Video Games Live

Hey everyone!

A friend of mine just turned me on to this board which seems to have a lot of cool video game music threads to read!

Also wanted to let everyone know about my Video Games Live concert series which is currently touring around the world in 2006.

Our next show is in Philadelphia on June 3rd at the Merriam Theatre during the Wizard World comic book & pop culture convention (over 35,000+ attendees!). It will be the first time a video game concert has ever been performed in Philly.

I just finished putting together a new trailer which you can check out here:
Hi-Res: http://www.videogameslive.com/traile...anjose2006.wmv
Lo-Res: http://www.videogameslive.com/traile...anjose2006.mov

Hollywood Bowl Trailer:
http://videogameslive.com/video/vglpromo2.wmv
http://videogameslive.com/video/vglpromo2.mov

You can view all of our tour dates here:
http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=dates

Were the first game concert to play Toronto, Montreal, Houston, Indianapolis and others! We've teamed up with all the cool comic book, anime and gaming conventions all around the world like Wizard World Chicago where over 65,000+ people will be in attendance.

We're also playing the Hollywood Bowl again this year on Sept. 21st. The Hollywood Bowl show is the biggest video game concert in the world. Check out our meet & greet from last year (including Hideo Kojima, Yuji Naka, Stan Lee, Nolan Bushnell, Marty O'Donnell, etc., etc...
http://videogameslive.com/index.php?s=losangeles

Here's the last meet & greet we did at San Jose during the Game Developers Conference:
http://videogameslive.com/index.php?s=sanjose

Unlike other concerts out there we do NOT charge extra for the meet & greets. ALL ticket holders can attend as well as our pre-show festival which includes things like a costume contest, interactive game demos, Guitar Hero competitions, etc.

In fact, our goal has always been to get as many people as possible to attend our events so we keep the ticket prices as low as possible. You could buy a ticket for $1 last year at our Hollywood Bowl show! We are more than half the price than most concerts out there.

Here's some more info on the event. If anyone has any questions, comments or suggestions please let me know and I'll answer them the best I can.

Thanks!


Tommy Tallarico



=====================================


Video Games Live is an immersive concert event featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. Top orchestras and choirs across the country perform along with exclusive video footage and music arrangements, lasers, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, live action and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience.

Special events surround the show, including a pre-show festival and post-show events. Guests will enjoy interactive game demos, a costume contest, and the very popular meet-and-greet with top game composers and designers.

Currently featuree music and video from popular franchises such as:

Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, God of War™, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®, EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20+ games from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Space Invaders & Outrun!

The Video Games Live debut performance took place on July 6th, 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl featuring the LA Philharmonic Orchestra. Over 11,000 audience members participated in the biggest video game concert in history.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by The GreyFox

This really is Tommy Tallarico, as I'm familiar with his writing style. Just incase anyone was actually skeptical he'd come here, of all places, and inform us about this. Anyway Tommy, this is great to hear about this whole Video Games Live thing and it's definitely a good idea. I'm sure alot of time and money went into all of this to make it happen, so best of luck to you and everyone involved. I think I've seen a topic once with some people bashing you at one point. I'm neither a hater or fan of yours, Tommy. I'm just a guy who will listen to you when you speak, check out your work, and respect what you've accomplished in the business.

Off-topic, I find it odd you'd come here to GamingForce. I'm registered at your messageboard, but I never post and just read what is posted from time to time. I don't think there is any point in hiding it as you could find it very easily, but over here we're doing all kinds of illegal things. One of which would interest you is the distribution of videogame soundtracks freely on this messageboard. Some of which I know are actually done by you, Tommy. However, most of the stuff by you I've seen are unofficial of what's called "gamerips". Meaning, a fan recorded the tunes themselves and distributes it as no soundtrack exists. Do you feel comfortable with the distribution of videogame soundtracks for free? Many of us purchase soundtracks we like, but we're not all rich and we can't always afford it. I'm sure you know how Japanese imports for example, like soundtracks, just how costly they are and sometimes it's not always worth it.

Thanks for the comments.

As far as music ripping goes...
I'm just glad to see all of the love for video game music. I of course can't condone it when there are albums out there for sale and people steal those... but if there is music that is NOT available for sale then I feel it's okay for it to be distributed. A lot of the earlier video game music may never have soundtrack albums... but that doesn't mean people shouldn't still listen and enjoy it.

thanks,


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Toma

Wow, this is one of the most unexpected things that I have ever come across. I posted at your message board, too, quite a bit last year actually.

...*awkward pause*

Anyway, I came to the Seattle show last year, and fully intend to come again as it was a great experience. Will you be including new stuff from the past year?

Thanks!

Glad ya liked the Seattle show!! Each show we do is a little bit different and whenever we return to a city we make the show as unique to the last one as possible.

For example... our show this year at the Hollywood Bowl will be about 50% different than last years show... we also take some of the standard classics and completely update the video. For example, this year at E3 we got a TON of new stuff from game franchises like Zelda, Warcraft, Metal Gear Solid, God of War, Medal of Honor, EverQuest II, Sonic, Mario & Halo! I'm trying to incorporate as much of it in the Philly show next week as possible.

Since Seattle we have completely redone our lights and fx which are now even better! We added towers on the sides and other special fx.


Hope to see you in Seattle again!


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Free.User

I went to the show in Vancouver (I was the one who asked you about your work "with" Retro). Kudos for bringing it to Canada, Tommy. It was an amazing experience to hear all that music live. It's too bad we can't hear any SquareEnix music, so I guess you'll have to pester them to bring "Dear Friends" up here. So, please remove Final Fantasy from your featured music list as it is not performed at your Concerts. Do you have any plans of bringing VGL back to Vancouver? I would love to go again. I'm sure you would have had a bigger turn out if you had done some more advertising; I only heard about it online.

Also, if you really are Tommy Tallarico, answer me this: What was signifigant about the costume of the 1st place cosplay winner in Vancouver?

Actually, we absolutely have the rights and licenses to use Final Fantasy and we have over 10 different songs in our set. As I mentioned above... we try to keep each show a little different. Sorry ya missed out on Final Fantasy last time. I'll make sure to add it to our set list when we come back.

The Final Fantasy performance in San Jose a few months back got a huge standing ovation.

Our turn-out in Vancouver was great... Sometimes we have to "kill" a bunch of seating in the upper areas because our screens and lighting areas are so big and we want everyone to have a great view.


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Free.User

Also, if you really are Tommy Tallarico, answer me this: What was signifigant about the costume of the 1st place cosplay winner in Vancouver?

Whoops... forgot to answer your question.

I called the dude who won the costume contest a "fan boy".



Pics here: http://videogameslive.com/index.php?s=costume


Tommy

Double Post:

Originally Posted by wvlfpvp

Ahem:

Earthworm Jim forever.

Word!




T.T.

Double Post:

Originally Posted by Kaleb.G

Hey, Tommy, I'm going to be attending the Hollywood Bowl concert, but I still need to buy tickets.

And by the way, Tommy has posted over at OC ReMix before to get people involed in his Earthworm Jim project, so I'm not too surprised to see him here.

Let me know if you need anything, Tommy.


If anyone cares, we had an old thread about VGL here:
http://www.gamingforce.com/forums/ge...e-returns.html


EDIT: By the way, that really is Tommy. His e-mail address confirms it.

Yo! Thanks!

Can't wait for you to see the Bowl show!! It's always the one with the biggest production.

Yeah... I LOVE OC-REMIX!!! In fact I'm right about to announce a new Earthworm Jim album and I even have some re-mixes from people over at OC-REMIX!

Whoops... I guess I just announced it.




T.T.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Free.User

That's weird.. I asked Victor and he said you didn't have any licenses becuase Square was busy with their own tour...


Haha, awesome. I guess it's really you then.

It's also nice to see someone in the Video Game Music industry who actually makes an attempt to get active with it's respective community. Congrats Tommy, and thanks.

Meh! What the hell does that Victor Lucas know anyway!!




The only thing we didn't have permission for was to play some of the video from their games. At the time, they wanted the Dear Friends concert to be unique.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm a huge gamer and game music lover myself so I always try to make every attempt at getting involved with the community as much as possible.


Tommy

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Berto2K

Whatsup Tommy. Good seeing ya at E3 again. We'll be getting our interview with you up eventually. Our servers were so hammered suring E3, and we shot so much more video than anticipated that its all getting spread out and finally posted.

Get VGL back to San Jose ASAP!

Have you gotten much response from our videos from the SJ performance at all from others? I'm really happy with how it turned out besides a couple things.

Catch ya later.

Yeah!! People really loved the videos from San Jose! We sent them out to our mailing list and have been getting TONS of e-mails and letters. I spoke to Ray earlier and he's sending down some people for our Philly show this Saturday too!

thanks!


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by eriol

Would be impossible wish for me to watch you guys in concert. I will just pray and cheer you for the best.

Oh yeah, how do you take care the license right? it seems bit different in japan where there are lot of people publish doujin vgm without thinking about the copyright (with the label of fan-based).

Yo!

Nothing is impossible!! Where do you live?

No one had ever tried to get all of the licenses and rights for all of these video games before. So when we played the Hollywood Bowl last year it was the first time that games like Metal Gear, Halo, Castlevania, God of War, Beyond Good & Evil, Medal of Honor, EverQuest II, Tron, Kingdom Hearts, Myst, Sonic, Warcraft, Tomb Raider, etc... had EVER been performed live.

It took us over 3 1/2 years to get all the rights for music, video, advertising, etc. It's great to see that all of the hard work we did has paved the way for other concerts.


Tommy

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Josh_1

Tommy,

I know this has nothing to do with the VGL tour (and this may sound stupid), but... I have a thread here at Gamingforce forums. I have been arranging music ever since I was 13 years old, and about three years ago I started a Kingdom Hearts Piano Collection. As far as I know, I'm the only one on the net with such a project. I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind stopping at my thread, and taking a listen to what I've got (if you have the time ). I bet you are quite busy with other matters, but if you could just stop by and let me know what you think, that would be AWESOME!

The link to my thread is here:

http://www.gamingforce.com/forums/co...ollection.html

Yo Josh!,

Thanks for sharing your wonderful work!! I think you're super talented and did a lot of great stuff there. I've been mentoring Martin Leung (aka The VideoGame Pianist/The Blindfolded Pianist). He's touring with us all this year with Video Games Live. We did an amazing 10 song piano arrangement of Final Fantasy together which he plays live at our shows.

You would probably have fun speaking with him. You can check out his website and reach him at www.videogamepianist.com


Good Luck! Keep me posted.

BTW... If anyone is interested in being my friend on MySpace, the address is:
www.myspace.com/tommytallarico

Video Games Live has one as well...
www.myspace.com/videogameslive

thanks,


Tommy

Double Post:

Originally Posted by mrman1

Holy crap! Tallarico in the house.

A couple of DC Anime Club members are trying to arrange a Philadelphia road trip for your show next week. Who knows? It could become a Mid-Atlantic GFF Get Together, too.

We'll see how the pimping goes. And we'll see you in concert!

Cool!! So glad you guys are going to make it down!!!

It's going to be an AMAZING show. We're doing a big press release tomorrow announcing some really cool things for the Philly show!

Some GREAT U.S. composers are flying into Philly.

Make sure to sign-up on our mailing list so you'll recieve all the latest news before anyone.

thanks!


