Live Concert

Events, Game Music, Japanese

The Video Game Orchestra, Live In Tokyo, To Be Their Biggest Show Yet

February 24, 2017 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

The Video Game Orchestra (or simply “The VGO” to the hip kids who follow their work) have taken their show on the road before … but never like this. Fans of the Boston-based orchestra, led by Shota Nakama, can start their drooling now: on March 25th, The VGO will be putting on a concert in Tokyo. The show is being promoted by Pony Canyon — which, if you didn’t know, is “big deal” territory, they are Japan’s equivalent of “Live Nation,” save that Pony Canyon has existed as publisher and promoter of entertainment products for far longer.

The 3/25 show will have music from almost all the major game publishers, including Konami, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, Sega, and more. We don’t know the full list of games yet, but here’s what we have so far:

CASTLEVANIA (series)
CYTUS
D4: DARK DREAMS DON’T DIE
DEEMO
FINAL FANTASY XV
GOD EATER 2: RAGE BURST
METAL GEAR SOLID (series)
SILENT HILL 2
SONIC (series)
TALES OF ZESTIRIA

On a personal/editorial note, I must urge the reader to consider the long-term value of this concert. To have a project with this many Japanese publishers sign on for a third-party entity (The VGO) to perform their work, in Japan, is a big deal. I have always advocated for collaboration among the game music artists and those who represent them, and whenever it happens, I can’t help but celebrate. This concert represents a big reason to celebrate.

Unfortunately, it isn’t something that I can celebrate … not in person. I won’t be able to attend the Tokyo show. But hey, maybe you can! The details for the show are found here: vgo.jp — and, if you want to purchase tickets, the website to do so offers information and instructions for ticket purchase in Japanese, English and Chinese! You’ll find that here!

And if anyone among our reader-base makes plans to attend the show, please let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear about your thoughts after the event.
Anime

Sword Art Online Music Collection Coming in January 2016

October 13, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | 4 Comments Share this

If you’re a fan of Sword Art Online and have always wanted to own the soundtracks to the series on CD you’re in luck! Right now that only way to buy the soundtrack was in very expensive bundles of the North American or Japanese Blu-rays of the TV series. That will change on January 27, 2016.

I noticed that an album titled Sword Art Online Music Collection was just recently added to the Video Game Music Database. The collection is a 4 CD set containing all of the music from both of the Sword Art Online TV series.

The collection was announced on the Sword Art Online website on October 4 confirmed that the set will contain all of the previous music released in the bundled Blu-Ray sets, with an additional 15 tracks of music bringing the track list to a whopping 131 tracks. There will also be a Limited Edition release of the album which contains an extra Blu-ray disc of the concert held in February 2015 Sword Art Online: Sing All the Overtures performed by Yuki Kajiura, Fiction Junction, and other artists.

The regular edition is priced at 3800 yen, and the limited edition is priced at 4500yen. Both albums are available for pre-order from various Japanese retailers including CD Japan. I will getting my pre-order in soon, are you a fan of the music in Sword Art Online?
Game Music, Reviews

Video Game Orchestra: Live at Symphony Hall (Review)

July 21, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 2 Comments Share this

If you’ve been around the gaming convention scene on the east coast, chances are that you have heard of the Video Game Orchestra. Not to be confused with the Video Games Live concerts, the Video Game Orchestra (or VGO, for short) is a Boston based group that combines a unique sound of rock and orchestral genres for their videogame covers. It’s a genre that they often refer to as “rockestral game music.” The VGO has had a number of performances at events like PAX East and MAGFest, but they have also performed a number of stand alone concerts in the New England area. Depending on the venue, the group can consist of anything from a small rock ensemble to a much larger rock band and orchestra combination.

