Of course it won't have anything on actually being there, but it'll certainly sound better than any number of computer speakers can put out.

Seeing Rony Barrak live is just an awesome experience. Those people in Cologne must have amazed. I've really enjoyed everything on the second half so far. Was that a theremin on Shades?

I hope somebody is recording this, so I can catch the first half I missed.

Hmmmm . . . is there a release date for the CD?

The site says Quarter 4.

The apocalypse has arrived by the sounds of this introduction. This piano concertino is going to be awesome.

And that was truly amazing. One can hope that it becomes an annual concert series.

That sounded spectacular, and it was only on a 128 internet broadcast, I can't imagine how good the CD will sound, or even how great it was live.

But definitely what horseman said.

I had a feeling they'd leave the Turrican theme for the end. That was wonderful. Thanks for sharing, guys. =)

That was amazing! Everything I could have hoped for. The "Turrican 3 Suite" was a total flashback to 2006. Great music, great arrangements, funny MC. And I was totally stunned at the VGM featurette. Read that: It didn't suck, no, it was actually interesting!
Kudos to Mr. Böcker and Mr. Fechner who brought that event to those who couldn't attend.

I recorded the whole concert from the ASTRA Digital Radio broadcast (just like the PROMS concert earlier this year).

I won't release the music this time as I think it's too important to support the sale of the CD. It'll hit the web as soon as it is released, it's just that I don't want to be the one responsible for it.
Thomas Böcker needs to be supported, as he is the most engaged producer of video game music concerts at the moment. The amount of time and effort he invested in his Symphonic Game Music Concert series is unbelievable. And the success of Symphonic Shades makes a revival of the traditional concerts for the new annual trade fair GAMESCom in Cologne all the more possible.

However, I will provide all the MC comments and the VGM featurette in FLAC form, as I expect the official CD not to include them.

Just wondering... since you said that the VGM featurette was interesting would it be possible for you to translate it into English and post it? It certainly did sound informative despite my lack of being able to actually understand it.

Just got back from the concert (yeah 9 hours after the concert..) and long story short it was awesome. There was a meet and greet before the first concert, I got autographs from Chris Hülsbeck, Jonne Valtonen, even Thomas Böcker, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and Yuzo Koshiro, several photos with the latter two, shook all sorts of hands and finally enjoyed a really good live concert, just like several other gamingforce members who came all the way to Cologne.

We actually had discussions if people will actually listen to this on the internet and it seems it did get a lot of resonance.

I must say even though this was Hülsbeck's concert, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi left the biggest impression on me, he's the coolest game music composer in the world.
All in all, it was a very satisfying experience and I already know my favorites are Jim Power, Apidya II and Tunnel B1. And you really have to experience Rony Barrak in person.

Who else went?

Sure, I'll get around to it. Maybe today, if not, then later this week.

Thanks for the impressions, Teioh. Glad you enjoyed it!

Just came back home in Norway, i flew down for this and it was worth every penny and minute.

I got to meet and have conversation with my all time favorite composer, Mitsuyoshi, he signed my Loud 2 Low album and sang Rent-A-Hero for me, and talked about how sexy he looks. So truly the coolest composer alive as Teioh said. The concert itself was amazing, Jim Power and Gianna Sisters were probably the highlights for me.

Also hanging out with Teioh himself was a great experience, he's an extremely nice, funny and smart guy, so i really enjoy the little time we had together, and hope we will meet up soon again. Hamu-Sumo was also such a great guy, and i really want to thank them both for hanging out all night.

After a bit sleeping I'm here as well. Guys and gals it was simply fantastic. I've paid 128 euros for the train (out and back) and I don't regret any single one of them.

I don't want to go in any details since Mr. X is waiting for my report but three points now: 1) The atmosphere was splendid. 2) Mitsuyoshi-san is a really really cool and funny guy and it seems he enjoyed his time in Cologne every single minute. 3) Mitsuyoshi-san's wife/girlfriend (or was she just his manager? Don't know) is damn cute and sexy :D He has taste! ;)

A lot of photos were taken by me, some not in the quality as I wished but flash light was forbidden. Well, fortunately taking pictures in the concert hall was allowed, as I first talked with an employee he told it isn't. However, I'll upload all the pictures in near future and make a link here.

By the way, in the concert hall there was an TV camera installed (and running as I saw). So maybe a TV broadcast is possible in some time in the future.

Thanks to Teioh, AkumuHau and his friend for the after show talk through the night. It was interesting even your knowledge about H-Games. :D

Ok so away from the attention hungry americans here

I preordered the cd from this concert today, along with C64 Orchestra's RUN 10. PLAY is coming to Denmark later this year so hopefully Hamu, Teioh and I can make it to that.

Soooooo....

Did anybody record the broadcast that's willing to SHARE it? That CD won't be out for months.


Oh, and Tommy, your name shows up 6 times everytime you post. You don't have to type your name at the bottom of your message every time. ;)

YES HE DOES. GOOD GOD HE DOES. IT'S LIKE GETTING HIS AUTOGRAPH EVERY TIME. =D

Still working on the translation of the feature. Seems like I underestimated the amount of text, big time. After all it's still 25 minutes long.

Take your time, man. No need to make this a chore. I wouldn't want hassle you or guilt you into this. Thanks a bunch, dude. =)

I have moved several of Mr. X and Tommy's posts to a private thread. Contact me if you have any problems.

I've also listened to most of the concert Saturday and I concur it was pretty awesome. At first I wasn't too certain I'd enjoy it much since huge-sounding orchestral music is not what I listen to everyday, but I guess the quality of the arrangements and original compositions, plus the top-notch performance, helped me get over it and appreciate the fabulous music. The pieces that had the biggest effect on me are probably "X-Out" and "Shades", but ultimately there wasn't one I disliked. Would have loved to be in Germany that night to experience the concert fully, but I'm still grateful for the live broadcast.

The featurette was quite a nice surprise indeed, even if I couldn't follow it accurately. A translation of it would be really neat to read. Many thanks in advance for taking care of this, Prime Blue.

Also, we've been in talks at VGM Rush of conducting an interview with the main arranger of the concert, Jonne Valtonen. While the list of questions is already populated, there's still room for a few more. So if you have any good ones about either the concert or other aspects of the artist's career, send them my way and I'll slip them in!

By the way folks, Winfried Fechner, manager of the WDR Orchestra, told in an interview about plans for a big concert at Kölner Philharmonie during GamesCom next year.

GamesCom is a new gaming expo in Cologne which should replace Leipzig's Games Convention and is hold from September 9th till September 13th.

The Kölner Philharmonie is a much huger concert hall than Funkhaus Wallrafplatz or Leipzig's Gewandhaus (the place of the Symphonic Game Concerts). German Wikipedia is telling about 2,000 seats. You can get a 3D view here.

No more details yet but could be awesome when the plans come reality.

Man! I missed the broadcast, what a fool I am! Oh well, I guess I'll wait for the cd.