In Third Person

My first experience with Video Games Live was magical. At the time, the concert series had just started its first tour, and the idea of having an orchestra perform video game music was quite new. I’ll never forget all of the awesome moments from that first show, from the amazing renditions of video game music I grew up with, to the energy of the fully-engaged crowd, to the fun my brother and I had playing Mario Kart DS with dozens of audience members during the intermission. I told myself that I would always come back for more when the show was in town.

Though I’ve missed at least one show in my area since, I made sure to carve out time in my calendar for Video Games Live this year, which was just a few days ago. There to enjoy it with me were my brother, who was anxious to experience Video Games Live again, and my girlfriend Steff, who had never been to a Video Games Live show before. Was Video Games Live 2011 able to replicate (or improve on) the magic that brought all of us there on this particular evening?

If you’ve never been to a Video Games Live show before, you’re in for a treat. It’s very much not your traditional orchestra performance. Before the show, you can head to the games room where they have a number of consoles set up for play. I had my eyes on playing the new Mortal Kombat, but instead, my brother and I put on a show by tearing it up in Dance Central. Though I won in terms of points, I was playing on easy and he was playing on hard. He wowed everyone with his 5-star performance.

Once the show kicks into gear, you’re in for amazing renditions of video game music old and new. I was a bit concerned that the set list may not have changed much since I saw the show last, but I was pleased to find out that it was about 80% new material that I hadn’t seen before. If you had the same concern as a repeat attendee, it’s comforting to know that they change the set list every time they come back to a city. Sure, you’ll never get away from the music of Super Mario and the Legend of Zelda, but I got a huge kick out of hearing renditions of the Mega Man 2 soundtrack, Assassin’s Creed 2 and (gasp) Street Fighter II. During the intermission, I told Steff that they probably wouldn’t touch Street Fighter, but Tommy Tallarico totally read my mind and delivered the goods.

Speaking of Tommy Tallarico, I thought he did a great job as the event’s MC and guitar player. While I thought there were a few too many speaking breaks between songs, I thought that Tommy did a great job of connecting with the crowd. You can tell that he really loves the music and the gaming community, which made him very likable. During their initial tour, I dont’ remember anyone playing the electric guitar. Having Tommy there to play guitar on tracks that needed it really helped add an edge to the songs that needed it, like the music of Halo.

There were other headline performers there as well that came out during certain songs. Martin Leung of early YouTube fame had a few solo performances of Final Fantasy and Super Mario music, which went over extremely well with the crowd. New to the show (at least to me) was Laura Intravia, who was amazing. She sang the operatic parts on Assassin’s Creed 2 and God of War, and played a cool Zelda composition on the flute. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the guys who did the duet to the Grammy award winning Civilization IV song, but that performance gave me the chills. Such a beautiful song and such an amazing performance.

By the end of the encore, I was ready to give them my money to see them yet again. My brother and my girlfriend shared the same sentiment. If you are a video game enthusiast, going to experience Video Games Live is a no-brainer. Even if you haven’t picked up a controller since Super Mario World, I think your experience with the show will still be a very positive one. It was an incredible celebration of video games, and we were all happy to have been a part of it. Their next visit to my area can’t come soon enough.