Video Games Live
Video Games Live is a concert tour featuring music from a variety of video games, combined with video, light, lasers, and special effects. Debuting in the summer of 2005, Video Games Live was one of the first major video game music concerts to be performed in the United States. Video Games Live is also the first video game music concert to perform in Canada.
Created by video game music composers
Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall in association with
Clear Channel Communications, Video Games Live is a tribute to video game music. The concerts feature music from such video games as
Halo,
Warcraft,
Super Mario,
The Legend of Zelda and
Metal Gear Solid, as well as retro arcade sounds such as
Tetris and
Asteroids. The concept was to bring families to marvel at the advancement of not only video game music, but the video game industry as a whole. During musical sequences, video screens show clips from the game itself, some of which are accompanied by light shows, lasers, and/or special effects, such as smoke, or live action. Such live action includes professional actors acting out certain characters from games, including
Solid Snake from
Metal Gear Solid. In addition, the creators of the concert added in audience participation for further engagement.
Another attribute of this concert includes the large audience participation opportunities. Such activities include an arcade exhibit before the concert, hosted by
Videotopia, costume contest, the meeting and greeting of video game music composers and developers, and live competition on stage.
2005 Tour
*
July 6, 2005 â€"
Los Angeles, CA at the
Hollywood Bowl with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra*
October 29, 2005 â€"
Seattle, WA at the
Paramount Theatre*
October 30, 2005 â€"
Vancouver, BC at the
Queen Elizabeth Theatre**
Additional concerts were cancelled on October 25, 20052006 World Tour
*
March 24, 2006 â€"
San Jose, CA at the
Civic Auditorium for the
Game Developers Conference*
June 3, 2006 â€"
Philadelphia, PA at the
Merriam Theater*
July 14, 2006 â€"
Houston, TX at
Jones Hall with the
Houston Symphony*
August 5, 2006 â€"
Chicago, IL at the
Rosemont Theater*
August 11, 2006 -
Indianapolis, IN at the
Hilbert Circle Theatre*
August 12, 2006 -
Indianapolis, IN at the
Hilbert Circle Theatre*
September 1, 2006 -
Toronto, ON at the
Massey Hall*
September 21, 2006 â€"
Los Angeles, CA at the
Hollywood Bowl*
November 19, 2006 -
São Paulo, Brazil at the
Via Funchal (4PM)
*
November 19, 2006 -
São Paulo, Brazil at the
Via Funchal (8PM)
* TBA -
New York, NY* TBA -
Seattle, WA* TBA -
Las Vegas, NV* TBA -
Boston, MA* TBA -
Montreal, Canada * TBA -
Sydney, Australia* TBA -
Tokyo, Japan **
Additional dates and locations to be announced*
Mario*
The Legend of Zelda series*
Halo*
Metal Gear Solid*
Warcraft*
Myst*
Final Fantasy*
Castlevania*
Medal of Honor*
Kingdom Hearts*
Sonic the Hedgehog series*
Tron*
Tomb Raider*
Advent Rising*
Headhunter*
Beyond Good & Evil*
Splinter Cell*
Ghost Recon*
Rainbow Six*
EverQuest II* A classic arcade medley, including
PONG,
Donkey Kong,
Dragon's Lair,
Tetris,
Frogger,
Gauntlet,
Space Invaders and
Out Run.
* Video Game Arcade hosted by
Videotopia* Costume Contest
* Meet and Greet VGM Composers and Developers
* Special effects, including lights, lasers, and fogs
* Live action, such as actors playing a certain character
* Interactive Audience Segment, where audience members play a video game live onstage as the orchestra plays the music
After kicking off with a successful July 2005 concert at the
Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, organizers spent months preparing the show for a 25-city tour of indoor venues, beginning with dates in Seattle and Vancouver. However, ticket sales for the tour weren't meeting expectations, and organizers canceled most of the shows on
October 25,
2005. With the expection of Seattle and Vancouver concerts, Video Games Live called it quits for the rest of 2005, [
1] stating on their website:
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Video Games Live will not be playing any of the previously scheduled shows, with the exception of Seattle and Vancouver on October 29 and October 30. Furthermore, plans are being made for additional shows in specific markets across North America for 2006.[
2]
Tallarico wrote:
"If we are guilty of anything it is that we hoped that more people would have been supportive of the concept and idea. Sure people have interest (like everyone here today) but if that excitement doesn't translate into support through ticket sales... how can anyone put on a show?"
Further, cocreator Wall wrote:
"We are resolved to reinvent how we do this and do it in a more controlled way so this never happens again. It is not lost on us that for various business reasons we had to pull the plug twice. The bottom line is that the goals we established for this tour were simply too ambitious. We clearly overestimated the demand for a concert that relatively few people understand at this time. That said we still firmly believe our audience is out there."
After success realized from the Seattle and Vancouver concerts, on
February 17,
2006, the creators wrote that they are working on planning shows in 2006. They also indicated that they were now acting independently and planning a new strategy for partnering with various organizations. [
3]
On
March 13,
2006, the promoters announced a world tour for Video Games Live, beginning in
San Jose, California. This 2006 leg of the tour also marks the return to the Hollywood Bowl, the first venue for the concert in 2005, with "a new and updated show."[
4]
*
Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy*
Eminence Symphony Orchestra*
Orchestral Game Concert*
Symphonic Game Music Concert*
Video Game Pianist: Performer at VGL
*
Video Game Symphony PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
*
Video Games Live Official Website*
1up.com coverage of the event
