Video Games Live has finally returned home.  After traveling all over the world (including stops in Korea, England, and Brazil) VGL was back in Los Angeles on Oct. 19th to premier what co-creator Tommy Tallarico referred to as the “new show” which will carry VGL into 2008.  That wasn’t the only treat in store for attendees; this VGL concert was actually one of the first performances to grace the stage of the newly-built, 7000-seater Nokia Theater at LA Live.  With a new show, a new venue, and the show’s association with the local E For All Expo currently in full-swing, it goes without saying that attendees were excited.

As guests filed into the Nokia Theater, it was hard not to be impressed by the sheer size of the venue.  Nearly every seat on the main floor was filled, equating to several thousands of people in attendance.  Anticipation was in the air as the introduction of new segments and world premieres were being presented for the first time at this performance.  The set list was as follows (* indicates a new segment):

Act I:
Classic Gaming Medley                                   
Metal Gear Solid                                             
Sonic the Hedgehog                                                                             
Interactive Space Invaders                               
*BioShock                                                      
Civilization IV                                      
Tron                                                                
Dee Baker Voice Acting                                  
*Final Fantasy VIII – "Liberi Fatali"                    
The Legend of Zelda                                        

Act II:
*Conan
Interactive Frogger
Final Fantasy Piano Medley
*Chrono Cross Piano Solo
Kingdom Hearts
World of Warcraft
WOW:The Burning Crusade - "Lament of the Highborn"
Contra
Super Mario Brothers
Halo 1 and 2
*Halo 3
Halo 3 Teaser

Encore:
Final Fantasy VII - "One Winged Angel"

People who have seen VGL before will be familiar with many of these segments.  While Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario Brothers, and The Legend of Zelda are musts at a show like this, the appearance of "Tron" among these legendary games is questionable.  We sorely missed the Medal of Honor segment which was one of my favorites at previous shows; however I was happy to see that Civilization IV was still on board especially considering the game isn’t as well known as some others.  To make note of a few interesting moments, the Metal Gear Solid on-stage performance, where Snake hides in a box and crawls across the stage while a soldier frantically looks around for him, was kept intact from previous shows.  However, “The Orange” was scrawled along the side of the box, cleverly referring to the recent release of VALVE’s The Orange Box.  Dee Baker’s demonstration of monster sound effects was absolutely amazing as always, and the interactive segments where fans were plucked out of the audience to play games on stage for prizes were lots of fun.  Interestingly, the Final Fantasy piano medley received the only standing ovation, despite the many stellar performances of the evening!

As far as new segments are concerned, the Chrono Cross piece was arranged for solo piano, performed by Martin Leung (The Videogame Pianist) and was incorporated into the show in response to constant requests made by fans.  The popular “Scar’s Time” piece was arranged along with others, and the performance sounded great although I know it could have definitely benefited from an orchestral accompaniment.  “Liberi Fatali” was another new piece from Final Fantasy VIII.  The choir did a great job with this one, and it’s actually a nice change of pace from the overplayed “One Winged Angel.”

Gary Schyman’s music from BioShock celebrated its world premiere at the concert.  The melancholy main theme and another melodic piece were selected for the suite, and the intentional dissonance of the music paired with the dark visuals on the screens above the stage enacted the mood and atmosphere of the game.  It ended with darkness accompanied by a cryptic vocal clip which was effectively creepy but also confusing at the same time as the audience wasn’t sure if the piece had concluded.  The Conan piece was actually somewhat of a sleeper hit, opening with Tommy Tallarico, Jack Wall, Conan composer Mike Reagan, and world-famous percussionist Curt Bisquera hammering away on giant tribal drums.  While this portion was reminiscent of God of War, the brass-intensive orchestral bombardment that followed really brought back the spirit of the "Conan" films.

One of the highlights of the evening was the premiere of Halo 3.  The Halo 1 & 2 suite (which they’ve been playing at all their stops) was introduced as a lead in.  Afterwards, a hearty orchestral version of the beloved Halo theme rang through the halls, just as powerful (if not more so) without the rock guitars that accompanied the first two scores.  Strangely, the “Halo 3 Teaser” segment that VGL had been playing prior to the release of Halo 3 was tacked on to the end of the Halo 3 segment, and featured Tommy Tallarico and Chris “VertexGuy” Kline on guitar.  Another highlight was “Lament of the Highborn” from World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which was recently premiered at BlizzCon 2007.  It featured the mesmerizing vocals of Vangie Gunn backed by a choir and an angelic string progression.

Predictably, the encore was “One Winged Angel” from Final Fantasy VII, which I am honestly sick of hearing at every video game music concert there has ever been.  That being said, there were actually a few enduring moments for this performance, including the levels being high enough to hear the guitars above the orchestral and choir sections, and an on-stage battle between Cloud and Sephiroth cosplayers as the entire audience calpped to the beat of the piece.  During the performance, some members of the orchestra joined in the head banging along with Tallarico and Kline.  My only complaint (besides being bored with the song itself) would be that the sound was a bit thin, especially when it came to the brass section, but this was probably due to the limited number of players on the stage (about 30 in the orchestra and 40 in the choir).

After the performance, the thousands of attendees filed out into the lobby for the meet and greet featuring a large array of Western game music talent (including Russell Brower, Jason Hayes, and Gary Schyman) and tons of people from all areas of the industry.  The most exciting guests, however, were Akira Yamaoka (producer and composer of Silent Hill) and Yuichi Asami (producer and composer for Dance Dance Revolution), who were visiting the local E For All Expo and dropped by to say hello to their fans and to give autographs.

As with any production, there were a few issues, including minor audio cutouts during the first few segments of the show and the inability to reboot the Frogger segment when a contestant inadvertently turned it off, but for the most part, it went off without a hitch.  Overall, I’m impressed with the “new” concert that they plan to take into 2008.  It’s surprising that after so many shows, the VGL experience continues to be refined, and the inclusion of the new world premieres at this performance is a step in the right direction.  It’s great that they promote fan participation in terms of both the interactive segments and performances by Leung and Kline.  With the recent announcement of 25 new shows scheduled for 2007 and 2008, we definitely have a lot to look forward to, and I highly recommend checking out a show near you if you haven’t tried the Video Games Live experience before.

Jayson Napolitano