Back in 2012, the VGO launched a Kickstarter campaign for an album featuring their larger ensemble. The Kickstarter was a success and enabled them to record a live concert performance at Boston’s Symphony Hall on October 7, 2012. Thanks to the Kickstarter funding, they were able to have the performance recorded, mixed, mastered, and released to their backers and eventually to the public. The album officially received its public release earlier this year. The end result is the album Live at Symphony Hall. So what music did they cover and how does it sound? Read on to find out. (more…)
Game Music

Final Fantasy XI, Square Enix to Dominate Summer Releases

June 19, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 11 Comments Share this

Square Enix’s music department is gearing up for a pretty ridiculous summer in terms of album releases. It’s a little overwhelming, and we’re still in the dark on some of these albums, but it’s worth noting that they’re on the way.

Specifically, Square Enix is going overboard for the tenth anniversary of their MMORPG Final Fantasy XI. With expansion content included, the game sports about 10 hours’ worth of original music, so there’s plenty to arrange.

Before even getting to those albums, though, it’s worth noting that in Los Angeles there’s going to be a tenth anniversary concert! All FFXI! That’s crazy. I hope to be there, but I’m not sure if I can get out to the west coast. It’s going to be on September 22 (right on the “technical border” of Summer and Fall) at the Zellerbach Auditorium. Tickets went on sale as of a few weeks ago, and there is a VIP ticket level that includes meet-and-greet with Arnie Roth, Kumi Tanioka, and Naoshi Mizuta. If you ever played FFXI for any period of time, this will be an unforgettable event. I’m psyched about it. Also, if you’re still playing FFXI, buying tickets will net you a special in-game item “Maestro’s Baton.” (tickets here)

Okay, so now for the album releases. Alongside the planned SQ Chips 2 (CDJapan | Play-Asia), they’re doing a special chiptunes mini-album just for FFXI called “XI Chips -Final Fantasy XI Chiptune-” (CDJapan). There’s also going to be a compilation album (with one exclusive bonus track) called “Sword Songs ~ Final Fantasy XI Battle Collection” (CDJapan). Nice!

Beyond FFXI, this summer will have normal editions and limited editions for “SQ Chips 2,” “Beer SQ,” and “Battle SQ.” If you head to vgmdb (that’s what those links point to), you can check out the full tracklists for these three albums. We don’t know what the bonus tracks will be for the LEs yet, but we do know they will come on a separate disc. Very interesting things to note about the song selection: first, that Masashi Hamauzu is getting a lot of love. Both Beer and Battle have arrangements for SaGa Frontier II, and the latter also has something from Sigma Harmonics! There are some other great, obscure titles represented across these albums as well, including Tobal No.1, Bahamut Lagoon, Live A Live (an apparent favorite at SE Music for all the times they’ve been including this game on their SQ albums), Seiken Densetsu 3, Rudora no Hihou, Chocobo’s Dungeon, and more! Great oldschool FF selections as well! Audio samples suggest that Beer SQ will be of a similar soundscape to Cafe SQ, whereas Battle SQ will just rock hard. And “Chips” … well, it’s chiptunes!

Purchase Beer SQ (LE): CDJapan | Play-Asia
Purchase Battle SQ (LE): CDJapan | Play-Asia

Purchase Beer SQ (Standard): CDJapan | Play-Asia
Purchase Battle SQ (Standard): CDJapan | Play-Asia

So, those 3 albums are all planned for July. Then, in August, SE is making good on their promise to publish “self-arranged” albums from the Mana series. Last year we got Kenji Ito’s album which covered the first Seiken Densetsu, as well as the Sword of Mana GBA remake and Seiken Densetsu 4: Dawn of Mana. Next up is a Hiroki Kikuta album, entitled Secret of Mana Genesis / Seiken Densetsu 2 Arrange Album (CDJapan). We’re not sure why this doesn’t include Seiken Densetsu 3, but we’re hoping it means that SD3 will get its own album too! On top of that, Kenji Ito is following up on the aforementioned SD arranged album Re:birth with his own spin-off album Re:Birth II / Romancing Saga Battle Arrange (CDJapan | Play-Asia). Yikes!

All this to say, start saving now, it’s gonna be a Squeenix-heavy summer.