I think it is safe to say that if you ask a gamer about their favorite video game music, that there will most likely be a song from one of the Final Fantasy games on their list. The series has numerous games within it, with a majority of them having highly acclaimed soundtracks. The music in these games does more than just pump you up for a battle, or sway you to fall in love with a relationship; they are also some of the most memorable parts of these games. For instance, play Aerith’s theme in front of fan and watch the waterworks happen. The music in Final Fantasy is crucial to these big moments in the games. So much so, that you hear the song and your body automatically reacts to whatever emotion you had at that point in the game. Needless to say, a lot of fans would love to see the music played in a live concert.
That’s where “Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy” comes in…
It’s a global concert featuring the songs from the series. The show has been to many cities already, and on April 10, it came to Nashville. As a big fan of the series, I naturally bought my ticket as soon as I heard about the show. While I was excited, I was also skeptical about it. There was just this feeling that it wouldn’t do the songs justice, or that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. I was wrong to worry I found out, as the show was better than I could have ever imagined!
The show played several crowd favorites such as the “Opening – Bombing Mission” from Final Fantasy VII, “Man with a Machine Gun” from Final Fantasy VIII, and even the Chocobo Theme. Every piece was played masterfully, and was complete with a video. These videos consisted of cutscenes, artwork, and gameplay from each game the music was from. It made the show much more enjoyable as it brought up a lot of nostalgic moments and thoughts. The concert still would have been enjoyable regardless, but the videos really were a great addition.
Though, while the music and video were phenomenal, I have to give some props to the conductor. The conductor was Arnie Roth, a GRAMMY award-winning artist. He’s had a great career in the industry, even conducting the London Symphony Orchestra! He would talk in between the songs to tell what was either coming up next, or what was just played. He would often talk a little about the music or why it was picked. He truly knew about the series and the music, and made sure the show was fantastic.
So bottom line, if the show is coming close to you and you are either a fan of Final Fantasy or just a fan of great music then you need to buy a ticket and go. Just know that the song list varies from city to city. So if a song is mentioned above, there is no guarantee that it will be played elsewhere. But with as much great music the series has, I’m sure that the show will still be brilliant.