Tommy

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by beavnuts

Sorry to say, "Tommy", but I think your music isn't very good.

That's cool. Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion.

Music is very subjective and no two people ever have the exact same tastes.

I feel fortunate that there are people out there who have a different opinion than you do.

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=mediaquotes

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=adventrising

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=awards


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by SketchTheArtist

Howdy Tommy!

A big surprise came to me when I read on the Videogames Live! web site that you're gonna stop in Montreal! Wow! I know A LOT of people who would be ready to do unimagineable things to a bed-post just to attend one of the shows! Me first. o_O

I was wondering, do you guys know when you'll stop by in Montreal for the tour and do you have any idea where it could be held? Molson Centre perhaps?

Thanks in advance!

Look for us in the late fall. Venue being confirmed shortly.

Best thing is to sign up for our mailing list on the front page of www.videogameslive.com You'll get the info before anyone else.

Look forward to seeing you and meeting you in Montreal!!


Tommy

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Josh_1

Tommy,

Wow ! I'm glad you liked my work! It means so much more coming from a professional composer, such as yourself. Thank you so much for listening! And if you need an arranger, my e-mail is composer_joshbarron@hotmail.com . I didn't get a chance to say this before, but I absolutely love Advent Rising! Muse and Bounty Hunter are so rich in orchestration, and the melodies in them just sing out to me. Anyways, thanks a lot bringing such great music to gamers !

Yo Josh!,


Thanks so much for the kind words about Advent Rising and my career. Much appreciated... especially coming from someone as talented as you. Keep doing what you're doing!! I think it's great!!

Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by DarknessTear

I liked your work on the Tales of Destiny opening. Sorry that that's about the only thing I know you for.

Heheheheheee... thanks! That was a great product to be involved with!

If interested, you can check out all the projects I've done here:
http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=credits


thanks,


Tommy




Double Post:

Originally Posted by eriol

I havent had chance to listen any of your arrangement. Do you have samples?

I have a "LISTEN" section on my website which you can check out here: http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=listen

There is also my "ALBUMS" page which has clips of everything: http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=albums

If you're into orchestral music please check out the Advent Rising stuff.

thanks,


Tommy






Double Post:
We just sent out this information today for anyone interested...


Video Games Live™ Announces Festival & Special Performances for First Ever Video Game Concert in Philadelphia


Exclusive Final Fantasy® Piano Arrangement to be Included in Already Spectacular Line-Up

Events to Include Costume Contest, Guitar Hero™ Competition, Spectacular Prizes and Industry Meet & Greet with Top U.S. Composers



Los Angeles – May 31, 2006 – Renowned video game composers, Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, announced the pre- and post-show festival events planned for the June 3rd Philadelphia, PA performance of Video Games Live™ presented by Wizard World. Created and produced by Tallarico and Wall’s production company, Mystical Stone Entertainment LLC, Video Games Live™ features music from the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs around the world, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. A brand new trailer from the SOLD OUT San Jose, CA performance can be viewed here:
http://www.videogameslive.com/traile...anjose2006.wmv

This special performance taking place at the renowned Merriam Theatre on Saturday, June 3rd will be the first time video game music has been performed in Philadelphia. To commemorate the event, Video Games Live™ is pulling out all the stops and opening the doors early to present a pre-show festival from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. which is FREE to all ticket holders. Tickets ($25 - $65) are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling (215) 336-2000. Tickets can also be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com.

The pre-show festival will include a competition sponsored by RedOctane featuring the award winning smash hit Guitar Hero™. The contestant with the highest score (song to be announced at the show) will receive a unique one-of-a-kind limited edition Guitar Hero™ Controller and Skateboard signed by video game composers and designers. Other pre-show festivities include a costume contest presented by 1UP.com, where audience members will come dressed as their favorite video game characters to compete for prizes. Finalists will be judged on stage by the audience.

Other prizes throughout the evening include a $2,500 Ferrari laptop courtesy of AMD which will be given away on stage during the Interactive Symphony segment, starring one of the most beloved classic arcade games of all time, Frogger, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Two audience members will compete for 90 seconds while the orchestra plays along, changing the musical score on-the-fly depending on what the contestants are doing on screen. This unique interaction with a live symphony has only ever been attempted and performed at Video Games Live™.

The audience will also be treated to a special live performance by pianist Martin Leung – best known as “The Video Game Pianist” (formerly “The Blindfolded Pianist”). Leung became an Internet celebrity after over 40 million people downloaded a video of him playing tunes from the classic Mario games while blindfolded (http://videogamepianist.com). He will be premiering his special Final Fantasy® piano arrangement at this concert, performing over ten Final Fantasy® favorites. Other unique performances include famed Guitar Hero guitarist Marcus Henderson who will be performing a “Guitar Hero Medley”.


The post-show meet-and-greet where fans can interact with renowned game composers will consist of the following industry luminaries and performers:


Tommy Tallarico (Earthworm Jim, Tony Hawk, Metroid Prime, Advent Rising)
Jack Wall (Myst III, Myst IV, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Jade Empire)
Marty O’Donnell (Halo, Halo 2, Riven)
Mike Salvatori (Halo, Halo 2, Riven, Stubbs the Zombies)
Jason Hayes (StarCraft, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft)
Gerard Marino (God Of War, God Of War II, The Punisher)
Tom Salta (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Need For Speed 2, Cold Fear)
Martin Leung (The Video Game Pianist)
Marcus Henderson (Guitarist - Guitar Hero)

And speaking of industry luminaries, Video Games Live™ will be giving away a piece of video game history. A unique autographed program with over 30 of the most famous video game designers and composers in history will be given away to one lucky winner by filling out an entry card at the costume contest booth during the show. Names include creators Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog), Nolan Bushnell (Pong, Atari), Toby Gard (Lara Croft, Tomb Raider), Bill Roper (Warcraft), celebrity Elijah Wood and MANY MORE!

Features music and exclusive synchronized video from popular franchises such as:
Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, God of War™, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®, EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20+ games from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Space Invaders & Outrun!

Other locations currently on sale include: Houston, Chicago, Indianapolis, Toronto & Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl). A complete list of tour dates can be found at: http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=home


About Video Games Live™ (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live™ (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live™ is an immersive concert event celebration featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.



###

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Synthesis

Hey Tommy,

Glad to see the your Video Games Live project is expanding. I live in Tennessee, so I was wondering if you'd be performing at a major city near there?

P.S. I really enjoyed your work on Aladdin and Mick and Mack as the Global Gladiators for the Genesis. I've gone ahead and made high quality gamerips of them. Great stuff.

We are looking at Nashville as a possible location.

As of right now... I think our Houston date next month is probably the closest.

Thanks for the Global Gladiators & Aladdin props! Those were fun projects and good times! Global Gladiators was the first game that the Earthworm Jim team worked on together. After Global Gladitators we did Cool Spot, then Aladdin then EWJ 1 & 2.

Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Kaleb.G

Tommy, this is unrelated, but I'd love to know. What's the composer breakdown for the tracks on MDK (i.e. who composed what)? Or did you and Todd work together on all of the tracks?

We worked together on a lot of tracks and then I did some completely on my own and he did some completely on his own. Any big music project is always a big team effort... especially when doing orchestral music.

Composers, arrangers, orchestrators, copyists, conductors, recording engineers, mixers, mastering, editors, contractors, etc., etc., etc...

That being said... Todd is an AWESOME composer & arranger who worked with me for many years. He is a SUPER talented guy!!!


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Talbain

I was at the Vancouver show last year and it was fantastic.

If you do come through this area again, would you likely be playing different music from the soundtracks you already have licensed? Do you foresee picking up that many more games for future tours?

Cool! Glad ya liked the show!!

We would play different stuff for sure! As well as updated videos and synchronized lighting. All of the synchronized lights (and a lot of videos) have already been updated since E3 of this year. Plus we always like to add and change the set wherever we go. You'll of course always get the classic franchises such as Mario, Zelda, Halo, etc... but they might be presented differently each time. We are always adding new games to our line-up.


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by guyinrubbersuit

I'm still waiting for a Phoenix date to show up. Any word of coming around in the Arizona area?

Double Post:
Any word of a Phoenix date showing up? I believe there was one previously but it got cancelled.

YO!! You're in luck!! Please sign-up to our mailing list on the front page of www.videogameslive.com

We have exciting news for you which you'll be getting over the next few weeks!


Tommy




Double Post:

Originally Posted by Cellius

Actually, I'd like to know whether he did do his own orchestrations, and if not, I hope he credits his orchestrators somewhere. I sent him a private message about this a few days ago but haven't received a reply yet.

As I mentioned earlier there is ALWAYS a HUGE team associated with a live orchestral project. There were a total of 5 orchestrators (including myself) that worked on Advent Rising and yes... they were all credited in both the game and the soundtrack album.


Tommy




Double Post:

Originally Posted by José

I'm waiting for a New York date.

I've just been to a Philly meetup with OCR'ers
where we recorded the VGDJ
anniversary show, but I can't manage to go back there tomorrow
to hang with them for this Live thing. I'm hoping I can organize
my own meetup for NYC when the thing comes here.

Yep! We are working very hard on getting VGL to NYC. It's a very expensive place to play and we need to make sure we get the right budget so we can put on the best show possible.


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by The GreyFox

That is a good question, because I noticed on the IMDB (unreliable, but perhaps it holds some truth to it) these people are also credited for the music score for the game: Emmanuel Fratianni, Michael Richard Plowman, Laurie Robinson. So it leaves me curious as to what these people did for the music score. Not discrediting you, Tommy! I'm just confused as to who did what and where. Hopefully this can be answered.

There is a ton of info about Advent Rising on my website at www.tallarico.com

Here are some links which have all the specific info you're looking for including all of the specific credits.

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=albums

http://www.tallarico.com/gallery/albums/adventinleaf1

http://www.tallarico.com/gallery/albums/adventinleaf2

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=adventrising


Thanks for the interest! Much appreciated!!!!


T.T.





Double Post:

Originally Posted by Dhsu

Do you think you'd ever consider submitting an arrangement of your own work at some point? It would be really cool to have a TT ReMix on the site.

Yeah! I'll be doing that shortly. I was just talking about that in the VGL thread over there.


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Scottie Wolfe

Ditto on this one man! I know what I'm doing this fall! And I'm glad to see Castlevania's in the mix. Just wouldn't be the same without it! Now if we could only get Hitman in there...

Montreal will be in the fall. Exact dates coming within the next 4 weeks or so. Please sign-up on the mailing list to find out first.

thanks,

Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by Music4Games

M4G's report on the VGL show in Philly is now up!
http://www.music4games.net/Features_Display.aspx?id=96

Greg in da HOUSE!!!

Music4Games.net is the the best!!!! I highly recommend it for anyone interested in keeping up to date on everything going on in the game music industry.

Thanks for always showing the love! Great article (as always!)


Tommy

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Megavolt

Someone has surely asked you about this before, but I was looking through the lists of favorite things (Tombstone is one of my favorite movies as well) on your site and there wasn't anything about videogame soundtracks even though you do mention your favorite movie soundtracks. I was wondering about what some of your favorite videogame soundtracks might be.

Pretty much all of the ones in Video Games Live! You can view our set list in the story that Greg just printed: http://www.music4games.net/Features_Display.aspx?id=96

If I had to pick one... I'd go with Final Fantasy 8.


