My Video Games Live Review

So I was able to catch the Video Games Live stop in Lewiston, NY this past Friday, on its North American Tour. Video Games Live, if you have been under a rock in terms of gaming culture, is a roaming show that features live orchestrated music from all the most popular video gaming series, including Sonic, Halo, Mario and others. Co-created by Tommy Tallerico and Jack Wall, both game composers in their own right, the show has traversed the U.S. and Canada and several other countries since 2003 and has gained popularity amongst gamers and music enthusiasts alike. A perfect blend, if you will.

Having missed previous shows on the tour’s stretch, including a canceled show in Toronto a few years back, I jumped at the opportunity to see the show in my local area. Held at ArtPark in Lewiston, just this side of the Canadian border, the show garnered a decent crowd, though I was disappointed to find it did not fill the place more. (that’s Buffalo’s economy for you) The concert featured the award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, or the BPO as it’s known around here, and the Buffalo State University choir. Although only 18-20 game themes out of the production’s 50+ repertoire are able to be performed in a single night, the show managed to give renditions of the newest additions to their stock with performances of Metroid and Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross arrangements. The local gaming cover-band ArmCANNON came out to perform a medley of Mario themes in appropriate hard-rock fashion. I managed to catch up with them after the show and learned about a album signing party on September 11th. (good on them for picking a memorable date)

Martin Leung, aka: the Video Game Pianist, aka: the Blind Pianist has apparently been a regular staple of the tour for a little while now, as he came out and performed stunning medleys of Final Fantasy VII music, and Mario themes (whilst blindfolded no less). He is, without a doubt, the fastest piano player I’ve ever witnessed, as he produced the themes with such accurate speed that I had trouble deciphering what tunes they were at first because everything blended together in a act of ferocious finger frenzy. The night ended with an encore performance of “One-Winged Angel” from Final Fantasy: Advent Children with Tallerico on blazing guitar, and a encore-encore performance of various Castlevania themes. (of which my heart had been in the pit of my stomach until that point)

The BPO did an astounding job in their performance. I honestly couldn’t tell if it was the acoustics of the ArtPark theatre or what, but the Orchestra sounded flawlessly melodic in every song they did, and everything carried through the theatre wonderfully. Their award-winning reputation is well deserved.

The only downside to the night beyond the lacking attendance was the conclusion many of us came to that the newest generation of gamers will never as hardcore as the older generation, as it seems most 16-year-olds can’t grasp the fundamentals of Space Invaders, whether it’s performed live on stage or not.