the less popular and obscure stuff... as long as it has great music (Beyond Good & Evil, Lair, etc.)... Yet, whenever we do that... it seems that some folks will complain about that as well. :)

If there's one thing we've learned over the past 5 years of touring... it's that it's impossible to please everyone from a setlist standpoint... especially when there is so much amazing music. We've created over 60 segments for VGL but can only play 20 of them a night.


Tommy


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Cool! Thanks for the support! Can't wait for you to see the show. See ya soon!!!!


Tommy


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Yo! Thanks so much for the kind words. It really means a lot. I feel so fortunate that I'm able to help spread the word about video games and their music all over the world. It's been a dream come true and something I've wanted to do my entire life.


Tommy

I attended the Saskatoon concert tonight, and this is my first time seeing a VGL concert. I used to be a huge fan of video game music, and I even went so far as to tackle ripping the music from one of the largest games in VG history, music-wise - Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It's a shame Nintendo never released a soundtrack, though I can understand why, as to include all that music would mean filling up at least 7-8 CDs. To this day I look back on my gamerip and every time I say to myself, "holy crap, I actually did that?" And it's Nintendo's best musical effort in recent years, too.

However, about a year or two ago I started becoming disattached from VGM and turning instead to music from movies and TV. Not necessarily newer movie music from this generation of movie composers, but I'm talking stuff from the 1980s and older, all the way back to the 50s or even earlier. There's (sadly deceased) composers out there whose music I'm only now discovering (like Jerry Goldsmith, Basil Poledouris, Georges Delerue, Les Baxter, Henry Mancini, Morton Stevens, Alex North, Shirley Walker, etcetera etcetera) and I find it's a lot better thematically than a lot of film music written today. I know, film music is meant to serve the films, but it just seems to me like movie music written from the late 90s and onward has no real memorable value aside from just being there to accompany the movie it was for.

But anyways - I'm certainly motivated to venture back to listening to VGM after seeing Video Games Live. I have not heard much of what either you, Mr. Tallarico, or Mr. Wall have written, though I hope I get to do so someday. I'm actually not much of a video gamer nowadays either - I'm mainly into the retro games up to the Gamecube era; gaming today just doesn't interest me and I'm definitely more of a fan of the music. Actually, I think the last VGM soundtrack I purchased was as order from La-La Land Records - Richard Jacques' Headhunter / Headhunter: Redemption, for $6 (what a deal!).

I do have the VGL Volume 1 soundtrack CD as well, though unfortunately I didn't buy it officially - I received it used from a friend in Ottawa in a CD trade. I have not listened to it, but I certainly want to now.


What did I enjoy about VGL? Pretty much all of it really. I can't think of any games that should be represented in future concert showings, nor suggestions to make the show better. I never knew you nor Jack Wall would actually be there, which was a real nice surprise. Martin Leung deserved all that applause he received, too. :)

Once again, it was a pleasure to meet, in person, all three of you, and hopefully you remember me, Mr. Tallarico (I was the kid in glasses in a bright orange shirt with the binoculars and a recent haircut). My sister says she took a few pictures of us talking, though I haven't gotten them from her yet.

I'm hoping you guys continue to perform in Saskatoon in the future, and I wish you, Jack Wall, Martin Leung and the crew the best of luck for your other concerts. It was fantastic. Thank you.

Seems like the concert's headed my way.

http://www.sistic.com.sg/stix/images...event-page.jpg

As a newcomer to all of these, and after skimming through the thread, quite a lot of the members here have attended the Video Games Live concerts.

Ticket prices range from SGD 115 to SGD 55, which is around $78 and $38.

So I have just one simple question. To those who have attended past performances, was the price worth it? :)

A no-prize goes to anyone who can guess which game music I'm looking forward to hearing, if I attend the show

Absolutely. I've been to the concert twice, and would gladly go again.

Well, I've already bought tickets to the Singapore show and thanks to Hibino, my friend agreed to tag along.

I think VGL tickets are pricier than the Play! game music concert that played in Singapore in 2007. But there are possible reasons why that's so, starting with the venue and assorted pre- and post-concert activities at VGL.

Nonetheless, I'm hoping VGL will be able to offer a different experience and approach to Play!. For one, I'm hoping we'll get to hear a different treatment of the songs performed, and also tunes composed by Tommy and Jack (eg Myst III by Jack; that and I'm a Myst fanboy who even likes music from Riven). It's somehow more engaging watching and hearing a composer playing/conducting his own music. And it would be great to finally see Tommy and Jack in person (and hopefully meet them) after having read about them for the longest time.

It would also be cool to hear Tristram from Diablo live and some of the Orc themes from WarCraft II, but I guess that's wishful thinking on my part. :P

would love to see/hear shenmue and lost odyssey live, they are fantastic games+soundtracks!

I'll be going to the Singapore show as well. Just bought my ticket.

Yo!,

Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the show. It really means a lot.

Hope to see you again in Saskatoon next year!!!


Tommy

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Hi!,

Thanks so much for the support!! I can't wait for you to see the show. We're having a special guest composer from Japan (and my good friend) Hibino-san (MGS composer) to do a special rendition of his song "Snake Eater" from MGS3!

We offer a much different experience than most of the other game concerts so hopefully you will enjoy ours just as much. Would love to get your feedback after you had a chance to check it out. The reason the ticket prices for this particular show weren't the same price as the others is because they were a part of the Singapore Music Festival which underwrites the budgets and the Singapore government sets the low prices for the festival. The Singapore Government folks will be attending our show this week in hopes of possibly doing something with us in 2010.

See ya in a few days! Make sure to come up and say hi during the meet & greet after the show.

Thanks again... can't wait for you to see the show!!


Tommy

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Cool! See ya there!!


Tommy

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I can't wait for 2010 already. Hopefully, whatever project you guys will be doing with the Singapore Government works out. I have some hunches on what it might be. :P But I do hope it'll offer new material or at least new takes on old material.

See you at the concert this Friday, Tommy, and hope it'll be a blast for you as well. Will definitely drop by at the meet-and-greet to say hi! Provided I make it through what I imagine to be very long queues. :P