T.T.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by ashaman

Hey Tommy, glad to see you joined the forums!

I really enjoyed the San Jose concert and I am super grateful that you put this concert series together. I hope one day that you will release a CD or DVD of the series (although I understand if you think it would detrimental to the live concert at this point). I love the arrangement of the Sonic theme(s) and the opening medley with the classic game themes and can't wait to hear them again!

I hope to hear more of your own works live in the future too. The Cool Spot and Aladdin bonus level themes are great, as is the theme to Treasures of the Deep, and Destinationz Unknown is still one of my favorite pieces ever (probably due to nostalgia since your first CD was the first I ever owned). I still use the last 10 seconds of the latter ("say bye bye...") as my WinXP shutdown audio.

Finally, thank you for connecting with VGM fans personally. You are one of the few "big name" composers I know who consistently answers his e-mails and chats in forums with his fans (and anti-TT flamers). I would have never known about VGLive if you hadn't gone out of your way to tell me and get me excited about it when I met you at the SF Dear Friends concert last year (I was the guy from Pixar who talked to you about the Incredibles VG audio). Thanks again for doing all that you do to bring VGM to the fans!

Yo!,

Wow! Thanks so much for all the kind words!

So glad that you enjoyed the concert in San Jose so much! We're coming back to San Francisco too!

Yep... we're planning a release of the DVD & CD later in the year. We don't see it as being negative... We think it will get people even more to want to come out and experience it in person. The sense of community is always awesome. Nothing like being in a room with thousands of other game music fans!


Thanks for the Cool Spot, Aladdin & Treasures of the Deep props! Treasures was a great game that never got too many props. I really enjoyed doing the music for that one. Really different kind of stuff.

Destinationz Unknown was always one of my favorite tunes! I actually wrote that song over 20 years ago! We played it in my old band... it even had lyrics! I'll have to post the original on my website someday. hehehehehee

That "say bye-bye" thing at the end of the album is actually a recording of my dad tucking me in bed when I was 2 years old! Pretty cool to have something like that still! On my second album (Greatest Hits Vol. II) I do something similar except this time it was with my grandfather.

Thanks again for all the recognition! Much appreciated!!!


Tommy

There's nowhere I can't reach.

If anyone is interested...


The Philly show of Video Games Live was amazing! We just posted a bunch of info, pics, stories & reviews of the show here: http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?story=46

During our pre-show festival the general public could play and compete in Guitar Hero II! It was the first time the general public played the game.


Some quotes from the reviews and articles...

"Crowd is wowed by awe-inspiring Video Games Live" - Philadelphia Inquirer

"Video Games Live is not to be missed. It's mix of performance, synchronization, production, and fan-pleasing fun is an experience unlike any yet seen by the industry." - Advanced Media Network

"I strongly urge each and every one of you to go out and support VGL. You will not regret it, and I promise that you will come away with personal experiences that you will never forget." - GoNintendo

"It was breathtaking! The applause were so loud I thought the building would crumble. It's the #1 video game concert in the world. It was truly amazing!" - FollowingRevolution

“It's hard to describe the electric energy that is present at every show. From the pre-show festivities, to the dramatic top-notch production values, to the wildly enthusiastic crowds, VGL is just something that needs to be experienced first-hand in order to appreciate what all the excitement is about.” - Jason Hayes, composer Warcraft series

"An explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience." - Music4Games


Next stop... HOUSTON, TX!! July 14th

YEE-HAW!!!!!!!



Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by Gameguardian

This is amazing, I just have to write something at a time like this. I mostly enjoyed the work you and your studio did for Bard's Tale, which really got me in adventuring and medieval song mood. It is also fun to see someone in the loop come here to this great forum =)

Anyway, good luck in the future and I wish you all the best.

/ A devoted game music fan since the good old days of Amiga and Arcade Machines

Cool!! Thanks for kind words about Bard's Tale. I really liked working on that game and I really enjoyed working on all those singing tunes. Not often there are games based strictly around comedy. Reminded me of working on Earthworm Jim. We did that with InXile which was started and run by Brian Fargo who created and ran Interplay.

Ah yes... the Amiga! First machine with actual MIDI!!! An awesome machine at the time which STILL has a MOD fanbase!


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by Diversion

Great to see you join the forums, Tommy. I remember when the tour was re-reannounced I jumped right on and will be going to the Chicago concert in August. I was going to the Detroit show last year, but alas, cancellations. Wanted to mention how wonderful it is that the tour is finally getting its worldwide debut and that the other shows have been so successful.

If any piano slots or bass/baritone choral open up that you need someone to fill, let me know! I've always wanted to join an orchestra or a tour.

Thanks! Yeah... it's REALLY difficult to get something like this off the ground. Because we were the first ones doing something like this, each location we go to we have to raise awareness for what it is and what it's all about. It's not like Aerosmith where you just put tickets on sale and they start selling! We'll be there in about 2 years from now.

Another thing is that the orchestras and promoters do really understand what it is and that there is even a big fanbase for this kind of thing. As we prove in each new location we go to... They couldn't be farther from the truth! BUT the other amazing thing about Video Games Live is that we designed it so that EVERYONE can enjoy the show.... not just hardcore gamers or the stuffy symphony crowd. One of the biggest comments we get is how accessible and enjoyable it is for the non-gamer. Which has always been our goal from the beginning!

See ya in Chicago!!!!! Looking forward to meeting you!


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by eriol

Hmm, Tommy, may I ask if there is particular VGM composer you admire of, or influence your works? Maybe Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy)? Koichi Sugiyama (Dragon Quest)? Or Koji Kondo (Mario & Zelda)?
Have you ever composed music for a console too (PSX, Dreamcast, etc)? using manipulator, synthesizer, and such?

I admire a lot of video game composers such as Nobuo Uematsu, Jack Wall, Clint Bajakian, Michael Giancchino, Koji Kondo & Jason Hayes. My actual musical influences range from Beethoven & John Williams to Sting & Van Halen!

Most of the 250+ games I've worked on have been for consoles. If interested, here is the complete list broken down by platforms: http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=credits


thanks,


Tommy

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Cobalt Katze

Tommy,

It's great to see you posting here I joined G.A.N.G. late last year and have really been enjoying all the discussions and whatnot going on there. Really helpful people overall, and albeit it was non-paying I did get to write my first few game tracks through a collaboration offer there.

Regarding VGL, I went to the show in Seattle and was really impressed. There was definately a great showing of music there, though I perhaps would have wanted an even wider variety! A few more composers from outside the US would have been awesome, but the pieces that were played were all excellent. Kudos indeed for getting to pull it off, and glad to see that despite the early glitches that things are groovin' along!

I would have loved to come out to GDC this year to meet you and other folks in person, but unfortunately timing wasn't on my side this year. As it happened, the event fell right at the same time as my senior recital and graduation from college But hey, at least that's done with and I can focus my efforts more now.

In any case, I wish you well, keep writing great epic music!

And, thanks to Josh, I don't feel so shameless in asking... but if you ever get some free time, I'd love it if you could check out my reel Though I'm sure hundreds of folks bug you about that, so no worries.

~Leif

Yo Leif!,

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the Seattle show. It was really important to us to make sure we showed ALL of game music around the world and not just focus on Japan like most do.

We have Mario, Zelda, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Sonic, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and others... but equally as amazing is the stuff from Halo, Myst, Warcraft, God of War, Medal of Honor, Beyond Good & Evil, EverQuest II, etc.

I checked out your reel and it's REALLY great! You should be really proud of your accomplishments so far! You're really talented! I'm sure if you stick with it (and G.A.N.G.) you'll be landing gigs in no time! Keep up the great work and definitely try to make it out to GDC in '07!

We're looking to come back to Seattle this year with VGL so make sure to contact me so we can hook up.


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Dragon God

First off, thanks for considering Montreal, it's as close as I can make it (I'm in New Brunswick, just east of Quebec).

Secondly, any chance of getting in touch with Treasure for getting stuff from Radiant Silvergun and/or Ikaruga to be performed in the future ? These are two of the finest orchestral shoot-em-up soundtracks and are often discussed here. I'm actually sure a live orchestrated version of "Penta", "Ruin", "The Stone-Like(A full choir piece!)" from Radiant Silvergun and "Chapter 1 - Ideal", "Boss 1 ~ Butsutekkai", "Chapter 4 - Reality" from Ikaruga would be quite a hit.

I'm looking foward to meeting you in Montreal !

Thanks! Hope to meet you in Montreal as well. Not really that familar with the Treasure stuff. Got any links that I could listen to for consideration?


Tommy

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Dragon God

You can check out some game rips here. Be sure to check out the themes I mentionned in my above post. It would be downright amazing to have some Treasure music performed live.

Cool. Thanks for the link. I'll check them out.

Tommy

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Kanji

Y HELO THAR, Tommy!

Video Games Live seems like a really cool event, so props to you for organizing something like this. It's also cool to see more of a focus on western composers, because a lot of game music fans (from what I've seen) tend to ignore this nice side of music. I personally haven't checked out too much of your own compositions yet, but I'd like to. Is there anything that you're particularly proud of that you'd suggest for me to listen to?

Also, I have some kind of predicament. Although I'd love to go to the upcoming show in Houston TX, I don't have the ability to drive on my own yet. :z And I'm having trouble convincing the rest of my family that VGL could truly be entertaining to watch. Would you happen to have any suggestions that I could use to strike their interest? They're essentially non-gamers (although one of my siblings plays games, she doesn't do it as much as I do, lawl). Just wondering!

Anyone else can suggest stuff, too.

Even if I can't make it to the show next month, I plan to attend at some point. The Las Vegas show also seems convenient.

EDIT: O, and how dare I forget to support a potential performance of Treasure music? That really would be great. The Ikaruga tracks that Dragon God mentioned are awesome, and it would be very eargasmic to hear them performed live. ;p

Thanks for the inquiry.

A lot of people really like the Earthworm Jim stuff I did in the past but from strictly a composition standpoint I'm really proud of the Advent Rising Soundtrack. Here are some links with samples and information:

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=adventrising

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=listen

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=albums


As far as your question about Houston and getting others to go...

I can absolutely guarantee that you do NOT have to be into video games to enjoy our show. In fact that is one of the main reasons we designed it the way we did and what makes us so much different than anyone else out there trying to do what we're doing.

Here are a couple of trailers you can show to your freinds and family... notice the wide variety of people who attend our shows... 40 & 50 year old moms, kids, teenagers, girlfriends, etc.

Let me know what they think and I hope to meet you in person in Houston next month!!


Hollywood Bowl Trailer:
Hi-Res: http://videogameslive.com/video/vglpromo2.wmv
Lo-Res: http://videogameslive.com/video/vglpromo2.mov

Trailer for the Symphony non-gaming crowd:
http://www.videogameslive.com/video/vglsymphony1.wmv

San Jose Trailer:
Hi-Res: http://www.videogameslive.com/traile...anjose2006.wmv
Lo-Res: http://www.videogameslive.com/traile...anjose2006.mov



Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Joe Wiewel

Tommy,

Thanks for coming here and letting everybody at Gamingforce Forums know about Video Games Live. Had you not come here, I wouldn't have known anything about it!

