Video Games Live

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!

How ya doing, buddy?

Tommy,
Thanks for taking time to answer questions here. I was curious if the future San Fran show will have the same program as the San Jose one (from the game developer's conference). I was heartbroken when the last San Fran show was canceled, but was super stoked to be able to attend the GDC one. Now that San Fran has returned to the group I desperately want to attend again but it is hard convincing the wife to go to a concert she has already been to. Is there anything new/different I can entice her with?

Also, will a date be announced soon?

Thanks!


P.S. Any chance you have the vocal version of Destinationz Unknown available yet? I still listen to the Vol 1 edition pretty much on a regular basis. Also, you should add the Bonus Room songs from Aladdin and Cool Spot the the VGL repertoire, and maybe the Treasures of the Deep guitar theme too...

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Tommy,
Is VGL expanding its repertoire to other venues? I recently went to a "Pops in the Park" concert by the California Symphony where they play movie, tv, and patriotic themes. One of their selections this year they called "Video Games Live" and played Kingdom Hearts, Civ 4 medley sans lyrics, and "theme from Hunter" (which was really the Advent Rising piece). Was this official or were they jumping on the bandwagon? Either way the music was awesome.
It was a pleasant surprise and a lot of non-gamers people around me really enjoyed it. Hopefully more symphonies pick up on the trend and start including VG music in their personal concerts!

Also, is VGL coming to the SF Bay Area again soon? GDC is not too far off

Finally, I must add the obligatory " 'Destinationz Unknown' needs to be the encore in the concert" comment since I mention every time we've talked since 2001.

Keep up the great work!

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

Any chance you will be back in the SF Bay Area in '10? I know, I know, you need to spread the love to the other cities/countries who haven't had access to the concert numerous times already. But I am going threw withdrawals here, it has been since February!
Either that or a Volume 2 release date

Oh yea, I must add the obligatory " 'Destinationz Unknown' needs to be the encore in the concert" comment since I mention every time we've talked since 2001. (and mentioned in this thread over the past few years)

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

Oh man, that Destinationz Unknown video was awesome! The 80's styles and equipment brought back memories. I find the random shirtless guy chilling in the background humorous, I always thought that was a cliche found only in 80's John Hughes' movies but it turns out they really did exist. Thanks for sharing the vids!

I was speaking idiomatically.

I love that VGL is expanding to even smaller markets now. I never thought I would see the day there would be a major symphonic VGM concert in Arkansas, which is one of the reasons I left the state and moved to San Francisco. Now I see it is playing in El, Dorado, AR. Awesome!

Speaking of which, it's been since 2008 since VGL came to the Bay Area. A SF show has been listed at TBA for a year, any news on when this may be announced?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?