Passion from Eminence

Nice review! I bought tickets to the Singapore leg of the Passion concert and am waiting with bated breath for the big day. If I'm not mistaken, Sakimoto won't be present though Mitsuda will still be there. I was rather surprised how quickly tickets were selling fast given the relative obscurity of VGM over here. I hope this landmark concert will lead the way in bringing more VGM concerts to play in Singapore. Already, Play! is scheduled to grace our perpetually sunny shores during the biannual Arts Festival so that will be greatly anticipated.

Quote:

“Radical Dreamers”
I was a bit skeptical about how this piece would turn out, but other than a few mistakes from the guitar in the introduction, it was played flawlessly. Noriko Mitose’s soft, child-like voice is matched by the mature sound of the violin. The ending of the track, as with the original, is tremendous. There’s not a lot more I can say about it. It’s that good.

This I got to hear.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I just got back from the concert. It was very nice! Ok, I was a bit disappointed that Sakimoto's pieces were not played (except for "Digimon Arrangement" and the FF12 Victory theme but the latter doesn't really count, does it?). I suspect this might have something to do with Sakimoto's absence.

There were some glitches, admittedly. For instance, the male violinist (Hiroaki Yura) appeared to be just a tad too fast during "Time's Scar" and his playing would become just a bit too shrill during the frantic string lines for "Meridian Dance". Also, the mixing was not exactly the best. On occasion, the percussion would overwhelm the strings slightly. A friend also noted that the band was not always together and the musicians sometimes appeared to be playing in isolation from the rest of the band. I was also a bit disappointed that a good number of songs didn't "loop" and ended on a rather short note, except for "Sunlight Earth" which was supposed to be short anyway.

That said, the concert was still good. I really liked the opening song, "Digimon Arrangement". Very nice rousing, infectious melody (Sakimoto has improved!) and fantastic energy. Ok, I have to go look for the music one of these days.

The Kirite pieces made me sit up quite a bit, though "Promise with Winds - Petal's Whereabouts" wasn't performed. More so because I initially didn't think very much of the album. While "Nocturne" felt like it was traipsing in very familiar Mitsuda territory, I didn't quite realise how beautiful it was. Easily a favourite. "The Azure" was also better than I remembered and another favourite from the concert. Credit to the band for injecting so much energy into the songs.

The Chrono Cross pieces were great. I really liked "Radical Dreamers" though I thought the the guitar could have been a touch more "acoustic". The violin melody (played by Ayako Ishikawa, I believe) was very endearing. "Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World" was just as I imagined. Very pleased with it and how it translated so well into a live performance. "Time's Scar" was slightly marred but the end result was really satisfying, more so since it was live! This is one very, very happy fanboy. If only they played some Chrono Trigger tunes or CT tribute Chrono Cross pieces. *sigh*

The Xenosaga performances were nice though "Pain" was painfully short. Would have preferred it to have "looped" at least one more time. I was a bit surprised "Mai" was selected from the .hack series. I thought there were more memorable pieces like "Open Your Heart" or "The World" but "Mai" ended up being rather nice. In place of Sakimoto's sorely missed pieces were a couple of very beautiful songs composed by Joe Hisaishi, namely "Princess Monoke" and "Laputa, Castle in the Sky." There were very well performed, with very soulful performances by the violinists. The Disney and "classical" ("classical" might not be entirely correct) pieces were nice (you should really see Ishikawa's graceful bowing and Yura's masterful playing). "Dance Macabre" was particularly nice, I must say.

"Sunlight Earth" was, as mentioned, very short but it was a wonder to hear it live because it appeared to be a fairly difficult piece to play given the numerous quick running notes. A really beautiful piece. The concert closed with the very moving "A Song of Storm and Fire". I've always loved the melody so it was terrific to hear it live. "Meridian Dance" was a fantastic encore piece though I think many concert goers were too star-struck to want to get Mitsuda's autograph and didn't really stay long enough to cheer the musicians on for a second encore (that and it was getting rather late).

The autograph signing session was really quite long. I wasn't able to get a picture taken with Mitsuda (what a shame!) save for some side shots due to the overwhelming response for the session. But I managed to get one with the very charming Ms Ishikawa. *sigh* I got autographs from all the performers and had my newly purchased An Cinniuint soundtrack signed by Mitsuda. I also took the opportunity (since they were going fairly cheaply without the incredulous shipping costs) to get myself a copy of Xenosaga Ep I, Sailing to the World and the very wonderful Hako no Niwa. I wasn't a very big fan of Moonlit Shadow so left that out. I missed out on Kirite, too, which I'm kind of regretting now.

All in all, it was a very memorable experience and certainly a fanboy's dream almost come true. The concert needs Xenogears, Tsugunai and Chrono Trigger, as well as FF Tactics and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter mixed in for good measure.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ah, I never did make the connection between you and Eminence until now (the founder no less). Congratulations on the successful concert, SeRaPH! Will be anticipating your "evil plans". :P Here's wishing Eminence all the best!

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by KaneSlayer

Heh, don't get me wrong ya? ^^; The old account I'm referring to was the one I had back before the crash happened..I'm pretttty sure it was high enough to post URLs and pictures. Sigh. Now so many people have gone. Oh well..time to make some new friends!

Just out of curiosity, what was your old user name, KaneSlayer? I might have talked to you before on GFF. The only kinsmen I've seen around here (or can remember) are ChronoX, Arc, Wallace and someone with a Zidane user name followed by a string of numbers. I guess Bigblah might count since he studies in Singapore but I never did meet him once. :P

Most amazing jew boots