I've been reading about Video Games Live and it sounds like it'll be a blast! So, I'm planning on attending the event in Chicago on August 5th and I'm really looking forward to it!

Have you considered St. Louis as a possible location for another event? I live in west central Illinois and I'm glad to see Chicago on the list. But I can see St. Louis drawing in some people who aren't willing to drive several hours.

And on a side note, I'm disappointed Judgement Day was cancelled. X-Play just doesn't have the pizazz you and Victor had.

Cool. Thanks! Hope to meet you in Chicago on August 5th! Make sure to sign up to our mailing list on the front page of www.videogameslive.com so you can get special info and offers like coming down to view our rehearsals on the day of the show.

We were looking at St. Louis but we probably won't be there in 2006. Possibly next year though. We intend on bringing the show everywhere in the world!


Actually, Judgment Day wasn't canceled. Our three year contract with G4 was up and we decided to move it to a bigger and better network. They still air Electric Playground on G4. Both of our shows are syndicated worldwide and we own all the rights... so we are still doing Judgment Day... it's just not currently airing in the US. But it is still running all throughout the world as it's REAL name (for the past 10 years) Reviews on the Run.

Here's the 100th episode with the ROTR graphics (this also aired on G4 as JD):
http://www.tallarico.com/files/video/tvshows/JD100.mp4

We'll be making a big annoucement about our next season of ROTR/JD airing in the US soon.

Thanks for the questions and interest.


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Lolman

Hi, Tommy.

I really respect what you do for us VGM fans. Have you considered including some Drakengard 2 music in the upcoming concerts? I think it would sound great live.

Thanks!

I'm not familar with Drakengard 2. Link?

T.T.







Double Post:

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

I've got my ticket for the Indianpolis showing on August 12; I'll be seated in the first Mezzanine. It looks like it should be an interesting show, with a mixture of Japanese and Western VGM.

If anyone else from here will be there for the same show, we could probably meet up.

Cool! Looking forward to hopefully meeting you in person. We'll be having a meet-up at Jillian's the night before so make sure to sign up for our mailing list to get all the details.

Thanks. Looking forward to putting on a great show for ya!


Tommy

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Toma

Link to review of Drakengard 2 OST with samples:

http://rpgfan.com/soundtracks/drag-on-2/index.html

Except for the totally cheesy ending theme, I can't recommend this soundtrack enough. It would be absolutely thrilling to hear some of this music live.

Cool. Thanks for the link! I'll check it out.


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Free.User

Hey Tommy, was the Vancouver performance ever recorded onto CD or DVD? If so, are there any plans to sell copies? I'd love to have one. Also, I heard your interview on VGDJ. Quite a bit of luck you had getting that music job! I also again want to give you props for being so involved with the community.

We are working on a DVD & CD. Hopefully will be out by the end of the year.


Tommy

FELIPE NO

FYI...

Hope to meet some of you in Houston this week!


Tommy



================================================== ======


Video Games Live™ Announces Festival Activities For First Ever Video Game Concert in Houston

Events to Include Costume Contest, Playable Demos, Guitar Hero™ II Competition, Spectacular Prizes and Industry Meet & Greet with Top Composers & Designers


Record Setting 132+ Musicians To Perform On Stage



Houston – July 11, 2006 – Renowned video game composers, Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, announced the pre- and post-show festival events planned for the July 14th Houston, TX performance of Video Games Live™ presented by the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Created and produced by Tallarico and Wall’s production company, Mystical Stone Entertainment LLC, Video Games Live™ features music from the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs around the world, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience.

This special performance taking place at the renowned Jones Hall on Friday, July 14th will be the first time video game music has been performed in Houston and will consist of over 132+ musicians making it the largest on-stage video game performance in history. To commemorate the event, Video Games Live™ is pulling out all the stops and opening the doors early to present a pre-show festival from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. which is FREE to all ticket holders. Tickets ($21 - $66) are on sale now at the Houston Symphony website: http://www.houstonsymphony.org/ticke...?id=1027&src=t, or by calling (713) 224-7575. Group sales of 10 or more: (713) 238-1435.

The pre-show festival will include a competition sponsored by RedOctane featuring the yet to be released Guitar Hero™ II. Other playable games on site (presented by Game Crazy) consist of top selling hits from the Nintendo GameCube™, Sony PlayStation® 2, Microsoft XBOX® & 360™ which include Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Halo, Dance Dance Revolution, Burnout Revenge, Dead or Alive 4 & Fight Night. Other pre-show festivities include a costume contest where audience members will come dressed as their favorite video game characters to compete for a THX approved 5.1 speaker system from Logitech. Finalists will be judged on stage by the audience.

Other prizes throughout the evening include a $2,500 Ferrari laptop courtesy of AMD which will be given away on stage during the Interactive Symphony segment, starring one of the most beloved classic arcade games of all time, Frogger, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Two audience members will compete for 90 seconds while the orchestra plays along, changing the musical score on-the-fly depending on what the contestants are doing on screen. This unique interaction with a live symphony has only ever been attempted and performed at Video Games Live™.

The audience will also be treated to a special solo performance by pianist Lee Ann Leung who will be premiering her special Final Fantasy® piano arrangement at this concert, performing over ten Final Fantasy® favorites.

The post-show meet-and-greet where fans can interact with renowned game composers and designers will consist of industry luminaries who have worked on projects such as Halo, Warcraft, God of War, Myst, Splinter Cell, Metroid Prime, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, EverQuest II, Earthworm Jim, Unreal, Guitar Hero, Baldur's Gate, Quake, Doom, Brothers In Arms, Counter-Strike, Half-Life and many more!

And speaking of industry luminaries, Video Games Live™ will be giving away a piece of video game history. A unique autographed program with over 30 of the most famous video game designers and composers will be given away to one lucky winner by filling out an entry card at the costume contest booth during the show. Names include creators Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog), Nolan Bushnell (Pong, Atari), Toby Gard (Lara Croft, Tomb Raider), Bill Roper (Warcraft), celebrity Elijah Wood and MANY MORE!

Video Games Live features music and exclusive synchronized video from popular franchises such as: Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, God of War™, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®, EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20+ games from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Space Invaders & Outrun!


Other locations currently on sale include: Chicago, Indianapolis, Toronto & Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl). A complete list of tour dates can be found at: http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=home



About Video Games Live™ (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live™ (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live™ is an immersive concert event celebration featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.


About the Houston Symphony (http://www.houstonsymphony.org)
Founded in 1913, the Houston Symphony is one of America's oldest performing arts organizations, with a rich history of musical excellence. The Houston Symphony fills each busy season with more than 170 concerts attended by an estimated 350,000 people each year. The Mission of the Houston Symphony is to foster excellence and innovation in the performance and presentation of great music; to enrich the lives of our diverse citizenry; to educate current and future audiences and to bring distinction to our community through the orchestra's international presence and standing.


###

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by Darkelf

That's great !!! Being a fan of orchestrated melodies this is music to my ears (pun intended). Us poor Europeans don't have the luxury to go to these concerts in the States so I'm awaiting the release with anticipation.

We're coming to Europe! In fact we should be there this fall.

Where are you located? By your avatar it looks like Belgium?


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Kaleb.G

I already have my tickets (going with some friends) and I'm taking the whole day off of work on Sept. 21 for the LA show.

Since I am a moderator on these forums, I'll have to meet with you then, as a representive of Gamingforce.

Yo! Absolutely!!

I'll hook you up with our pre & post show VIP party too!


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by Kairi Li

My friends and I are planning on going to the LA one, hopefully there will still be tickets by the time we order them, they're pretty expensive...

Expensive?? Maybe you got us confused with the "other" concert?

:biggrin:

Our tickets (as always) are the least expensive around. It has always been our goal to keep ALL ticket prices as reasonable as possible because we want as many people to go as possible. We make no money on tickets! We set the prices according to the budget, venue, orchestra, production, marketing & unions for each city to cover our costs.

The Hollywood Bowl show you're referring to starts at $3 per ticket!! The most expensive seat in the house is $65 which is 1/3 the price of every other concert this year at the Hollywood Bowl!!

Because we are the actual video game industry putting on these shows... we aren't interested in making money or charging $125+ per tickets or charging people extra to meet composers. We have a complete pre-show festival in which we GIVE AWAY thousands of dollars in prizes (including a $2,500 AMD Ferrari Laptop), game competitions, costume contests, playable game demos before they are released, etc. After the show the meet & greet is open to EVERYONE who bought a ticket... whether you paid $3 or $55. We also include all of the video game DESIGNERS as well and have had such people as Hideo Kojima, Yuji Naka, Nolan Bushnell, Halo team, Warcraft team, EverQuest II team, etc., etc...

Here's the ticket link for the Hollywood Bowl show: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0B...1&minorcatid=1

Thanks! Hope to see ya there!


Tommy


================================================== ================================

If anyone is interested, here's some info on our Houston Symphony show that we just posted over at our website.

Next up... Chicago next weekend during Wizard World beforing heading to Indianapolis for two shows during Gen Con!





VIDEO GAMES LIVE™ SELLS OUT HOUSTON!

Thousands Attempt To Get Tickets To No Avail – Next Stop CHICAGO!


Video Games Live™, the world’s first and most successful video game concert series continued its run of sold out shows last week by selling out Jones Hall in Houston, TX with the prestigious Houston Symphony & Choir. Over 132+ musicians took part in the biggest on-stage performance of video game music ever. The show sold out 5 days in advance and thousands of people had to be turned away prior to the event including nearly 1,000 people on the day of the show. “I’ve never seen the excitement level and crowd like this here before!” stated one proud mom who was taking a group of neighborhood kids to experience a symphony for the first time. One audience member was quoted in the newspaper the next day saying… “I’ve been to a few different game concerts now but nothing compares to what these guys are pulling off. Wow! I still can’t believe what I saw.”

The doors opened 2 hours early for the incredible pre-show festival which included a costume contest (all entrants appeared on stage), prize give-a-ways, Guitar Hero II competition and over 20 playable games for the PlayStation 2, XBOX, XBOX 360 & GameCube including such franchises as Halo, Super Smash Bros., Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor, Sonic, Zelda, Tekken & Dead Or Alive, all courtesy of Game Crazy & Hollywood Video. Yet another $2,500 AMD Ferrari laptop was given away on stage to the winner of the Frogger competition in which 2 people were picked to compete in Frogger while the orchestra played the music in real-time and changed the score on-the-fly depending on the action on screen. Other valuable prizes including CD & DVD gift packs, concert tickets, movie passes, gift certificates and more (provided by the Houston Symphony, Hollywood Video & Game Crazy) were given away during the Space Invaders contest in which someone from the audience was picked to come on stage to try and clear the first level of Space Invaders against the clock. But here’s the twist! The player on stage controlled the ship by running back and forth underneath the video screen all while the orchestra played and changed to the action!

Following the incredible standing ovation performance, the packed post-show lobby held the game designers and composers meet & greet which as always was open “free of charge” to all attendees. The meet & greet included industry legends who had worked on such projects as Halo, Warcraft, Metroid Prime, Myst, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, EverQuest II, Earthworm Jim, Unreal, Balder’s Gate, Quake, Doom, Brothers in Arms, Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Splinter Cell & God of War just to name a few.

