Paul invited me out to Video Games Live by asking, "Do you like classical music?"…read more
"Depends on the type of classical music..." I said cautiously.
What he should have asked was: "You like video games?"
I would have been all up on that with a "HECK YEAH!"
Video Games Live is a concert featuring live music and synchronized video footage from the most popular video games today and past - League of Legends, Command and Conquer, Diablo, Bioshock, WOW, Sonic, Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, so on - to supplement the Comic-con fun in San Diego. The concert is hosted by an industry veteran, Tommy Tallarico, and features the San Diego Symphony, SACRA/PROFANA (choir), Critical Hit (headed by Jason Hayes, World of Warcraft composer), and Viking Jesus, a fan who turns out metal covers. Meet and greets happen after the concert (the creator of Cave Story, who flew over from Japan, was at Video Games Live!), and intermission was lively with people trying to remember the title of last song played to score tickets to a Tim Burton concert the next night, a Star Trek concert the night after, and some Flux(??) tickets.
Sitting with a crowd of gamers was truly a fantastic experience: At one point a dragon logo popped up on screen and the crowd went "OOOOOOH!" Turns out it was the logo for Skyrim. (Queue the OOH's) People all around cheered for their favorite games, as I cheered for Kingdom Hearts. A game to be released in beta - Heroes of the Storm - pitting the Blizzard entertainment game characters against each other, debuted a preview. For the last song a couple of people behind me kept shouting for Chrono Trigger and would you have guessed - the symphony played Chrono Trigger. A opera version of Tetris was belted out by a singer who has graced Halo, Diablo and the like. We all enjoyed the pixelated Sonic and Mario arguing with a hilarious, super douchey producer over their partners (Knuckles and Luigi). Though the visual to Silent Hill was creepy and had me in a concerned frown until it ended, the music, lead by Tommy Tallarico's electric guitar, along with Metal Gear Solid's, were among my favorite of the night.
Wines, mixed drinks and beer (blue moon!) served. Food is also available as are big and clean, albeit smelly Port-a-potties, and hand washing stations. Bring a jacket for the impending chilly night. For future Video Games Live attendees, get as close as you can to the convention, or on Embarcadero, because the event is certainly not at the Jacobs center, about two miles away from where you want to be. When going back to your car two miles away take the bridge, in case a train decides to hold up traffic, causing you to walk in a huge 3-mile circle. Otherwise, Video Games Live, I'll see you next year!