It’s been a busy week for video game music fans in Calgary. On Saturday, November 3, Video Games Live made its fourth appearance to the cow-town; and on Tuesday, November 6, The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses made its second appearance in Canada! That’s right folks, Toronto and Calgary are the concert’s first Canadian shows in 2012. And since I’ve already written a review of Video Games Live, I’ve decided to do a comparison between the two concerts, in case you’re kicking yourself in the butt for missing one of them (or both! Shame on you).
Pre-Show
The great thing about VGL is the special, extra things they put on before the concert. They have a costume contest (which I participated in this year as Curly Brace from Cave Story), which is a great way to take pictures of the fantastic costumes people have created; a guitar hero competition where the winner gets a chance to play on the stage with the orchestra; and an extra game on stage where Tommy Tallarico selects audience member(s) to play. This year, Super Smash Brothers Brawl was played.
Unfortunately, LoZ: SotG had no pre-show event but it is a bit more sophisticated than VGL is. It seemed like there were more cosplayers in this concert compared to VGL; perhaps it is because Link is a pretty easy character to dress up as. Or perhaps a concert dedicated to one video game allows more dedicated fans whereas a concert dedicated to video games in general invites more casual gamers (who usually go because their friends drag them to it). Which brings me to the next point…
Audience
The thing that irks me about conventions where dressing up is welcomed is people who pretend to fit in. For example, there are a lot of people who wear thick-rimmed glasses and call themselves “nerds” when they just seem to be hipsters. At VGL, there was a lot of geek chic going around (geeky/nerdy t-shirts, animal hats, game-related accessories) which was cool to see, but disappointing because they outweighed the cosplayers by at least 3:1. Now, LoZ had a lot of Link costumes, a few Zelda’s, and even a Majora’s Mask character! The fans were very dedicated, which was very encouraging as a concert attendee who likes to see something awesome.
During the concert, LoZ was more packed than VGL was. I found that people cheered more in VGL, but there was more energy in LoZ: SotG. Again, I think it is because the two concerts are geared towards different audience members. A lot of casual gamers would probably avoid LoZ: SotG because it’s quite costly (despite it being on Groupon!) and they wouldn’t recognize the music outside of the Main Theme and Princess Zelda’s Theme. Oh, speaking of music…
Music
I’ve always loved video game music. The nice thing about VGL is that it plays all of the great music from popular games and reminds you of how awesome video games are. This year, they wanted a ‘whole new show’ so a lot of their older arrangements (which are one of the best I’ve ever heard) were not played. Their line-up this year was appealing (Pokemon, Earthworm Jim, Civilization, Legend of Zelda (compilation of the years), Mario, Chrono Cross/Trigger), a lot of it would not have been recognized. Although most of those games are popular, the music is not well known. Perhaps they wanted gamers to remember how great the soundtracks to their favorite games were; but when I think of a video game concert, I think about nostalgia. Associating the current event with a past memory is far more powerful than trying to introduce and excite new ones.
The Symphony of the Goddesses had a beautiful line-up. They separated them into different parts of The Legend of Zelda series and all the arrangements were brilliant. I even got goosebumps! Although VGL had electric guitar and solos from the talented Laura Intravia, the LoZ: SotG had a better set list. It flowed better than VGL did; their set list seemed a bit random and had no structure compared to the Zelda one. Plus, the videos in the background…
Extras
On stage while the orchestra was playing, video clips of the associated game were playing in the background. For the Zelda concert, timing was a small factor in the videos, but the clips were very appropriate for the music. It brought back memories of the game as well as when the music was played during the game. Whereas VGL mashed up clips of the game, I felt like it didn’t have much of a story compared to the Zelda concert. Plus, they had a lot of funny video clips which I felt detracted from the orchestral experience. Again, I think it’s because of how the concert is set up; but for me, I felt more emotionally involved in the Zelda concert and usually orchestrated music should bring out emotions and not just be entertainment.
Also, the Zelda concert had the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra whereas VGL hired a smaller orchestra. They were pretty good, but with the smaller orchestra, the epicness from 10-20 stringed instruments was missing! I think my biggest problem with VGL is that audience members don’t get as excited over epic music as they do with recognizable ones. Whereas Zelda has a huge selection of music that is epic and recognizable (for example you can tell if it’s music from Wind Waker or Majora’s Mask because of the style).
Overall
To simply put, video game music is great! Orchestrated video game music is even better (especially if the original music has been orchestrated because you’re hearing it live) and I had a great time at both concerts. Even if this was my first year at Video Games Live, I felt it was disappointing; both as a gamer and a video game music fan. Some of their selected pieces weren’t as memorable or as epic as one would hope. Their Legend of Zelda arrangement was pleasing, but not nearly as beautiful as the Symphony of the Goddesses. Compared to previous years, I felt like they geared the 2012 show for newcomers: I miss their Metal Gear Solid skit/piece and the Shadow of the Colossus is beautiful, but because of the audience members they did not respond to it as well as I had hoped. Their completely new show was disappointing because their best pieces were not used (probably to reduce redundancy for annual attendees).
It was totally worth going to both concerts for me (because I love video game music), but if you were short on a budget this year, then I would suggest the Zelda concert (because it was on sale on Groupon). If you’re looking for an entertaining show, then VGL has that in their hands with their pre-show events and the extra video clips. If you want a more sophisticated, orchestrated experience, then the Zelda concert is for you. But regardless, you should do your best to go to both shows at least once in your life.
Trust me, live music is worth your money!