Announcing the Video Games Live Concert Tour!

[Brainiac]

Hey everybody, I'm gotten permission to put this up, so here goes.

The Video Games Live Tour is now heading throughout North America!  Tour dates have been confirmed in venues ranging from Atlanta, Georgia to Toronto, Ontario to Phoenix, Arizona.  Local orchestras will be performing music from games such as Beyond Good and Evil, MYST, Castlevania, Headhunter, The Legend of Zelda, Advent Rising, Warcraft, Kingdom Hearts, and many more, along with a special retro music segment ranging from Pong to Donkey Kong!

The tour offically kicks off July 6th at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.  Tickets are still on sale through Ticketmaster for as little as $1!  The kickoff concert will also have several well known game music composers such as Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico (both responsible for creating this tour) as well as major players in the game industry, both past and present, like Nolan Bushnell, Jordan Mechner, John Romero, Bill Roper, Hideo Kojima, Yuji Naka, and Stan Lee (yes, THAT Stan Lee) all appearing for a free meet & greet session!

Check out the site (www.videogameslive.com) to check the full tour schedule and current listing of the game tracks to be performed.  Also, feel free to join the forums and the Online and Offline Street teams to get up-to-date behind-the-scenes info on the concert, as well as spread the word about the first major various VGM North American tour!

Brainiac, Official Member of the VGL Street Team

[Brainiac]

Update!

The premeire concert of the Video Games Live Concert Tour at the Hollywood Bowl in LA on July 6th was a marvelous success.  In fact, it was so successful, Clear Channel Music Group and Mystical Stone Entertainment have expanded the entire tour!  New venues and new tour dates have been slated for the cities that were already on the tour the total stops for this tour have increased from 19 to 25!

The tour kicks off anew October 29th in Seattle, Washington and will run through December 3rd in San Antonio, Texas, heading through various cities throughout the US and Canada.  You can read the press release and new schedule of upcoming concerts here.  Tickets are already available for some of the concerts and the others will be soon.  Get your tickets ASAP as they're sure to go fast!

[Alias]

This sounds pretty cool. I'll be sure to try and saty updated.

[Brainiac]

Attention everyone!

There's less than two weeks left until the start of the VGL Tour in Seattle on October 29th.  After that, it's crossing the country practically nonstop until December 3rd in San Antonio.  If you want to go to a show, check the website's Tour Dates section to find where the Tour comes closest to you and get your tickets fast!

To keep your appetites whetted for the concert, there's a trailer up one the website that you can check out here and a VGM "Name That Tune" game here; see how many video game compositions you can recognize!

Finally, if anyone plans to come to the Cincinnati concert the day after Thanksgiving (November 25th), let me know and I'll see you there!

[Relight]

They're showing video footage of video games while the orchestras perform, right? I read about this in a local paper. They said something along the lines of "WHO would go to this?!"

[Brainiac]

They're showing video footage of video games while the orchestras perform, right? I read about this in a local paper. They said something along the lines of "WHO would go to this?!"

<raises hand> ME!

And a lot of other people would go too if the forums at the VGL site are any indication.  And you are right, Relight; there will be video along with the music.

[Steffi Evenstar]

i'd go to the Cincinnati concert, but, yeah, the whole "distance" thing.  

ah well, i'll see you in December, unless you end up fleeing in terror before that.  :P

[Brainiac]

I regret to inform everyone here that there will be no Video Games Live Tour in 2005.  Due to, according to the founders Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico "circumstances beyond our control" (most likely meaning the coroporate sponsor Clear Channel pulled the plug), the concert dates for 2005 have been cancelled. However, the team has re-evaluated their marketing and promotional strategies and intend to try an individual city-by-city marketing barrage, similar to the earlier Dear Friends tour dates.  Those of you who wished to go, don't give up hope yet!

For further information and to read about the two concerts that did go off as planned (Seattle on October 29th, Vancouver on October 30th), please head to http://www.videogameslive.com to read the most recent news and check the forums for various fan accounts and photos!

[Brainiac]

<casts Arise/Life2 on the topic>

Well all, VGL's back on track.  After a few successful concerts in 2006, the concert series is doing quite well for 2007.  See all the announcements and new Tour Dates at the website.  As for me, I hope the Columbus concert in April doesn't get cancelled like the last two Cincinnati concerts...third time's the charm.

[MusicallyInspired]

Man I wish I could go to one of these.....Looks freaking amazing. The only thing that would really make it take the cake is if they performed some adventure soundtracks like King's Quest or even Day of the Tentacle or something like that. Would love to hear that stuff from a full live orchestra!

[Brainiac]

Indeed they do.  Though, for a more musical soul such as yourself, you may prefer PLAY! - A Video Game Symphony, from the same people who ran the Dear Friends and More Friends concert tours, though this one has far more than just FF and other Square-Enix works.  I attended the premiere in Chicago, actually, and it was incredible.  So many people, such a great concert, and more geared towards the music (as compared to VGL being more geared towards the games).  I even sat near Koji Kondo (got his autograph as well, along with every other major composer there).

There is one thing that PLAY! has that I very much doubt VGL will ever get...rights to the vocal and orchestral version from Germany's Symphonic Game Music Concert IV of Nobuo Uematsu's magnum opus, Dancing Mad.  As soon as that piece comes to the States, I am going.  Heck, if I'd found out within a few hours of the tickets going on sale (you know, before they sold out), I'd have flown to Germany just for that (I know, I'm sick )!

[Vroomfondel]

If I had the time and money, I would go. As it is, I'm afraid I'll have to miss it this year.



-Vroom