17 April 2010 was a date that I eagerly looked forward to, because it marked the first video game concert in Malaysia. Hoorah, no more needing to go down to Singapore for game concerts! I was so excited I planned my outfit a few days in advance (yah, srsly).
Significant Other and I bought ourselves the RM153 tickets, which we thought would place us somewhere in the middle. Well, we ended up waaaay at the back of the bottom floor, with the level above us as our roof. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if we weren’t seated at the row right at the very back, with quite a number of empty seats, and unenthusiastic fellow concert-goers. Many times during the concert I wanted to join the rest of the crowd and scream out loud, but I’d wind up clapping enthusiastically, then look around and find no one else seated nearby even clapping, and, well, that totally killed the mood. Lesson learnt: next time buy more expensive seats, dammit. VGL was totally worth the ticket price anyway!
VGL was very different for the other game concerts that I have attended so far (Play! and FF: Distant Worlds). For starters, it was more interactive, with a pre-event cosplay & Guitar Hero contest. They invited an audience member to come up and play Space Invaders on screen, with prizes to be won (sadly, the kid they invited didn’t seem to have touched the game before… so he lost). The winner of the Guitar Hero pre-event contest got to play Guitar Hero onstage with Tommy Tallarico, the host (he didn’t win either…but the audience goaded him into playing expert instead of hard, and he has to be commended for being such a good sport. And he was THIS close to winning!).
The concert itself felt more like a rock concert than an orchestral one. True, Play! and FF: Distant Worlds had its fair share of screaming fans, but the host, Tommy Tallarico, had an amazing stage presence, and he managed to bring out an incredible amount of energy from the audience. It was not just about enjoying the music, but also the experience of the concert. And what an experience it was!
Of course, the music was fantastic as well. The orchestra was top notch, and the selection of songs were good. The Metal Gear Solid theme is a personal favourite, so I loved it, and I was deliriously happy when I heard that the audience picked out music from Shadow of the Colossus to be played in this particular concert. The game holds a special place in my heart despite me not having the courage to finish it (I managed to get to the first monster to shoot out beams at me before I faltered and hid in a corner somewhere. Made for dragon slaying, I am not. But who knows, maybe one day I’ll muster up the courage to finish the game). I was also pleased that they did a rock version of One-Winged Angel, as I had already heard a few orchestral versions of that song (and TBH, I’m always disappointed because they never live up to the menace in the MIDI version. Well, for me, at least). And last but not least, the 2nd encore, when they played Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross, was a fantastic way to end the concert.
Significant Other and I didn’t stay for the meet and greet session, because there were so many people, so unfortunately I can’t comment on that. What I can say is that one week later, I’m still giddy from attending the concert, and I really hope that they’ll come back to this country again. I’ll definitely go, and this time I’ll get the more expensive tickets!
