Night In Fantasia, 2007 Symphonic Games Edition
I just got back from the city a little while ago. I was certainly there for a long time, leaving at five and then coming home close to midnight. But I did have a lot of fun, more than just a lot, it was great.
Chris came over at about three and we went out for breakfast/dinner/tea (I hadn't eaten since yesterday), then we left for the city. It took an hour to get there and by the time we came out at Town Hall station it was already pitch black outside. I made a really awful, stupid mistake in planning for this day, like I always do, and I got the venues mixed up. I took us down to the Circular Quay concert hall instead of the Town Hall concert hall, which was fifty seconds away from the station we came out of anyway.
I guess I'm just a moron like that. Anyway, when we found out it was already only fifteen minutes until the concert would start, as Chris and I had gone down to the harbor to an ice-cream parlor that we liked. He could tell a little that I wasn't feeling my best so we had ice-cream together. Chris wasn't feeling too great himself, because he broke up with his girlfriend of two years on Monday. We both felt better knowing that we weren't the only one feeling awful. I had chocolate chip and strawberry ice cream, and Chris had a sundae big enough to choke a horse.
But the point was that we were on the wrong side of the city. We had fifteen minutes to make a trip that usually takes half an hour. We ran like hell back to Town Hall station! And we just made it too, barely. I thank god for that, because I'd just be horrible to invite Chris to a concert like that and then wind up missing out on half of the concert altogether. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.
But back to the concert. It was the best one yet! It had a full choir, a massive pipe organ and seven music composers taking turns conducting, and explaining their music. Here's the program of what we listened to:
First Half
Final Fantasy XII - Opening Theme ~ Hitoshi Sakimoto
Deltora Quest - Deltora Main Theme ~ Hitoshi Sakimoto
Romeo x Juliet - Hisyou ~ Hitoshi Sakimoto
Legend Of Mana - Title Theme ~ Yoko Shimomura
Xenosaga Episode I - Gnosis ~ Yasunori Mitsuda
Metal Gear Solid 2&3 - Main Theme ~ Harry Gregson-Williams
Super Mario Brothers - Super Mario Brothers ~ Koji Kondo
Tekken: Dark Ressurection - Sunrise ~ Go Shiina
Kyou Kara Maoh! : Hajimari no Tabi - Hero ~ Go Shiina
Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children - Tenrai Divinity I ~ Nobuo Uematsu
Then before the intermission they played us a suite from World of Warcraft, with a short movie from the game. That was another cool thing about this concert. They added to the music by having a big screen on the stage where they could show clips relating to the game they were playing music from. The intermission lasted for twenty minutes and Chris and I bought posters and filled out a short survey in the hopes of winning a prize.
Second Half
Shadow of the Colossus - Revived Power (Battle with the Colossus) ~ Kow Otani
Shadow of the Colossus - Swift Horse ~ Kow Otani
Shadow of the Colossus - Counterattack (Battle with the Colossus) ~ Kow Otani
Tales of Legendia - Requiem ~ Go Shiina
Soul Calibur III - Path of Destiny ~ Junichi Nakasuru
Tales of Legendia - The Prayers Become Power ~ Go Shiina
Odine Sphere - Odine Sphere ~ Hitoshi Sakimoto
Tales of Legendia - To Deliver The Feelings ~ Go Shiina
Xenosaga Episode I - Zarathustra ~ Yasunori Mitsuda
Xenosaga Episode I - World To Be Born ~ Yasunori Mitsuda
Zelda: Twilight Princess - Orchestra Piece (Twilight Princess) ~ Michiru Ooshima
Kingdom Hearts II - Fantasia Alla Marcle for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra ~ Yoko Shimomura
At the end of the concert we all shouted for encores. Chris who was sitting next to me was a foghorn. I can honestly swear he was the loudest person in the entire concert hall. The orchestra then played the theme music from Chrono Cross as an encore, but when people seemed disappointed in that they did a second encore and played a final One Winged Angel. When the opening sounded the crowd literally roared, loud enough to drown out the music for a second. It was awesome.
Heh, the composers were fun to listen to as well. Yoko Shimomura was worried that her Kingdom Hearts piece would be too long and that we'd grow bored with it, so she was very apologetic, and Kow Otani came up on stage brandishing a sword and proclaiming; "I AM A SAMURAI! You might notice that my picture in your program looks different to how I look now! That is because I was swinging this sword around and accidentally shaved half of my own head! They say I should not have swords now." Then he gave his sword away to a nervous-looking usher.
Go Shiina came up on stage and practically said; "I am a man of little words. That is all. Bye!" And Junichi Nakasura, who wrote my most favorite song ever, The Unsung War got on stage, giggled and said; "Yay! I love Australia! Aussie, aussie, aussie!" and we were all; O_o
After the concert I got my poster autographed by all the composers. It was amazing, I got to shake hands with Kow Otani! I also got to talk with Yoko Shimomura for a bit and Junichi Nakasuru. It was definitely worth the money and effort to go to the concert. I had a really fun time.
But now I'm exhausted and I'm going to bed. Goodnight.