Lee Ann Leung (sister of Video Game Pianist Martin Leung) debuted her rendition of a 10 song solo piano arrangement from Final Fantasy to a standing ovation from the sold out crowd. “I was in tears after her performance” stated one audience member, “In fact there were a couple of places during the concert where I cried. I’m just so speechless right now.” Advent Rising vocal soloist Laurie Robinson was also on hand to perform with the 60 member Houston Symphony Choir.

Thank-you to our amazing sponsors and supporters which included AMD, Game Crazy, Hollywood Video, Logitech, International Game Developers Association (IGDA), Texas Independent Game Conference and all of the old and new fans and friends of video game music who came out to support the art and culture of the entire video game industry. And finally, a special thanks to the wonderful Houston Symphony and Choir who helped so much in making the event such a huge success. We look forward to returning next year!



You can view the first round of pictures from the event here: http://www.videogameslive.com/gallery/album17



Comments & reviews from Houston:

“The show was absolutely every inch incredible, this is no doubt untoppable and I am so very grateful that I was able to attend.”

“I was at the VGL session that just happened in Houston last week. It was beyond words! I loved it. I have not shut up about it all weekend long. My friends are probably sick of hearing me. Very rarely do I get goosebumps from seeing something that intense, but I had them all night long.”

“It was truly one of the best things I'd ever witnessed. A 130 member orchestra and choir performing video game music, synched-up perfectly with edited game footage. Incredible!”

“At the end, conductor Jack Wall dropped his conducting wand and went ballistic and jumped off his platform to signal the end of the last note. The crowd, and I, jumped to our feet and screamed and applauded as loud as we could. The show was over... and holy hell, I already missed it.”

“It was one of the greatest events I've ever attended, and certainly made my whole summer, if not year.”

“This deserves over 5 stars! How they synch EVERYTHING with the video is utterly amazing!!”

“My sister-in-law's family are season patrons of the Houston Symphony and they told me the VGL audience response was the best they have ever seen for any event.”

“You guys deserve another standing ovation for what you have been able to accomplish with VGL. You were able to create a unique experience that no one in that concert hall (young or old) will ever forget.”

“I just wanted to write you to say that it was a great honor to have you all in Texas. The night couldn't have been more perfect, and the enthusiasm shown by the whole VGL crew was incredible.”

“The Houston Symphony received what must have been their longest and loudest standing ovation EVER!”

“As we were leaving, my mother said to me, "I'm so glad you dragged me along to this." Before, she didn't realize what video games music meant, thought it was just beeps to the action. The concert showed her that video games are an art form in many different ways, with music being the most unique. For me, it was a moment where I could hold my head high and say, "I am a video gamer." I left that concert hall with a new sense of what is put into the video games I play. I traveled with my family about 200 miles to see a 3 hour concert... and I didn't regret one millisecond of it. If a VGL concert is within traveling distance for you, you must see it. This is one of the most entertaining events I've ever witnessed. Thank you Video Games Live!”


Story & behind the scenes video from Advanced Media Network: http://360.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=7786






Upcoming Shows

Chicago, IL
Saturday, August 5th, 2006
Rosemont Theatre
Presented by Wizard World
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/04...minorcatid=105
(2nd largest comic book convention in the world!)


Indianapolis, IN - [2 nights!]
Friday, August 11, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Hilbert Circle Theatre
Presented by Gen Con & the Indianapolis Symphony
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
http://www.indianapolissymphony.org/...eid=1132&src=t
(Biggest table gaming event and first video game concert in Indiana!)


Toronto, ONT - CANADA
Friday, September 1, 2006
Massey Hall
Presented by Fan Expo
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/10...&minorcatid=52
(First video game concert in Ontario!)


Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Hollywood Bowl
Presented by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0B...1&minorcatid=1
(The biggest video game concert in the world!)


Tour dates, locations, venues, events and times can always be found here:
http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=dates

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by eriol33

I havent had chance to listen any of your arrangement. Do you have samples?

Lots of people have posted illegal videos on YouTube.com


http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...=search_videos





Everyone would probably enjoy this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVHGy...20games%20live

It's our Classic Arcade Medley. It really shows off the video & lighting synchronization which no other video game concert does. All of our segments have constant and complete video & lighting synchronization like this.

Warning: The audio on all of these sound like crap. It sounds a LOT better in person.


Tommy









Double Post:

Originally Posted by Godai

:eyebrow:

Ah yes! The ad for the very first video game soundtrack ever released worldwide.

hehehehehehehee

The ad was a supposed to be cheesy spoof on 90210 (which was hot at the time).

Gotta love those ripped jeans and baby mullet!!

:biggrin:


T.T.


================================================== ===========================

For anyone interested... Here's a press release that just came out today about our Chicago show this weekend.



VIDEO GAMES LIVE ™ AND WIZARD WORLD PREPARE FOR AN INCREDIBLE CHICAGO PERFORMANCE

Pre-Show Festival Events to Include Costume Contest, Guitar Hero™ II and Space Invaders™ Competitions, Spectacular Prizes, and Industry Meet-and-Greet with Top Composers and Designers

Legendary Game Designers Eugene Jarvis, Ed Boon, and John Tobias Added to Star Studded Line-Up, Including Halo® Composers Marty O’Donnell and Mike Salvatori



LOS ANGELES – August 1, 2006 – Renowned video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall are preparing for what will be a one-of-a-kind Video Games Live performance. Video Games Live™ features music from the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs around the world, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. The show will take place on Saturday evening August 5th at 8pm and is being presented by Wizard World as part of their 10th Anniversary celebration in Chicago. Wizard World Conventions serve as the foremost authority on everything pop-culture, showcasing the best in comic books, anime, toys, video games, collectibles, and entertainment. Wizard World Chicago 2006 will be looking to top last years attendance record of over 65,000.

This special performance is taking place at the renowned Rosemont Theatre, located directly across the street from the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center where Wizard World will be held from August 3 – 6. Video Games Live is once again opening the doors early to present a pre-show festival from 7:00pm – 8:00pm which is FREE to all ticket holders. Promoted by Live Nation, tickets ($35 - $55) are on sale now at all Ticketmaster locations or online: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/04...minorcatid=105

The pre-show festival will include a competition sponsored by RedOctane featuring the yet to be released Guitar Hero™ II. A classic arcade game competition will also be held on the newly released Video Games Live Classic Arcade cabinet courtesy of DreamAuthentics. Competitions will also be held at the Video Games Live booth during the Wizard World Convention (Booth #646). Other pre-show festivities include a costume contest where audience members will come dressed as their favorite video game characters to compete for speaker systems from Logitech. Finalists will be judged on stage by the audience.

Other prizes throughout the evening include a $2,500 Ferrari laptop courtesy of AMD which will be given away on stage during the Interactive Symphony segment, starring one of the most beloved classic arcade games of all time, Frogger, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Two audience members will compete for 90 seconds while the orchestra plays along, changing the musical score on-the-fly depending on what the contestants are doing on screen. This unique interaction with a live symphony has only ever been attempted and performed at Video Games Live.

The audience will also be treated to a special solo performance by pianist Lee Ann Leung who will be performing her special Final Fantasy® piano arrangement consisting of over ten Final Fantasy® favorites. The post-show meet-and-greet where fans can interact with renowned game composers and designers will consist of industry luminaries who have worked on projects such as Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Dance Dance Revolution, God of War, Myst, Riven, Splinter Cell, Metroid Prime, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Madden Football, Earthworm Jim, Unreal, The Sims, Zoo Tycoon, Blitz Football, and many more! Also featured in the meet-and-greet will be legendary game designer Eugene Jarvis who created and worked on such classics as Defender, Robotron, NARC, Cruis’n USA, and Smash TV. Also joining him will be industry superstars Ed Boon & John Tobias known for their creation of the Mortal Kombat series.

And speaking of industry luminaries, Video Games Live will be giving away a piece of video game history. A unique autographed program with over 30 of the most famous video game designers and composers will be given away to one lucky winner by filling out an entry card at the costume contest booth during the show. Names include creators Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog), Nolan Bushnell (Pong, Atari), Toby Gard (Lara Croft, Tomb Raider), Bill Roper (Warcraft), celebrity Elijah Wood and MANY MORE!

Video Games Live features music and exclusive synchronized video from popular franchises such as: Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, God of War™, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®, EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20 games from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Duck Hunt, Rastan, Space Invaders, and Outrun!

Other locations currently on sale include: Indianapolis, Toronto, and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. A complete list of tour dates and locations can be found at: http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=dates




About Video Games Live™ (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live is an immersive concert event celebration featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.



###

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Hydelloon

Is there a date for VGL Boston?

We are trying to decide which the best venue is for the performance. We have a few different options but lots of places are already booked this year.

What do you think would be a good choice?


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by el jacko

My apologies if this has been asked already.

Just out of curiosity, excluding licensing rights, what makes you determine what game soundtracks are chosen to be performed in concert? For example, you perform music from Beyond Good & Evil, a choice that I applaud you for but cannot understand (considering the flop the game was). There are many other games that are more popular and have great music (such as Metroid Prime, a game you mention in your press release but choose not to play in concert). How do you decide what music to perform in concert (ignoring licensing issues)?

For the most part the games in our show are AAA titles or franchises... Halo, Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Warcraft, Medal Gear Solid, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, Myst, etc...

But we also wanted to throw in a few surprises as well. When picking a few of these "surprises" we wanted to focus on some amazing games that had incredible visuals, music, storyline, etc. They may have not sold incredibly well but TONS of people come up to us after the show and say... "Wow!! I wanna go and play that Beyond Good & Evil game now! I'm gonna go pick it up! It looks and sounds amazing!"

I love being able to shine some light on a few of the lesser known games that deserve to be loved... especially for thier music.

The reason Metroid Prime is in our press release is because I worked on the game and it is one of the titles that is listed under projects I've worked on. Although I too love Metroid Prime... I feel that the music for Beyond Good & Evil plays much better to a live audience.

Another consideration we have is that we're not really trying to just focus on hardcore gamers as our audience. We get a lot of parents, grandparents, girlfriends, non-gamers, etc. They are the ones who are most blown away by the show because they had no idea how great video game music is and has become. Our whole concept from the start was to show the WORLD how incredible video game music has become... not just the hardcore gamers who already know and appreciate how wonderful it is.

Thanks for the question.


Tommy

How ya doing, buddy?

Thank you Joe Wiewel & Secret Squirrel for your kind words. I'm so glad you enjoyed the shows and had a great time! Please keep spreading the word. It's our best means of getting the word out there.

Yo Hydelloon, CD's & DVD's will be coming soon. Maybe by the end of the year. Please sign up on our mailing list on the front page of www.videogameslive.com so you'll get all the info first.

Yo Diversion, It was great meeting you! Please let us know what you thought of the concert! You were there on Friday night correct?

Hi Kairi Li! Thanks for the support!! Can't wait for you and your friends to see the Hollywood Bowl show!!! There's going to be a lot of new & unique stuff and a BUNCH of crazy surprises!! I'm even getting the GoodYear Blimp involved!! (I swear to God!)

Yo neothe0ne! Thanks!! Glad you liked the Frogger segment!! I love doing that!! Especially giving away a $2,500 laptop every night!!!


Yo Stazarine, Looking forward to putting on a great show for you at the Bowl! Thanks so much for supporting video game music!!! I'm not too familiar with Anime Music so I wouldn't feel comfortable putting on such a show. Video Games are my passion and my career so I'll be sticking with that. I do however know about a concert in Australia that combines video game & anime music together in a symphony. Here is the website: http://www.eminenceonline.com/anif/

See ya in September!!!!!


Tommy

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yo!

Anyone going to PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) this weekend in Seattle?? I'm up here now. They're having a video game cover band concert including Martin Leung, NESkimos, Minibosses and others.

If you happen to go and see me around... please come up and say hi.


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by -=SeRaPH=-

Hello, I was just notified by my staff that someone has been talking about us and decided to put a post. I didn't think anybody in the US would know about us lowly Australians. But yeah, thanks for mentioning us Tommy! I'll probably see you guys in February

Yo! Are you with Eminence?? Would love to speak with you guys. Send me your contact info through PM here and we should hook up.

Congrats on your success!!


Tommy



Yo Diversion!

Thanks so much for the great review! I'm glad you liked the show!!!!!


Tommy

Most amazing jew boots

Thought some people may be interested in these press releases that went out today. It's an exciting honor for us to celebrate all of this incredible game music to people around the world. Next stop, Hollywood Bowl in two weeks! Lots of incredible suprises. That press release will be coming tomorrow. I'll make sure to post it here.

Our London show will be performed in Surround Sound!

Thanks!


Tommy


================================================== ======

VIDEO GAMES LIVE™ BRINGS PIONEERING SHOW TO NEW CONTINENT!

First Ever Video Game Concert In South America To Take Place During Electronic Game Show In São Paulo, Brazil

Landmark Event Being Presented by Futuro Communications and Intel


Having sold to a massive 11,000 crowd on its debut performance in the US last year – making it the largest video game concert in the world – Video Games Live™ will continue its ground-breaking World Tour by performing the first ever video game music concert in South America. On November 19th, VGL will bring its one-of-a-kind entertainment experience to Via Funchal in São Paulo, Brazil. The concert, sponsored by Intel, will be the closing event of the Electronic Game Show, an annual video game convention that draws over 30,000 people.

“Although there are a huge number of gamers in Brazil, we’ve never had a show as big as Video Games Live here,” says Fabio Santana, editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly Brasil. “I’ve been receiving an incredible amount of e-mail from readers since we published the details about the Brazilian show. They’re happy that they can actually be at this show, instead of just reading about it or watching parts of it online. I think the Video Games Live concert will also help educate people outside Brazil about the well-established and fast-growing game industry we
have here.”

“This is going to be an amazing experience for all of us,” says Tommy Tallarico, famed video game composer and co-creator/executive producer of Video Games Live. “We’re getting a tremendous response to our announcement, and we can’t wait to bring the VGL experience to South American fans.”

Video Games Live features music from the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements with synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, and unique interactive segments. Video Games Live is once again opening the doors early to present a pre-show festival, including a costume contest where audience members come dressed as their favorite video game characters to compete for prizes. Other prizes will be given away throughout the evening during the Interactive Symphony segment, starring one of the most beloved classic arcade games of all time, Frogger, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Two audience members will compete for 90 seconds while the orchestra plays along, changing the musical score on-the-fly depending on what the contestants are doing on screen. This unique interaction with a live symphony has only ever been attempted and performed at Video Games Live.

The audience will also be treated to a special solo performance by Video Game Pianist Martin Leung who will be performing his exclusive Final Fantasy® piano arrangement consisting of over ten Final Fantasy® favorites. After the performance, there will be a meet-and-greet where fans can interact with renowned game composers and industry luminaries.

Video Games Live’s Brazilian debut is presented by Futuro Comunicação, a major communications company that develops products and services for pioneering communities. The show is being promoted by Circuito, one of Brazil’s most active production companies. Tickets are available now: http://www.viafunchal.com.br/shows.asp?ID=201


Video Games Live features music and exclusive synchronized video from popular franchises such as Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, God of War™, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®, EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20 games from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Duck Hunt, Rastan, Space Invaders, and Outrun!


About Video Games Live™ (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live is an immersive concert event celebration featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.



###




================================================== ========

THE GROUND BREAKING VIDEO GAMES LIVE HITS UK SHORES

AN IMMERSIVE CONCERT THAT BRINGS VIDEO GAMES TO LIFE

For anyone who’s ever picked up a games console, the event you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. VIDEO GAMES LIVE, brought to you by AEG Live, is the first ever concert to celebrate music from the biggest video games of all time from ‘Mario’ to ‘Final Fantasy’. Having sold out to a massive 11,000 crowd on its debut performance in the US last year – making it the largest video game concert in the world - VIDEO GAMES LIVE will now navigate its way successfully through to the next level when it hits UK shores on November 25th at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

Share the intensity and thrill of the gaming world’s most powerful compositions, as a live orchestra and choir recreate the best video game music on a spectacular stage. The show combines exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, cinema surround sound and interactive segments to create an explosive entertainment experience. With music from the retro days of ‘Pong’ to the fast paced action of ‘Halo’, VIDEO GAMES LIVE will transport you into the heart of the gaming world. There will also be spectacular prizes, first time playable games and the opportunity to meet Britain’s top game designers and composers.

“Video games and their music have evolved into our culture,” said Phil Harrison, President, Worldwide Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment. “This event helps to celebrate video games as the significant global art-form they have become, as well as receiving the artistic respect they deserve.”

Celebrate the music from the games you love when Video Games Live comes to London this November.

First UK date: 25 November – Hammersmith Apollo, London

Tickets are £25 and go on sale on 6 September at 9am and are available from the 24-Hour hotline: 0870 405 0448 or online @ www.aeglive.co.uk


Video Games Live features music and exclusive synchronized video from popular franchises such as Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, God of War™, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®, EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20 games from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Duck Hunt, Rastan, Space Invaders, and Outrun!

About Video Games Live™ (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live is an immersive concert event celebration featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.

For further tour information contact: -
Nadine Bibi @ The Outside Organisation on 020 7436 3633
email: - Nadine.bibi@outside-org.co.uk
Check out www.aeglive.co.uk

Double Post:









We just sent out this press release today. Let me know if anyone has any questions.


Thanks!


Tommy


================================================== ======


VIDEO GAMES LIVE™ RETURNS TO THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL WITH A SPECTACULAR NEW SHOW SEPTEMBER 21, 2006

Featuring Live Orchestral Excerpts of the New Halo® 3 Score

Special Musical Guests to Include BT, Steve Vai, Dweezil Zappa, Video Game Pianist Martin Leung, Game Composers, and More

LOS ANGELES – September 7, 2006 – Off the heels of sold-out shows around the world, renowned video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall are bringing their immersive concert celebrating video games back to the world-famous Hollywood Bowl for the second time on September 21, 2006. The new Video Games Live™ concert features music from the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, and groundbreaking interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience.

The concert will feature the celebrated Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by Video Games Live co-creator and conductor Jack Wall, with an opening act from famous recording artist Brian “BT” Transeau previewing selections from his new album “This Binary Universe.” Legendary guitarists Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa will be performing along with the orchestra, as well as special appearances by well-known video game composers. New segments include a live performance of excerpts from the new Halo® 3 score as released this year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and the world premiere of Civilization IV, plus a rare special acoustic performance by the original Lucas Arts composers performing Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, and more.

Video Games Live will make history by being the first to bring the symphonic score from Final Fantasy® to the Hollywood Bowl. Fans will also enjoy a special solo performance by Video Game Pianist Martin Leung who will debut his unique Final Fantasy® piano arrangement consisting of over ten Final Fantasy® favorites. Special interactive segments involving the audience will take place during the show, including a live interactive Space Invaders game, a Frogger competition, and even a special interactive appearance by the Goodyear Blimp. The evening will begin at 5:30 pm with an exciting pre-show festival that includes game competitions, pre-released game demos, a costume contest, and the “meet and greet” session with famous game composers and designers from all over the world, available free to all ticket holders.

“We are thrilled to bring Video Games Live back to the Hollywood Bowl, where the show debuted last year in front of 11,000 people,” said Tommy Tallarico, famed video game composer and co-creator/executive producer of Video Games Live. “It’s such an exciting honor to be playing on the most famous stage in the world. I think it speaks volumes about how important video games have become to our culture.”

“The one important thing to understand is that Video Games Live is really an event for the whole family,” added Wall. “We include something for everyone, and even if you don’t play video games, you’ll be blown away by the show.”

New music and exclusive video has been added to the already spectacular line-up of games including Mario™, Zelda®, Final Fantasy®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron®, God of War™ and others, plus there will be a new and expanded Classic Arcade Medley featuring tributes to the games that started it all.

The pre-show festival and costume contest will begin at 5:30 pm and is free to all ticket holders. Tickets ($3- $65) are currently on sale at www.ticketmaster.com, or http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0B...1&minorcatid=1 to link directly to the VGL ticket page. The show will begin at 8:00 pm.

About Video Games Live™ (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers, Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live is an immersive concert event featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.

About the Hollywood Bowl
One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 38th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2006, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue for the second year in a row at the 17th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

Tickets ($3 - $65) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records, and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at HollywoodBowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850-2050 for further details.

For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

###

Press contacts:
Karen Olin/Bret Ingraham
mPRm Public Relations
(323) 933-3399
kolin@mPRm.com
bingraham@mprm.com

How ya doing, buddy?

Hey everyone,

I'll try to answer everyone's comments and questions over the weekend.

Just checking in the night before the big Hollywood Bowl show tomorrow. Wanted to give everyone a quick peek into some of the stuff that will be going on tomorrow. Hope people in the LA area will be able to come and check out the show. Please feel free to come up during the meet & greet and say you read this at Gaming Force.

Thanks!


Tommy

================================================== ==

VIDEO GAMES LIVE™ ANNOUNCES FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES FOR NEW SHOW AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL

Events to Include Meet & Greet with over 50 Top Composers, Designers & Celebrities

Plus Costume Contest, Playable Games, Guitar Hero™ II Competition, Classic Arcade Competitions, Spectacular Prizes, and More



LOS ANGELES – September 19, 2006 – Renowned video game composers, Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, announced the pre-show festival events planned for the return performance of their Video Games Live™ at the Hollywood Bowl on September 21st, presented by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Created and produced by Tallarico and Wall’s production company, Mystical Stone Entertainment LLC, Video Games Live™ features music from the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs around the world, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, live electronic drumming by Irwin and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience.

This special performance taking place this Thursday evening will mark the return of Video Games Live™ to the Bowl after a triumphant nationwide tour, and is the last domestic performance of this year’s tour before starting their international performances. To commemorate the event, Video Games Live™ is pulling out all the stops and opening the doors early to present a pre-show festival from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. which is FREE to all ticket holders. Tickets ($3 - $65) are on sale now at Ticketmaster: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0B...1&minorcatid=1

The pre-show festival will include PC game stations sponsored by Intel, a game competition with prize giveaways presented by Dream Authentics featuring old school titles Space Invaders, Centipede, and Asteroids on six custom built arcade cabinets. The yet-to-be-released Guitar Hero™ II will be on hand with its own competition and prizes. Other pre-show festivities include a costume contest where audience members will come dressed as their favorite video game characters. Finalists will be judged on the Hollywood Bowl stage by the audience. San Diego based High Moon Studios will have a recruiting booth available at the show for people looking to get into the video game industry. Other festival sponsors and prizes provided by Dolby, TokyoPop, IGN, Westwood Colleges, Killer Tracks, APM Music, Music4Games & ASCAP.

Prizes will be given away throughout the evening during several audience-interactive segments, starring one of the most beloved classic arcade games of all time, Frogger, as well as a live Space Invaders contest and even an interactive segment with the Goodyear Blimp! This unique interaction with a live symphony has only ever been attempted and performed at Video Games Live™. Grand prize includes an Intel computer and a set of TokyoPop manga books.

The pre-show Meet and Greet, where fans can interact with renowned game composers and designers as well as celebrities, will be VGL’s largest ever with more than 50 industry luminaries, including:


COMPOSERS:

Tommy Tallarico
Earthworm Jim, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Metroid Prime, Advent Rising, Aladdin, Cool Spot, Spider-Man, Time Crisis, MDK, Unreal 2 & Tournament, Blood Rayne, The Terminator, NFL Blitz, Prince of Persia, Pac-Man World, Knockout Kings, Madden Football, Twisted Metal

Jack Wall
Myst III, Myst IV, Splinter Cell, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Army of Two

Marty O'Donnell
Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Riven

Mike Salvatori
Halo, Halo2, Halo 3, Riven, Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse

Inon Zur
Prince of Persia, EverQuest, Pirates of the Carribean, SOCOM II, Lineage II: Chronicle 5

Gerard Marino
God of War, God of War 2, The Punisher

Jason Hayes
Warcraft series

Jesper Kyd
Hitman series, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theorye2C DDR, Freedom Fighters, Unreal Tournament 2007, Spellborn

Alexander Brandon
Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Gauntlet

Clint Bajakian
Monkey Island, Outlaws, Indiana Jones, Day of the Tentacle

Peter McConnell
Sly 2 & 3, Psychonauts, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango

Michael Land
The Dig, Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle

Jamey Scott
Gears of War, Unreal Tournament 2007, Daxter, Jak3

Cris Velasco
God of War, God of War 2, Dark Messiah, Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Sascha Dikiciyan
Quake Series, Dark Messiah, Splinter Cell 4: Double Agent

Billy Martin
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Chicken Little, Finding Nemo

Lennie Moore
Outcast, War of the Ring, Dragonshard

Shawn Clement
Sims 2, Need For Speed, Batman: Vengeance, Tarzan: Untamed, Open Season, Kim Possible: What’s the Switch?

Stephen Harwood Jr.
Brother In Arms

Will Littlejohn
Guitar Hero, Karaoke Revolution, BladeRunner, Guitar Hero II

Christopher Lennertz
Medal of Honor series, Gun, 007: From Russia with Love

Chance Thomas
King Kong, X-Men, Lord of the Rings

Rod Abernethy
Star Trek: Legacy, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, Blazing Angels,
Marvel VS, The Hobbit

Chris Tilton
Black, The Incredibles, Mercenaries, Alias

Gary Schyman
Destroy All Humans 1 & 2, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers, BioShock

Spencer Nilsen
Ecco The Dolphin, Sonic CD, Batman Returns, Daytona USA

Russell Brower
Audio Director - World of Warcraft

Rob King
Heroes of Might & Magic, EverQuest series, Area 51, Scarface



DESIGNERS:

Tim Schafer
Day of Tentacle, Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts

Louis Castle
Cofounder Westwood Studios, Command and Conquer, Blade Runner

Vince Desi
Postal series, SPY vs SPY (C64/Apple II), Ghostbusters (C64/PC)

Bill “The Game Doctor” Kunkel
Father of video game journalism, Electronic Games Magazine — 1979

Cory Barlog
God of War 1 & 2, X-Men: Mutant Academy & the Next Dimension

John Botti
Robocop vs. Terminator, Tomorrow Never Dies, Treasures of the Deep, Knockout Kings, X-Files

Keith Robinson
President, Programmer & Game Designer – Intellivision

Mike Morhaime
President - Blizzard Entertainment

Justin Thavirat
Project Art Director - World of Warcraft

Seamus Blackley
creator of the X-BOX

Jason Rubin
Crash Bandicoot series, Jak & Daxter



PERFORMERS:

BT
Recording artist — Movement in Still Life, Emotional Technology, This Binary Universe
Film composer — Stealth, Fast & the Furious, Monster
Video games — SSX, Gran Turismo 3, Wipeout, Need for Speed, DDR, Burnout Revenge

Dweezil Zappa
Songwriter, Recording Artist, Guitar Legend

Irwin
Electronic drummer for VGL, Beastie Boys, and Rob Navarro

Martin Leung
The Video Game Pianist

Laurie Robinson
Soloist — Advent Rising



SPECIAL GUESTS:

John Schneider
Smallville, Dukes of Hazzard

Steven Lisberger
Creator, writer, director — TRON

Richard Taylor
Movie Special FX Supervisor — TRON, Star Trek
Game Cinematic Director — TRON 2.0, Lord of the Rings, Links 2004, Amped 2, Top Spin

Julie Stoffer
Electric Playground, MTV’s Real World




VOICE ACTORS:

David Hayter
Voice of Solid Snake in MGS 1 - 4, Eternal Darkness
Screenwriter X-Men, X2, The Scorpion King

Dee Baker
SpongeBob SquarePants (TV), Teen Titans (TV), Viewtiful Joe, Halo 2, EverQuest II, Doom 3, Tales of Symphonia, Arc the Lad, Final Fantasy X-2, Metal Gear Solid 2, Kingdom Hearts, Spider-Man



The concert will start with an opening act from famous electronic recording artist Brian “BT” Transeau previewing selections from his new album “This Binary Universe.” Legendary guitarists Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa will be performing along with the orchestra, as well as live electronic drumming by Irwin, and other special appearances by well-known video game composers including Halo composer Marty O'Donnell. New segments include Halo® 3 and Civilization IV, plus a rare special acoustic performance by the original LucasArts composers performing Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, and more.

Video Games Live™ will once again make history by being the first to bring the symphonic score from Final Fantasy® VII to the Hollywood Bowl. Fans will also enjoy a special solo performance by Video Game Pianist Martin Leung who will debut his unique Final Fantasy® piano arrangement consisting of over ten Final Fantasy® favorites.

New music and exclusive video has been added to the already spectacular line-up of games including Mario™, Zelda®, Final Fantasy®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron®, God of War™ and others, plus there will be a new and expanded Classic Arcade Medley featuring tributes to the games that started it all.



About Video Games Live™ (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live™ (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live™ is an immersive concert event celebration featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.


About the Hollywood Bowl
One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 38th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2006, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue for the second year in a row at the 17th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

Tickets ($3 - $65) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records, and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at HollywoodBowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850-2050 for further details.

For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.



###

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Citizen Meh

Bought my Hammersmith ticket! Looking forward to it!

Cool!! Can't wait for you to see the show. Please spread the word to anyone you think may be interested. We're really looking forward to it!


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Shaolin Samurai

Pardon my ignorance but I noticed that Metroid is noticeably absent from the Video Games Live line-up. Is this due to licensing issues, or is there some other factor?

As far as not having Metroid in the show currently... this is our challenge...

Because of the style of the original music, it is difficult to translate to a live orchestral performance to do it proper justice. I myself worked on Metroid Prime & Metroid Prime Echoes (sound design) and have a very close understanding of the music and am personally a big fan. It was an honor for me to work with such talented people as Miyamoto-san. It's a tough challenge and one that I am not yet willing to give up on... but currently we do not have it as part of our playlist. This is an event which will go on indefinitely all around the world. Our goal is to come back each and every year with new material and a different playlist. For example... we've played the Hollywood Bowl twice now and each time we had different playlists and added things. Last week we added things like the Halo 3 trailer music (with Steve Vai on guitar), more Final Fantasy stuff, Civilization IV, LucasArts music, etc.

Our goal will be to eventually bring the Metroid music to our show in a way that properly justifies its greatness.


T.T.






Double Post:

Originally Posted by José

I, on the other hand, apparently will have to stop holding my breath: after missing the last northeast boat (i.e. Philly), and with New York pushed to God-knows-when-if-at-all, I'll come back sometime in 2007.

Where are you located exactly? I can tell you if and when we're coming to your area.


T.T.






Double Post:

Originally Posted by el jacko

See his reply to my question:

Mr Tallarcio, I personally hope you give Metroid another chance, even if it is not Metroid Prime. Both Metroid for NES and Super Metroid have been performed by orchestras to excellent results. I know I am just one person but I do think there is a great demand for Metroid live (just see the response to the Metroid Metal project).

I agree! I'm sure you read my response above. Does anyone have an .mp3 of Metroid done with the orchestra? Wonder if they'll do an arrangement for the new SSB?


T.T.






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Stazarine

Hi Tommy,

Just wanted to let you know that I just got back from the concert at Hollywood Bowl, and I thought that it was great. Great music to go with great stories. AND it was awesome hearing One Winged Angel live. You have made one of my dreams come true.

My mom mentioned to me about how she quite enjoyed watching the audience responded to many of the pieces, which is something you definitely won't get with pieces from Mozart, Beethoven and others. Especially like with the crowd that video games (+itsmusic) has.

Thanks again! And great job to all the staff that made it possible.

Thank-you so much for the kind words! Truly warms my heart to know that you (and your mom) had a great time.

T.T.






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Kaleb.G

It was good meeting you there, Tommy! Sorry if I seemed a little too eager to talk to you. I had some friends waiting on me, and I just wanted to get some quick conversation in before I took off. I also know you were pressed for time, as there were a lot of industry people there you wanted to talk to.

The concert was great, but I think the people were my favorite part. I loved being able to talk with Alex Brandon, Christopher Tin, Spencer Nielsen, David Hayter, Tim Schafer, and well, everyone. They were all very friendly and interesting to talk to.

I'll probably post some more thoughts on the event later; it's pretty late right now. Anyway, I'm looking forward to VGL 2007.

Thanks Kaleb! The composers & designers really love meeting everyone. We had over 52 industry people in the meet & greet that night! I was cool to see everyone there interacting with the audience and fans. I'm glad that ANYONE who is interested in meeting these people can. We would never charge people to meet composers like other concerts do.


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Naka

I went last night and thoroughy enjoyed it. I wish I would have paid for a little bit better seats though. I was wondering if I missed much, I came in part way through the retro medley.

I am trying to decide what my favorite part was. I really enjoyed the whole thing, but the ones that stand out in my mind were the Zelda, Mario, Sonic, and Warcraft arrangments. The classic clips in there made me remember the good ol' days of classic games. Warcraft was very intense, I love the songs they had in the mix and the choir was top notch.

I will also say it speaks volumes that my girlfriend who always gives me a hard time for being such a big VGM nut LOVED it as well. She also wished we sat closer so she could see the screen better. So I had a great time, and will definitely go again. Thanks for a great show Tommy!

Yo Naka!!

Woo-hoo!! Another non-gaming girlfriend converted!! hehehehehee

Thank-you for your thoughtful insights and praise. Warcraft is probably my favorite piece as well... although hearing the African choir on Civilization IV always gives me major goosebumps (especially in rehearsals when it's just them by themselves).

Thank-you again for coming to support the cause! Looking forward to playing for you again next year!


Tommy






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Kairi Li

Thank you Tommy for creating such an amazing concert! I went to the Hollywood Bowl one last night, and me and my friends enjoyed it alot! We got to meet industry people and enjoy amazing arrangerments of the classic video game themes as well as new ones. Great job getting David Hayter playing Snake to introduce the concert!

It was also great to see a different variety of music, not just from RPGS or console games, but also PC games like Myst, Civilization and WoW, and more recent games like God of War, and who didn't love the short but big finale of music from the Halo 3 trailer played live and have the voice of Cortana on stage speaking the crytic line as well?

The videos, the performance, the acoustics and everything was fantastic, if there's gonna be another concert here in LA in future years, I'm defintly coming back again!

Once again, great job and thank you!

Hi Kairi,

I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to come here and speak with you all about the show. I can't tell you how much we all here appreciate the positive feedback and goodwill from people such as yourself. I really makes all of the extra effort, long hours and hard work worth it knowing that you had such a good time. It's 3:00am in the morning where I am right now and I've been working since 6:00am today... but after reading all of these comments here I feel like working another 10 hours!!



Thanks for the inspiration. It's greatly appreciated!!!!!


Tommy





Double Post:

Originally Posted by Tawnee Stoner

Hi, Tommy

I've been following this thread for a while without having anything relevant to add, just saying to myself: they seem to be having a good time, I'm glad for them. Then I go to your Wikipedia entry and read that Video Games Live is currently touring the world. Then I went to your Tour Schedule on your site and saw Brazil listed, I went nuts. If you can go all the way to the south, have you ever considered bringing your show to Mexico?

We have some good venues here, also, is it a requirement for the concert to be alongside a gaming/comic convention or could it be a santdalone presentation? The only mexican videogame convention that comes to my mind is LatinGamer which is supposedly to hold 10,000 visitors. In other words, what would it take to bring the show to Mexico? Thanks and take care!

Yes! We are looking at Mexico City as a possible location for 2007!!

T.T.






Double Post:

Originally Posted by Kurado

Tommy's here..? Holy shit.

I saw you at a game conference at the Metreon last year I believe. I honestly don't remember what it was about (were you guys discussing E3?), but was more in awe that I was so close to the game industry. It's my dream yadda yadda to be in the yadda yadda industry yadda yadda and all that, so I stayed for the whole thing even though I had a class later.

Anyway, good to see you here. Hope you enjoy your stay.

Thanks Kurado!! Make sure to stick around next time and say hi!



We'll be making our San Fran VGL announcement VERY soon! Hope to meet ya there!


T.T.





Double Post:

Originally Posted by horseman85

Hey Tommy

I was just wondering if the show for Montreal would be this year or sometime next year. Thanks.

We REALLY tried to get it to happen in 2006 with the Arcadia Festival going on soon. Unfortunately there were no venues available during the time we needed so we've had to put it off until 2007. Sorry 'bout that. I promise you will be going there though!!


T.T.






And finally....

Wanted everyone here to be aware that we just announced our Edmonton & Phoenix shows (2 days each city).

Here is the latest list of dates I just updated: http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=dates


Here's the press release for the Edmonton show...



Groundbreaking Video Games LiveTM concert makes its Alberta debut with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the Jubilee Auditorium hosted by co-creator Tommy Tallarico, conducted by co-creator Jack Wall January 22nd and 23rd, 2007


Edmonton, AB - October 10, 2006: Off the heels of sold-out shows around the world, prominent video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall are bringing their revolutionary concert celebrating video games to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The new Video Games Live TM concert brings the intensity and excitement of the gaming world’s most powerful compositions, as a live orchestra and choir recreate the best video game music on a spectacular stage. Video Games Live TM is the first ever concert to celebrate music from the biggest video games of all time. Having sold to a massive 11,000 crowd on its debut performance at the Hollywood Bowl last year – making it the largest video game concert in the world – Video Games Live TM now comes to Edmonton on January 22nd and 23rd at the Jubilee Auditorium.

The evening combines exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists and groundbreaking interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience.

Special segments involving the audience will take place during the show, including a live interactive Space Invaders game, and a Frogger competition. New music and exclusive video has been added to the already spectacular line-up of games including MARIO™, ZELDA®, HALO®, METAL GEAR SOLID®, WARCRAFT®, MYST®, FINAL FANTASY®, and KINGDOM HEARTS. The evening also includes the exclusive HALO 3 announcement trailer score. There will also be a "Classic Arcade Medley" featuring music from Pong, Donkey Kong, Dragon’s Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Space Invaders and Outrun. The performance will be conducted by Video Games Live TM co-creator Jack Wall and also includes Edmonton’s Kokopelli and Òran Chamber Choir.

Special events surround the show include a pre-show festival where all guest will enjoy an interactive costume contest, game competitions, game demos, and the very popular meet-and-greet with top game composers and designers.

Edmonton plays an important role in the gaming world. Bioware, an electronic entertainment company specializing in creating computer and console video games, is based in Edmonton and has created some of the most sought after video games in the industry.

These ESO special concerts will take place at 8pm on January 22nd and 23rd at the Jubilee Auditorium. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Wednesday, Oct 11th. Ticket prices range from $50-$60 with children’s discounts available. Ticketmaster fees will apply. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at http://www.ticketmaster.ca/artist/1075830 and by phone at (780) 451-8000. Please note that tickets are NOT available through the Winspear Centre box office for this performance. ESO sampler passes cannot be redeemed for this special presentation. Buy early and be entered to win the latest in new video game releases through weekly draws. The draws will take place on Wednesday of each week up until and including November 29th. Winners will be contacted and posted on the ESO website.




About Video Games Live TM (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers, Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live TM (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live TM is an immersive concert event featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.

About the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra:
As the professional orchestra of Alberta’s creative capital city, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra presents over eighty concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country. The ESO is comprised of 56 full-time professional musicians who play an active role in the musical life of Edmonton and elsewhere as performers, teachers and recording artists. The ESO also performs as the orchestra for Edmonton Opera and Alberta Ballet productions, and its concerts and recordings are regularly heard across the country on CBC Radio Two.

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was initially formed as Edmonton’s community orchestra and gave its first concert on November 14, 1920. It was incorporated as a registered not-for-profit organization in 1952, and made the transition to a fully professional orchestra during the early 1970s. It is deficit-free, and its players are the highest paid orchestral musicians west of Toronto. Music Director William Eddins was appointed in January 2005 and made his debut as Music Director in June of that year. In September 1997 the ESO and the Edmonton Concert Hall Foundation successfully completed a two-decade, $45 million capital campaign and moved from the Northern Jubilee Auditorium into its new concert hall, the acoustically superb, 1716 seat Francis Winspear Centre for Music. The ESO is committed to serving its entire community, through eclectic programming choices and innovative education and outreach activities. For more information on the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, please visit www.edmontonsymphony.com

Kokopelli's members range in age from 14 to 23 and come from across Western Canada. All are currently studying or working in Edmonton, and all are united in their passion for singing. The Òran Chamber Choir is a group of Kokopelli alumni who have banded together to keep singing past their Kokopelli experience. Both choirs combine high quality musical delivery and artistic staging - singing music ranging from canonical classical repertoire to experimental and avant garde contemporary works. Choristers often double as instrumentalists, providing percussion and auxiliary instruments for various pieces. The organization has also commissioned works from several emerging and established composers. Kokopelli has been featured at many national music festivals in Canada, and has participated in numerous international events. The Òran Chamber Choir, which takes its name form the Gaelic word for “singing,” was realized in September 2002.

Composer/Producer/Conductor Jack Wall has built a track record and an international reputation as an A-List composer and music producer in the interactive entertainment sector. He brings an unmatched depth of experience, credibility and knowledge in the engineering and production of records, film soundtracks and live recordings working with mainstream artists and major label artists such as John Cale, David Byrne and Patti Smith. His work spans full-length albums, live concert recordings, videogame soundtracks, film soundtracks and other projects that demand an exacting ear and vast library of musical and technical knowledge and know-how. Jack Wall’s composing credits include JADE EMPIRE, MYST IV: REVELATION, MYST III: EXILE, SPLINTER CELL: PANDORA TOMORROW (cinematic music), DUNGEON SIEGE II (promotional trailers), RISE OF THE KASAI, and WRATH UNLEASHED among others. Mr. Wall is Vice-President and co-founder of The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) www.audiogang.org, a non-profit organization established to promote excellence in interactive audio. For more information on Jack Wall please visit www.jackwall.net.

Tommy Tallarico is a veritable video game industry icon. As one of the most successful video game composers in history, he has helped revolutionize the gaming world, creating unique audio landscapes that enhance the video gaming experience. As a well-recognized on-air television personality, Tommy brings his in-depth knowledge, years of experience, and love of multimedia and video games to the masses. He has won over 25 industry awards for best video game audio and has worked on more than 250 game titles. His top titles include Disney’s Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Spider-Man, Metroid Prime and Advent Rising as well as top selling popular game franchises such as Madden Football, Blitz Football, Unreal, Pac-Man, Knockout Kings, Mortal Kombat, Twisted Metal & Time Crisis. Tallarico was the first musician to release a video game soundtrack worldwide (Tommy Tallarico’s Greatest Hits Vol. 1 – Capitol Records). He has released six video game soundtrack albums since, including the highly acclaimed James Bond Tomorrow Never Dies and Advent Rising. His score for Advent Rising has been noted as "one of the greatest musical scores of all time" by websites such as Yahoo, Gamespot and others. Currently, Tommy hosts, writes and co-produces the top rated and very popular Judgment Day/Reviews on the Run television show as well as the longest running award-winning video game television show, The Electric Playground (www.elecplay.com), which has been on the air since 1997.



To view the video games live trailer, please click on the following link and click view trailer:
(http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=home)

Promotional DVD’s are available upon request. Please contact the ESO Publicist for more information.


For further information contact:

Media contact:
Melayne Shankel, ESO Publicist
PH: (780)401-2532
Melayne.Shankel@winspearcentre.com


Ticketmaster Box Office:
PH: (780)451-8000
www.ticketmaster.ca
Jubilee Box Office: 11455-87th Ave, Edmonton

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Shaolin Samurai

Thanks for the reply, but I am confused by what you mean by the style of Metroid music not translating well to an orchestral performance.

Could you specify what exactly it is about Metroid music that hinders an orchestral performance? I am a mere layman but I simply do not understand the reasoning behind this statement. As has been stated, Metroid music has been performed by an orchestra with great success and I am sure VGL could do it justice.

The reason I persist in this is because while I enjoyed the Indianapolis VGL show, I felt the lack of Metroid was very noticeable. Where as any fanboy could say he was disappointed at the lack of X series, Metroid is Metroid, one of the flagship series of Nintendo. To lack Metroid is almost unthinkable, especially when both Zelda and Mario music is present.




http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ptnguyen/04%20-%20Super%20Metroid%20-%20Theme~Space%20Warrior%20Samus%20Aran's%20Theme~ .mp3

This is from the Orchestral Game Concert 4 CD , which was released in 1994.

Wow!! Thanks!! I have all 5 OGC CD's and I must have somehow overlooked this. This helps out a lot! Thanks!

What I meant by difficult and challeging to translate is that the Main Theme for Metroid is somewhat ambient and electronic sounding. They have taken a great approach in this segment. Thanks so much for turning us on to this.


Tommy

Jam it back in, in the dark.